by Sara DeHaven
But it was all worth it. Hunter was his kid, he was sure of it. The resemblance was definitely there. He couldn't wait to introduce the boy to his father and his sisters, couldn't wait to see their faces when they realized he'd thrown a powered child.
Hunter stirred and woke. He sat up, hair and clothes rumpled.
"You hungry or anything?" Scanlon asked. "I'm sure I could scare up something around here. Um, some pretzels maybe?"
"I want to go home," Hunter said in a small voice. Scanlon felt a flash of irritation. God, the kid was a whiner, he just wouldn't let up. He knew it would take time for Hunter to forget the fags who’d adopted him, but he would in time. What adopted kid didn’t secretly long for his real parents? Isn’t that what he’d always heard?
He glanced again at Franchesca and found her staring at Hunter, a little frown between her brows. It almost looked like she was concerned about Hunter, but he knew not to depend on Franchesca's gentler feelings. He wasn't naive, he knew why Franchesca had grabbed Hunter. It sure as hell wasn't to please a lower echelon Keltoi like him. She'd taken Hunter as leverage against Thorvaldson. But it had been a big risk. The Keepers would be swarming known Keltoi locations, hauling in any Keltoi they could overpower and questioning them within an inch of their lives. He was pretty sure that wouldn't please Carson, and he wondered how Franchesca would try to spin it.
He didn’t have long to wonder, because Carson came in ten minutes later with Destry and Mosel, the two bodyguards from the last time he was here. Franchesca pasted a smile on her face and said, “Jeff, good to see you. You certainly are the early bird."
Carson’s gaze made a quick sweep of the room, and apparently he decided he was willing to talk in front of Scanlon, a strange kid, and the sleeping Justice, because he went straight to the point. “I hope you’re going to tell me you have Thorvaldson locked up somewhere and have gotten the information out of him.”
Franchesca wet her lips nervously, but her voice was confident. “I did have a chance at him, but he got away. I didn’t have enough manpower to get control of him, but I have a lead on how to find him. I also managed to possess one of his close associates, and may be able to get more information that way.”
Carson frowned. “We’re running out of time here, Ms. Gambrini. The shipment from Afghanistan will get here next week. You said you could get me that spell."
"I can still get it, it will just take a little more time. I never said I was certain I could get the hiding spell out of Daniel before the shipment. It’s a bigger risk without his spell, but risk is part of the business." She smiled and crossed her legs, and her already short skirt climbed up her thighs. Scanlon saw with some amusement that Carson's eyes went straight to her legs. Franchesca did have stellar legs, you had to give her that. And she was using them for all their worth.
"We can certainly use the distribution plan you and I discussed without it," Franchesca continued. "Keep in mind that it’s my contacts with the East Coast markets that make this joint endeavor so lucrative.”
"And why is it you didn't have enough personnel to bring Thorvaldson in? I told you all you had to do was call Destry, and she'd make sure you had enough people to take him down." Carson didn't raise his voice. He almost never did. But his flat gaze radiated displeasure.
"I wasn't expecting to see Daniel last night. I'd located the woman he's been running with, and planned to question her, find out where he is. He hasn't been home since Scanlon and Justice prematurely tipped him off that we wanted him."
So the bitch was trying to put the blame of her failure on him. Scanlon opened his mouth to defend himself, then thought better of it. That'd just draw Carson's attention to him. Best to let Franchesca keep talking for now.
"I discovered the woman had on one of Daniel's locator amulets, and I saw a chance to retrieve Daniel quickly. I know him, and I knew the woman's presence would distract him." Franchesca was speaking a little too quickly. It was clear she was nervous. She must have realized the same thing when Scanlon did, because she slowed down as she went on. "It nearly worked, and while I didn't succeed in getting Daniel, I have some leverage over him now, and it’s quite likely he will come to me.”
“What leverage?” Carson asked.
Franchesca gestured toward Hunter, and Scanlon stiffened. “This child here is the adopted son of Thorvaldson’s oldest, closest friend.”
“And he’s my son,” Scanlon erupted hotly. “You’re not doing anything with him without my permission!”
Destry and Mosel gave each other an amused look, which pissed Scanlon off even more. Carson just said coolly to Scanlon, “Your son?”
“I’m his biological father. I only found out about his existence recently. He’s powered.”
Carson regarded Hunter with something like interest, and the boy squirmed in his seat next to Scanlon. Scanlon was afraid he’d start whining to go home again, but thankfully, he kept quiet.
“So that's why the Keepers are stirred up. Do we have to worry about the adoptive parents coming after him?” Carson inquired.
“One of the parents is high power, but only on Warding, and the other is normal," Franchesca replied. "Neither have connections with the Ecclesias. They can try to go through channels to locate him, and the Keepers may be in a fuss for a short while, but that’s all to the good. It will keep them occupied, and in the meantime, the boy’s adoptive parents have no power to do anything about the situation. In fact, Thorvaldson is the only real danger on that score, but he can be controlled by his desire to get the boy back. I will propose a trade: Thorvaldson for the boy.”
“Now wait just a goddamned minute,” Scanlon said, half rising from his seat, but an annoyed look from Carson stopped him.
“She said she would propose a trade, Scanlon, not that she would go through with it.” Carson focused back on Franchesca. “Does he know that Scanlon is the boy's father?"
Scanlon's shoulders tightened with nerves at the question.
"He knows. Scanlon mentioned it in front of Daniel."
Carson shot Scanlon a disgusted look, then focused back on Franchesca. "Then I doubt Thorvaldson will be in a hurry to trade himself for the boy. I'm sure he imagines Scanlon doesn't want to hurt his own son. No, I don't think it's enough leverage. You'll have to do better than that. Much better." Carson's quiet voice held an unmistakable threat. "I want that hiding spell before the shipment gets here. This is the biggest deal my clan has ever run, and your clan is heavily invested as well. You were sent here for this specific purpose."
Color rose in Franchesca's cheeks at some emotion, and she looked again at Hunter. Then her lips compressed, and she stood up. "Then we'll just have to make sure Daniel is properly motivated." In two quick strides, she was in front of Hunter. She grabbed his arm, hauling him to his feet.
"Hey, what're you doing with my kid," Scanlon protested, rising to his feet and reaching for Hunter's other arm. He'd just gotten a decent grip when Carson snapped, "Mosel, Destry, hold him." Mosel stalked toward him with a nasty grin on his face, Destry with no expression at all.
"Ow, it hurts!" Hunter cried. Jim almost released his hold on the boy. He didn't want to hurt the kid, and Mosel and Destry were just going to take him down anyway, that was clear. Scanlon's heart hammered in a mixture of rage and shame. There was no way he was going to be able to prevent whatever Franchesca had planned for the kid. He could probably take either Mosel or Destry, but not both at once, and that wasn't even factoring in Carson's casting ability. Destry maneuvered past the couch to his left side, and her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. "Release," she murmured, and just like that, all the strength left Scanlon's body. His legs gave out just as Hunter was torn away from him. Mosel looked down at Scanlon, frowning. No doubt the sadistic creep was disappointed he didn't get to beat the shit out of Scanlon. Scanlon wanted to close his eyes and ears. He didn't want to know what was going to happen next.
"Get me a camera or phone capable of shooting video," Franchesca said, voice col
d.
"Let go, let go! I want my Dads!" Hunter started screaming.
Scanlon had thought he didn't want to look, but now that it came to it, he felt like not seeing what happened was worse. Grunting with effort, he forced himself up into a sitting position. He was able to get an elbow over the seat of the couch to prop himself up. The spell Destry cast had barely loosened. He was breathing hard with the effort of doing even that much.
Hunter writhed in Franchesca's grip, and Franchesca jerked on his arm. "Stop pulling away, and it'll stop hurting," she said, voice rising in frustration.
"Let me go!" Hunter shrieked, tears pouring down his face.
"Whatever you plan to do, please do it quickly," Carson commanded. His face was as expressionless as usual, but his eyes held an avid look, as if he were fascinated to see what Franchesca was planning to do.
"It will help that he's crying," Franchesca said a little breathlessly. Hunter kicked out at her and connected. Franchesca slapped him, and Scanlon's whole body tensed. He tried to push off against the couch, get to his feet somehow, even though he knew it wouldn't do him any good. Hunter froze at the blow. He looked up at Franchesca in what looked like total shock. Jesus, hadn't the kid ever been hit before?
Mosel strolled up holding a camera, fiddling with the buttons and looking at the screen. "There we go, movie mode," he said. He extended the camera out in front of him, pointing it at Franchesca and Hunter. "We're good to go. Just move a little to your left. Yeah, right there."
Franchesca looked into the camera. "As you can see, Daniel, I have Kevin's son. Say hello to Daniel," she said with false cheerfulness. Hunter remained silent, looking down at his feet, tears still falling unchecked, even when Franchesca shook his arm roughly.
Franchesca frowned, then looked back at the camera. "As you can see, he's not too happy here at the moment. And you can change that. I'm sure you're not surprised that I would ask you to trade yourself for the boy. Aren't you glad that you have some control over what happens to him?" She looked back down at Hunter, and she seemed to hesitate. Slowly, she looked back at the camera. "I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I want to be sure you have the proper incentive to move quickly on this." She raised the hand not holding onto Hunter in front of herself, fist clenched, and she threw her head back. "Habakku, I call you! Habakku, I command you!"
Scanlon's skin went cold all over. Dear God, she was going to have a demon possess Hunter. He opened his mouth to protest, but Destry was already beside him. She touched the top of his head, and a freeze spell descended on him instantly. His mouth stayed open, but no sound came out. He had never felt more helpless in his life. He couldn't believe even someone as demon burned as Franchesca would deliberately cause the possession of a child. Children tolerated demon contact less than adults, were often permanently harmed or killed by the experience. Orange smoke rolled into the room in front of Franchesca. She didn't wait for the demon to manifest fully before commanding, "Possess this child!"
Hunter pulled with all his might against Franchesca's hold, then leaned down and bit her hand. She grabbed up a fistful of Hunter's hair, and pulled his head back. His teeth let go of her hand. He drew breath to protest the pain, and as his mouth opened, the demon shot into him. Hunter's eyes widened, looking first utterly terrified, then widened further in what looked like surprise.
Franchesca released Hunter's hair, and rubbed at her hand where the kid had bitten her. Any reluctance she may have had in taking this course of action was nowhere visible. She looked down at Hunter clinically. Hunter's face gradually relaxed, then he cast his eyes around the room. His gaze stopped for a moment on Scanlon, and Scanlon felt sick to his stomach at the orange spark visible in Hunter's eyes. Hunter smiled a delighted smile that failed utterly to be child-like. The demon could feel his suffering from across the room. It wanted to feed. Scanlon forced himself to breathe slower, to think of something else. Anything else.
Hunter's eyes ghosted past him and settled first on Destry. Destry avoided the boy's gaze, and her face gave away how uncomfortable she was. Hunter moved on to Franchesca. "You have summoned me to a good place, Master. I see good feeding. Including you. You suffer. You suffer even now. Let me feed."
Franchesca retreated a step as Hunter advanced, then raised her fists before her and squeezed. "I am indeed a Master. And you will not feed on me. But I invite you to feed on your host."
Scanlon tried to force his eyes away. But he couldn't do it, the freeze spell was still firmly in place.
Hunter's head cocked far to one side as the demon took stock of its host. His eyes closed briefly, then snapped open. Hunter's voice took on even more of that creepy buzzing tone possessed got when a demon was in full control. "This host suffers greatly, but it is small, and won't make much of a meal. If the suffering were more..."
Hunter raised his arm to his mouth and bit the skin, hard. Blood immediately flowed from the wound, reddening Hunter's teeth.
"You will stop!" Franchesca demanded. Scanlon would swear she sounded nervous, like maybe she wasn't in full control of the demon. Scanlon's Demonsense wasn't all that great, so he couldn't really tell how powerful a demon she'd called, but he guessed if it scared her, it was probably big.
Hunter glared up at her, and bit down harder.
"You will stop biting your host, and you will not harm your host again until I give you leave!" Franchesca stepped toward Hunter and put her two fisted hands together.
Hunter's eyes rolled back in his head and he released his arm. He growled, and his face turned red with the demon's rage. Blood trailed out of his mouth and down his chin.
Franchesca kept one hand fisted and raised while she turned back to the camera. "As you see, it will be difficult to keep the child intact if he has to endure possession. Even if I prevent the demon from deliberately hurting his host, you know there are only so many possessions a child can have before he dies. In fact, even one sometimes does it. Let's find out, shall we? Habbaku, depart! I will call you again soon."
"I have not yet fed! I'm hungry!" Hunter cried.
"You will be fed soon, but I command you to leave the child now!"
Hunter's mouth flew open, and orange smoke shot out, at Franchesca. She made a sweeping gesture with her hands, and the smoke curved and went by her. A dark opening appeared in the air next to her, and the demon was sucked into it. The opening closed, and Hunter dropped to the floor. Scanlon winced as the kid's head bounced at the impact. He realized he was starting to be able to move, just a bit. Hunter began convulsing, and Scanlon tried to push off the couch to get to his feet, but he still couldn't do more than twitch.
Franchesca looked down at Hunter, dark eyes expressionless. She waited until he stopped seizing, then bent over him and slapped him sharply on the cheek. Hunter's head moved limply in response, and Scanlon's rage flared up again. If his son was dead, he would kill the bitch.
No you won't, a tiny voice in the back of his head told him. Carson would take you out in a heartbeat if you tried.
Scanlon nearly choked on his shame and anger. It was clear now how little Carson valued him. He hadn't lifted a finger to protect Hunter, he'd just gone right along with Franchesca. Scanlon imagined telling his father about all this, but the impulse quickly died away. Doing that would mean admitting to his father he hadn't done anything to protect Hunter. That he was incapable of doing a damned thing.
Franchesca slapped Hunter three more times, and the third time, his eyes half-opened. He lifted his head a little, looked around, then closed his eyes again and his head sank back down.
Franchesca stood up and addressed the camera again. "It looks like you can tell Kevin his son is alive for now. But that can so easily change. If you don't present yourself where and when I instruct, I will call the demon again and have him possess Hunter. And if you don't do exactly as I say, I will see the boy is possessed again. Each day you delay will mean another possession for the boy. How many more do you imagine he can endure? This was a short one, just to demons
trate what I can do. A longer one could well be fatal."
Franchesca tossed a long lock of hair back over her shoulder and moved toward the camera. "I don't want to hurt the child, Daniel. I didn't want it to come to this. You must stop resisting me. Not just for the child, but for me as well. The stakes are high, Daniel, the highest. I need you with me."
Scanlon sneered at the obvious manipulation, and doing so made him realize he could move again. He got slowly to his feet as Franchesca finished. "You will receive your instructions two hours after you get this video. Follow them to the letter." She nodded at Mosel to stop the recording.
Scanlon managed to move toward Hunter. As long as he took short steps, his muscles obeyed him. Franchesca saw him coming, and looked right past him at Carson. "I think that should be sufficient motivation, don't you?"
"You had better hope it is. If what you say about Thorvaldson's casting abilities is true, the sooner we make the exchange, the less time he has to mount a finder spell," Carson replied evenly. "This place is well warded against such spells, but I have no illusions that any masking spell is perfect."
"Then it should be tonight."
"You're not taking Hunter," Scanlon rasped. He'd made it to Hunter's side, and he knelt down next to him. Hunter was breathing, but it looked like he was unconscious. Scanlon wasn't sure what to do. Should he pick the kid up? Let him lie?
“I have every intention of taking the boy with me to the meet, but that doesn't necessarily mean I have to let Daniel or the Keepers have him,” Franchesca replied. She sat down in one of the chairs, and crossed her legs.
"Then I want to come with him," Scanlon replied. He knew he had no real chance to prevent it, so that was the best he could do.