Demon Girl (Keeley Thomson Book One) (17 page)

   “We need to get ready for our guests, little event like this or not. Shall we?”

   “OK. It's either that or pick up a hammer and really, I don't know how to build anything bigger than a bird house.”

   “Another thing to add to your training then. A person, should know how to build their own home, or fix it if need arises. It comes up. We'll work on that.”

   Getting ready meant fixing Keeley's hair, a complicated thing that involved braiding and putting up on top with three wooden sticks, each of dark brown and polished wood, about ten inches long. She couldn't have done it herself, even as she tried to watch and pay attention in the mirror to how it was done. It was just that complex.

   It looked good though.

   Even on her.

   Keeley didn't think of herself as good looking in the main, but once Darla put a little make up on her and had her slip into a loose brown silk outfit that looked like something from a science fiction movie, she felt ready to meet new people for perhaps the first time in her life.

   Darla dressed to match, her own outfit looking very good on her lithe form. Looking down at her own chest Keeley felt a pang of envy, her own rather modest breasts were fine, but the motion caught attention. She sighed, making Darla look at her and laugh.

   “We don't have time right now, but I can teach you to alter their size easily enough. Even humans can learn to do that, if they bother to try. Later though. Can you feel them? They're nearly here. Coming by the in-roads...”

   What that meant she didn't know, but when she focused, two dots of organized... something, were closing on the house fast. Jet plane fast. It was enough to make her jump when they suddenly stopped on the doorstep instead of crashing into the house. Having the side of a house caved in on you once made a person jumpy she decided.

   After a moment there was a firm knock. Three raps only.

   Darla flowed toward the door happily, actually smiling. She opened it and, oddly, bowed to the two men standing in front of her, who both bowed back.

   “Finias, Tarsus... Please come in and be welcome to my home. I'd like you to meet someone...” She spread her hand to let the men in.

   The first one, Finias, looked old, great grandpa old, with a thick beard of white hair and a bald head that would have made him look like Santa Claus if he wasn't so skinny. He had a rawboned look to him that made Keeley want to run and fix him a sandwich.

   Tarsus, the other man, looked... nice. Kind. Dark brown hair and a slightly square face. It wasn't movie star quality looks, kind of average for that, but the body under the hairless face was toned and showed a good bit of muscle from what she could tell.

   They both wore clothing that was nearly identical to what she wore. Brown silk, loose pants and shirts, the only difference being how dark the brown was. Now that she paid attention closely, it was clear that Darla was wearing a slightly darker shade than she was, with the other men doing the same, Tarsus had the darkest clothing. So, a ranking system? It would make sense that she'd be on the bottom, no matter how they sliced things, didn't it?

   “This is her. Keeley Anne Thomson. My sister and I think, if all goes well, the newest member of our society.” Darla seemed pleased about it at least.

   The old looking man, Finias, snorted.

   “Hmph.” He added, sizing her up so closely that for a second Keeley almost offered to open her mouth so he could see her teeth. The man laughed before the words came out.

   “Oh ho! A bit of spark here, but not physically aggressive? Well, that works about a third of the time.” The man stared at her for a moment and then winked.

   “Sorry Keeley, I know what you're thinking, that's my area. So I got what you were about to say. As to the other thing I said, new demons that aren't aggressive have the lowest survival rate, but you do have a bit of energy, which will help. It could be worse, we don't need another monster right now.” He nodded to Darla and kept speaking, his voice a little thin and reedy, and not demon like at all.

   Which was probably the point.

   Going around acting like some giant freak probably got old pretty fast.

   “She'll do Darlene, I mean Darla. At least as far as my vetting goes. She's sane and while perhaps a bit gentle and standardly moral, she's not without potential. Her mind is nearly the most complex I've ever felt on someone so young. Clean and sharp. A very nice mix.”

   The other man smirked and then stepped in front of Finias holding his hand out to shake. Keeley looked at it suspiciously, not wanting to read the man overly, but also not wanting to be rude. Darla raised her eyebrows at how long she was taking, but Tarsus just stood and waited patiently. Sighing, she took his hand, wondering if she'd get anything off of him at all, or if it would be a blank like with her half-sister.

   She got something.

   Everything.

   It nearly drove her to the floor.

   The man was old, ancient and held the memories of millions of people, creatures, things that she'd never even heard of, and all of it made a home outside her head, in the way of the memories she got from others. Understanding didn't flood into her, but it was there. Not all of it, even for demons there were mysteries, but so much data that, if she could learn to navigate it without going insane, she'd be well on her way to actually surviving her infancy.

   That was, she gathered almost instantly, the point. It was a library, all she had to do was make herself read. The data couldn't be cataloged really, but she could work her way through it, making a point of using the information when she could, integrating it into her life? It would take time and practice, but...

   “Brilliant.” The man said, his voice very nearly awed.

   “Incredible.” He looked at the others and smiled, Finias did too, but Darla looked, not baffled, but questioning.

   “Ah, I see...” Finias, the telepath said calmly. Then he looked at Darla and gave her a short nod.

   “She's already planning a way to manage the information. That takes some doing and no one picks it up that quickly. A very good sign.”

   They moved to the living room, but no refreshments were offered. Keeley put that bit of information to the vast sense of knowledge that had just climbed into her head and found that demons didn't offer food or drink unless they were claiming ownership of someone. So when Darla had offered them all dinner, it was a form of magical binding? Not a deal though, that was stronger, different. It was just saying “I'm responsible for you” in demon.

    To do that to these older, far more powerful, beings would have started a fight that probably would have ended with Darla dead and would have been the end of Keeley without a doubt. The men in front of her, the ancient beings, were ready for her to make mistakes like that and let them go, which was why they were the ones to come and check her out. Anyone else would have just killed her if she'd said anything too out of place.

   Still, if she'd been too weak, stupid, or even violent, they would have tried to kill her anyway.

   Tried.

   A few demons were born so powerful that they survived regardless of what the others did. Keeley, she realized almost instantly, wasn't anywhere near that kind of being. Her abilities mainly being mental so far. In fact, she was weak physically and that worried the men a bit. It was in the memories, the data. They'd already discussed her.

   That made sense. She couldn't even climb over a fence to run away hardly. If she had to fight anything too powerful right now, she'd probably just die. Hopefully running away would work for the time being, because she didn't know how to fight, did she?

   Finias looked at her firmly.

   “Exactly so. Keep that in mind and go carefully. Use the information you have and think. It's your best path for the moment.”

   The man didn't explain what he meant to the others and they didn't ask. They were probably all so old they already knew.

   Instead Tarsus, the demon in charge of all the new ones, like her, gestured to the tarp covered side of the house.

   “Redecorating? It would be a good place for a glass wall. I can get you a good deal on vacuum glass. It has a high insulation value but will really let in the light.” He seemed to be making idle chatter, but Darla winced. Embarrassed but not angry.

   “Lesser demon. Equipment failure the other night. Keels here helped me drive him off, but apparently he's going to take the whole “wrath of Satan” thing to heart and wants to be a pain. I was wondering...”

   Tarsus smiled.

   “If we'd watch your apprentice while you go out and try to track this problem down?”

   Darla nodded hopefully.

   Finias answered with a soft grandfatherly smile.

   “No. You know the rules as well as anyone. No one can guard your ward for you, and if she can't survive on her own, then we have to cut our losses and let her die.” The old man held out a hand toward Keeley and made eye contact.

   “Now, don't get me wrong, I, personally, am rooting for you, dear, but we can't allow others to suffer because you're too weak or lazy to protect yourself, understood? Here though...”

   Out of a pocket that Keeley understood couldn't be a part of standard clothing at all the man produced a silver disc about the size of a dime with complex waving lines all over it. Keeley nearly asked what it was, but accessed the memories from Tarsus instead, finding it instantly. It was a protective charm, one that had no magic at all, but could scare off a few creatures that didn't know that. It was a demon thing, using fear of their kind to control creatures. It made things easier sometimes.

   “Now for just the low price of a few favors...” He started.

   Keeley laughed before he finished.

   “Nope. No deal. You can give me a present though, just because it's pretty.” Her voice sounded confident, which was better than she felt about the whole thing. Finias knew all that though and laughed himself, handing the talisman over.

   “Ah, Darla, I think I may actually like your new little sister.”

   Tarsus just stared until they left. Not menacing, but as if weighing her, judging.

   Finding her wanting.

   Darla turned and gave her a hug the instant their energy sped away, that super fast movement that Keeley still didn't understand.

   “That...” The blond said smoothly, arms around her sister. “Went far better than I expected. I think they like you. When they tested me Tarsus didn't just glare, he threatened to kill me thrice. You did very well.”