First Plane

by Patti Larsen

  Don't trust her. Sassy's mental tone was very faint and I could only imagine Grandmother's quarters were warded against power use. Ever.

  When she reached for me, I took her hand, feeling the heat of her skin, the firm grip of her touch. She guided me to sit next to her on a wide sofa, turning to face me. The pressure of her power was almost more than I could handle, making me grateful for the shields. Refusing to be intimidated, I added strength to them and raised my chin.

  She laughed. Did she know what I was feeling? Likely. But I hadn't pissed her off yet, so I figured it was so far, so good.

  “Some nectar?” Grandmother poured from a large pitcher, filling two shining goblets with the familiar drink. I'd had some with Theridialis when I'd come across the first time and craved it ever since. My demon's desire made my mouth water and, though drinking it had to be a bad idea, I took the offered cup from my grandmother's waiting hands and let the warmth of the liquid inside the mug heat my hands.

  Grandmother sat back with her own, eyes never leaving me. “I've been looking forward to meeting you, my dear,” she said. “Your father speaks very highly of you.”

  The scent of the nectar, that mix of honey and chocolate and pure deliciousness reached my nose, making it twitch. Fine, one sip.

  Yummers to the gazillionth power. I felt myself relax a little as the stuff settled in my happy tummy.

  “He should talk,” I said. “He's pretty amazing himself.”

  “I understand it was you who returned him home.” She didn't move, just watched me, and for the first time I felt the predator in her. So, the open smile was a mask. I was seeing the real Ahbi behind the welcoming grandmother. Good to know.

  “No,” I said. “That was Sassafras.”

  “Indeed,” she said. “But it was a clever insight on your part that made it possible.”

  The crystal. How did she know about it? There was no way Dad would have told his family about it, the sorcerer's crystal I'd taken from the evil Demetrius Strong after he'd stolen my demon. The power of that crystal had been enough to transform Dad's statue into indestructible diamond and given Sassy's sacrifice of his life the push it needed to send Dad home.

  “Dad and Sass managed it,” I said. Wanted to say more. Felt my tongue tingle with the need to keep speaking, but I held back, sipping at the nectar even as my mind begged me to spill everything.

  What was wrong with me?

  Don't be an idiot, Sassy sent. Stop drinking that crap.

  The nectar. Oh hell no. I felt the glass slip in my hand as the shock of understanding flexed my muscles for me. I set it firmly aside and noted the flicker of annoyance in Grandmother's eyes before she discarded her own with a thump.

  End round one. Ding ding.

  What followed was an intense question period that left me shaky and sweating a little. Not that my grandmother asked me anything I would deem a touchy subject, as in things I'd be unwilling to answer, but they were deeply personal in a way, questions about my life at home, my friends and the coven. I was more stressed out I might let something slip I shouldn't than I was about the actual interrogation itself.

  “Your mother left you to rule your coven at a very young age,” Grandmother said. “How are you coping?”

  Zing. “No problems,” I said, struggling to keep the ice from my voice.

  “Ah yes,” she went on, eyes narrowing slightly. “You have your human grandmother to watch over you.”

  Double zing with a punch to the gut for good measure. “Gram and I co-lead,” I said. “Much like you and Vandelarius.”

  From the twitch of her lips, I finally scored.

  But my tally against her didn’t get to rise very far. It was an interrogation, no question, hidden behind her smooth, deep voice and her guise as my caring grandparent. There were moments when interest lit her up, times my responses made her close off and ponder before she dove at me with another question.

  I have no idea how long it took, but I was grateful when she finally sat forward and stood.

  “I've enjoyed our visit,” she said. “Perhaps you'd like to get some rest now.”

  A dismissal if ever I'd heard one. I hadn't had anything from Sassafras in a while and could only assume Grandmother figured out what he was doing and cut him off. I reached for him, felt an impenetrable wall in my way and knew I was right.

  I paused at the door, unsure. I had no idea what awaited me on the other side. Instead of just leaving, I turned back and faced Grandmother.

  “It was nice to finally meet you,” I said.

  Her eyebrows arched slightly. “Good night, Sydlynhamitra,” she said.

  I drew a breath, tightened my hold on my power and strode out as if I owned the place.

  And almost ran right into Sassafras and Meira waiting on the other side.

  “What are you two doing here?” I scowled at Sass while my sister pushed past me.

  “Grandmother wanted to see me,” she said before disappearing through the doors. I turned to go after her only to have them thud shut with finality in my face.

  Rude.

  Angry did not begin to describe how I felt as I paced the next hour or so away outside Grandmother's doors. Worry for Meira and stress over the whole mess we were in didn't help much. Neither did Sassy's total silence as he glared at the entry. I reached for him at one point and felt his entire focus sharpened to a fine point, aimed directly at the power surrounding the chambers beyond.

  No wonder he was so focused.

  Eavesdropping was intense business.

  But when I tried to insert myself into the subterfuge, he slashed at me with a snarl before refocusing himself.

  Jeeze, everyone was being nasty tonight.

  When the doors finally cracked open and Meira emerged, I had a tension headache the size of a watermelon banging its way around inside my head, looking for a way out. But she was grinning, bent to lift Sassy into her arms and hug him, smiling at me like everything was okay so I let myself relax as she took my hand and turned me toward our quarters.

  “Did you drink it?” Sassy met her eyes.

  “No,” she said. “Just pretended to like you said.”

  The nectar. “Nice of you to warn me about it,” I groused.

  “I didn't think you'd be wandering off in the middle of the night,” he snapped back.

  “What is it?” The thought brought the yearning back and I had to shut my demon's desire down quickly.

  “Nectar has it uses,” Sassy said, the grudging tone of his voice making me wonder what kind of history he had with it. “As a mild narcotic, it can boost power and help the user work past certain limitations.” That was nicely vague. But he was continuing so I filed further questions away for later. “The problem is, it tends to make the demon more pliable. Willing to speak what shouldn't be spoken.” He glared at me, but his expression softened. “You did very well.”

  “Thanks.” I hugged myself as we walked, hating how wound up I was. “Nice of her to drug me.”

  “She just wants to get to know us.” Meira's fingers squeezed mine. “I like her.”

  Uh-oh. “Meems, she's manipulating us.”

  She shrugged. “I know,” my infinitely wise little sister little sister said. “But once you get past that, she's really nice.”

  Even Sassafras laughed at that. A laugh choked off in a hiss. I looked up, startled, distracted. Just like he'd warned me not to be.

  Didn't look like the demon blocking our path had the same problem.

  ***

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Sydlynhamitra,” she said in a voice echoing through the hallway, “I, Phatshepeset, Lady of the Eighth Plane, challenge you for status.”

  Nice name. But I wasn’t contemplating what she was called or what her ranking was. For once I did as I was told and acted.

  Acting I could actually handle. The second she stopped speaking my power was on the move, lashing at her legs in slicing blades of amber fire. It should have worked. I had the jump on he
r, the shields surrounding her should have been in a nasty puddle at her feet.

  Damn it.

  I had so much to learn.

  Her magic skipped around the edges of mine, forming ripples diffusing the slashing attack until I might as well have come at her with a knitting needle. I barely—barely—had time to dodge aside as her own magic slid forward, a hissing snake, to strike at me with venom I was certain would do more damage than I was willing to take.

  Any damage was unacceptable, to be honest.

  My demon roared her fury, splitting our magic in two down the middle, arms of force striking outward, coming together around her with so much pressure I felt my ears pop as the magic whooshed around her shields.

  Her magic slithered, shimmering and shuddering, the constant motion making it impossible to crush her as she eddied and flowed like water, my demon unable to get a grip on her at all.

  Syd! Sassy’s voice broke through my intense concentration. Stop trying to beat her with a club and use your head!

  My head? He actually expected me to have time to think? A dozen of her magic snakes oozed around my feet, striking over and over at my shields, sending pin-pricks of pain through me with every blow until my demon snarled her frustration.

  Okay, think, Syd. She’s slippery. What works against something that you can’t hold onto? I had to figure out a way to pin her down, but how?

  I need to find out how to stick to her in order to get a grip. Stick.

  Ow! DAMN IT, that HURT! A large version of her little snakes took a giant bite out of the side of my shield forcing me to patch it while another took a second bite out of the other side.

  Nononononono. I couldn’t lose. Couldn’t.

  Sand. As I spun and blocked the snakes, on the panicked defensive, I had an image of being at the beach, covered in suntan oil. And how the sand would stick—

  Not thinking, refusing to second-guess myself as a third snake tore a slice out of my shields, making me stagger to one knee, I gathered my power and flung it at her.

  But not to pound away at her. Not at all. As it traveled outward it broke up into small pieces, fracturing further and further until it shimmered in the air like glitter. Phatshepeset’s smile of derision faded as she batted at it. But the dust of my power settled on her, around her, sinking into the undulation of her shields, like sand settling to the bottom of the ocean.

  I staggered to my feet as her snakes disappeared, watched for a moment as she writhed and struggled, slapping at herself where the pin-points of magic touched her as they slid through her wards and settled on her body.

  What are you waiting for? Sassy’s snapped command broke through my daze. Finish her.

  Right. I called to my power and drew it together, cocooning her inside her own wards. With my teeth gritted, I jerked my outstretched hand into a fist, crushing her under the weight of my now solid magic.

  Phatshepeset cried out in agony, collapsing to the ground as I then opened my hand wide, shattering her shields outward, sending the shards flying to dissipate in little puffs of gold.

  My demon snarled as she shoved me forward, siphoning off a measure of the girl’s magic. It slid inside us, the reptile feel of it integrating with my power while the rush of extra energy sent goose bumps racing over my skin.

  Satisfied, my demon gave me back control. Sick and a little horrified, I stood over the fallen demon girl who stared at me with terror in her eyes before limping to her feet and scuttling away.

  “Ruthless,” Sassy said. “Well done.”

  I turned on him with a snarl. “Shut the hell up.” I stomped off to my room, throwing the doors open, not caring if he and Meira followed.

  They did, of course.

  “I don’t know why you’re angry,” Sassy said. “You knew what was coming.”

  “It’s this damned place.” I spun, letting my frustration out, while Meira watched me with sadness on her face. “How can people live like this? What the hell is wrong with them that they can just treat each other like fresh meat?” I couldn’t wait to go home and forget Demonicon ever existed.

  Sassy ignored what I said. “Had you some training, you would have seen through her attack style and taken her out easily.”

  “I said shut it,” I snapped. “Besides, it’s almost morning. I just want to get the hell out of here.” Hope, thin and fragile. It had to work.

  It just had to.

  I spent the rest of the night perched on the end of the bed with Sassy on one side and Meira on the other. Enough rummaging in my closet had turned up the clothes I arrived in and I’d changed, ready and waiting to leave this insanity behind me.

  Dad found us there, Meira wilting against my side, just after sunrise. He didn’t comment, though I could tell from the pinched look on his face he knew not only about our visit to see Grandmother, but had also heard about the fight.

  “Time to get you girls home,” he said, “before anything else happens.”

  Yup. He’d heard all right.

  I stood up, drew a breath. “Right then.” I reached for the veil and, for a moment, felt the hope I’d harbored rise and swell. The spongy, rubber-like consistency of the veil was back.

  Wicked.

  Except no matter how hard I tried, Dad’s power and Sassy’s tied to mine, I couldn’t get the damned thing to part. There were brief moments where I thought I might win through, when I could feel the edge of home, but the veil simply folded back in and pushed me aside.

  Panting and frustrated, I finally jerked free, not willing to admit defeat, but with no idea what to do next.

  Dad hugged me. “I’m sorry, honey.”

  Fury surged. Where was he last night when I was being interrogated by his mother? And attacked by one of his family? The anger faded quickly. This wasn’t Dad’s fault.

  Nope. I blamed Grandmother.

  “Enough,” Sassy snapped. “You can whine and cry later. Right now you both have training to do and so help me, if either of you gives me a moment of trouble, I’m going to show you why I was the best demon challenger ever born.”

  ***

  Chapter Seventeen

  First order of business made me actually uncomfortable and kind of anxious at the same time. Sassafras led me into my ginormous closet and proceeded to choose an outfit for me, something he deemed suitable for whatever he had in mind. Not that I was normally shy around him, but having my demon cat pick my wardrobe was more than a little weird and kind of creepy.

  “Oh stop it,” he snapped as I hid a nervous giggle behind my hand as his magic pulled down a large wrap-like coat and dropped it at my feet. “Grow up, would you, please?”

  Done with me, he waddled out to badger my sister, leaving me to dress in the floor-length flowing pant things and short, tight top baring my midriff, more of the stupid platform boots and the lightweight wrap he’d chosen. All blue this time. I felt like I’d had a very bad accident with a magic marker.

  But worse than the clothes? Imagine my shock when Sassafras led Meira and I out of our quarters and to the elevator.

  “Aren’t we supposed to be training?” I clenched my jaw against the rising vista below us as the platform dropped about fifty feet before coming to a halt again. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to it.

  “Just trust me, for once in your life.” He sounded so snippy I let it go, knowing his concern for us was testing his temper as much as mine.

  We emerged not into a hall or a large chamber, but overlooking what seemed to be some kind of arena. Bleacher seats, though far more grandiose and comfortable than any stadium I’d ever seen, rose above a large stone opening where a number of demons seemed to be doing battle.

  “Training ground,” Sassafras said, eyes locked on the scene below as we walked down the wide stairs to the bottom. There was a wistful quality to him suddenly that made me want to stroke his fur and comfort him. After all, hadn’t he himself spent years—decades as far as I knew—in this very arena training to fight for status?

  �
�I still think it would be easier to just train in our quarters.” I felt the hum of magic as we finally touched down on the arena floor and understood why we were here even as Sassafras’s snippy voice filled me in.

  “Unless you’re prepared to expend enough energy to shield your rooms,” he said at his most haughty, “you’ll use the training ground like everyone else.”

  He didn’t have to be such a jerk about it.

  Besides, he sent in a tightly closed thread, this way you are able to witness some of your competition in action. How many times do I have to tell you to pay attention?

  I was seriously going to throttle his ass. Once we were home, safe and sound.

  Right now, it seemed, I needed him.

  More than a little sour over the whole thing, I followed Sass and Meira to the center of the open area. When he stopped in the middle and turned to face us, I hesitated. Every eye was locked on us, the rest of the combatants lining the walls of the round arena.

  Way to make us stand out like sore thumbs, Sass. I didn’t need the extra pressure. They’d be watching anyway, but it would have been nice to have a wall at my back just in case. What was he thinking?

  You’re going to stand out no matter what we do, he sent. Might as well make yourselves easy to observe.

  Easy targets you mean. I shifted nervously, trying to watch all of the other demons at once.

  Don’t be ridiculous, he sent. The arena is off limits to status matches. Training only. Anyone who breaks the rule is stripped and tossed out of the city. The law has stood for generations. Now focus.

  Sassafras had always been a bossy-pants, but his new attitude was really rankling. I knew he was worried, that he just wanted to help. And was likely the only one who could help. But I’d survived two fights already and didn’t think being talked to like a baby was warranted.