Dragon's Eye (Avery Rome Book 2)

by P. S. Power

  The memories of Tarsus hit her then, a wave of understanding coming over her.

  “Greater Demons don’t work the same way you do, Avery. Ann is insane for her kind, but far more intelligent and clever than you, by far. She may well have seen all of this coming, before you even started to move into place.” Her voice was still hers, meaning she was talking to herself like a crazy person.

  Given that matched how she was feeling at the moment, she could let that one go for the time being. Balanced of mind was not going to be happening any time soon, given what she’d just found out.

  Worse, Leslie had been abused in a lot of ways by The Rotted. Made to do things that were designed to push her near to insanity, so that she’d be a better servant. Pulled into a different mental shape than her life had conditioned her for. Forced to blend into the school she was at, for instance, even as the other children there were odd, strange and bizarre.

  It was hard to understand what was going on, but harder for her to work out how she was going to save her mother from the Greater Demon. Which, she knew, was going to be the plan. It would have been, even if her mother had hated her still, for being what she was. That she’d loved her and trusted that Avery was good, no matter how things had seemed, was very different than she’d ever suspected could have happened.

  She ate a lot, then, using a bit of meditation, forced herself to sleep for four hours that night. The next day she didn’t let herself think about anything, except what she had planned. Meeting with Bente at four. Calling Krista Hall to see if a Dragon Shifter was a thing she wanted for her new show after all. What she didn’t allow was for any prolonged thoughts about her mother to come to the surface.

  It seemed like no one could easily read her mind, but every Greater Demon in her head simply explained that would just mean that it had to be done with difficulty. After all, Tarsus had worked out how to place information inside of her skin, so that she’d have the library. That had taken him nearly thirty seconds to work out. Others were even better with telepathy than that. Finias, The Mind Taker, was said to be nearly the best that way, for instance.

  That didn’t mean The Rotted couldn’t figure out ways to do the same thing. The Technician would be able to without a doubt. She had a hundred gadgets and mystical objects that would be able to take her mind, her memories or even just guess at what she was thinking from the smallest of clues. Worse, all the Greater Demons could do things like that. Zack had done it every time they’d met and even told her about it happening.

  Eve did it as well.

  So she wasn’t thinking about that kind of thing. Even as she got to lunch, hours later, and a happy looking Leslie sat by her and held her arm. It seemed different now than before. Less flirting and more demanding of attention from her own child. The one she wasn’t allowed to admit as being her own.

  “That party was, like, so much fun! I totally went down on some girl in the bathroom. She was sweet. I didn’t get her name though. Short red hair? Glasses?”

  The others were looking at her, with Allison hiding a smile for some reason.

  Avery just did that openly. Smiling.

  “Yeah. Terra and I walked in on you two doing that. Calley Hale. I have her phone number, if you want it? Bat Shifter, which means she isn’t going to be a good bet for long term dating, but she is nice. A friend of mine, more or less.”

  Mark, seeming a bit sad, slid a hamper sized basket in front of her.

  “Eat up. It was kind of neat. Too bad I’m lame at parties, you know? Sorry about that.” He was speaking to her, but Avery got a bit of coaching from Tarsus, who suggested lying would be in order. Even if she didn’t understand why. Still, the directions were right there, so she spoke the words, trying to act as if it were a secret. Whispering.

  “Well, I won’t tell about what you and those women were doing in the pool house if you don’t. Kind of advanced for me, but… They seemed pretty happy. Three of them though…” She didn't play it up, since that would be too obvious. Avery spoke gently, and as if it were deadly serious. The way the memories suggested.

  Ann blinked and leaned in, clearly having made out her words.

  “Wait… Mark was actually off having fun instead of sitting to the side of the room and acting like no one would ever be interested in him? How did that happen?”

  He looked embarrassed, which was perfect. As long as he didn’t let the Greater Demons touch him and they didn’t bother to read his normally boring mind.

  Avery glanced at them, then Mark.

  “Sorry, I said I wouldn’t tell. They have good hearing.” Then she, artfully for her, changed the subject. “Anyway, I need to call Krista Hall later. About that show she’s working on? Red Rain… I think she’s involved in hiring for it.” That part had been vague, but Allison nodded, her face suddenly bright.

  Then she spoke like an entire high school cafeteria couldn’t hear her.

  “She’s directing, actually. Also the executive producer. The premise of the show is actually sound enough. True, it’s a spin-off of her last show, but that’s still going strong. She won’t be acting in this new one much, but I wanted her to have something to fall back on. Her looks won’t last forever. Another twenty or thirty years, tops.” Her eyes locked with Avery’s then, without blinking or moving, for about ten seconds.

  It was either an invitation to have sex, or to fight.

  Or, given who Allison was, her heart shaped face well made up, and delicate seeming, it could be that she was actually trying to make friends. Giving her inside information that others might not have had. Like the bit where Krista Hall was someone she knew, personally. Whose career she guided. Eve and Hally had spoken about going to school with her, an arrangement not so different than the kids there at the table. There had even been two Greater Demons back then. More than that, actually.

  Instead of an insane killer and her stand in, this time the kids got Avery Rome. It was, as Mark had suggested, a bit lame, but it was what had happened. A pattern that was repeating itself. Probably on purpose. How or why it would be doing that, she didn’t understand. In her mind she suddenly saw a hundred ways or more for that to be happening, most of them having to do with Greater Demons.

  When Allison looked away, smiling slightly, Avery nodded.

  “That sounds fun. I should learn to act, I guess. If I do the show. She might not want me for it, which would be fair. I mean, I don’t know how to act at all, so that’s going to be in the way, right?”

  Ann snorted at her, and waved at the basket. There was even more food in it that day, including about three pounds of assorted candies. That was a bit childish, but she decided to eat it anyway, after she had the four giant sandwiches that the boy had made for her.

  The Rotted made a face that was nearly sly.

  “I hear that you got a new mentor the other day? Bente? That’s a coup, isn’t it? Back when I was a kid we didn’t have those. Not for the insane kids, like me.”

  Leslie went wide eyed, but didn’t speak then, just picking at her school lunch. It wasn’t enough food for a Shifter, but the girl had to keep her weight down for cheer-leading. Link, Tommi and Debbie weren’t there that day. At least not at the meal with them. Mark leaned in, his face concerned.

  “How does that work? The Greater Demon stuff, I mean. You look like girls to me. Kids, really.”

  Allison winked at him, then waved at Ann.

  “Shape shifting. It’s a thing that can be learned, if you have the right skill set. Greater Demons all learn how, eventually. We’re all really old, of course. Ann is, what are you dear? Nearly two thousand?”

  That got waved away, casually. She looked barely old enough to be at the table with them, even if she was a junior. Like a first year kid that had gotten in at the cool table by stealth. She was attractive, but not in an overly done way. Allison wasn’t either, but her older form from the Demon party had been. Keeley had that going on as well.

  That got her to nod, suddenly.

  �
��Oh, yeah, right. That sleepover with Keeley? I don’t know how to do that.” Avery meant the whole thing, but Ann clapped.

  “Oh! I heard about that. We need to set that up. I was thinking we could do mani-pedis? I bet Bente would come, if we invited her. We don’t really get together enough. She’s wonderful. Especially if you need a new outfit.” Looking at Mark, she gave him a saucy look. “The Fashion Demon. Call her The Pristine, if you meet her. For that matter, outside of school, I’m The Rotted, and Allison is The Technician. You need to remember that, if you can. The better you do that way, the less likely you’ll end up being one of our slaves. You did catch that bit with Krista Hall, right? Allison is her master. As in, anything she says goes. Just like how I have Leslie here. Don’t I, my little toy.”

  Allison actually glanced at first Leslie, then Avery, which said a lot more than she normally could have gotten. Ann missed that interplay, but only because her eyes went to Mark, who she was toying with at the moment. Leslie simply nodded, her eyes down at the table.

  “Yes, Mistress.”

  Ann waved then. There was a nearly manic happiness to the move.

  “See, Mark. It wasn’t even hard. I found her trying to pick up men at a truck stop, of all places. Which was silly. Truckers don’t have the kind of long term accommodations that she really needed. I did however. Not that she insisted on a house. Did you Les? No, you were willing to take it in any hole, just for a warm pallet in the back of a semi for a night. Luckily for her, I got to her first. Trust me, it was a real race. The Unlamented nearly reached her before I did. That would not have gone well.” She smiled, her face prettier for it.

  Then she glanced at Avery, locking eyes with her.

  “Do you know why I bothered, Avery Rome? Can you, in a million years, guess at why I’d bother to go through all that risk, work and danger?”

  Avery couldn’t. Tarsus and about ten other Greater Demons chimed in like it was a contest. All of them had slightly different reasons for it, but there was definitely a common thread involved. So after a moment, Avery shrugged.

  “You had to have been thinking that holding my mother would give you power over me. Given that you’re also holding Tyler Gartner that works better than it would for anyone else. He can free her, without death being involved. If I kill you, which is possible but not likely to work, then he’ll likely die as well. Maybe not. He’s rather powerful and doing most of the work himself right now.” She stopped, more data flowing, including how she should act about it all.

  Then she nodded. Her dusky face moving toward a grin. Even if she didn’t mean it.

  “So, you mean to trade something for her. I can get money, gems, things like that. So can you. They’re nearly without meaning to you, comparatively. There is one thing that you might be trying for, which… I doubt that’s it. I mean…” She shook her head, meaning the gesture. It was there in her mind, but couldn’t be the case. Not with an insane Greater Demon.

  Except that Ann was insane. Which for her could mean anything.

  Allison raised an eyebrow and Mark looked puzzled. Leslie stared at the table, hard, her face turning red. It wasn’t embarrassment, but rage. She was flavoring the air with the feeling of it. It was clear that she didn’t want her daughter to have to deal with a Greater Demon just to free her.

  The Rotted hunched a bit, her face beaming.

  “Go on… That’s incredible by the way. I’d kind of figured you for special needs, to be honest. That’s brilliant. So the reason for me to do this would be…”

  Avery tilted her head.

  “To let her go. In order to create good will between us. You control Tyler, and have Leslie, meaning that you’re the only one that could have done this. At least without starting a war between us. If other Demons were after her… Well, that would have been for the same reason. Meaning that…” She did not love the idea that came to her then.

  Allison actually went wide eyed, but then nodded at her.

  “Oh… That’s elegant. Yes…”

  Mark glanced around then threw his hands up.

  “Wait… So, Greater Demons want her, to control you. They can’t just steal her now? Why?”

  That got Ann to reach out and pat his hand.

  “Because it’s nearly impossible to break a Greater Demon slave link. The only being that can do it is my son, Tyler. He’s tied to me. As a slave, except that I don’t treat him as such. I love him. That’s my madness after all. Loving too much. So much that even the dead aren’t allowed to leave me.”

  Mark made a face, then nodded.

  “Avery can’t do that, can she? Dragons don’t take slaves like that? It would leave a hole. That… Then Les could be stolen?”

  Allison looked at him funny, then smiled.

  “Go on.”

  “Which means… That Avery should set things up for Leslie that way. So that you love her, too. That way you won’t do fucked up Demon shit to her and stuff, but she’ll be protected from Demons that might want to get at her to control a Dragon. Only there would be no way to really trade for that, because money is kind of worthless to you all… Even I picked that part up. So, what do you want to get her protected that way?” He looked troubled, but Ann clapped.

  “I was thinking we could do that good will thing, but how about this; you agree to be my slave, for one hundred years and a day, and I’ll protect Leslie and love her, for the same amount of time?”

  The boy didn’t say anything, but shook his head a bit later. Thinking first, instead of grasping at the plan instantly.

  “Only if you agree to love and protect me as well. Really doing it. What… There are loopholes in that, right? Alli, what do I do? Help me out here?”

  The other Greater Demon made a face then.

  “That’s a start, given what you have to go on at the moment. Greater Demons don’t have to hold to bargains with slaves, as a rule. So don’t agree to anything without a way to make it cost her more than doing the work will. Besides, you should ask for far more than that, if you’re bargaining with your entire life. Ask for powers, eternal youth and good looks, all the women you can sleep with, and the ability to make it happen, so you don’t end up with a permanent erection and only your hand for comfort. That kind of thing. Then… Well, if say Avery were to back you in this, and be willing to kill Ann if she fails to deliver, then it would be enough, I think.”

  Ann snorted at her Greater Demon friend then. It wasn’t angry, but held layers of things that Avery couldn’t really taste completely. Bemusement, a mild hint of annoyance and a hundred other things.

  “Oh, thanks partner. Way to lame down the whole thing for me. I’ve been working this piece of future slave for nearly a year already. Still, I have to admit, as broken as I am, I do have room in my heart for a few more sweeties… So, we can do that, if Avery agrees? Your mother won’t be free, and she will be mine, not yours, but she’ll be cared for and loved, for real. I’ll try to do my best by her. True that will be as a Demon sees fit, but Tyler turned out all right, don’t you think?”

  Avery took a deep breath, then stalled, eating an entire chicken sandwich. When she wiped her hands and mouth, she nodded.

  “Real powers and good things. For both of them. Freedom enough to have a good life and to find happiness and the safety of being the property of The Rotted.” She didn’t seal the bargain, since a warning flashed in her head.

  Not that the likes of Ann would be taking her that way. The biggest threats were Keeley and Tarsus as far as that went. Tarsus was much weaker, but had experience and information that Keeley simply lacked. He also didn’t care to bother trying at all, or hadn’t at their last meeting. That could change, but it would probably take decades for that to happen.

  The Rotted grimaced a bit, letting the whole thing turn into a smile for the others, after a line moved from Mark to her. Not the other way around. Mark initiated it. Then there was a flavor of love to the air.

  Ann stood up then.

  “All right, my lo
vely doves… We have a real deal in place here. A bit more work than I would have wanted for it, but I have to admit, I figured that it would take a lot longer to get this done than not. You know, Leslie, and this isn’t an order, but if a boy sells his soul to give you a better life, you might want to consider what that might mean. I need to go and see about some things now. Mainly visiting my son.” Then, leaning across the white table, she gave Mark and Leslie tight hugs. “You two be good and work hard at school today. Do your best. I’ll see you both later tonight.”

  Then she left, Allison looking at Avery closely.

  “That could have gone better.” After a moment she looked at Ann’s back. “Worse as well. You probably won’t be beaten too hard though, since Ann was being uncharacteristically kind just then. Anyone else would have eaten you all alive for that. Well, not you Avery, but there would be a fight going on at the very least, for your part. One that you would only win about one out of every ten or twenty times. Those aren’t great odds. Keep that in mind. You have power enough, but Greater Demons are masters of the mind, beyond all else. It’s that you have to fear.”

  Then she got up as well, her face a bit stern.

  “Not that you didn’t kind of rock this one. You too, Mark. That was very brave of you. Foolish, but it might work out, given everything. Remember, she told you both to do your best in school today. That means you should focus on your studies, perfectly. That’s how I’d take it at least.”

  Both the others left then, leaving their trays of food for Avery to clear. Except that Allison took them on her way to remove her own.

  “Later, Avery. You study hard, too. We’ll talk soon.”

  That part wasn’t in her personal plan, and she really felt uneasy, but hoped that Mark’s sacrifice was worth it in the end. As far as she knew he didn't love Leslie or anything. Trading his life, just to protect her from the worst a Greater Demon could do was…

  When she thought about it, she kind of understood.