As Evil Does

by P. S. Power

  Still, she could play along, to make him feel better.

  “Which is why you should just get that sleep. I’ll call after I have a few drinks in me, never doubt that.” She patted his back, as if that were the kind of thing she was ever going to do. Drinking was meaningless to her. The taste was fine, at least if she wanted it to be, but she couldn’t get drunk. Not without using magic to make it work.

  They kissed then. It wasn’t enough, if she was never coming back. Having sex with him on the lawn felt a little off too, though, given the potential time factors. So, twenty seconds later she broke off and smiled at him.

  “Go in? I’ll be fine. Not that I don’t like creating a bit of dramatic tension from time to time.”

  He nodded, then backed away. He was still wearing his ugly blue Safeway work shirt, since they hadn’t gone and gotten clothing for him to change into that night. They, or at least he, would need to do that in the morning. There was a proto-node right there in the yard, after all, that could be used to go to several locations. Two of those were places that connected to nodes with void access. Having that should mean he could get himself home in no more than ten or twenty seconds, if he didn’t dawdle.

  Ravi nodded at her, then smiled, his slightly long face charming. Almost devilish.

  “Who doesn’t thrive with a bit of drama, right? Take care.” He walked away then, clearly pretending he wasn’t worried for her.

  He hadn’t been told everything, but even if he couldn’t hear both sides of the conversation, he was going to pick up that it was serious from her side of things. Sure, he needed to work on his intelligence a bit. Maybe doubling or tripling it, before too long. The world was too uncertain to actually coast through it, without making an effort to be all that you could. Not that she was going to drive him to such a conclusion that night. She had to leave, after all, using a bit of that intelligence for herself, if she was going to work out where her sister actually was planning to meet her.

  Standing in front of a shrub that she’d trimmed into the shape of a hippo, then maintained for several years without anyone knowing who was doing it, Keeley felt herself focus. She used magic to increase the clarity of her memories, since her brain was physically as well connected as it could be already. It stung a bit, pushing herself that way, so she increased her healing rate, using a tingle of magic, and then added to the growing spell a sense of being without pain.

  Then, once that was all acting on her, she started to think.

  Her sister had known her for years. Since Keeley was going to Raintree High, as a junior in school. She’d moved there months before, when her father had, conveniently, gotten a great job at Cortechs. Which, naturally, her sister owned. That had been a lure, to get Keeley, who she’d been assigned to mentor, to move into her territory.

  Not that she couldn’t have simply come in and taken over the minds of her mother and Human father and simply grabbed Keels up for that. She could have even left her in place and then commuted to do the task. That would be a bit more of a pain, of course, but it wasn’t outside of what her sister was really willing to do. When she’d been assigned as Zack’s mentor, she’d literally gone to the same area, making that same trip, to do the work needed.

  Nothing in that was going to give Keeley a clue as to where they’d meet. The obvious line she needed to follow was in that time period. When they’d first met. Well, at least past the time when Keeley had become aware that Darla was in her life. Now, as an adult, it was clear that her sister had been around her for years before that. Waiting for Keel’s powers to come into being. That tended to happen after puberty, for her people. Normally offset by a few years, but that could vary a lot.

  Which meant that, given everything, her sister was probably one of her best friends from her freshman or sophomore school years. A thing that wasn’t hard to work out, even if it had never been mentioned to her before. There had only been three of them, after all. Jenny, Holly and Ben.

  She focused on those names for a while. People who, once she’d moved, she’d nearly forgotten about totally. Which was a horrible thing for her to have done, while also being safer for them. As a kid, a baby Greater Demon, there would have been no way to protect them anyway.

  Ben was, of course, not her sister. He’d gone on to become a Vampire, after all. He’d even dated Eve, while he’d been a Human. Keeley hadn’t seen him herself, though Eve, being her friend, had talked about dating a guy named Ben from Vancouver, several times.

  Keels had been a bit clueless at the time, in high school and hadn’t realized that the slightly heavyset boy, who enjoyed science fiction and liked table top games had actually been in love with her.

  She blinked, looking at the topiary. After all, she’d figured him for a regular friend, which meant that she’d ended up being kind of a bitch about the whole thing in her clueless disregard. It was an honest enough thing, of course. She probably would have dated him at the time. Except that, of course, Charles, her Human dad, would have never allowed that. He’d kind of suspected that all women were out cheating on their men when they could. Not to the level of reality either. Women did cheat and if things were counted up properly, that number was about half of them at any given time.

  About the same percentage as men, though the breakdown was different, after a fashion. The average man who cheated, unbeknownst to him, ended up sleeping with a woman who moved from guy to guy rapidly. There were women who had sex with hundreds of men per year, just for fun. Most women who cheated threw themselves at a tiny pool of men who tended to be wealthy, compared to their husbands and boyfriends, while also being better looking and having better genetics in some ways.

  Knowing that didn’t get her a location as to where to meet her sister that night.

  Ben was out though, even if she needed to look him up soon and make sure they were good. It didn’t really matter, but if she wasn’t going to be evil, then doing that kind of thing was probably part of what she had to see to. Eventually.

  That left Jenny and Holly. It was obvious which one was her sister, after bringing up both faces. After all, Holly was black, average looking and had been a good friend, but just the kind that sat with her at lunch and occasionally worked with her on history projects.

  Jenny on the other hand looked nearly identical to Darla’s new form. Allison. A slightly heavyset, but still pretty girl. One whom Keeley hadn’t even considered for years, not having a reason to at all. She really didn't think about that part of her life all that often, after all. Not that it was a good excuse to miss a whole demon having been part of her life like that for years.

  That was the key. Knowing that Keels would do a deep dive into her memories, Darla would use that. So it was something significant that she and Jenny had shared. Which, of course, was easy enough to find. There had been a trip to the local wetlands as part of a club activity once. Jenny had, when Carlos Fines had dared her to, kissed Keeley pretty hard. It had been the first time that she’d French kissed anyone.

  A thing that, again, she wouldn’t have really recalled, without using magic for it. Meaning that it was being blocked, for some reason. That… Well, it was simple enough to work out. After all, clearly Carlos Fines was her father. Finias. He’d even met her mother under the name Carlos. In Mexico, years before.

  Fines… Finias. It was possible at least. Also, he could have easily hidden memories from her, since she’d been totally powerless and unguarded back then. Her mind had been more or less an open book. Written on easily, by anyone with a bit of power and a will to do it. Even regular Humans could learn to do that much, if they cared to try a bit.

  She recalled the spot though, and where the kiss had taken place. Then she moved back about fifty meters on the far side of the rift she created, so that, if there was a trap ready, she might miss it.

  Instead of walking directly into a Demon trap, she found herself standing in the wetlands, on a fairly dry bit of trail, a gentle breeze making the tall grass and cattails surrounding he
r whip in the wind a bit. Then, slowly, she moved forward. It was clear that no one was there yet.

  If Darla had really been in Africa, then it would take her a bit to get there, walking the lines. Of course, if she hadn’t lied about that, then her sister wasn’t coming at all. It was very possible that she’d gone to someplace else, instead of trying to show up at the place that Keeley imagined would be the correct one.

  A moment later she was able to feel a presence moving along the lines. It was like a bulge of energy that pulled at the fabric of the world at its passing. Moving faster than the best jets could have, without being more than a fraction of as fast as what she’d done to get there herself. It was impossible to tell if the being coming was her sister, of course.

  At least at the moment. There was no reason that she couldn’t learn to identify magical readings from others, if she put her mind to it. While she waited, which took about forty-three seconds, more or less, she tried to do that. Just in case it came up again.

  She also pulled a rocket launcher from the pocket universe to her right. It took a bit of magic to use, but was so handy to have. Carried with and around her was enough gear to fill a nicely sized truck. With her constantly. That she didn't have more clothing, of various sizes, in it was just her being lazy. More food as well. She had some, but it was only enough for a snack. Time didn't pass inside that space, so if she put in a frozen milkshake, it would be taken out still just as cold and unmelted. The same happened with hot food dishes.

  The only thing that had stopped her from stocking all of those things was that her original build idea had been a bit clumsy. She’d carved out a square that she could reach into on three sides of herself, if she did it right. What she needed, was to take that early attempt down and to make something nicer that would take its place. A small storehouse that she could layer, so that she could reach into thousands of different spaces, for instance. She could do that simply by having each space resonate at a slightly different magical level.

  It would take a little bit of work, but not doing something that could be of tremendous value because it would require some small effort was silly.

  She was thinking of that, taking the safeties, both of them, off on the rocket launcher.

  When space split, about twenty feet from her, making a blue and silver light, which really was what her sister used for that kind of thing, Darla stepped through. Looking like Darla Gibson, not one of her other faces. That could mean anything, of course. Out of five hundred Wise Ones or Greater Demons, a hundred of them could probably fool her that way, that she knew of.

  Leaving probably twice that number who could do it that she didn't know about.

  Even she could have pulled it off, now.

  “Darla. Nice to see you.” She waited then, and nodded. It was time for her to prove who she was. Except that she’d given up all but six of her slaves. Five of them wouldn’t be able to come quickly and summoning The Mimic, just to see if he was available as a source of proof was a poor plan as well.

  Her link to him was still strong and while he felt a good way off, it was still inside the realm they were in. He was on Earth, or possibly in space, but not so far away she couldn’t reach him. In the past she’d called on Balthias, the Fear Demon, to prove who she was. He hadn’t been her slave for nearly ten years.

  It was true that he might actually come if she called on him anyway, of course. That just wouldn’t be proof of anything. She could have been anyone working out a deal with the Lesser Demon, after all. Even a Human, fooling her sister. She looked like her decently cute blonde form at the moment, after all. Not anything all that familiar to her sister.

  Darla looked like herself, a twenty-something cheerleader who was a bit too youthful and hot for the thirty-three she’d actually have to be.

  Keeley shrugged.

  “I suppose you could ask me a question only Keeley would know?” That was risky and not that good of a test, of course. It was too easy to fake that kind of thing, using a bit of telepathy.

  It would be noticed if she tried to strip her sister’s mind for facts. The same would happen the other way around. Plus, it would probably trigger a fight, just then, if either of them tried. It was too similar to an attack, even if it was close to being the best they could do toward really proving who they were.

  Which meant her sister moved forward, with no weapon in her hand at all. She smiled though, making it seem friendly.

  “This is a new look, sis. How long have you been using it?”

  She shrugged.

  “Not long at all. The night I started dating Ravi. About ten days, ago. I also have a new look for work. I should do up something as a man, don’t you think?” She normally didn't do that kind of thing, but before it had been too hard for her to move back and forth, shape wise. Doing that in about twenty seconds was a lot less of a hardship than doing the same thing over the course of twelve hours. It took less magic and focus to use the new trick that way as well.

  Darla just shrugged.

  “Probably. Given that you can actually walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, it’s too powerful a thing not to try out, at least occasionally. The same is true for different races and types of being, of course. Understanding why people respond like they do is useful. Plus, you can play a lot of games that way. Now… Something only Keeley and I would know? Let me…” She held up one hand, then nodded. “We went into a hidden space once, the first time, to talk about something. What was that?”

  She could see that as being valuable. Not that it would be too hard for her to guess what kind of thing they’d been doing that way, after all.

  “You came into my room, at the new house in Arizona. I’d been grounded. You brought me food, then we went into a secret space and we covered Charles’s mental issues. Also that I had to eat a lot more than before. I’d been starving myself, not realizing what I really needed.”

  Darla snorted.

  “Now that I hear it… That’s right, or close enough to what I recall. I’d also been manipulating the heck out of you at the time. Now, I suppose we should go the other way around? What do you want me to answer for you?”

  Keeley shrugged.

  “What’s the first device that you built, that I knew of, after we met officially?”

  That got a nod.

  “A jar trap for Balthias. I didn't get all the parts in time, so you ended up taking him as a slave. That had surprised the hell out of me at the time. When you first told me about it, I’d actually figured that he’d managed to take you as a slave, somehow. That shouldn’t happen, but you were so young. Your powers had only come awake a few days before that. There you were though, standing there, acting as if you were a hundred years old, holding a being that most of us would have struggled to capture, even if we had a bargain in place. I nearly killed you then.”

  That hadn’t been obvious at the time. Her sister had actually been fairly nice and supporting at the time. That she’d nearly died made sense. Her power was, even for a Greater Demon, big in that one regard. Now she was actually doing well enough in a few other areas as well.

  Thanks to others having helped her out that way.

  Darla got that, too.

  “You got here fast. You worked out the thing with Jenny already? I would have thought that part would have taken you a few minutes, at least. Finias hid that from you after all. I didn’t get the reason at the time. It wasn’t about us, of course. He was protecting Zack.”

  Who was being hunted by his father. The Defiler.

  “Which is why you lured me out of this area, wasn’t it? Finias subtly got you to do it? Having a new Greater Demon in the neighborhood could have drawn Xenses to me. Zack was no more than five miles from where I lived at the time.”

  Her sister, taking a few steps closer, since they were about as certain that the other person was who they were claiming as possible, for the moment, nodded. It was dark out, but the moon reflected off the gently waving grass and the clouds above.


  “It was closer than that. I measured it once. Two miles and forty-seven feet. There would be almost no way for Xen to have found you and not worked out that there was something else there, at the time. Zack was hidden by his broken mind, but he was leaking power all over the place while doing it. I knew that something was up, but Dad actually asked me not to dig into it at the time. I nearly did anyway, which would have probably exposed Zack, so just as well I’d actually done the right thing, back then. It hadn’t really seemed like it at the time.”

  Whoever was across from her, and Keeley had to admit it was probably Darla, laughed a bit then. It wasn’t happy.

  “Anyway… I can’t find anyone except you, Tarsus and Linden. He called me about a minute ago and said that he’d found Bente. She’s in Costa Rica, in a cave, hiding. She was nearly dead. He’s getting food to her and helping her heal. That’s all we have.”

  Keeley took that in, controlling her emotions with magic, like she had for most of her adult life. At the moment it didn't matter if she was innately good or not. Things were suddenly too dangerous for uncontrolled feelings.

  “Which doesn’t look good, at all. Do you have a plan? Does Tarsus?”

  Darla shrugged, seeming to actually mean it.

  “Questioning Bente and seeing if this is related to anything else. I… She’s a fashion designer, but also a good fighter, Keeley. Really good. I mean, I doubt that you or I could take her in battle, unless we used magic for it. Working together. If something nearly killed her that way, then we might just be in over our heads on this one.”

  Keeley nodded at the words. That sounded likely, after all.

  “Like always, the water doesn’t ask if you want to swim, or if you feel comfortable with the idea.”

  Those words got a laugh. Then, together, they moved to a different location, to meet up with the others.

  Chapter twelve

  Darla had proved herself to be who she was claiming when they touched. That was done so she could tell her younger sister where to go, without speaking the words out loud. It meant that Keeley, for a moment, merged with her. Reading the entirety of her life from the contact. At the same time, Darla got a similar view of Keels. A stripping bare of minds, that, when unguarded, was a complete picture of who a being really was.