Daemon Persuasion

by S. K. Gregory

  “What are we going to do? Lucien has the talisman,” she said finally.

  Taryn turned around again.

  “Lucien thinks he has the talisman. Do you really think I would let him have it?”

  “Well, if he doesn’t have it, then where is it?” she asked. It figures he wouldn’t have done anything to help her.

  He put a hand out and lifted her necklace, “Sebastian wasn’t stupid. He never would have made the talisman so easy to find and he certainly wouldn’t have left it in a safe with no protection. He needed to hide it where no one would think to look.”

  “He melted it down into a necklace...”

  .“And gave it to someone no one would suspect of having it,” Taryn finished for her.

  “My mother. Then she gave it to me.”

  “When you followed me out to the water tower and started asking me questions I had no intention of answering them, but it was like I didn’t have a choice. That’s when I began to wonder.”

  “I can control you?”

  He raised an eyebrow, “No, not fully. You can get me to tell you things, but if you asked me to jump off a bridge, it wouldn’t work. Not until it’s fully activated.”

  “Then, I can tell you to jump off a bridge?”

  He shook his head and returned to his seat.

  “So what was the deal with the map? My blood led us to the pawn store,” Mackenzie said.

  “That was a smoke screen; I wanted to see how far Lucien would go.”

  “Too far. How is it activated?”

  “A ritual needs to take place on the night of a lunar eclipse.”

  “I’m going to regret asking this but when is the eclipse?”

  “A week from Friday.”

  “Thank God, I thought you were going to say tonight.”

  “We need to lay low until then.”

  “I’m going home,” she said. She just wanted to be back in her own bed away from all the craziness.

  “Fine, “Taryn said, “I’ll come with you and protect you until it’s time to do the ritual.”

  “Why doesn’t that fill me with confidence? Look, I know you want to get even with Lucien and right now I say go for it, but I don’t think I can give you the talisman.”

  “I don’t want it.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Under demon law I can’t kill my brother, it’s forbidden. There would be consequences. Which is why you are going to use the talisman and help me kill him.”

  “What the hell happened to you?” Greta asked, when Mackenzie returned to work. She came in the back door to start her shift at the bar.

  There were no wounds to see but she hadn’t slept in the last two days since she had returned to LA. Too much had happened.

  “Just been partying hard, you know?”

  Greta shook her head, “Well, go easy in future. I can’t lose my best bartender.”

  She nodded and headed behind the bar. The club was packed tonight. She greeted Kenny, the other bartender. He was dressed in his usual Hawaiian flare. She started taking orders, pouring drinks and for a while forgot about all the shit that had happened. That was until she spotted Taryn sitting at the bar. He was wearing his usual leather coat. Luckily, it was LA so no one batted an eyelid. She opened a beer and put it in front of him.

  “You do drink?” she asked.

  “If I didn’t, now would be a good time to start.”

  “Do you have to sit at the bar? There are some nice booths in the back.”

  “Sure, I’ll go and sit in one. In a crowded club like this, it would be real easy for Lucien to slit your throat in a matter of seconds. But don’t worry, I’m sure I can get across the room in time.”

  She leaned in, so he could hear her, “Word of advice. Sarcasm works better in shorter bursts.”

  “Bite me.”

  “Much better,” she grinned. Now that Taryn had mentioned the L word, she couldn’t help scanning the crowd for him. Every now and again, she would see someone the same height or with the same color hair and she would freeze.

  She couldn’t believe she was such a sucker. She fell for it all—the charm, the good looks, the kissing. Especially the kissing. All to be stabbed in the back. Literally. Taryn wanted her help to kill Lucien and he definitely deserved it, but she didn’t know if she could go through with it. She was quick with her fists and she could defend herself, but to actually kill someone? Of course there was the added incentive that if she didn’t kill him he would definitely kill her. He had already tried once; she doubted she would be so lucky next time.

  “Hey, who is that guy?” Kenny asked, jerking his head in Taryn’s direction.

  “Just a friend,” she replied.

  “Well, your friend keeps staring at you.”

  “He’s really more of a stalker,” she replied, annoyed that he was being so obvious.

  She headed into the back for another crate of beer. She had only been gone a few minutes, but when she returned, the music had stopped and a crowd had gathered around the bar. Two of the bouncers were attempting to restrain Taryn, who had a third bouncer in a headlock.

  Dropping the crate, she ran to intervene.

  “Let him go Taryn. Now,” she ordered. He automatically released the bouncer much to his annoyance. Apparently, she could make him do a little more than tell the truth. The bouncers grabbed his arms.

  “It’s okay, he’s with me,” she insisted.

  “You said he was stalking you,” Kenny said.

  “I was kidding,” she exclaimed.

  Greta came over to see what the fuss was about.

  “If he’s bothering you we can get rid of him,” she said, her voice like steel.

  “She said he was stalking her,” Kenny interjected.

  “He’s not.” Nobody was listening to her.

  “Is he your boyfriend?” Greta asked.

  “Yes. He’s my boyfriend,” she said. She’d tell them anything they wanted to hear to calm everything down.

  “I don’t believe her,” Kenny said.

  “For crying out loud,” she muttered. Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed Taryn on the lips, much to his horror. His entire body stiffened.

  For crying out loud I’m not contagious, she thought.

  “There, see? Now can you let him go?” Satisfied, the bouncers released him.

  The crowd retreated.

  Taryn gripped her by the arm, “Don’t you ever do that again,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “Wasn’t planning to.”

  Chapter 13

  Mackenzie was relieved to shut her front door at the end of the night. She tossed her clothes in the hamper and took a long hot bath. She lay back, glad to be able to relax at last. She closed her eyes.

  The bathroom door creaked open; Mackenzie opened her eyes to find Lucien coming towards her, carrying a knife.

  “What the hell? Ta...” He clamped her mouth before she could call out.

  “Did you really think I would let you get away?” he asked. He ran the top of the blade along her cheek. She whimpered, not eager to feel the steel blade in her body again. “Tell Cray I said hi,” he grinned. He drew back the knife and slashed her throat.

  Screaming loudly, she jumped up in the bath. The bathroom was empty. She was only dreaming. Lucien wasn’t here.

  Taryn materialized in the bathroom, a knife of his own in his hand.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She screamed again and whipped a towel off the rail to cover herself.

  “Get out,” she cried.

  He stomped out into the living room. She got out of the bath and pulled on her robe. Taryn was staring out the window when she entered the room.

  “Where did you come from?” she demanded.

  “I was on the fire escape,” he replied.

  “Why?”

  “It’s easier to protect you if I’m close by,” he said it slowly, like he was talking to a small child.

  “Yeah, well, there’s a motel j
ust up the street that would be close enough.”

  “Really, and what if Lucien burst through that door right now? What would you do? Ask him to wait while you phone me?”

  “I can handle myself,” she said stubbornly.

  He grabbed her wrist and bent it back almost to breaking point.

  “Now what?” he asked.

  She tried not to wince at the pain. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She tried to knee him in the groin but he blocked her. In anger, she head butted him instead, instantly regretting it. He let go of her arm, clutching at his nose. She rubbed at her forehead. That was a stupid move but when he pissed her off she felt the overwhelming need to retaliate.

  “You know if he does come through that door I’m extremely tempted to let him have you,” he growled.

  Mackenzie dropped onto the sofa and sighed, still rubbing her forehead.

  “If Lucien gets that close to you then you’re dead. He’s strong, a lot stronger than you are. Taking down a human is easy but a demon is something else entirely. He only used that knife because he wanted you to suffer.”

  “Trust me, it worked.”

  “My point is, you need weapons training.”

  “I need more than that. I need to know about demons, my own heritage. I want to know everything. It’s the only way I’ll be prepared.”

  “I’ll do what I can. We’ll start tomorrow.”

  Mackenzie relented and let Taryn prowl around on the fire escape. She lay for hours trying to sleep. Her dreams that night were filled with visions of Lucien. She was running through the woods when Lucien appeared in front of her, with the bloody knife in his hand.

  “Hey, Mac, how about you and me go back to my place,” he said. Her legs felt heavy as she ran from him. She could see a house up ahead; she knew she would be safe if she got inside.

  Lucien began screaming her name repeatedly. She got inside the house and slammed the door. Taryn was inside, waiting for her.

  “He’s here, Taryn, what do we do?” she cried. He walked up to her and grabbed her hair. Opening the door, he pushed her outside to Lucien. They began laughing as they took turns stabbing her. She awoke in a cold sweat.

  In the morning, she got up and made herself some coffee. She opened the window on the fire escape to find Taryn hanging over the railing, looking down at the ground below.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Huh?” he said, distracted.

  She climbed out the window to see what he was looking at. Mrs. Bainbridge was screaming at her teenage son, Kyle.

  “I told you no motorbikes,” she screeched.

  He desperately tried to get out of his mother’s reach as she started throwing things at him including one of her own slippers.

  “Are they at it again? She’s always yelling at him about something,” Mackenzie said.

  “It’s strange hearing people arguing about normal things,” he said.

  “I take it you don’t get on with your parents.”

  “The last time I saw my father, he tried to kill me.”

  “I’ll take that as a no then. What happened?”

  He gripped the railing tightly, “I began to question my father, and he disowned me. Cray found me and he should have killed me. Instead he became my mentor.”

  “Do you think he would have let me go? Back in the motel room,” she asked.

  He turned to face her, “He asked me to save you, so yeah, I think he would have.”

  “He really was my uncle?”

  “Yes. They really were brothers.”

  “I’m sorry that he died,” she said, and she meant it. Cray obviously meant a lot to him.

  “We should start training,” Taryn said changing the subject.

  “Moment over,” she muttered.

  Chapter 14

  Mackenzie walked slowly along the alleyway, trying not to make any noise as she went. Night had fallen and the only light came from a streetlight at the mouth of the alley. Every shadow made her jump. When she saw one, she stopped, waiting to see if it moved. When it didn’t, she walked on.

  She had a broadsword pressed tight to her body in case anyone spotted her with it and called the police. She had been practicing with it all day, but she was nowhere near confident enough with it to face anyone. Taryn insisted on the practice.

  She reached the end of the alley without being attacked and she started to relax. The feeling was short-lived. Someone dropped from above and sent her flying into the side of a dumpster. Trying to right herself, she was pushed back to the ground again. She took a swipe at him with the sword. She thrust out wildly, but he easily moved out of the way. Getting to her feet, she readied herself for his next move. The Samurai sword in his hand looked twice as deadly as her cumbersome one.

  They circled each other looking for an opening. He swung his sword at her head. She ducked in time and spun out of the way. Their swords collided in mid air. For a moment, Mackenzie thought she had the upper hand, until he hooked onto her blade, jerking it out of her hand. He kicked her in the stomach and she went down on her knees, gasping for air. The tip of the sword was pressed into her collarbone, making her wince. Then he released her.

  Taryn removed the mask and sighed, “That’s enough for tonight.” He pulled her up.

  “I can’t do this,” she said.

  “We’ll keep working on it.”

  “No, I mean I can’t kill Lucien.”

  “Don’t tell me you have feelings for him,” he sneered.

  “Of course I don’t, I’m not an idiot, but I can’t kill someone.”

  “He’s not a human, if that’s your problem. He’s a demon and he would kill you without hesitation.”

  “I know that, but I’m not a soulless killer like you,” she retorted.

  He grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against the wall, “Let’s get one thing straight here—the only reason I’m here is because I don’t have a choice. You’re going to kill my brother or I will leave and let him have you. You have a problem gutting the bastard then get inventive; because once we do that spell you’ll have complete control over him. You can throw him under a bus for all I care.”

  “Get your hands off me or you’ll go under one with him,” she snapped.

  “Anger’s good. That’s the demon part of you. It makes you strong. Tap into it and use it.”

  He walked off, leaving her standing alone in the dark, dank alley. Her hand went to her throat. When she got back to her apartment, she could see Taryn pacing outside the window.

  In her bedroom, she stuffed a few clothes in a bag. Tugging off the necklace, she left it lying on the bed. Peeking around the hallway corner, she checked to see if Taryn was looking her way. When she saw no sign of him, she opened the door and slipped out.

  “Going somewhere?” Taryn said in her ear.

  She walked back in and closed the door. Taryn did his little teleportation trick and went back to the fire escape. She paced the room. A pile of dusty books on the kitchen table caught her eye. Flicking through them, she found that they were books on demons.

  She yanked up the window, “What are these?”

  “You wanted to learn about demons, start reading.”

  Slamming the window shut, she took a couple of the books into her room to read. Most of them were family trees from the Dukes family line but eventually she found one on the Kings.

  Tiberius King was her biological grandfather. He took over as leader in 1894 after a battle with his own father for power. According to the family tree, Sebastian was the youngest child of three sons. Cray was the middle son and they had an older brother called Thaddeus. Apparently demons lived a lot longer than humans and they didn’t age the same way. Her mother knew Sebastian as a young man when she was a girl, but his family tree had his birth listed as 1924.

  Half demons were quite common up until Tiberius’ reign until he decided that it was to be outlawed. It was the one thing all the families agreed on. Sebastian broke the rules when it c
ame to her mother.

  Most half demons didn’t inherit any abilities. Some had minor powers like enhanced strength.

  Out of curiosity, Mackenzie looked up the Duke family tree. Alden Duke was the leader and Taryn’s father. Taryn was born in 1986. Alden had seven sons, Lucien was the middle child, Taryn the youngest. She noticed that through all the bloodlines there were no female children listed. Either demons only had full blood male offspring or they didn’t think daughters were worth mentioning. Some of the mother’s names were mentioned though. Lucien and three of his siblings had the same mother. Two had another mother and Taryn’s mother wasn’t listed at all. In one book, Taryn’s name had been struck off the tree altogether.

  Wondering what he had done to earn that, she lay down and read until the early hours of the morning before falling asleep.

  She was awakened by the ringing phone. Grabbing up the receiver, she groaned, “What?”

  “Miss Murphy?” a woman asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m the warden at the prison where you mother is being held. I’m afraid your mother tried to kill herself last night.”

  “What?” she cried springing up.

  “She managed to get a hold of a razor blade and cut her wrists. We found her and she’s been taken to hospital.”

  “What hospital?” The nurse told her and she hung up, quickly pulling on her boots. She knew her mother had been depressed lately, but she never expected this.

  “Trying to run away again?” Taryn asked as she rushed out the door. She ignored him and ran downstairs. He caught up with her on the street. It was then that it occurred to her that she had no way of getting to the hospital. Her bike was still in the shop.

  “I need your keys,” she said to Taryn.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Just give me the fucking keys,” she screeched. He handed them over obediently.

  “Wherever you’re going I’m coming with you.”

  “I don’t care, I have to go now. My mom tried to kill herself.” Saying the words aloud made it sound so much worse.

  Taryn took the keys back, “I’ll drive.”