Demon Bait (Keeley Thomson) Read online

  Darla put a hand on her shoulder, her face looking concerned.

  "Are you... Running? I don't know if you can get away from Tarsus. Not that I blame you. I can't believe that he's threatening to kill you if you don't pass the Second Crucible like that. Do you want me to have a talk with him and see what this is really about? I know that I'm not your mentor anymore, but even that..." She didn't go into how weird it was, or need to. It just was.

  Keeley took a breath, calmed herself and drew her body upright, making it seem a bit bigger, if a little too thin at the moment. Then she held up one finger, and looked past Darla to the door, as if thinking.

  "I went earlier today and spoke to him myself. Since I'm an adult now. He claimed that it was all about motivating me and that he never really intended to kill me when I failed. He said that. When I failed. Which is right, of course, but we had a long talk about having some faith." Which while not the main discussion, had come up. So it was close enough to true that her body language was right for it. "I bought some land in Nevada and registered a territory. Sparks, in case it ever comes up or you want to visit. I'm planning to head out tomorrow and get things set up. One of the places has a little house and the building codes there are pretty lax, so I can set up anything I want, for the most part, without having to bribe too many people. You get the idea, I'm an adult now, and need to have my own place." She'd said it often enough, though now her sister looked...

  Scared.

  "Is... that a good idea? The Second Crucible is coming and you might..." She stopped and looked around, then leaned in close and whispered, as if that would keep anyone from listening in to them. "You might need my help. I don't know what's coming, but..."

  Keeley nodded, which was an abstract thing at the moment. She didn't let herself think however, putting up every shield against mind reading she knew, and making up a new one on the fly, surprising herself. It was just a variation, but by holding her focus on the mental image of the cuneiform word for block, and wrapping it around her entire being in several dimensions, she managed to get it to work, with only a tiny bit of power being added.

  Then she whispered back.

  "Well, I have to broker a treaty between three Greater Demons that have gotten themselves into a mess. The Vile, The Cartographer and The Lover. It probably won't work, and it seems that they've been going at it for a long time. I get about a week on that one. Before they have instructions to seek me out for it, that is. It takes as long as it does to get it done. So no time limit or anything like that. You however, get to go and deal with some big deal in Europe. So, it won't matter if I'm here or not. We probably didn't even have to send everyone away. Not that we won't be busy." So that, she decided, made uprooting all their people all right, didn't it? She didn't give voice to that, being too sarcastic by far, since she understood what was really going on there.

  Zack had decided the point for them, and lacking information, given that Tarsus had flat out lied to him on several points, he'd driven them all toward doing the most protective thing he could. It would have been a bit too much, if it was really just the Second Crucible. Given the idea that she was really doing something else, a thing so stupid that even trying it might just mean she was insane herself, it was actually not that bad of a plan. So whining about it was... Well, probably expected, but ultimately both a waste of time and something that would make her look foolish later. Whining always did, even if you were right. No one remembered that part later, just the annoyance of the moment.

  So, she felt a bit conflicted which she showed by smiling and crossing her eyes at her sister, who just seemed a little baffled, if only for the briefest of moments.

  "He told you all that? How certain are you that he isn't just lying?" Darla said that as if the idea wouldn't have occurred to Keeley for some reason, which showed an extreme lack of faith. Enough so that it earned the other girl a bit of a glare.

  "Of course he was lying. About a lot of things. Most of it was the truth however, I'm willing to bet. For instance, he really is sending you off to Europe to fix a problem for him. As for what I'm doing... Well, you know how that one goes. He's decided that I'm the new special snowflake Demon and he's going to keep spanking me until I fall into line for him. I think it's just a base level conflict that we're going to have. That said, he clearly isn't planning to really get me killed, or I wouldn't have walked away earlier today."

  Darla moved into the room like she owned it, since that was the way she always did everything, and took a seat on the sofa, lowering herself carefully enough that the springs inside didn't protest. Keeley did something similar next to her, if not as well. A soft creaking noise came from underneath her, which given the fact that she weighed less than the other girl by about forty pounds probably meant she was being sloppy about that sort of thing.

  Not that Darla was fat, since that wasn't the case by any means. She was, if anything, just about perfect. The difference in size was all due to Keeley not eating enough and looking anorexic at the moment. Still. Most people didn't mind, but she really needed to gain some body mass, if she could pull it off.

  Tapping Darla on the leg, she stood again, suddenly.

  "Hey, let's go and buy out some fast food places? I need to be better about eating." This came with a poke at her hard abs, which didn't show through the shirt she wore, but were pretty close to doing that. Girls weren't supposed to have a six pack. Not unless they were into competitive bodybuilding. It wasn't a look that she wanted for herself at the moment, but would also take eating more, since she lacked about sixty or seventy pounds for that to look real, too.

  "Good plan. So, Tarsus?" They moved out to Darla's car going the long way through the garage, since the other girl was covertly running a search pattern, not being certain that her little sis was actually herself. That made sense, given that she rarely enough volunteered to eat like that. It was just that she didn't know what else to do to get ready

  Well, there was some research to be done, but she'd want to be alone for most of that. The four she was supposed to be going after... Those were the ones she needed to be careful about. She could, technically ask for help with the real Crucible to come, but that would be cheating. Not that Greater Demons wouldn't do that. Really, she probably needed to find a way to use that information to her advantage, didn't she?

  That got her to go still as Darla stopped and touched Misty on the side, since the beat up looking plum and primer beast sat in the garage.

  "What happened? She smells like chemicals." That was Darla being polite, most likely, not running off exactly what had happened. She was The Technician after all.

  That meant that after a moment of examination, she could probably have rebuilt the smoke bomb that had been used exactly, and pinpoint the location it had been planted as well. Possibly even getting that no one Human would have put it where it was, under the vehicle. Or at least that they would have had to be tiny to make it happen without massive lifts. So basically Maria Gonzales from school might have done it, if she was into explosives like that. Or pranks.

  It was humorous, since Darla didn't mention any of that, just waiting for Keeley to explain. It was funny though, thinking about their tiny mutual friend doing things like that.

  "Quince. He planted a smoke bomb on her earlier to try and see who'd react incorrectly. The interesting part there is that he knows a Greater Demon is involved, or thinks that's the case, but he hasn't worked out that it might be you. Honestly, he just went after my car because he thinks of me as high profile, but clearly innocent." She grinned and then kept walking, since they had a fast food mission to see about. "Which I am. He seems to think it's someone on the school staff, since they'd be in a position of power there. Of course he missed the other likely candidates, like the Student Body President, or the Captain of the Cheerleading Squad."

  The other girl followed along then, using the side door just after Keels did, and jogging forward to get into her unnamed little sports car. It was a convertible, and n
ot the one that she'd used for the last few months, but it was fitting now, given the weather and her recent graduation. It was the sort of thing that rich girls like her had, wasn't it? A gift from her grandmother, to support her in keeping good grades. Not that Darla didn't pull a straight B average in every class she took. On purpose.

  Then, she was also running her own multi-national corporation at the same time, and was her own grandmother, while being the captain of the cheerleading team, involved in most of the school special events, and mentoring not one, but two Baby Demons in the last year. That was sort of impressive.

  Maybe she deserved the car after all?

  They didn't speak until they were on the road, at the second stop light. There was an Arby's down the way and while that wasn't her favorite, it was good enough and they didn't blink much when you ordered twenty sandwiches at a time. Before they pulled in, Darla made a slightly sour face, which was fake, and let it shift into a grimace.

  "I guess I need to take care of that then. It's too bad. I kind of liked him. In a hapless puppy dog sort of way. I'll handle that tonight, I guess." She sounded pretty sad about it, so Keeley shrugged.

  "Or, you know, ignore him? He might come back later, but he isn't that big of a threat to you. You just graduated, so going off to Europe for a while even fits in with what would be expected. He's going on that road trip with Gary and Becky. If you aren't around and I just move away, then it isn't too likely that he'll figure things out, is it? Or... I suppose I could handle it for you. For a price." She grinned, since there wasn't a lot that she needed from her sister for the time being.

  Darla didn't say anything at all for a long time, until they ordered, which she did without asking what Keeley wanted. The design of the order was all about making it look like they were shopping for a party. Because kids went to fast food places to do that, instead of grabbing a few bags of chips from a store? No one would question it however. It took a while but was early enough that there wasn't a big line behind them as they paid the bored looking boy in the window and took their food, checking the bags first to make certain they had it all. They'd been shorted a sandwich, but the kid just made a tight face and got that for them without bothering to spit on it or anything. Being polite about it all helped. Darla being so hot didn't hurt either. She paid for it, using her card.

  That could have been a problem, since Keeley was an adult, but her sister didn't mention it until they were on the road again.

  "KFC, and then Taco Bell? You can eat some of those while I drive and pick up every other place? Leave a few for me too however, they smell good."

  That meant, about an hour later, that they were able to pull off into the groves and park. They weren't the only people there, but the other car, which was also old, had steamy windows. It should have had at least. They could actually see the couple inside pretty clearly. A man and a woman that were both old enough not to be out necking like kids. From the frantic way they were going at it, they were both probably married to someone else and on a time schedule. Darla started eating, not saying too much about anything, until they were into the last very well filled bag of food.

  Keeley still needed more, but she'd go shopping later. She had her mom's Costco card, which would make it seem more natural for her to buy in bulk.

  "What do you want?" The words came out quietly enough that Keeley nearly said what, as if she didn't know. "I know that you aren't that thrilled with Quince, personally. Taking him as a slave, well, if it isn't that dangerous for him, I suppose it could be done. I could do it, but..." The truth was that Darla wasn't even half as good at that kind of thing as she was. Not even close. She could take the Durg, but if she did, it would be obvious, most likely.

  Keeley might be able to do it at a distance, she realized. Durgs weren't hard targets that way, and she could use him for practice. It was a thing to work on, after all. Even Tarsus had agreed there.

  "Forty million. That and two large favors, to be named by me later." That got Darla to narrow her eyes at her sister, skeptically.

  Keeley understood that at least. Darla always accused her of bargaining like a hippy, but that was starting out asking for a lot. For her anyway. She really didn't enjoy Quince that much. The first thing she was going to do, she decided, was make him change his name. Kevin was fine, but Quince? Yes, she knew it meant Acadian Apple, which was a thing for him, being the name of his old mercenary unit, but it wasn't nearly clever enough not to stand out.

  There was a soft clearing of throat as Darla grinned at her.

  "Twenty, and one medium favor. I know that this isn't that hard for you. It isn't exactly like you can't have fun with him..." It was a subtle dig, working on the idea that Keeley would be embarrassed, and not bargain as hard, if sex were mentioned. Except that she was ready for that and took those feelings out of play all together.

  "Forty, and two large favors, but I'll let you reject them if you want, when the time comes. If you do, then I get a hundred million for each, however." That got the other girl to scowl. Then she took a double wrapped crunch thing from a bag and added a lot of hot sauce to it before answering.

  Around a bite she mumble something that was a bit rude. Then finished her food.

  "Who are you? Keeley wouldn't ask for that much. Not for this. She'd just blush and tell me it was fine, since she secretly has a crush on Quince anyway, and wants to take him as a man slave." Her hand moved toward the stick shift, casually, which meant that there was, most likely, a weapon there.

  Laughing, Keeley took her hand, to stop whatever horrible pain was coming.

  "I'm an adult now, right? I can't let anyone walk all over me. Plus... I really don't like him that much. I was thinking that I could set him up somewhere and let him... I don't know, guard something? Maybe Gary. Or Becky. She's going to be famous, right? He can play bodyguard for her." The girl was technically the slave of Darla, but she was currently on loan to Zack. It was confusing and meant to keep her safe, but that was a good enough reason to send her with protection. "We can claim that he came into some money so that Becky won't have to prostitute herself out while waiting for roles to come in. Not too much cash though. We don't want her to just marry him or something stupid like that." It could work, if they wanted to do it.

  As long as she didn't have to have the idiot under foot all the time, it would be fine.

  Darla snorted at her, and squeezed her hand, hard enough that she needed to heal it. Something cracked inside, which was a test, no doubt. Keeley wasn't as tough as a lot of the other Demons that way. Good with magic though.

  "Thirty million, two favors, each worth fifty if I bail on them."

  "Good enough. I'll... Go and take care of Quince now. I don't suppose you have his phone number?" Keeley could get it, and probably had it in her own head somewhere, if she worked it all out. Hally or Eve probably had it, and she'd collected both of their lives already. That just meant searching... It took a few seconds and Darla didn't speak, understanding that she'd already handled it.

  That portion of things at least.

  "So, it will be done by morning? Transfer the funds tonight?"

  Darla tilted her head.

  "After it's done." Then she started to drive back toward town, which wasn't far. "You know, Keels... I think I liked you better when you were kind of clueless."

  That got a nod back, "I know. Much easier to manipulate that way. Well, everyone grows up sometime, right?"

  Darla shook her head then, but smiled. It was a dark and knowing thing, not friendly or kind.

  "No, not really. Most of our kind just die before that happens. Be careful. Things are... Well, normal for us. So not what they seem. Keep that in mind, or you won't last long, adult or not."

  It was good advice, but Keeley didn't know if she was going to live long enough to apply it. Probably not, given everything.

  Chapter five

  It took a bit to shake off Darla, since her wonderful sister seemed to still not be certain about who Keels r
eally was. That... It was a problem in their world. Honestly, there was a good chance that the blonde with her was someone else as well. The big difference there was that The Technician could take care of herself and knew it, so she'd be around eventually given that it was her territory, even if someone tried to pretend being her for a while.

  Her little sister might be simply tucked out of the way however, if someone were strong enough, or just took her by surprise. It was very nearly impossible to trick one of their kind, which just meant the ones good enough to manage it pretty much couldn't be stopped.

  So Keeley trying to eat enough and making hard bargains, which were both things that she'd been told to do a hundred times over the last few months, seemed out of place now. It could have been a sign that she wasn't herself. Except of course she was. Really it came down to the fact that she was scared of dying. Not in an obvious way. There was no trembling or panicked sounding words. It was a deeper thing than that. One that started in her gut and crawled all the way to the top of her mind constantly now.

  Tarsus had set her up to die, even though he didn't really care about that part of things. He just wanted the world to be saved and honestly figured that they didn't have much more time to handle things. She could, and probably should let someone else deal with it. That, however was the real trick to the whole thing, she thought. The Librarian would let her out of it, but knew that she, being young, idealistic and naive, would take the task on, even if no one else sane would try it.

  That was why her life had been accelerated. So that she'd be able to make that decision for herself, without Darla influencing her on it.

  Because her sister would have looked at the situation and told her that she wasn't allowed to risk her life that way. That no one should ever even try things like that. Especially babies that still had mentors. Only, now she didn't have that kind of influence over her.