Demon Master (Demonsense series Book 2) (65 page)

Gelsenim continued as she thought, and his words brought her out of her reverie and very much into the present. "I have been thinking, my host. If this joining of ours is generating love, could we perhaps be mates?"

"Mates?" she repeated stupidly. Her thoughts ground to a halt, like a car whose engine had blown.

Gelsenim moved closer and raised his hands, gently framing her face in them. His hands were so warm, and he smelled like a man, with a spicy, clean, aftershave kind of smell. He looked into her eyes, and Bree looked back, trying to see something in them, something real. Looking for a person.
 

"You feel wonder. Confusion. You are curious," he said softly. "I feel everything you feel. What human mate could offer you that?" He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her, gently, questing, questioning, and at first, Bree allowed it, feeling somehow that she owed him this chance to experiment. And Gelsenim was right, she was curious. He kissed like an inexperienced young man. It was nothing like Seth's robust, joyful kissing, or Daniel's intense, focused kissing. Yet even as she had those thoughts, the kiss transformed, taking some of each of the styles she'd been remembering. In spite of herself, her body started to respond, and that made her panic. But she forced herself to push away gently. She was afraid of what the demon might do if he felt rejected.

Gelsenim drew away, and dropped his hands from her face to her shoulders. "I do not wish to hurt you, Bree."
 

His use of her name was a little startling, as he used it so seldom.

"I am far from the hunger right now. If you would but let me remain with you, you would have nothing to fear from me."

Bree shifted back, and Gelsenim let his hands drop away from her. "You say that now, but what happens when I go to help Daniel? If we're together when that happens, are you even going to allow me to leave? Are you going to try to take me over in an attempt to protect me? And what happens if I decide to risk both of us to save Daniel? And what if he tries to bind us in some attempt to protect me?"
 

Gelsenim's features went through a rapid succession of expressions. Bree couldn't tell if it was because he was experiencing many different feelings or because he couldn't settle on an expression to show her. "You are set on this course of action, my host. I feel it. I feel your love for Daniel as you think of it. It is akin to what I feel for you. And it is strange. When you feel it this strongly, I feel it too. This hasn't happened before. I feel as if I, too, wish to protect Daniel. But at the same time, I am jealous of this feeling. I wish you to feel it for me. I do not understand it, not at all."

Bree shook her head. "It sucks, doesn't it? We call that 'mixed feelings.' If you can feel what I feel, you know I have some mixed feelings about Daniel. I didn't know I could love someone so much who also scares me to some degree."

"Then there is hope for me," Gelsenim said confidently, so much so that an involuntary laugh was wrung out of Bree.
 

"You're sure of that are you?"

"I am sure of it, my host."

Before she could reply, her phone rang, and she scrambled off the couch to answer.
 

"Bree? It's Leander. Listen, I've got some information for you on when and where your friend can meet my friend."

So this was it. Bree felt lightheaded. Gelsenim's voice manifested in her mind, though he was standing right next to her.
What is it, my host? What upsets you?

Leander has a locate on Marton. He knows when and where Daniel can find him.
"Okay," she answered Leander slowly. "What should I tell my friend?"

"My guy and his girlfriend are planning on going to some kind of charity ball at the Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park tonight. They should be able to meet up after."

Tonight. My God, so soon!
 

Perhaps it is better this way, Gelsenim replied. It is uncertain how long Daniel will remain undivided
.
 

"Will there be, ah, other people that want to meet up?"

"Not as far as I know. Bree, I've been thinking I ought to go with you."

A rush of relief was followed quickly with doubt. She’d been swamped with nervousness and guilt for telling Leander about Daniel's hiding spell, and about Daniel's conviction that Leander was still Keltoi. It made perfect sense, of course. Sending in someone who couldn't be read, someone charming enough to finagle his way into their social group. But she’d concluded that if he was a Keltoi spy, he’d already know they wanted Daniel’s hiding spell.
 

And yet she couldn't quite seem to doubt that Leander had feelings for her. Hell, she had a few for him as well. "If you're sure," she replied.

"As I can be." There was humor in his voice, and she could just imagine his rueful smile.

"When does the ball start?"

"At seven. Apparently, they moved the time up because of the midnight curfew.”

"Why don't you pick me up a seven? That would get us there by seven-thirty, which should be early enough if they decide to just make a quick appearance, then leave."

"I can do that. And Bree, you should bring along the present I gave you."

The gun. She'd already decided to bring it in spite of her reservations about the possibility that someone could too easily take it from her and use it against her. She had to use every advantage she could get. If something happened to Daniel, it could be her against Varga, Franchesca and any other Keltoi they managed to bring along.
 

"Will do. See you tonight. And thank you, thank you so much, Leander."

"You're welcome. See you later."
 

She ended the call, mind racing.

"You do not trust this Leander, do you?" Gelsenim said aloud.

"No, I don't. I can't afford to. He could be Varga's back up. He could well have more casting ability than he's been willing to show me so far, and if that's the case, maybe I can't take him."

"And yet you have invited him to come with you. You risk his turning on you."

"I've got a plan for how to deal with him."

Gelsenim regarded her, head tilted, then he smiled. "It is simple, but is likely to put him out of the way."

"Hopefully for long enough." She found Daniel on her contact list on her phone and called him. His voice was calm to the point of lifelessness. "I want your promise you aren't going to try to get in on this," he said once she had relayed the information. "I don't want the distraction of looking over my shoulder the whole time, wondering when you're going to show up."

Bree had prepared herself for this, practiced what she would say out loud in the shower, in her car, in bed at night until she felt she could deliver the truth in such a way that the lie behind it wasn't visible. "I don't like it, but I understand why you need it this way. I know you can't afford anything that would trigger your going divided. So okay, I get it." She had hoped to sound scared, had wanted how she felt about him to come across, and it had without her really trying.

Daniel let out a pent up sigh, the first sign of any emotion during the whole conversation, and just that small sound made her heart flutter. He had continued brisk and cool in his interactions with her during their two brief phone calls, and it warmed her to hear even a tiny hint that he was not completely shut down towards her. "Thank you Bree, I mean it."
 

He bought it, she could hear it in his voice. Thank God. She'd been so worried that he would bind her on this.
 

And then it occurred to her that this could be the last time she spoke to him. Somehow, in all her rehearsing of this conversation, she hadn't thought of that, hadn't, apparently, let herself think of it, and now that the moment was here, she didn't know what to say. If she told him again that she loved him, it might only upset him further. By the silence on the other end of the line, she figured Daniel must be as tongue tied as she. "Well, good luck then," Bree hazarded, and winced immediately. The words were so completely inadequate to how she was feeling.
 

"Thank you. Take care of yourself, Bree," Daniel replied, then cut the connection. Bree gulped back threatening sobs. No, she thought fiercely, I am not going to let him get himself killed.
 

She felt the touch of Gelsenim's hand on her shoulder, warmer than a real person's would be. She could feel the heat through her sweater. "My host, it is ill advised for you to try to intervene in this duel. While we are very strong together, I cannot be certain of protecting you if this Keltoi is as strong as is rumored."

"It's not like I'm planning on jumping right in the middle of it. In fact, I'm really hoping I won't be doing more than watch Daniel kick his ass. But it sounds like Franchesca will be there, at minimum, and someone has to be ready to counter her if she tries to interfere."

"But if you draw the Keltoi's attention, he will not hesitate to kill you."
 

"The way I figure it, he'll be too busy with Daniel to worry about me. I have a feeling he's not the kind of guy to protect Franchesca over himself."

"It is still a risk," the demon insisted.

"Of course it's a risk!" Bree exclaimed in rising frustration. They'd already discussed this, not long after she'd called him for the possession. "I've already told you, I won't be able to live with myself if I don't try to do something. Now, are you going to help me or not?"

Gelsenim's expression went petulant, veered rapidly into calculating, and ended rather stiff. "I will help you my host."

Bree nodded. "Now about tonight. I was thinking if I let you stay joined with me until right before we go, you should be about as well fed as you've ever been, right?"

"You are likely right, my host."

"So you'd probably still be pretty coherent and less likely to do something crazy like try to take me over."

Gelsenim frowned. "It seems sound reasoning. But as much as I would like to promise to obey you, I must be honest and say that with so much violence and power being wielded, there may be some instinctive reaction on my part to be drawn to it. If we were already joined, though, I think it would be much more likely to stay coherent."

But Bree was shaking her head. "Gelsenim, it's going to be hard enough to avoid Daniel's and Varga's detection as it is. It'll only be more difficult if I have you on board. I know Daniel's Demonsense is exceptional, and given Varga is supposed to be a high power Demon Master, I'm assuming his is also very strong. And then there's Franchesca to worry about. No, my only hope is to be far enough away before it starts that they can't detect me, then move in closer once the action starts and they're not focusing their attention outward any more. Trust me, I'll call you if it comes down to me having to do battle. I don't have a chance in hell against these people without you."

"Yes, I recall the one you picture, this Franchesca. I see her in your mind. She is unstable, but in a different way than Daniel. I do not believe she is divided."

"Well, she's demon burned, which is a particular kind of dangerous crazy. Which means even if Varga instructs her to stay out of it, it's hard to tell what she'll do."

"It is she who shot at you with a gun," Gelsenim put in conversationally.

"What? What are you talking about? You mean the other night? Were you there?"
 

"No, I was not there. But I saw your memories of her in your mind just now. The form of the body is the same as the form of that one who shot at you. You thought of the shooter as well, because you were also just thinking of taking along the gun Leander gave you. This Leander. I see he desires you. Perhaps I should feel jealousy of him also?"

As always happened during her interactions with Gelsenim, Bree was feeling more and more out of her depth. How to explain such complex emotions to a demon? Could she expect him to understand? And just how dangerous was he going to be if he became jealous of her? It could be like having the worst crazy boyfriend on the planet.
 
"Of course I find Leander attractive," she admitted. "I like him, and he's been kind to me. But it's hard for me that I can't read him. It makes it harder to trust him. And besides, he's a pretty damaged person in some ways. I saw something of his history the one time I was able to read him, and it was very harsh."

"Daniel is damaged, and yet you love him. Why would it be different with Leander?"
 

Bree didn't know how to tell the demon what she didn't know herself. "Maybe if I hadn't already fallen for Daniel, I'd give it a go with Leander. In fact, I probably couldn't resist being with him, in spite of my reservations. He's got a serious amount of charm, and in some ways, the fact that I can't read him is kind of intriguing. But there is Daniel."

"There might not be after tonight."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Bree asked, voice low.

Gelsenim did not answer right away. "If I allowed him to die, or caused him to through my own actions, I fear you would be very angry with me. You might resist our joining. Yet if he were to die, it would benefit me greatly. He keeps me from you, and he believes I mean you harm." He shrugged. "More of these mixed feelings."
 

While Bree was encouraged that Gelsenim appeared honest, she couldn't be much reassured by what he was saying. There was clearly a chance he might get carried away in the violent energies of the moment and end up doing more harm than good. But she might have no choice but to take the risk. Then it occurred to her to remember that Gelsenim could hear everything single thing she was thinking. "Can you?" she asked

"Can I what?"

"Can you hear absolutely everything I'm thinking?"

Gelsenim cocked his head, and brushed his hair back from his forehead with one hand. "I hear clearly those thoughts you direct to me specifically. The other thoughts and feelings vary greatly. It is like being in water with fish. When one swims close, I see it clearly. When it is farther away, I see its shape and can only guess at it's kind. When it is farther still, I can only sense the movement of it in the water. I do not know what makes some of your thoughts and memories clear and what makes others less so."