Demonfire (5 page)

Then Dax turned and watched
Willow as she perched on Ed Marks’ shoulder. Her blue glow looked strong and
healthy, and he could tell she was loving every minute of attention Eddy’s
father gave her. Dax turned away from the tiny sprite and looked at Eddy. He
studied the long, narrow line of her slim back beneath the cotton tee she wore,
and his body tightened. His heart seemed to flip in his chest before settling
back into a strong, steady beat. He relished the warm glow of contentment he
felt merely from being near her.

Energy surged through his
body. He felt strong. Whole. The pain from his demon tattoo faded into the
background.

Right now, at this moment, he
experienced a sense of peace he’d never once imagined.

The invasion of Evergreen was
well under way, and he had less than a week to help put things back into
balance. Failure was not an option, and with the demon’s tattoo burning across
his torso, he would be fighting a constant battle against pain as well as the
one against the clock.

But he had Eddy by his side, a
powerful ally in Willow, and a loyal companion in Bumper. He had purpose, a
destination, even the beginnings of a plan that might actually work.

For the first time in his
immortal existence, Dax truly understood what goodness felt like.

Understood it, and loved it.
If, when this mission ended, he still missed his shot at Eden and must be cast
into the void, these were the memories he would take with him. Memories of Eddy
and her father, of Willow and Bumper…memories strong enough and good enough to
last forever.

For now, though his borrowed
body was fed, it desperately needed rest. Dax glanced at Eddy just as she
yawned and knew she was exhausted as well. Sunrise was only a few hours away.
Time to rest and then begin their journey up the mountain.

He needed to remind himself to
think like a human. Demonkind were more active in the darkest hours. They’d be
safer traveling out in the open in the light of day. Once inside the mountain,
until they contacted the Lemurians, there would be no place that was safe, not
as long as they followed the pathway to the portal where the demons were
slipping into this dimension.

He would think no more of
demons tonight.

Ed showed Dax to the guest
room a few moments later. It was next to the room where Eddy would sleep.
Close, but not quite close enough.

The thought brought a smile to
his lips. Eddy Marks was a surprise he’d not expected during his week on Earth.
This body’s reaction to her presence was a gift, one he ached to explore.

Tomorrow. After he’d recharged
with sleep.

With that thought in mind, Dax
stretched out at a crosswise angle to fit his full length on the double bed,
and closed his eyes. He drifted off with thoughts of Eddy in his mind, and
Willow curled up on the pillow beside his head.

Monday morning—day two

Waking up in her childhood
bedroom was disorienting, to say the least, especially in the gunmetal gray
predawn light after only four hours’ sleep. Eddy dragged herself out of bed and
took a quick shower, found some clean bikini panties in her old dresser, and
put on the same jeans and T-shirt she’d worn the night before.

She skipped a bra, opting for
comfort over style. Then she dug around in the closet, found a soft sweatshirt
from high school, fluffed her wet hair with her fingers, and wandered out to
the kitchen, drawn by the rich scent of freshly brewed coffee.

Her father and Dax were
already up, sipping coffee and studying a large topographic map of Mount Shasta
that covered most of the kitchen table. Eddy got a cup for herself and leaned
over Dax’s shoulder to look at the familiar map.

“Good morning, Eddy.” Dax
slipped an arm around her waist. He glanced up at her as if they were a couple
that had been together for ages, not merely accidental acquaintances that had
known each other less than a day, brought together by a bizarre set of
unbelievable events.

He’d shaved, and his hair was
still wet from the shower. He wore what appeared to be an old pair of her dad’s
Levi’s, though they’d certainly never looked this good on her father. Dax’s
chest was still bare. The snake tattoo shimmered, as if alive.

Dax’s dark eyes, veiled behind
thick lashes, seemed to look right inside her. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah.” She shivered, almost
preternaturally aware of the light touch of his fingers spanning her hip, the
weight of his muscular arm around her waist. “You?”

Dax nodded. “I’ve never slept
in a bed before. I think I could grow used to such luxury.”

“Really?” Ed peered over his
reading glasses. “Where do demons sleep?”

Dax shrugged. “Wherever they
are when they grow too exhausted to stay awake: the ground, in a tree, a cave….
Sleep is a rarity on Abyss. One can’t afford such vulnerability.”

His offhand comment slammed
Eddy back to Earth. He wasn’t just the most gorgeous guy she’d ever seen, who,
for some unfathomable reason appeared to find her attractive. No, he was a
demon, a mythical creature that, for all intents and purposes, didn’t really
exist.

At least not as Eddy saw him.

Mist,
scales, and claws.
That’s how he’d described himself. Not tall, dark,
and handsome.

More like scary, scaled, and
dangerous.

She’d have to keep reminding
herself that the man she saw wasn’t real. He was merely a sexy avatar.

A demon in human form.

One with a very short life
span. In less than a week, he would be gone.

He shifted the weight of his arm
around her waist and tightened his fingers against her hip. The heat from his
warm body, so close against hers, seeped into her skin. A shiver of pure desire
raced up her spine, spread low between her legs.

It settled with a delicious
pulse of damp need, deep in her core.

With a sinking feeling, Eddy
knew it was already too late. Gazing into Dax’s dark eyes, she felt her heart
give a funny little flip, felt the rhythmic tightening in her womb, the damp
flush to her skin.

Damn.
She was in a whole shitload of trouble. Merely one morning after she’d whapped
a killer garden gnome over the head, and here she’d gone and fallen in lust
with a demon.

Of all the
idiotic, lame-brained, stupid…

With a quick jerk, she pulled
out of Dax’s grasp and stalked across the kitchen to gaze out the window above
the sink. This was not good. Not good at all. She glanced back over her
shoulder. Dax watched her with a small frown between his thick, dark eyebrows.

Quickly, Eddy turned away and
stared at the shimmering, snow-capped peak of Mount Shasta, rising up out of
the morning mist. An early snowstorm had left a blanket of white on the upper
reaches of the fourteen-thousand-foot peak. Now, sunlight caught the southern
shoulder of the mountain and turned the ice to fire. If she used her
imagination, she could almost see the spires of temples and the mythical city
of a forgotten race.

Almost
.
Except it wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. None of this. Not the demons, not the
Lemurians, not the feelings that made her heart pound and her womb ache.

Not the gorgeous man sitting
at her father’s table, watching her so intently and probably wondering why she
was acting like such a bitch. Eddy’s shoulders slumped. She blinked back the
tears of self-pity that threatened to blind her, and slowly turned around.

At least it was lust, not
love, that had her all twisted up inside. She wasn’t in love. Love took longer.
It needed to build and grow.

It most assuredly did not
smack one upside the head. Not in real life.

Of course, there weren’t
demons and deadly garden gnomes in real life, either. She managed a smile and
then quickly hid behind another sip of coffee. Her father, oblivious to the
currents swirling around him, was pointing at the map, talking away about fire
trails and road access. With a final look, Dax turned around in his chair to
follow Ed’s pointing finger.

Willow buzzed across the room
and hovered in front of Eddy’s nose, so close Eddy saw two of her.

He needs
you.

What?
Eddy blinked.

The tiny sprite moved back a
bit, just far enough that Eddy could actually see her face, read her
expressions. It was the first time she’d gotten a really close look at Willow.
She was absolutely beautiful. Her tiny ears were pointed like an elf’s, and her
body was dressed in a fitted tunic the brilliant blue of sapphires. Her eyes
were the same bright blue, her tiny lips red, her long hair like spun gold. Her
wings, fluttering as rapidly as a hummingbird’s, might have been made of
crystal the way they shimmered and glowed with a reflected rainbow of light.

Don’t
forsake him. We all need you.

She really had heard Willow!
The sprite’s voice echoed in Eddy’s mind, each word as clear as the note of a
flute.

Eddy straightened up and
grinned at the sprite. Somehow she didn’t see herself arguing with a person no
bigger than her pinky finger.
I’m not quitting
, she
thought, wondering, at the same time, if this was the right way to converse
with an honest to goodness will-o’-the-wisp.

Good.

Must be.

Willow turned and buzzed back
to her place on the table beside Ed’s coffee cup. Even at this distance, Eddy
was almost certain she saw the sprite smirk.

Before she could say a word, a
shiver ran along her spine, that someone-walking-on-her-grave feeling. She
jerked around to the window as a banshee cry overhead brought Dax and Ed to
their feet. Bumper growled, Willow zipped across the room, and they all stared
out the window.

The gargoyle, a black
silhouette against the pale dawn sky, flew not twenty feet overhead, winging
its way toward town. It didn’t look down, didn’t pay any attention to them.

A sense of pure evil followed
in its wake.

“He’s probably returning to
the building where the gargoyle belongs,” Dax said. “Demons are stronger at
night. It takes less energy to bring the avatar to life. Once the sun is up and
the demons are at rest, we need to leave.”

Eddy nodded. No matter her
misgivings, this wasn’t the time for second thoughts. She had to believe the
threat was real. Real, and terrifying beyond anything she’d ever known.

She plastered a smile on her
face. “Got anything in the fridge, Dad? I’ll make us some breakfast.”

“I shopped yesterday. Help
yourself.” Ed looked Dax up and down and then touched his shoulder. “Come with
me, son. The jeans fit fine, so we know you’re about my size. You’ll need stout
boots and a warm shirt. It can be cold on the mountain, even in September.
After we get you outfitted, I want you to take a look at the model railroad
layout in my shop. I’ve built a miniature of Mount Shasta, entirely to scale.
It might help.”

Dax nodded. With one long,
questioning look at Eddy, he followed her father out of the kitchen. Bumper
trotted gleefully behind, with Willow perched in the curls between her ears.

Dax was totally aware of Eddy
sitting behind him with Bumper while her father drove a fascinating little
vehicle with huge tires, no top, and very little room in the backseat. Ed
called it a Jeep. Eddy called it a piece of junk, but she smiled when she said
it, so Dax figured she didn’t really mean what she said.

He was learning. There was so
much about this world he found fascinating. He couldn’t imagine Eden being
anywhere near as beautiful, or as filled with wonders. It certainly couldn’t
have anyone as captivating as Eddy Marks. Knowing she sat behind him, close
enough to touch should he so choose, gave him an unbelievable feeling of
contentment.

She seemed more relaxed, now
that they were actually on the road. He still hadn’t figured out what had upset
her earlier. Of course, there was a lot he hadn’t figured out, but as knowledge
seemed to be filling his brain quickly, he wasn’t going to worry about it. He’d
understand her soon enough—or not at all.

Smiling, Dax settled back in
his seat and watched the scenery fly by. Willow perched on the dashboard and
stared out the windshield. She was as fascinated as Dax by how far and fast
they were able to travel, by the tall trees and rugged terrain and the huge,
snow-covered peak ahead.

She’d only known Eden. He’d
never seen anyplace other than Abyss. Both of them were overwhelmed by the
immense beauty around them.

Dax had no idea how he’d
gotten to town the night before. He barely recalled the demon gargoyle’s attack
near the portal. He still wasn’t sure how he’d ended up in Eddy’s potting shed,
but thank goodness she’d been the one to find him.

She was such an amazing woman.
Strong and unafraid, and she could cook too. He’d eaten so much at breakfast he
figured he’d never have to feed this body again, but when he’d said as much to
Eddy, she’d laughed and stuck four thick sandwiches in his backpack.

He guessed she knew what she
was talking about.

They followed a narrow dirt
road that wound up the northwestern flank of the mountain, and it was exactly
as Ed had shown him on the model in his workshop. At one point, Ed got out and
used a heavy tool to cut a thick chain blocking the road, but now even that
track had grown impassable.

Ed parked the Jeep and turned
off the motor. “I think this is as far as I can take you. I’d go with you if I
could, but with my bad hip I’d just slow you down.”

Ed took Dax’s hand in his. His
grip was firm, and somehow comforting, but Dax sensed a challenge in the older
man’s grasp as well.

“Good luck, Dax. Take care of
my baby girl. She’s all I have left, and I want her home in one piece.”

Dax nodded. “I would give my
life to save her.” He squeezed Ed’s hand before turning loose, aware he’d made
a powerful pact with Eddy’s father. One he could not fail.

“I know. That’s the only
reason I’m going along with this harebrained scheme.” Ed’s eyes seemed to burn
right through him before he turned around and looked at his daughter in the
cramped backseat. Dax heard him sigh when he smiled at Eddy. “I love you,
sweetie. Be careful.”

She threw her arms around her
father’s neck and hugged him. “I will, Dad. I love you too.” She kissed his
cheek and climbed out of the back with Bumper bouncing along behind her.

Dax grabbed his pack. Willow
buzzed two circles around Ed and landed on Dax’s shoulder.

Ed turned the key, and the
motor roared to life. “Follow that draw, and it should take you close enough to
the area you described. This entire mountain is the vortex, and your portal
shouldn’t be far. You said Willow can sense their presence, so I imagine she’ll
find it before too long. Eddy? Have you got a signal on your cell?”

Cell
phones.
Another amazing thing on this world. They didn’t even need
telepathy. They could call each other and actually speak. Eddy held up her cell
phone. “I do, Dad. We’ll call you when we can. Hopefully we’ll be ready for you
to come get us by tomorrow. Figure noon, okay?”

“If I don’t hear from you
before noon, I’ll be right here waiting tomorrow night. Got that?”

“Yep. Now don’t forget to call
Harlan. Tell him I won’t be in to work, at least for a couple days.”

“You know, you might lose your
job, sweetie. He’s not going to like it.”

Eddy glanced at Dax and back
at her father. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if we’re not successful,
we all stand to lose a lot more.”

Ed nodded, but his smile was
strained. “There is that. I’ll call him when I get home. I’ll let him know you
might just have one hell of a story for him.” Ed backed up, turned the little
Jeep around, and headed down the narrow dirt road.

Dax and Eddy stood there,
staring, until Ed’s departure was nothing more than a wisp of red dust settling
to earth. The magnitude of the mission ahead of them hit Dax hard and fast. He
felt the snake tattoo shift under his flannel shirt, and he shuddered against
the painful burn as his body fought the curse of the demon’s fire.

Only six more days. It was
time to get moving. He caught Eddy staring at him. “Are you ready?”

“I hope so.” She grinned,
slung her pack over her shoulder, and started up the draw her father had
pointed out.

Dax followed with Bumper at
his heels and Willow flitting alongside. The enormity of their task almost
brought him to his knees. He wondered if he would have had the courage to make
this journey alone, if not for the tall, slim girl leading the way.