The Black Merchant

by Shannon Reber

  TWENTY-ONE

  Hadley Novak needed air. There was too much dust, too much mold, too much of everything she was allergic to. Her lungs felt like they were on fire as they swelled so much, virtually no air could pass through her system.

  She took a puff off her inhaler and almost immediately, the symptoms lessened. They were still present but had quieted enough to allow her to catch her breath, at least slightly.

  Her sweat-slicked face was even paler than usual, her head spun, and her chest hurt. It felt like years that they had been there. She and Esther sat leaned against each other, the other girls who had been brought in a few days before huddled together next to them.

  Esther took the inhaler from Hadley’s hand and shook it a little. “That’s not going to last much longer,” she said, her voice far sharper than usual as she handed the inhaler back.

  Hadley didn’t answer. There was nothing to say. Hope had faded until all that was left was guilt and misery.

  “I lied to you,” she wheezed out, her eyes closed as she leaned her head on Esther’s shoulder. “Nobody has ever hurt me. I did it to myself.”

  Esther sat still for a moment before she let out a slow sigh. “I know, Hadley. I’ve always known,” she said, her eyes fixed on the wall beyond their cage.

  Hadley gasped in as much air as she could and let it out in a slow, methodical way. “Why would you be friends with me if you knew I was a liar?”

  Esther turned to look at her friend, tears rising in her eyes. “Because I love you for you, not because of your stories. Not because I feel sorry for you. Not because I want to have someone to protect. Just because you’re you.”

  Hadley’s lips quivered up in a tiny smile. “The girl I hired to find you told me that friends can be family in your heart. She promised me she’d find my real sister. She will find you, Fester. You will be safe.”

  “Hadley Novak, shut your mouth. Don’t you dare say goodbye to me. You are going to fight. Do you hear me, Hads? You WILL fight and you WILL live. We all will.”

  Hadley’s eyes fogged. “Tell my mom . . . I’m sorry,” she whispered, her eyes beginning to flutter closed.

  Esther took hold of Hadley’s shoulders and shook her hard. “Hadley! Wake up! Do not go under!” she shouted, tears sliding down her cheeks as she tried to revive her friend.

  At that exact moment, the cage door clicked and swung open. The huge metal door swung open as well and a dark haired girl darted through that open door.

  The girl’s dark eyes flashed with an unspeakable rage as she flung the door of the cage wide and motioned for all of them to leave. “Hurry. We have to get out of here before—”

  Kevin stepped out of the little office not far from the cage. “Well, well, well. A pretty girl comes to play with me. How nice,” he said as he strolled carelessly in their direction, his eyes moving over the dark haired girl’s body in an overt way.

  Hadley’s eyes fluttered open and a quavering smile came to her lips. “Madison,” she whispered, her voice so weak it hardly carried to them.

  Madison ran over and crouched down next to Hadley, even her freckles paling at the sight of her. “Hadley, I’m here. I found you. Come on. Let’s get you home. Your mom and dad are waiting to see you. So is Infinity, actually,” she said and helped Esther to guide her to her feet.

  Hadley’s pale, sweaty face brightened a little at the mention of her family.

  Kevin leaned his shoulder on the entrance of the cage, blocking them in. “They don’t want to see you, Hadley,” he said in a soft tone. “Your parents told me themselves that the happiest day of their lives was the day they got you out of their house.”

  Madison growled like an angry dog. “Shut up, Duane. The cops should be here pretty soon to take you in. You’re going to spend the rest of your pathetic life behind bars if you live that long. From what I’ve heard, cons don’t like sexual predators.”

  Esther’s eyes narrowed. “Duane?” she asked, her eyes flicking between the three of them.

  Madison sneered at Kevin. “The guy you know as Kevin Marchand is actually Duane Orm. He’s wanted in Minnesota for fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. That charge alone could earn him ten years in prison. Add in the kidnapping charges for you guys and the sex-trafficking charges, he’s going to be holding tight to the soap for quite a while.”

  Kevin folded his arms and gave Madison a patronizing look. “I didn’t do anything to those girls that they didn’t want. Some of them begged me for it. Girls want a real man to show them a good time. I can’t take care of all of them, though. All I’m doing here is trying to find these pathetic girls good homes with men who would care for them and make sure they were provided for. It’s practically a community service. We can’t have hot, young girls out on the streets by themselves. Who knows what kind of trouble they’d get themselves into?”

  Hadley’s bowed head rose as Madison and Esther supported her. “Community service?” she gasped, her face going gray as even more color was leeched from her skin.

  Kevin tipped his head in a superior pose. “Yes, community service. You’re a liar, Hadley. No one wanted you other than me. Don’t you see that? You can’t take care of yourself. You need a man to do it for you.”

  Madison’s face turned beet red. “You pathetic, sexist simpleton. You’re not taking care of anyone. What you’re doing is feeding your deviance and lining your pockets with blood money. You can’t justify your behavior. There is no excuse for your kind of aberrance.”

  “I don’t need to make excuses. You are the criminal here,” he said and made a tut-tut noise with his tongue. “A hacker who was arrested at the age of eight? And you have continued on in your illegal activities. Maybe I should have a little talk with those officers when they arrive. It’s the word of a criminal against the word of a decent, upstanding citizen after all,” he said, his eyes fixed on Madison’s chest as he ran his tongue over his teeth.

  Before Madison could respond, a roar filled the air. All the girls who had been pressed against the wall, too afraid to exit the cage sprang forward. Each of them pushed their way out of the cage and began to run.

  Hadley’s eyes went wide as she saw a blood-red, winged creature swoop its way into that space with what looked like a dog held under one of its arms. That winged thing landed, shoving Kevin out of the way as he dumped the dog on the ground at Madison’s feet.

  Madison’s eyes widened as she looked at the dog, her teeth clenched so hard the muscle in her jaw bulged. “Roy,” she gasped, stepping away from the other two. “Esther, get Hadley out of here,” she demanded as she raised her blazing eyes to look at that monster. “I’m going to kill you for this,” she promised and ran at that creature like some kind of avenging angel.

  Since Kevin had been knocked out of the way by the demon, they were able to get out of that cage though only a few steps. With the fierce battle between the demon and Madison taking place mere feet away from them, it was hard to stay out of their way.

  Esther yanked Hadley to the side as a jet of flames flew out of that creature’s mouth. She lunged toward the huge metal door Madison had come through until Kevin stepped in front of her, waving his finger in a scolding way. He shot them a condescending look as he tried to shunt them back into the cage.

  Hadley pulled free of her friend and faced Kevin, her breaths so ragged it was hard to hear her around the roars of the demon as it fought with Madison. “I thought you cared about me. You told me you wanted to marry me. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to buy that.”

  Kevin held out his hand between them. “I’m in over my head, Hadley. They’ll kill me if I don’t have someone to give them. I was good to you. I treated you well. You won’t let them kill me, right?” he asked in a pleading tone.

  Hadley’s eyes moved to contemplate his hand. She swayed slightly, reaching out to steady herself on the iron rungs of the cage door.

  Kevin took a small step closer to her. “Hadley, you wanted me. You still want me. I can see i
t in those eyes of yours. Don’t let them hurt me, Hadley.”

  A slight smirk came to her lips as she swung the door of the cage closed, slamming his fingers in that door. “You will never touch me or any other girl ever again, you sleaze!” and she pushed on that cage door with enough force to break the man’s fingers.

  Kevin howled in pain and slammed his fist through the bars of that cage . . . or he tried to. With his hand trapped, Esther shoved him around and kneed him with every last ounce of force in her body. Kevin let out a high pitched moan and curled in on himself, holding onto his injured bits.

  Esther smirked down at him. “Every time you even think about a girl, I want you to remember those crushed balls of yours. Try using those broken fingers on someone else. I dare you,” she said and turned to help her friend.

  Hadley stumbled slightly, practically falling over but she caught herself on the cage. With a wicked little grin, she opened the door and stepped over Kevin’s huddled figure.

  Esther put her arm around her friend and led her toward the door.

  Hadley looked at Madison, her head spinning. “Fester . . . shouldn’t we help her?” she asked, her steps faltering as she watched that demon pick Madison up and throw her at the wall.

  Esther pulled Hadley toward the steps. “Let’s get you out of here. I’ll come back and help her. You need air, though,” she said and tugged her friend up the dilapidated steps.

  Hadley’s knees gave out as they got to the top of the steps. Her pale, sweaty face was drawn from a lack of oxygen. She would have toppled to the ground if Esther hadn’t been holding her up.

  “Hadley, come on. We’re almost out,” Esther said, trying to hold her friend up.

  Hadley’s body could no longer function with so little air. Her wheezy breaths had gotten far slower until they could hardly be heard.

  Esther gripped her arm and hauled her over so Hadley’s arms were on either side of her neck. She dragged her friend that way, her eyes focused on the entrance.

  The building looked like it was ready to fall in on itself. The charred holes in the concrete floor made that walk rather treacherous, as though the dragon-man had a tantrum in that space. A chill worked its way up Hadley’s spine at that thought, terror and adrenaline only intensifying her desperate need for air.

  The sound of running footsteps filled the air. Hadley didn’t have the energy even to turn her head. She lay limply, allowing Esther to drag her along. She hated feeling like a weakling, though there was nothing she could do.

  A man reached out and took hold of one of her arms, taking half her weight from Esther’s shoulders. “It’s okay. I’m Agent Dio Simms, of the FBI. Let me help,” he said and the two of them together rushed her toward the entrance.

  Esther’s arm tightened around Hadley. “Is that woman secure?” she asked with a nod to something Hadley couldn’t see.

  Agent Simms blew out a breath. “So long as she can’t break out of the cuffs I put on her, Raven is secure, yes,” he said with a scowl in the direction Esther had been looking.

  “Help . . . Madison,” Hadley tried to say. She wasn’t sure either of them had heard her.

  It seemed Esther had heard. “I promise you, Hads, we’ll help Madison as soon as you’re safe,” she said, reaching out to open that door.

  The moment the door opened and fresh air hit her, Hadley’s bleary eyes saw a guy’s arm reach out to grab the door before it could close behind them.

  Hadley wanted to see who it was. She felt horrible about leaving Madison to face that monster alone. She prayed Madison would be okay.

  Without Madison, she and Esther would have been sold to that horrible creature who had taken Aldora. She was desperate to find out what had happened, to help in any way she could.

  “We need an EpiPen. Please tell me you have one,” Esther shouted at somebody, her voice sharp as a blade as she and Agent Simms carried her out of that building.

  Agent Simms glanced over his shoulder. “Hey, you’re Ian,” he asked whoever had held the door open.

  “Yeah,” a frantic sounding voice answered.

  “Hold on, kid. Don’t close that door or we won’t be able to get back in,” Agent Simms ordered, his voice a little shaky.

  When Hadley had been deposited in the seat of a car, she was able to see that there were police cars and many other vehicles as well. There were figures all around, talking to what looked like police officers and the strobe lights of an ambulance nearly blinded her.

  Esther took hold of her hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. “We’re okay, Hads. All the girls that were in the cage with us are here, talking to the cops. You’re going to be just fine.”

  Tears of relief rose in Hadley’s eyes as an EMT rushed over and hooked an oxygen mask around her face. Air. Thank God. She glanced toward the building, grateful to be out of that place but so very worried for Madison Meyer.

  TWENTY-TWO

  My body throbbed with pain. It turned out that fighting a half incubus, half dragon-shifter was no easy feat. Granted, I probably wouldn’t have had an easy time fighting Deegan in his human form. He wasn’t tall, though he was wiry, scrappy.

  I picked myself up from the ground and looked around for a weapon to use against him. All that was near me was the trash from the human world and the cage the girls had been held in. That was no use unless I wanted to lock myself in, which I didn’t.

  I slid my hand into my pocket and took out the vial of salt Erkens had given me. It was less useful because of his dragon-shifter blood though it could be of some use. I wasn’t entirely defenseless.

  I kept my eyes fixed on his and did my best not to cringe in pain. I was only bruised. I could handle a bruise or two. I had to make sure he could no longer subject another girl to his mark.

  “How did you do it, Deegan? The night I was marked at Hope House, I saw you outside then got down the hall in about a minute and you were right there at the reception desk,” I asked, hoping to distract while I tried to come up with a plan.

  He furled his wings, his monstrous head tipped down in a mocking pose “I’m not human, Madison. All I needed was for you to see my true form to be marked. Getting back inside was easy since the receptionist was busy staring at your boyfriend. She certainly did think he was an impressive sight,” he mocked, stepping closer to me as he did.

  “You tried to kill me in Cleveland,” I accused, shuddering at the memory of that pain from a few hours before.

  “I did,” he agreed, his dragon-like lips pulled back in a horrendous smile. “You have always been an obnoxious intellectual. I had no idea you were such a stubborn little terror. No one has ever caught on to who we are before now and no one has ever gotten away from a portal to the underworld. I never realized you had such powerful friends.”

  I ignored his reference to Spencer and pressed on in my questioning in hopes for any information that might help me take him down. “Why did you mark me, Deegan?” I asked, trying not to be distracted by the thoughts of Ian that ran through my mind as well.

  “You are my ticket to freedom, Madison,” he said and all of a sudden he shifted into his human form.

  The gift to be able to see through glamours from LJ made it possible for me to see the red scales under the human glamour. It was nice to be able to see something that looked a little more defeatable so I was grateful for that.

  The problem was, being closer to the figure of the guy who had been my friend in our support group made me want to cry. I had thought we had been close. The pain of that loss was strident.

  The smell of stale beer was strong as the rats and other rodents skittered across the floor. It gave me the girly urge to cringe away. Being in that place made me want to shower like a crazy person.

  Wait a second . . . a shower. Deegan was still a demon no matter what his mother was. Salt, iron, silver, all those things would hurt him. They wouldn’t hurt him as much as they hurt other demons yet it was a slight advantage. I still wore the necklace that Erkens had giv
en me. It was silver and was a rune of protection.

  The demon-mace was in my pocket as well. Maybe if he was hit by all those things at once, it would give me an advantage. Maybe it would slow him down.

  I kept my eyes fixed on his as we circled each other, both of us aware of the other’s tenacity when it came to the things we set our minds to. It was something that had made me think we could have been something special to each other. We had never gotten to that point and I had moved back to Pittsburgh so it had never come about.

  I shifted slightly as Deegan stepped closer to me, ready and willing to do what needed to be done to keep him away from me. “What do you mean that I’m your ticket to freedom?” I asked, hoping to keep him talking until my little plan could be put into play.

  He waved his hand in the direction of the door. “Your ability to crack the system that was written by a mix of scientists and otherworlders makes you invaluable. I marked you not for me but for them. They want your mind.”

  “They can’t have it,” I snapped, fear beginning to pulse its way through my system.

  I wanted to ask more questions. The trouble was, the way he moved made me think he was about to attack. He had a tell before he attacked, where his eyes would flick toward where he planned to strike. His eyes had flicked to my legs.

  I darted out of the way when he lunged at me, taking the vial of salt out of my pocket as I did. The problem with my plan was that I would have to get close to him in order to be able to put it into play.

  I emptied some of the salt onto my palm and wishing for safety, dashed over to him. I brought my hand up when we were face to face and blew the salt into his eyes. Something like that would burn anybody’s eyes. So far as I knew, salt in the eyes of a paranormal creature would be like acid in our eyes.

  Deegan howled in pain, his eyes turning red as he again let his glamour fade. The incubus/dragon-shifter bawled as he rubbed at his eyes, only making the problem worse. If my guess was right it would blind him, at least for a little while.