I melted the snow a few feet back from the campfire and sat with my legs drawn up, chin resting on my knees. My body throbbed with unpleasant heat. All things considered, I was lucky to still be breathing, but I didn’t feel lucky. I felt filthy, like a soiled rag. At one time, I had lived with this night after night for as long as I could remember. Damien’s control had been the whole of my wretched existence. But this time, Damien’s violation mattered on a visceral level. I knew my worth. I was strong. Powerful. Capable of great things. More than that, I was a woman. A living, breathing, human being. An entity all of my own. Why–how had I let him do this to me?
I curled my claws into my palms and pierced my skin again, wincing at the fresh pain. But something in that new pain relieved the horrid depth of anguish and disgust in the pit of my stomach. It was a clean pain.
The white woman returned, carrying a tin pot of something. She hung it over the fire. Within minutes, I smelled a sweet but sharp odor rising from the warming water, like eucalyptus and tea tree oil, cleansing but with a kick. Only my eyes moved as I watched her stir the concoction. Her lips seemed to be pulled into the most delicate of smiles at all times, as though she were listening to music that nobody else could hear.
She poured some of the mixture into a tin cup and handed it to me. “Drink.”
I sniffed at the steam rising from its surface and wrinkled my nose.
“It will take the pain away.”
“I’m not in pain,” I shot back.
“Drink.” She smiled.
What was the point in denying the truth? I lifted the cup to my lips and sipped. The tea tasted bitter, but as the warmth rolled down my throat, softness spread through my muscles.
Satisfied, she sat on a snowy tree stump. Her gown resembled a gossamer veil. It barely existed at all. I could clearly admire the curves of her dainty body beneath. When in the netherworld, demons rarely craft themselves clothes, real or illusionary. Why would they? Clothing restrains. It restricts. Demons need to feel the elements around them, feel the air against their flesh, the earth beneath their feet. It’s different in the human world. When I revealed my demon there, she layered herself over me, clothes and all. On the other side, anything human doesn’t survive for long. My clothes had fizzled away the second I stepped through the veil, as would anything I had with me. Full demons could manifest clothes when and however they pleased. I didn’t have that luxury. My human half wanted to cover up my vulnerability, but my demon was in control. She slapped my insecurities down.
“I must apologize. I wish I had found you sooner,” the white woman said.
The tea scalded my lips, but I welcomed the heat. “How did you find me?”
“He wouldn’t have taken you far. I know where our world layers your Boston.”
He could have. He could have wrapped me in his arms and taken to the air. We could have been half way across the netherworld in hours. She seemed to read my mistrust because her blue eyes softened sympathetically.
“He would not wait to claim you again, Muse.”
Claim me. I shuddered and gulped down more tea. “I couldn’t stop him.” I closed my eyes and felt his abrasive touch roam over me. It had taken years to lock the memories away, to stand tall and walk proud, as though I hadn’t been beaten into submission both mentally and physically. Now the memories were back, mingling with new ones, and I teetered on the edge of madness. “The restraints—I tried to summon—” I licked my lips and flicked my gaze to hers. She looked back at me with quiet dignity. I silently ordered myself not to fall apart. Not yet. “I had to make him believe I was his again. I had no choice. It was all I had... I couldn’t...” I bowed my head and bit into my trembling lip. Words wouldn’t suffice.
“I know. You do not need to explain. You are alive. Wounds will heal. Drink. You are safe here. For now.”
He would find me again, and I had no idea how I might react. I could tear into him. With the restraints gone, I could summon the fires of hell, draw the heat from this world and the human realm. I could funnel it all into his soul and burn him from the inside out. But it wasn’t that simple. If I lost control—which was highly likely—there was a chance the sheer weight of power would destroy me.
“He did something...” I pressed the palm of my right hand to my chest. “Inside.”
She blinked slowly, her smile falling away. “Tamashii rokku...” she whispered, and then for my benefit said, “He’s claimed you—inside?” She tapped her chest. “He has locked your soul?”
I didn’t know what that was, but the look of barely restrained horror on her face was already conjuring up likely scenarios in my mind, none of them good. Perhaps I should have felt something, fear maybe. I didn’t. I just felt empty. “I tried to reach out to him with my element, to distract him, but he pulled me in. There was something inside him, something dark, it dragged me under, and then he was inside me.” A surge of nausea rolled over me. I gagged and pressed the back of a hand to my lips, blinking back tears.
I watched her throat move as she swallowed. She came forward, knelt before me, and took my free hand in hers. My blackened skin pulsed with fiery veins against her delicate, icy touch. The cool touch of her element slid across the back of my hand and up my arm. I recognized that elemental touch but couldn’t pin it down. “You and he, you are joined. As one.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He cannot do this to you unless you are willing.”
I snatched my hand back. “I wasn’t willing.”
“Willing or not, you let him in, Muse. He’s tied your soul to his. If anything should happen to either of you, the soul will join its mate. You are as one.”
My chest tightened. Bile burned my throat. “There’s a way out?”
She looked away. “I... do not know.”
I cleared my throat and threw my gaze skyward. Curdled clouds drifted across the lilac sky. “There’s a way.” There’s always a way out of these things. Isn’t there? I might have been raised among demons, but I’d been deliberately sheltered. I knew more about the human world than I did the netherworld. Soul-locked. I never knew such a thing existed.
“I didn’t let him in,” I growled.
I’d shut down once he’d made it clear what he wanted. My mind retreated while I let him use my body, but even cowering inside my own subconscious, I hadn’t been safe. His power had plunged deep inside to depths I didn’t know existed. He hadn’t done that before. Before, it had all been physical abuse, but fifteen years ago, he hadn’t known what I was capable of. He’d thought of me as a plaything, below him on the demon social ladder. Six months ago, I’d rendered a Prince of Hell impotent. I could pull the power of two worlds into my being. Things had changed. No wonder he’d claimed me. It made him powerful in return.
I gulped back the swell of rage and agony, but it still leaked into my voice. “There are rules, right?” I snarled. “There must be some sort of order here. Otherwise you’d all be tearing each other to pieces.”
“Yes, the Princes dictate order, but they are unlikely to help a half-blood.”
We fell quiet. Slowly, methodically, I finished my tea and managed to keep it down. The warmth of the mixture soothed my aching limbs and sore bruises. The mental damage would take a lot more than herbal tea to heal. I couldn’t afford to dwell on it now. If I fell apart here or lost control, something bigger and nastier would likely take the opportunity to bite a few chunks out of me.
With the lid firmly on my broiling emotions, I looked up at the white woman. “So what do you want?” She might appear to be the model hostess, but no demon did anything out of the kindness of her heart. It’s not their way. If they can screw you over, they will, and appearances are always deceiving. The white woman had saved me. She looked like a dazzling angel, which often meant there was a devil hiding beneath.
“My name is Yukki Onna. You will reach my son.” She straightened as if waiting for my challenge.
I recognized her name and realized why I’d
felt a familiarity in her icy touch. Nica had once told me about Stefan’s mother, an ice elemental, more commonly known as the Snow Witch. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but nothing quite as otherworldly beautiful as she appeared to be.
I looked up. Thunderous clouds smothered the lilac sky. “I’ll happily find Stefan, but I don’t know where he is.” Snowflakes spiraled around us.
“I know where he is.” She turned her head and cast her gaze out across the lake. Snowflakes nestled in her hair and kissed her cheeks.
“But you said...”
“Do you have family, Muse?” she asked. I almost laughed. It depended on what her definition of family was. She didn’t give me a chance to attempt an answer. “There is no stronger tie that binds, but ties can readily knot. And easily strangle.”
Apparently, her definition of family complimented mine.
She sighed and refocused on me. “My son is beyond my reach.” She looked down at me, tears freezing the moment they skipped from her eyes. “This is my price.”
Chapter 17
The netherworld heaves with vicious creatures. The shadows harbor countless nasties that will quite happily take a chunk out of you while you look the other way. Night is even worse there. In the dark, the lesser demons come out to hunt. Anything smaller than them is prey. Survival of the fittest plays out every time the sun sets. Only the strong, the quick, and the resourceful make it through even a single night.
Yukki Onna wouldn’t answer any further questions about Stefan. It didn’t matter. He was alive. After so long, I had confirmation he’d survived, not just speculation and theories. After the events of the last few hours, a heady dose of hope was exactly what I needed.
While Yukki Onna refused to talk about her son, she did explain how the Institute had summoned her and asked her to find me. She’d agreed, on the understanding I reach Stefan. I wondered if Adam had anything to do with the deal. He and Yukki Onna had a history, and considering how he’d reacted to my crass accusation in his office, his feelings—good or bad—were clearly still raw. I was tempted to ask Yukki Onna, but I had no idea how she’d react to mention of Adam. Knowing him as I did, I suspected their union may not have been a happy one. His hatred of demons seemed at odds with the image of the two of them together.
“Yukki Onna...” I stood beside her on the beach. The waters of the lake lapped at the polished pebbles a few feet ahead of us. A warm breeze teased through her ivory hair and tugged at her gown. “You don’t need to appear human for me.”
“But you are half human.”
I smiled. She meant to protect me. “It’s okay. My demon protects me here. I can see all of you without... passing out.”
She gave a little shiver, and my vision quivered. Her image blurred out of focus. I blinked and refocused. Her gown dissolved, revealing a crystalline female figure. Light swirled beneath her skin like a genie in a bottle. Four-pronged gossamer wings unfurled behind her. They briefly beat the air too quickly for me to see each stroke. A dusting of snow fell from their trailing edges. Her white hair became a brittle mantle, glistening with spikes of ice.
She shook herself all over. Snow spilled to the ground. I smiled. She was as beautiful as a winter’s morning, but like all things truly beautiful, she had a deadly glint in her eye. I got the impression Yukki Onna was not a demon to be crossed. Ice burns as readily as fire.
“Night will be on us soon.” Her voice took on a brittle, tinkling edge.
I noticed a dagger and rapier sheathed at her hip. In comparison, I felt decidedly unarmed. My one shredded wing wasn’t going to be of any use either. I had power—lots of it—but wielding it was tricky at the best of times. These were not the best of times.
Yukki Onna withdrew the rapier. “Take it.”
I weighed the sword in my hand, testing its balance. As a blacksmith, I’d made rapiers, but hers was impossibly light, like a steel feather in the palm of my hand. Clasping it tightly, I felt the cool touch of ice seep into the heat of my hand. “It has power.”
“Yes. She is named Kira-Kira. She will look after you. She belongs to Stefan. Or would have, had he been returned to me...as promised.”
Trying to read her expression felt a little like trying to see faces in clouds. I thought I saw regret pass across her features before she masked it behind a half smile. I flexed my grip on the sword, acquainting myself with the balance. “Won’t my element play havoc with the power?”
“If it does, use the pointy end.”
I glanced up and saw her crooked smile. Blue lips ticked into her cheeks. Her eyes were alight with the promise of conflict. I knew then where Stefan had inherited his thrill of the fight and quick wit. All we had to do was survive long enough to find him while avoiding my soul-locked owner, and staying below the radar of Mammon and my ruthless brother, Valenti. I couldn’t help thinking our chances of survival compared to that of a snowball’s chance in hell.
* * *
As soon as the sun bowed out for the night, the forest embracing the grove came alive. Insects chirped and chittered. Shadows sighed, and the breeze hissed through the trees. I felt the crawling sensation of eyes on me but couldn’t locate their source beyond the dancing glow of our campfire.
Yukki Onna perched on the stump. The liquid light beneath her skin lent her an iridescent glow. She had clamped her wings closed behind her, their skyward tilt as rigid as the rest of her body. We hadn’t discussed the possibility of attack; there really was nothing to discuss. It was inevitable.
I clutched Kira-Kira across my knees. It had been a long time since I’d had to fight the lesser demons for my right to walk their lands. They would sense any weakness and smell the humanity on me. I had the blood of Asmodeus in my veins. My father was a longstanding Prince of Hell, but while they might smell my lineage, the scent wouldn’t dissuade them for long. I was damaged goods, and they wouldn’t be able to stop themselves.
At least Asmodeus wasn’t on the list of demons who wanted me dead. In his mind, I simply didn’t exist. I was little more than a bug on a windshield to him, something he could wipe from existence with little more than a hand gesture. Thankfully, he didn’t care for me dead or alive. Unfortunately, my brother didn’t feel the same. Family, eh, can’t live with them, especially when they plot to kill you.
A muffled scurry in the snow behind Yukki Onna jolted her to her feet. Her wings splayed. Her element stirred, charging the air around her. I stood slowly and drilled my glare into the thick cover of darkness. The wild netherworld elements tingled across my skin.
The rattle of armored plates spun me around. The substantial bulk of… something swept through the undergrowth. The bushes rustled and then settled. Yukki Onna caught my eye and smiled.
I splayed my left hand toward the campfire behind me. The flames roared higher. In the darkness beyond the firelight, countless pinpricks of glowing eyes glaring back at us. Something large, black, and snake-like burst from the bushes. With a yelp, I skipped back just as black fangs the size of my forearms plunged through the air. I thrust the sword out, but the point skipped off the lesser demon’s snout. It twitched its trailing whiskers and chittered, sounding oddly like laughter. It pulled back and lifted its elongated head, snorting hot air. I’d been wrong. It wasn’t snake-like. I’d seen smaller versions of the demon on Chinese take-out boxes; more Oriental-dragon than snake.
Gathering my element, I cast the rippling power down my arm and flung a whip-like tentacle of flame at its face. The demon roared and recoiled from the blistering heat. The tail swept out of the dark to my left and hooked my legs out from under me. I fell backward and hit the ground hard with a grunt. Steam coiled around me. I was out of practice and feeling it. The bristle-faced demon planted talon-like feet either side of me and bowed its head. I brought the sword around in one heaving arc and slashed the sharp edge of the blade across its jaw. Black liquid spurted from the wound. The demon swung its head around and slithered back into the undergrowth. I didn’t think for a second it
had given up.
As I rolled onto my side. A smile crawled across my lips.
Yukki Onna was surrounded by a pack of Sasori demons. Half scorpion, their torsos loosely resembled a humanoid form, but below the waist they were all arachnid. They skittered and scuttled about Yukki Onna. Black lacquered pincers snapped at her wings. She danced back, delight bright in her blue eyes. She let loose a flurry of dagger-like shards of ice that rapidly peppered the beasts.
The cacophony of cries as the lesser demons scrambled away would alert any nearby beasties to our melee. I blasted a few of the Sasori as they attempted to flee. Their scorpion bodies twitched, cries pitching high. Where they fled flaming through the dark, I caught sight of half a dozen eager hunks of quivering demon-muscle complete with murderous gazes loitering in the shadows.
Something swooped down from above. I ducked in time and winced as a curved claw tore through Yukki Onna’s delicate wings. She flinched away and thrust a blade of ice into the sky. Seconds later, the winged demon landed with a thwump beside our roaring campfire. The shard of ice protruded from its arrowhead skull.
A breath of air against my neck alerted me, and I spun, launching a wave of fire at the thing hunkered over me. The dragon demon was back. It huffed at me, green eyes narrowing. I realized exactly what it was: a Larkwrari hatchling, thankfully only a fraction of the size of an adult specimen, which could reach Boeing proportions. It bared black half-moon fangs and spat viscous mucus over me. The fire simmering across my skin blanched white. My element unexpectedly surged through me. I laughed at the thrill of the inferno firing off the pleasure receptors in my brain. So it wanted to play with fire. That, I could do.
Gathering an element is like breathing in when you’ve been starved of air. It’s invigorating, rejuvenating. The power swells and flows and fills every part of you. It’s alive, the very essence of chaos. When it comes, it does so in a way that tips you over the edge of ecstasy and a wild, unrestrained sense of freedom. Calling it was just half the thrill ride. Using it spoke to the chaos swirling at the very center of me, chaos and the raw hunger for more. I spun it around me, whipping up a firestorm, my demon body blazing white at the eye. The whiskered demon stamped backward, thinking twice, but I had it in my sights. I blasted a ravenous wave of energy over it. I tasted its death in the flames as though I’d plunged my hands into its chest and crushed the living essence to dust with my bare hands. My child of fire devoured everything, leaving only ash swirling in the wind.
Devil May Care: A Muse Urban Fantasy (The Veil Series Book 2) Page 11