Demon Master (Demonsense series Book 2) (67 page)

Keeping half an eye on Franchesca, half an eye on the duel before her, she extended her Reader sense again. And this time she got five power signatures, the first, stronger one she'd initially felt, and four more. She had to repress the words
Oh shit!
which leaped immediately to her lips.
Hurry, Daniel,
she thought urgently,
please hurry.

Leander was still fuming as he stalked towards the spot in the park Marton had thought Thorvaldson was most likely to choose for the duel. Bree had completely fooled him. He hadn't thought she was harboring that level of suspicion of him. Every bit of his Reader sense had told him Bree trusted him. She'd told him her secrets, and Thorvaldson's. He thought of that last, gentle kiss, and ground his teeth. It didn't mean anything, none of it meant anything.
 

There were only three cars left in the parking lot across from the museum. He'd been held up for almost two hours in a traffic jam caused by an accident coming back from Everett, and that was after it took an hour to get up there. He could just imagine how Marton would respond if he found out how readily Leander had been duped. He'd been so sure he was the one in control, so certain he had Bree doing exactly what he wanted. He had to find her before she had a chance to interfere in the duel. Marton had plans, and it would be on Leander's head if Bree fucked it all up.
 

He knew her energy signature, and he brought up his Reader sense and started scanning once he thought she might be in range. He felt the outer ward on the dueling ground before he located any sense of her. The desire to throw in the towel on the whole thing came over him. He had some money stashed away in case he ever had to go on the run, and visions of the beach in Rio came to him, beautiful women in colorful bikinis as far as the eye could see. But it wasn't enough, he didn't have nearly enough to keep him from having to find some kind of job to support himself. Oh, doubtless he could come up with something, but the plan was to put enough away, and invest enough that he could leave on his own terms. No, he had to see this through, this job and quite a few more, before he could make the break from Marton.

With an effort, he pushed through the deflection ward, and in only a few more yards, he could feel magic in the air. There was Marton's signature, and Thorvaldson's, both flaring hotter the closer Leander got. And there, Franchesca's, seething with black passion and the avid attention of a vulture waiting to feast on the remains of battle.

And there was Bree, just on the farthest edge of awareness, that sense of tender spring leaves, and coral light, and silver. He stopped and closed his eyes, pulse flaring and surging. He opened wider and located her, about twenty yards away, up under a tree on the eastern edge of the small clearing where the duel was being fought.
 

As quietly as he knew how, he walked wide around the stand of trees until he was coming up behind Bree. He could just register her shape in the darker shadows under a huge cedar tree whose lower branches swept nearly down to the ground. He stopped and held very still, energy pulled in, waiting for any sign that Bree had spotted him. She shouldn't be able to read his energy signature if she wasn’t specifically looking for it, but she could see him if he wasn't careful. When she didn't turn toward him, he crept carefully closer. He'd gotten as far as the edge of the tree branches when he saw her head snap to the left, as if she'd heard or sensed something.
 

Leander pulled up his Reader sense, and swept it out in the direction Bree was facing. Soon enough, he sensed what she had. A group of powered moving toward them. It had to be Scanlon and his crew. Marton wasn't going to be happy with that. He hadn't wanted witnesses to the duel in case he had to cheat to take Thorvaldson. Maybe Thorvaldson had given out the location to Scanlon to keep things honest. Or maybe Scanlon had been keeping tabs on either Marton or Thorvaldson. Should he try to head off the Keltoi or keep an eye on Bree?

His lips pressed into a pained grimace as he made up his mind. He already knew the best use to make of Bree in this situation, and he'd better stick to his original plan.

The combatants were both half hunched over injuries now, Daniel clutching his waist where he'd been knifed last year, Varga with one hand against the side of his head, which was bleeding. There was a tree branch on the ground. Apparently, one of them had brought it down in an attack on the other, Bree wasn't sure if it had been Daniel or Varga, everything was moving too fast. And now more branches started raining down as both Daniel and Varga sought advantage with the new weapon.
 

Varga looked deadly cold and calculating. He'd taken his suit jacket off and the white shirt underneath was spattered with blood from his head wound. Daniel was in his jeans and his black leather jacket, angular face illuminated by the blue light of a shield he had raised above his head. It was effectively warding off tree branches, but he couldn't cast through it. She saw him flinch with effort as a particularly big tree limb came down nearly on top of the shield.
 

Franchesca was still frozen in place at the south edge of the clearing. Her fists were clenched at her sides, but Bree didn't see her lips moving or any other sign that she was doing any casting. She must be under firm orders from Varga not to interfere, at least at this point. Varga must value being able to say he beat Daniel fairly, but Bree didn't trust that Franchesca would hold back if it really became clear Daniel might kill Varga. And there, moving closer, those powered she'd sensed earlier. They had slowed, and even as she narrowed in on their energy signature, they stopped, likely at the edge of the deflection ward. She decided it was best to stay where she was. If the powered were Keltoi, which seemed almost certain, they might just be here to observe, whereas Franchesca could intervene at any moment.
 

Her attention shifted back to the duel, and it looked to her like Daniel was on the defensive. He seemed to have lost the upper hand somehow. Varga had moved several paces closer to Daniel, and he made a pulling gesture with his hands, tugging down the tree branches, one after another. Daniel was partially crouched down, bending under the weight of the shield as if he might not be able to hold it for much longer.
 

 
Just when Bree opened her mouth to call Gelsenim in preparation for doing something to help him, Daniel moved rapidly in a circle to his left, arms extended, whirling like a discus thrower. The blue shield tilted and moved with him, and a thin tree branch three feet long, sharp at the end where it had broken off, was deflected by the shield and flung through the air, straight at Varga.
 

Too late, Varga lifted his hands to shield. The branch hit him, penetrating his abdomen on his left side, near his hip. He fell back onto the ground with the force of it, the limb sticking gruesomely out of his flesh, though it looked like it hadn't gone through him. The last of the branches Varga had called against Daniel crashed harmlessly to the ground, and Daniel lowered his shield. His face was grim as he advanced on Varga. He raised both hands, clenched them into fists, and his lips began to move in a spell.

"No!" Franchesca shrieked, just as Varga shouted, "Felakim, I call you! Felakim, I command you to possess me, now!"

Orange mist poured into the clearing just in front of Varga, between him and Daniel. Daniel had to take a step back to avoid it. Before it could take shape, it shot straight into Varga. Bree's Demonsense clamored to life, and she got a strong hit of nausea. The demon Varga had called was a big one.
 

Varga pulled the tree branch out of himself with a growl, eyes orange-lit with demon possession. Before he could say anything, Daniel stepped toward him again. His voice wasn't raised, and Bree had to strain to hear him. "Marton Varga, I bind you to my will," he intoned, his voice low but fierce.

"You can't bind me," Varga snarled. Bree couldn't get a clear sense if it was Varga or the demon talking. Now that the demon was inside Varga, it's energy seemed dampened somehow. Perhaps it had brought the new hiding ability online. But why would the demon do that? It was no secret that it had possessed Varga.

Daniel ignored him and tried again. "I bind you to my will." Bree felt the dark Binder energy lash out, but Varga made a gesture with his right hand, and a green shield flashed into place briefly. Just as quickly, it vanished, and Varga cast. Daniel froze in place, lips parted, hands still extended in clenched fists. Bree instinctively took a step forward, and felt someone grab her arm. She instinctively tried to pull away even as she spun to look behind her to see who it was.
 

It was Leander. She glared at him, and he frowned back, shaking his head.
Let me go!
she mouthed at him.

No,
he mouthed back, then said something she couldn't quite make out. She jerked her arm against his grip, but she could get no purchase against his greater strength. She glanced back toward the duel, frantic to see if Daniel was safe. She nearly sagged in relief when she saw Daniel had somehow gotten free of the freeze spell. Varga was on his feet again, hand pressed against his side, blood seeping out from under it and across the front of his pants. He was bleeding badly, but the demon was making him strong enough to stand. He wouldn't be able to stay on his feet long if the branch had hit one of his organs. She couldn't tell how badly he was hurt.
 

Daniel cast toward Varga, and Varga winced, clutching harder at his injury. Bree wasn't sure what the spell was, but clearly it’d hurt him.
 

She spun her Reader sense out again for the approaching powered and felt them almost immediately. They were closer now.
 

She moved towards Leander until she was close enough to whisper in his ear. "God damn it Leander, let me go!" she hissed.

"I'm not letting you get in the middle of that," he whispered back fiercely. "You're going to get yourself killed."

Bree pulled back a little until she could look up into his face, searching for some sign as to his intentions. His looked stiff with tension, but that was all she could make out. Fine, she'd just have to assume the worst. She prepared a freeze spell in her mind, but before she could cast, she felt a ward surge up around Leander. It made his grip on her slippery, and she pulled away, hard. But there was nowhere to run. In every direction except directly behind her, the cover was much thinner and she'd be seen if she moved. And behind her was away from the duel.

Bree wrenched her attention back to the fight just in time to see a flare of demonic fire shoot out towards Daniel. Daniel raised a shield, but only a small one, just enough to deflect most of the flame. Some escaped around the side of the shield and just missed his face. The smell of sulphur and singed hair was in the air. Daniel was clearly tiring or he would have cast a larger shield.
 

Bree felt like her whole body was made up of tension wires. Every part of her wanted to go forward, to help Daniel, but it seemed that at the same time, every part of her was afraid to. The level of casting she was witnessing was far beyond anything she had accomplished, even with Gelsenim on board. And if she entered the fray, she could be a fatal distraction for Daniel. This was the weakness in her plan of being Daniel's back-up. So far, everything had moved so quickly that she couldn't even be certain when Daniel's life was at risk, and she knew she shouldn't intervene unless that was so.

Varga had to be tiring too, especially with his wound. The bloodstain had crept partway down the front of his left trouser leg, shining wetly in the pale moonlight that had emerged from behind the clouds. But he had the advantage of the strength his demon lent him, and he looked focused and ready.
 

In what she had watched so far, it seemed to her that the two men were fairly evenly matched, with Daniel having perhaps a slight edge. But if Varga kept throwing demonic fire at Daniel, he wasn't going to last much longer. Demonic energy was intense and difficult to ward against, and that wasn't even taking into account the potentially destabilizing influence of demonic energy on Daniel.

Just as the thought came to her, more fire surged from Marton's hands. Again, Daniel shielded, and to his credit, the shield was bigger this time, but it snuffed out again quickly, almost too quickly. Varga saw his advantage, and cast again. Again Daniel shielded, grimacing with effort this time. He had to get off the defensive. Another bolt of flame flew out, and Daniel danced back several steps this time, shield smaller still.
Varga was winning. This time, Bree was sure of it. After sparing a glance for the still riveted Franchesca, Bree again gathered her energy to call Gelsenim.
 

Daniel beat her to it. "Gelsenim, I call you! Gelsenim, I command you!" he shouted hoarsely.
 

Gelsenim appeared almost instantly, in his human form. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but Daniel commanded, "Possess me," and immediately, the demon dissolved into smoke and entered Daniel's body.
 

Varga cast at Daniel again, but Daniel's shield was bigger this time. What's more, he moved several steps toward Varga.

"Yes!" Bree whispered, then put her hand over her mouth. She looked around at Leander, and saw that he was watching the duel as well. He hadn't made any move to interfere, at least not yet. She turned her attention back to the clearing and saw that Franchesca had inched closer to the action.
 

"Do you feel it, Daniel?" Franchesca said loudly. "Do you feel the rush of power with the possession? This is how it's supposed to be."

Daniel had managed to cast while Franchesca was talking, and Varga was thrown off balance, but he quickly threw fire back at Daniel.

"You and Marton should be working together," Franchesca continued, taking another step forward, toward Daniel. "You should be talking this out. You should give Marton a chance to tell you what he's working toward."