No, I’d wait until she asked for help.
I didn’t have to wait long.
She saw me from the corner of her eye and messaged my connector. “A little assistance, if you please? I can’t get close enough to rip her tits off.”
With a cringe, I put that image out of my mind as I pulled one of my remaining four beads off the bracelet and energized it.
“I’ll buy you a few seconds,” I said, focusing on my target as Mira jumped back.
As soon as I let go of the bead it rocketed toward the mage and exploded in her face. The magic missile bead didn’t do much damage, but it distracted the bitch long enough for Mira to rush in and…well, you know.
A few moments later, Mira wiped a handful of goo on the ground, then shifted back to her human form as she walked to meet me.
“That’s all of them, right?”
I counted in my head. Two mages, two vampires, a goblin and…
“Mira,” I shouted, “move!”
No good.
The were that Cynthia had shot earlier launched himself from behind a pile of bodies and grabbed Mira, shifting as he did.
He’d been big before, but now he was huge, easily eight feet tall and half as wide. Even with all the scar tissue and stolen skin it was obvious what he was, though I’d never seen one of his type before, or even knew it existed.
Today was a day of firsts, apparently.
I was ready for a werewolf, maybe even a werebear. What I wasn’t ready for was a weremonkey.
“Fuck me,” Mira said, “it’s King Kong.”
“Wereape,” the Shaped said, backhanding her and pulling her tight against him. “Nathan, a were ape and member of the Shaped.”
More like George of the fucking jungle. Wait, George was the human. Eh, they can’t all be winners.
Mira’s head dropped, but I could see her chest moving. Hopefully she was just knocked out and didn’t have a concussion, or worse.
I took a step towards him, but he wrapped his massive paw across Mira’s face.
“Stay where you are,” he warned. “I’m not taking any chances with you or the snake.” His eyes darted back and forth, nervously. “There’s no way you should’ve been able to take out my team,” he said. “You barely defeated Elias, and that was with your demon.”
He was trying to buy time, a trick I’d used often.
A strange urge to explain everything came to me, but I resisted. Instead I gathered the little power I’d regenerated and summoned another ice spike.
I couldn’t throw that either. Not safely, anyway, so I shaped it into a rough short-sword. I missed my weapons, but I’d been forced to return them along with my badge. After tonight, though, I resolved to get some custom gear, as soon as I could afford it.
I looked at my bracelet. There were only three beads left, and they were either untested or useless in this situation.
The only other thing on it was the charm Stone gave me.
I touched it, a really bad idea forming as I tried to hide a smile.
Nathan noticed.
“Drop the weapon,” he said coldly, “and get rid of the bracelet.”
After another glance at Mira, I did what he said, reabsorbing the ice and pulling the bracelet off of my wrist.
“No tricks,” he restated. “I was warned about that bracelet. If you even dare attempt to throw it at me, she dies.”
So, there was some kind of communication between Shaped.
Luckily my plan would still work.
In fact, it might work even better this way. I mentally apologized for what I was about to do.
He tightened his grip on Mira, to emphasize his points. I heard a soft groan from her, as she regained consciousness.
“Mira,” I said through the connector, “get ready to move. As soon as you have a chance, you need to get as far away as you can.”
“I’ll try,” was the response.
“I’ll get rid of it,” I said to Nathan. “Don’t hurt her.”
I tossed the bracelet across the room, underhand, so it was obvious I wasn’t throwing it at him. He smirked, no doubt getting ready to kill Mira anyway, before coming after me.
I slowly took a few big steps backwards, putting my hands up and praying my idea worked out.
“Okay, so let her go and you can walk out of here,” I said, buying time of my own.
The beast’s head jerked as something crashed into a nearby building.
Mira took that chance to bite his arm and escape as he pulled it back. She ducked and rolled away just as Bert broke through the wall of the club, like the Kool-Aid man on meth.
Some invisible force yanked Bert through the air to me.
I’d suspected that getting rid of that charm would reunite us, since it was what kept us from having to be close to each other, but it had been a major gamble.
I saw anger in his eyes as I moved just enough to put Nathan between us.
With a meaty thunk, Bert hit Nathan in the spine. The impact barely slowed my demon pal down as he torpedoed toward me.
At the speed he was going it wasn’t going to be pretty. I think he realized that because he narrowed his eyes in anger as he did what I hoped he would do.
“You mother fucker,” he growled as he shifted to his energy form and merged with me.
The impact knocked me back a few feet. It wasn’t the physical strike as much as the mental one, though. I felt Bert’s fury at being pulled into the fight merge with my own, further unlocking our combined rage.
Ah, that was more like it.
Within seconds I’d morphed, claws extending and teeth sharpening as my size expanded.
Horns erupted from my forehead just in time for me to gore Nathan as he pushed himself to his feet.
“Stay down,” I snarled. “Unless you want to be ripped into several pieces and flushed down the toilet. If you want that, just raise your hand.”
He bounced back quickly, grabbing me in a bear, or ape hug, squeezing tightly. I let him do it, laughing in his face. He squeezed harder, out of desperation.
My senses washed over him, even stronger than before, thanks to the combination of merging and my new enhancements.
I found his energy core.
It was in his brain.
It was also damaged from when Cynthia shot him, but clearly still intact enough to keep him functioning.
Maybe that’s why I’d thought he was dead? He must have needed a lot of time to repair the damage to his flesh and to patch the core.
I also noticed a smaller core implanted into his left eye. It felt different, like it was sending out energy.
Ah, it looked like I’d found the transmitter.
I head-butted him, digging my horns into his face. He dropped me, but I wrapped him up in a hug of my own.
“Don’t be flattered by this,” I told him, “but you aren’t really my type.” He started thrashing around, so I hit him with another head-butt. “Keep still while I talk to your bosses.”
I looked into his eye.
“Hello, Frankenfuckers,” I called. “I don’t know why you have such a raging-boner for me, but you’ve killed a lot of innocent people here. I just can’t have that.”
Nathan went still and a voice that wasn’t his emerged from him.
“Please don’t take it personally, Mister Vedis,” it said. “We’re merely exploiting Elias’s wonderful discovery.”
Nathan’s lips curled into a self-satisfied smirk.
“What do you mean?”
“When we tasked him to grab a specimen for experimentation, we had no idea the gold mine he’d exposed.” The intruder in Nathan’s body giggled. “The girl he’d attempted to capture is insignificant in comparison; worthless when we have you. You are such a magnificent test subject for our trials. By the time we kill you, all the data we’ve received should help us perfect our new crop.”
I should have tried to get some more information, but the burning fury inside me didn’t allow it.
&nb
sp; “I’ve decided I don’t really care about your reasons,” I sneered. “You’ve pissed me off and so I’m coming for you.”
“Oh, please do,” the voice said hopefully. The smile began to fade. “Until next time, then.”
Even filled with rage, I noticed an obvious line like that.
I dropped Nathan and hit the floor, three seconds before he exploded.
Chapter 18
By the time the body-shrapnel stopped falling, Bert had finished emerging from my body. It was much faster this time around. I heard people running out of the club and saw a few sets of shoes from my view on the floor. The last of the club-goers, I guessed.
I wasn’t hurt, but I was extremely tired.
Bert looked at me on the ground. He must have had a lot more energy than me, even with all the power I’d pulled from him.
As we made eye contact his lips pulled back in anger, exposing his tusks. I rolled to my knees to stand up, which gave him the perfect opportunity to kick me in the stomach.
It hurt, but at least he avoided my balls. Apparently the bro-code was universal among species.
“You son of a bitch,” he screamed at me. “Do you know how much that hurt? You’re lucky I can control the density of my body, so I didn’t suffer permanent damage.”
He’d mentioned that while we were in the jail cell earlier, too. I was just glad it worked.
“There was no choice,” I wheezed, trying to catch my breath. “I needed you.”
“I told you I wasn’t going to help you,” he shouted. “You had no right to force me.”
I pushed myself to my feet, scrambling out of kicking range.
“I’m sorry. They were going to kill Mira and the rest of the club-goers.”
“Sorry?” He pulled his fist back, like he was going to punch me. “Yeah, you’re about to be sorry.” His eyes looked like they were on fire. “Call my mother.”
“What?”
“You heard me, dick brain,” he said as he walked up to me and poked me in the chest. “I’m getting out of this. Do whatever you did before and let’s get this over with.”
Last time I’d contacted the queen of the demons, it had been an accident. I had grabbed my medallion with my own blood on my hands and, boom, there she was.
I glanced down at my necklace and shrugged mentally. It was as good a place to start as any.
My shirt was ruined and there were a few streaks of drying blood on my chest, where the vampire had slashed me. The injury healed when I merged, but the blood was still there.
I rubbed some of it on my fingers and grabbed the medallion.
The response was instantaneous.
“Yes, warlock?” The voice of Lucy Für, Queen of the Badland Demons, said. She was breathing heavily. “Has my son failed already?”
Ouch.
There was some definite family friction there.
“What? Oh, no, he wants to talk to you though. Is this a good time?”
I heard a growl, mixed with a sigh.
“One moment, please. My harem is currently pleasuring me.”
Gross.
The line went quiet for a second. Then I heard an earth-shattering shriek, like if a T-rex stepped on a LEGO brick.
“Finished,” she breathed. “Shall we get down to business?”
“Uh, sure,” I said, suddenly thankful this was only an audio chat.
“In truth, I suspected this was coming.” She chuckled. “Hah, coming.”
I glanced at Bert, who looked like he wanted to vomit.
“Very well,” Queen Für said. “Kindly take young Volkbert’s hand and I’ll address both of you at the same time.”
I put my hand out for Bert, blowing him a kiss first. I couldn’t help it. I don’t react well in awkward social situations. He snarled, but took it.
“Mother, I ask for release from this agreement,” he stated, not bothering with any small talk. “I was Bonded against my will, and the human has demonstrated no regard for my personal safety. I left him earlier and he had the audacity to compel me to return and merge with him against my will.”
“Excuse me?” The queen’s tone changed, losing any sense of amusement.
Bert didn’t notice.
“I know right? He and this snake chick he’s trying to bone decided to go fight some creatures at the club…I mean, uh, library we were at,” he explained. “I tried to talk them out of it before I escaped, but he got all weepy about innocent people and shit.”
I could almost feel the chill from Queen Für as the conversation went silent.
After a few seconds, in a voice so icy it was scary, she asked, “Before you escaped?”
“Yeah,” he replied, nonplussed. “As the heir apparent, I knew you’d want me to be safe.”
“I see.”
Bert looked over at me and smirked.
Queen Für’s voice returned, calm and businesslike. The kind of voice lawyers use when they are about to ruin someone’s life.
“Mark Vedis,” she said, “will you, as the warlock representative, allow a viewing portal to be opened so that I may address my son directly?” She then added, “I swear on my life and power that this will be only a visual communication. I shall not attempt to cross to your world.”
This sounded serious.
It was a risk, but a calculated one. There would need to be restrictions, though. Bert had demonstrated how seriously demons viewed agreements.
I nodded.
“Yes,” I replied, finally. “I will agree on a viewing window not lasting beyond ten minutes for the purpose of communication between the three of us.”
“Thank you.”
I felt a wave of heat pass through the medallion as a hologram of Queen Für emerged.
Wow, Bert wasn’t exaggerating how ugly she was. Fortunately, she’d put clothes on after her romantic liaison, or she liked to do it without stripping down.
Either way, I was thankful.
Even so, I lowered my head, ostensibly in respect, but really so I wouldn’t have to look at her.
She didn’t seem to notice, having eyes only for Bert.
“Volkbert,” she said, “are you telling me you abandoned your warlock, then became upset when he found a way to summon you to do your duty?”
He blanched. “Uh…well…”
She glared at him and he shut his mouth so fast it made a clicking sound.
“The duty, might I add, enforced by a compact several thousands of years old, the violation of which in the slightest would put all demons at risk of default, having severe penalties and implications for your entire race?”
She leaned forward, menacingly.
“Is that what you are telling me?”
Bert looked at me, then back at his mother “I, uh… It wasn’t like that.”
“Do you have any idea the target that already exists on all of our backs?” she asked, her voice cracking ever so slightly. “A target placed on us through little fault of our own because we are kidnapped through summoning and forced to serve the unworthy?” Her nostrils flared. “We may be a hard and unforgiving people, but we have honor, Volkbert. We keep our agreements.”
“But—”
“We keep our agreements!” She shouted, threatening to loosen my bowels, bladder and anything else attached.
Lucy was one scary demon.
Her eyes flashed as she made a fist, as if resenting the inability to reach through the portal and strangle Bert.
“You were given the honor of Bonding with a warlock,” she continued, “one of the only bloodlines that has ever treated us fairly and honorably. You had the chance to show we are not all mindless monsters who do no good, and what did you do?” A snarl formed on her lips. “You ran.”
“What honor?” Bert said, shouting right back at her. “You tricked me!”
“I chose you,” she hissed with so much venom I thought Bert was going to need to go to the ER for a anti-venom shot. “And do you know why?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “B
ecause your entire life you’ve hidden from trouble or bribed your way out of it. That is not our way, Volkbert. I rule through intimidation and fear, and you have no ability to do that.”
She pointed at him, growling. Bert cowered slightly.
“I’d hoped Bonding with the warlock would give you a chance to experience power and to learn to use it,” she said, “but instead you continue hiding. No more.”
Bert’s voice lowered instantly.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m not saying anything,” Lucy articulated. “I’m proclaiming.” Her entire face lit up and my breath caught. “Volkbert Für, I hereby exile you from the royal court of the Badlands demons until such time as I change my mind, the dragon rulers of the badlands overturn my decision, or you take the throne by force. You will remain with Mark Vedis, last and highest of the warlocks, until his death, with any income accrued from your investments or other holdings being transferred to him to use for your expenses.”
“What?” shrieked Bert. “You can’t do that!”
She ignored him. “In addition, you will serve as Mr. Vedis’s companion and shield, putting his needs and life above your own.”
“What?” He gawked. “What…I…what? Why would I do that?”
“Because, simple child,” she quipped, “if you let him die, you will be executed for treason.”
Bert’s jaw dropped.
“Mother,” he said, licking his lips, “you don’t want to do this. I’m your son! I…uh…love you or something.”
She jolted at that, looking like she’d just bit into a grapefruit.
“Why would you do this to me, moth…erm…mommy? And for a mortal, no less!”
She shook her head, sadly, but her eyes remained cold.
“I do it for him, as far as the contract goes,” she replied, pointing at me. Then she turned her finger back to Bert. “But mostly, I do it for you. I’ve coddled you for too long, Volkbert. You are a weak-willed and gutless child. You wouldn’t last a day as king of the Badlands demons.”
Bangkok Warlock: A Mark Vedis Supernatural Thriller Book 1 (Southeast Asia Paranormal Police Department) Page 10