He held up the ring of heavy keys and smiled.
“Take me back.” She started chanting in a low voice then building in a crescendo of volume and intensity. “Take me back. Take me back. Take me back.”
“Lana. You are being childish.”
That stopped her mid-chant. She gaped at him.
“Childish? Childish? I happen to think my reaction to this particular set of circumstances is entirely appropriate. But even if it was true, I’d rather be childish than a kidnapper and betrayer.”
“Betrayer?”
“Yes! Betrayer!”
He ran his hand through his hair and growled in frustration. “This is not the way this was supposed to go.”
“Really? How was it supposed to go?”
“You were supposed to be thrilled! And delighted!”
She gaped some more with mouth wide open. When she closed her mouth she said, “Thrilled and delighted,” in a dry monotone. “You’re insane, aren’t you?”
He pinned her with a look so focused and intense that she couldn’t turn away.
“Alright. I’ll make a deal.”
“A deal. Isn’t that cute? In a classic demonstration of nurture over nature, the first resort of raised-by-demons-boy is to suggest a deal. I get it. Maybe you’re not insane. You’re just a demon in human clothing.”
“What?” He squinted like that made no sense.
“Never. Mind. You’ve got ten seconds to name the deal before I go back to shouting so that I don’t have to hear your voice.”
“Okay. First, calm down.”
“Calm down?” she yelled. “Never tell an angry woman to calm down! You’re not only psycho. You’re stupid, too.”
“Okay. Okay. Don’t calm down.”
She fumed. “I won’t.”
“Alright.” He took a deep breath. “I was going to say that, if you’ll just listen and hear the whole story, I’ll see to it that you’re taken back if you still want to go.”
She mulled that over and decided that, all things considered, it was as fair as she could expect. “Agreed.”
She wasn’t pleased that he looked hopeful.
“Let’s start by getting comfortable,” he said as he slid into a sitting position with his back to the wall on the other side of the bars.
“Why? Is this a long story?” When he didn’t answer, she said, “I’m going to sit down, but I want you to know that calling this ‘comfortable’ is just further proof that you are PSY. CHO.”
He waited until she had seated herself so that she was facing him with eight feet and iron bars separating them.
“I first encountered you when I was on a mission to retrieve a relic. The locator resumed transmitting after being dormant for thousands of years because you and your team were close to laying your hands on it.
”It was an accident that I was even there. I’d gone along on impulse because I was bored with meetings and hadn’t been away for a while.”
She put together that he was talking about the Oualanka River mission with Cal. As much as she didn’t want to engage Brave with questions, and certainly didn’t want to encourage him, she was curious.
“Encountered me. How? We didn’t see...” Lana stopped mid-sentence when she remembered the changes in the light and the feelings that they weren’t alone.
“You did see me. At least you reacted to me, but then convinced yourself that it was your mind playing tricks. The Callii demons are natural light refractors. They can appear to be almost invisible. If you didn’t know what to look for, you’d never know they were there.”
He paused to let her take that in.
“What about you? If you’re human, you’re not a light refractor.”
He smiled. “When I leave this world I’m what you might call modified human.” She looked interested. “If some of the demons’ blood is introduced to my system, bloodstream, I can travel the passes and mimic invisibility for a few hours at a time.
“So I had gone along to get the relic. You looked straight into my eyes and held my gaze like you knew everything about me. Beautiful gray eyes that change color whenever you move,” he mused almost to himself.
“We got the relic, as you know, and brought it back safely, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I returned to the shelter where you were staying and listened to your conversation. That’s where I learned where you live.
“I couldn’t stay away from you. I started getting injections every day so that I could visit the place where you live. I came often at night while you slept.”
Lana was trying to sort through the idea of invisible demons, or humans, coming and going from Order Headquarters with no one the wiser. Her mind told her that the idea of Brave visiting her while she slept was creepy, the ultimate in parastalker. But she couldn’t seem to work up much of an emotional disturbance about it.
“I went to you almost every night and watched while you read stories on your device until you fell asleep. You kept old style paper books in your room like sacred texts. I wanted to know what interested you. So I borrowed one at a time, knowing it wasn’t likely that you’d miss it.
“I couldn’t read the words, but the Callii, like most demons, are fluent in hundreds of languages. They can even absorb new languages by psychic osmosis when they come across one they don’t know.
“So I brought a book back and asked them to teach me to read the strange little symbols. I wanted to read your book, but I knew that I would also want to talk to you someday. So I asked for volunteers to acquire the dialect you speak and then insisted that no other language be spoken in my presence until I was fluent enough to sound like a native.”
He shook his head and smiled a little. “The initial lack of understanding presented difficulties, but I was sure that was the fastest way to learn. Total immersion.
“The only exception I made to that rule was for reading tutorials. I would sit and read the book out loud while one of my tutors corrected pronunciation and helped me with interpretation.
“When I finished one book, I would put it back on your shelf, in its exact place, and take another. At the end of three weeks, I could read out loud without stumbling. My tutors’ corrections of mispronunciations were becoming fewer day by day.
“Misunderstandings about conversational usage were also becoming rare. I continued to come see you at night and continued to borrow books until I’d read them all. I wanted to know everything about you and what you like.
“I’d instructed the Callii to tell me when there was no more room for improvement in my command of your language.
“The most important thing about this part of the story is this. At the same time I’d been learning your language, I’d been learning, through your choice of reading material, that you fantasized about adventure and romance.”
For the first time, he saw emotion flicker over Lana’s face and perhaps her cheeks were a little pinker than they’d been. He waited to see if she had something to say. When she remained silent, he pressed on.
“It occurred to me then that, if I could create an adventure that would thrill you and, if I could accompany you on that adventure, you might fall in love with me.
“It took almost a month to create and set up the ‘obstacle course’. We had to start over again and again because I would try it and decide it might be dangerous for you. When we thought we had a final version, I did it myself three times to be sure it could be done without putting you at risk.”
“So it was all fake,” she said as a matter of fact. “An elaborate but fake escape?”
“Yes. Entirely designed to give you a fantasy like in your books.”
She thought about that for a minute.
“What about the sulfur pools? You couldn’t have designed that.”
“No. We worked with the natural landscape. My friends and I had played there when we were boys. We held races, the object of the game being to get to the other side first without falling in. As you learned, there’s a powerful motivat
ion to not fall in because the smell stays with you for a long time. But I knew I could get us through without falling in. I’d done it a hundred times at a run so walking through with a female wouldn’t be that hard.”
“What about the flames?”
In spite of himself, he started laughing. “Well, that was a variable I didn’t account for, but who would guess that? I mean, I never peed in the sulfur pits.”
She thought about that for a few seconds then said, “What about the snake in the cupboard?”
Brave smiled. “A pet of Perry’s. No fangs. No poison. Perry was waiting outside to lure it back into its cage.
“The river current?”
“The Salt River is like one of your amusement park rides. You couldn’t drown in it if you wanted to. It makes you float like a piece of Styrofoam.”
She wanted to slap the smile from his face, but she clenched her fists instead. “Do you know how scared I was?”
”I do,” he said sincerely. Then he grinned. “It felt great, didn’t it? Your heart was pounding, the adrenaline was rushing.” He dropped his head and his voice while looking at her through envy-grabbing eyelashes. “I know it felt great to have you grab onto me and hang on for dear life.”
She chuffed, looked away, then came right back with another question.
“And the horribly ugly black things?”
“They are ugly and black, but they’re also harmless. They’re simple, like single cell organisms. They live in that particular forest where the black trees grow. Whenever anybody comes into their space, they respond to the vibration and draw close out of curiosity or whatever, but there’s never been a report of them harming anyone. I don’t think it’s even possible.”
“Unbelievable selfish prick,” she hissed. “It may have been fun for you, but it was awful for me.”
“I didn’t mean it to be. The books you read… I thought it would be fun for you.”
“I don’t get it. You knew you were going to have to tell me the truth sometime.”
“Of course. It was my intention to present the adventure to you as a gift, which is what it was. I thought we’d both laugh about it.”
“Wait a minute. My celebration dinner with Cal and all those calamities… That was you!” Based on the sheepish look on Brave’s face, she knew she didn’t have to extract a formal confession. “So what exactly is it that you wanted from me?”
He looked shocked by the question. “For you to love me.”
“You wanted to make me fall in love with you.”
“Yes.”
She took a deep and shaky breath, stemming the urge to cry then looking down at the floor in front of her.
“Well, you did,“ she said quietly. “Now have them take me back.”
When she raised her eyes, Brave’s crestfallen look almost made her rethink her decision, but then she remembered that a guy who would construct such a fanciful and elaborate lie was a guy who could also end up dating your admin behind your back while smiling at your front and hogging the remote.
Returning her gaze to the floor, she said, “I wish you hadn’t lied to me, Brave.”
He looked at her so sadly it pulled at her heart. “I never lied to you, Lana. I might have been evasive at times, but I never told you a lie. And I never will. Stay with me, Lana. I’ll be the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Maybe I don’t understand how human females want to be courted, but I’ll move mountains to make you happy. I swear it.”
“Is your name really Brave?”
He looked desperately sincere. “Yes.”
“Were you really raised here? By these… demons?”
“Yes.”
She noticed his jaw clench like he was offended that she didn’t trust him.
After a minute of silent processing, she said, “Well. At least there was that. I don’t want to talk to you anymore. I don’t want to see you anymore.”
“I love you, Lana.” Brave swiped at his eyes as he rose to leave.
Within minutes the demon, Dart, arrived to escort her back to the world from which she’d been abducted to be Brave’s unwitting playmate.
He held up a syringe, squirted a small amount of red liquid from the needle and said, “Bend over.” Lana glared at him and rolled up her sleeve. “Have it your way,” said the demon with a shrug. But instead of giving her the injection in her arm, he lifted her skirt and stabbed her in the thigh, right through her tights. When she shrieked, more from surprise than pain, he laughed.
“You didn’t give me anything when you transported me here from the cave,” she protested rubbing her thigh.
“That’s because we weren’t leaving this dimension.”
“Oh.”
CHAPTER 5
When the nausea subsided, Lana was standing in her tiny apartment at The Order Headquarters in Edinburgh. Dart made sure she was steady before he released her to stand on her own.
She looked up and really looked at Dart for the first time. She supposed he was probably a real catch, a demon heartthrob. Maybe all the demon girls went gaga when he walked by.
He was undeniably beautiful. He also wasn’t gone which was what he should be.
“Well? Something you need?”
“You sure this is what you want?” he challenged. Lana didn’t answer. “Because Brave is wild over you. You should have seen what he put us all through trying to create a grand gesture. To please you. To woo you.”
Lana shook her head slowly. “He would have had a shot if he’d started with some nice safe flowers and candy. Maybe dinner and a movie. Even a walk to Calton Hill.”
Dart canted his head to the side. “You think you would rather have had nice boring flowers and candy?” He snorted. “Do you even hear yourself?” He walked toward the books on her three level shelf and pointed to the rows. “Tell me something, Lana. Is that what all these books are about? Human females being romanced by males who bring them flowers and candy?”
It sounded more like an accusation than a question.
She knew that he could tell by the look on her face that he was right. She didn’t choose to read about nice safe mundane relationships.
“No. But there’s a big difference between fantasy and reality.”
“There is. You are right. And that big difference is that most humans are never loved by someone who would go to such lengths to give them the fantasy they crave. You captured his love. The point is that he turned himself, and us, inside out to try to show you that no one else would go to such outrageous, extravagant lengths just to please you.”
“This is none of your business, demon.”
“You’re wrong about that, too, human. Brave is my friend. That makes him my business. Perhaps he doesn’t know the finer arts of human courtship, but I know his heart.
“I don’t see why he chose you, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is that you’re not giving me any reason to think you deserve to be his consort. Personally, I think he just… what is it you say? Dodged a bullet?”
Dart took her hand roughly. She tried to jerk it away, but he held on and glared at her. He placed a large heavy ring in her palm. “If you change your mind, put the ring on and say his name.”
He closed her fingers around the ring and vanished. The ring was still warm from him holding it in his hand. As soon as the demon disappeared she threw the ring at the opposite wall which happened to feature the only window. The window pane it struck didn’t break, but the impact did cause a hairline fracture. It wasn’t too noticeable with the gray sky beyond, but it was visible.
She stood staring at the crack for a long time while her mind sorted through the events of the past few days. It was a jumble in her mind. After sorting through a cascade of images, she felt a wave of panic about the whereabouts of the ring. She went to hands and knees and began searching the floor frantically.
It hadn’t been under the bed or desk. She finally found it behind the dresser. Holding it up to the light, she took a good look. It appeared to
be hammered copper and was inscribed with symbols she didn’t recognize.
If she’d stopped to analyze her own thoughts and behavior, she would have gained a large dollop of insight, because it never crossed her mind to get rid of the ring and not keep it. After several minutes of standing in the middle of the room trying to decide where to put it, she opened a dresser drawer, hid it in the toe of a pair of thick wool ski socks then replaced the socks.
She took a hot shower, made a hot tea, and opened up her reader. The first book cover that appeared featured a couple in a romantic embrace. He wore a shirt that had been partially torn away, revealing a body that was not just fit, but deliciously defined. The name of the book was Sweet Surrender: A Romantic Adventure. She scrolled to the next. The Alien’s Saucy Captive. She continued scrolling through the books in her device carousel. Running with the Bad Boy: A Tale of Love and Desperation. Las Vegas Nights: Don’t Make a Deal with a Demon. The Edge of the World: How Far Would You Go For Love?
She growled out loud and, in a fit that Brave would undoubtedly have called childish, threw the innocent device against the wall. When it landed on the floor, she eyed it suspiciously and decided to put it in time out.
Sitting in the silence of her apartment, she looked around and debated turning on the TV. Then she remembered that the last time she’d turned to TV for solace, she’d ended up uprooting her life.
Her eyes slowly scanned the small living space of her apartment and came to rest on the shelves of paperback books. She tried to imagine an unseen Brave coming back and forth and choosing books. Based on what he’d said about learning her language, she deduced that he would have chosen the first few books based on their covers and she wondered which one he’d taken first.
Rising she walked toward the stack like she was being pulled by a magnet and ran her fingers along the spines, reading the titles.
He read each and every one.
Of course he came to the conclusion that she secretly longed for a romantic adventure. Perfectly logical.
After looking over the covers, asking herself which book she would choose if she didn’t read English and had to go on image alone, she picked one, pulled it down and set it on the table.
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