The Devil's Playground mk-5

by Jenna Black

  Dougal pinched the bridge of his nose, like the conversation was giving him a headache. “You see, that’s the thing about you, Lugh. You see the world in black and white, and you have no concept of compromise.”

  “Oh, and compromise is your middle name? I think your worldview is just as black and white as mine.”

  Dougal shrugged. “Maybe. But you’re wrong about one thing—I would have been willing to consider a middle ground, had I any reason to hope you could be reasonable.”

  “I’m being unreasonable? I’m not the one who’s killing and torturing his own people in fits of pique!”

  Dougal sneered. “Ah, yes. You’re the saintly brother who has never lost his temper. One would think to listen to you that you are the pinnacle of perfection—the ideal to which all of us lesser beings must aspire.”

  I think Dougal scored a point with that potshot, though Lugh tried not to let it show on his face. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. “If we’re going to catalog one another’s faults, we’ll be here till closing time. Let’s talk about terms for a duel.”

  Dougal stared at him intently. “You really mean to do this? To risk everything on the chance that you can defeat me in a fair fight?”

  “Yes, I do. I’m sure I don’t know half of what you’ve been up to in the Demon Realm since I’ve been gone, but I know enough to see that you must be stopped.”

  “And why would you expect me to risk fighting you? I’m confident that you’ll slip up eventually and my people will get to you and eliminate my problems for me. Since you’ve made William into your toadie, you must know my resources on the Mortal Plain are not inconsiderable these days. Why should I not just sit back and wait until they succeed?”

  One corner of Lugh’s mouth tipped up. “If you thought you had that luxury, you wouldn’t be here right now. I hear tell you’ve made a lot of promises and you’ve had trouble keeping them. Your future in the Demon Realm is looking less than bright. And all I have to do to turn all of humanity against us is to tell them about the experiments you and Raphael conducted with your human subjects, which would mean you couldn’t escape your troubles in the Demon Realm by coming here.”

  A muscle ticked in Dougal’s jaw, but otherwise his poker face remained steady. “You would really risk every demon on the Mortal Plain just to spite me?”

  “To spite you? No. But to stop you? Absolutely. I’ve already put them at considerable risk by allowing Adam to announce the truth about exorcism. I believe humans have a right to decide whether to host demons or not. I will not sit idly by and watch you take that choice away from them.”

  Dougal shook his head in amazement. “You would side with humans over your own people?” The lines of his face hardened, and his eyes glowed with his anger. “This is the greatest proof ever that you are not fit for the demon throne. Your loyalties should be to your own kind, not to them.” Grimacing as if disgusted, Dougal made a sweeping hand gesture to encompass the crowd that milled around the food court.

  “You’ve made your point of view on the subject quite clear,” Lugh said, and his voice sounded calm and unruffled. Score one for the good guys! “Now, are we going to discuss terms or not?”

  Dougal visibly tamped down his temper. “Fine. Have it your way. We’ll discuss terms. Where shall the grand event take place?”

  Lugh shrugged. “I don’t have a location picked out yet. I’m sure we can find someplace sufficiently secluded for what we need, given a little time. I can have Adam find a suitable location and then contact you—or your lieutenant—to let you know where it is.”

  Dougal laughed. “So that you can booby-trap it?”

  Lugh rolled his eyes. “Let’s establish from the start that neither one of us is stupid. I won’t suggest anything that will insult your intelligence, and I hope you’ll do me the same courtesy.”

  “But—”

  “Obviously I would have to allow your people to examine the location once it’s been selected so that you need not fear a booby trap.”

  From the look of him, Dougal was thinking furiously, trying to find the flaw in Lugh’s logic. He must have decided it was sound, for he nodded. “All right. I will not formally agree to a location until my people have had a chance to examine it, but I will … provisionally agree, as it were. What weapons shall we use?”

  Lugh sat back and thought about it a minute. “It seems to me weapons won’t be of much use, since the point of this endeavor is for one of us to kill the other, not for one of us to kill the other’s host.” His eyes narrowed in a shrewd frown. “You wouldn’t be entertaining thoughts of trying to kill my host, now, would you?”

  It would be a lot easier to kill Lugh’s host than to kill Lugh himself. And, of course, if Dougal killed Lugh’s host and Lugh was sent back to the Demon Realm, Dougal’s minions would summon him back into a host who was already subdued and ready for roasting.

  “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a tempting possibility,” Dougal said. “But I presume you mean to give me some motivation not to?”

  Lugh nodded. “You are fighting this duel to stop my supporters from revealing your special projects to the human public. The only way you can do that is by killing me in a fair and honest fight. If you cheat by killing my host, or if your followers interfere in any way, the agreement will be null and void.”

  Dougal frowned. “And what would prevent them from doing so if you lost fair and square?”

  “You can’t believe I or any of my supporters actually want to do this, can you?” Dougal shook his head, but still looked suspicious. “I told you I would not endanger our people like that out of spite, and I meant it.”

  Dougal gave a little grunt that might have been a laugh. “And yet you would have your supporters tell all if I do not fight a fair fight. That sounds like spite to me.”

  Lugh shrugged. “Call it what you will. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a deterrent, and a deterrent has no power unless I am willing to see it through. Make no mistake, Dougal: If you cheat, the truth will come out.”

  Dougal thought about that a while, then nodded. “I believe you. Now tell me what’s to prevent you from cheating.”

  “Firstly, it’s not as easy for me to cheat. Killing your host would do me no good, unless you’re planning to tell me your True Name so I can do to you what you plan to do to me.”

  “Granted. But you can still let your supporters interfere with the fight.”

  “Since I feel confident you won’t risk having our secrets exposed by cheating, I would feel comfortable limiting the number of my supporters who are present for the duel. You can bring as many as you like, and they can ensure that my own supporters do not interfere.”

  Dougal smiled ruefully. “Nice move, brother. You make it sound like it’s a concession, when actually you need to have most of your supporters safely away from the duel so they can carry out your revenge if I cheat.”

  “What does it matter, as long as I’ve set the conditions so I can’t cheat?”

  I could almost picture the wheels in Dougal’s head turning as he tried to find a hole in Lugh’s proposal. I was beginning to think Lugh had already put a lot of thought into his plans for the duel—without ever discussing it with me or with his council.

  Dougal sat up straighter, and I could tell he’d thought of something.

  “Your supporters are loyal in the extreme,” Dougal said. “What’s to stop someone from coming to the duel in your place and then sacrificing himself with some kind of suicide bomb?”

  Lugh thought about it for a moment before speaking. Apparently this was one contingency he had not previously considered. “You needn’t face me until one of your people has had a chance to confirm my identity.”

  “Confirm that the demon who shows up is either you or Raphael, you mean.”

  Lugh grinned. “Even if Raphael and I were on speaking terms at the moment, do you really imagine he would show up in my place? Since the plan is for your people to outnumb
er mine, it would be suicide for him. If you believe he would take a risk like that for anyone, then you clearly don’t know him as well as you think.”

  Dougal conceded the point with a gracious nod. “It’s true I can’t imagine the little bastard sticking his neck out unless he felt sure no one was going to chop his head off. All right, so one of my people will confirm your identity before we begin, and when he has done so, I will enter the battlefield, as it were.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “And we will fight each other with bare hands?” There was just the faintest hint of eagerness in his voice.

  Lugh sighed. “No, I don’t suppose bare hands will work, since I’m sure your host is so … durable that disabling him enough for you to burn would be well-nigh impossible.”

  Dougal didn’t try to hide his disappointment. “You have learned a lot about the experiments, haven’t you?”

  Lugh ignored the comment. “We will have to use Tasers.”

  “And whoever gets the first shot in is the winner.”

  Lugh nodded. “We will need to have a pyre ready, since we both know Tasers don’t work as long on your lab-bred hosts as on human hosts.”

  For a moment, Dougal looked irritated. Lugh obviously knew more about the superhosts than Dougal had hoped. He’d probably have a cow if he knew that Lugh’s host was a superhost himself. Then Dougal’s shoulders slumped slightly, and his gaze dropped to the table in front of him.

  “We really mean to do this, then?” he asked quietly. “Really mean to condemn each other to death by fire?” He didn’t sound scared. He just sounded … sad.

  Lugh’s jaw tightened. “Don’t pretend the thought distresses you! You’ve already tried to have me burned at the stake.”

  “Yes, I have,” Dougal replied. “But I find thinking about doing it with my own two hands is a bit more

  … troubling than merely ordering it done.” He met Lugh’s eyes. “Are you sure you can do it, brother?

  Sure you could take my body, put it on a pyre, and let me burn?”

  Lugh’s expression didn’t change. “Yes, I’m sure.”

  Dougal’s face hardened, the melancholy fading as if it had never existed, which it probably hadn’t.

  “Very well then. We have only to set a place and time.”

  “Give me a contact number,” Lugh said, “and I will have Adam get in touch with you about the place. Once the place is set, we can choose the time.”

  There was a little shuffling among Dougal’s minions until one of them came up with a piece of paper and a pen for Dougal to write his number down. Adam was very, very watchful, making sure no one reached for a weapon. I suppose he wasn’t as confident in the power of Lugh’s threat as Lugh was.

  Once he had the contact number, Lugh rose without another word. The rest of us—who had not spoken at all during the war council—took that as a cue and rose with him. Adam stayed behind, guarding our backs, making sure we weren’t followed. And then we all went back to my apartment, where I was pretty damn sure Lugh’s council would have a lot to say.

  twenty-seven

  RAPHAEL STARTED THE FESTIVITIES AS SOON AS WE had my apartment door closed behind us. He grabbed Lugh’s arm, yanked him around, and got right up in his face.

  “You are not dueling with Dougal!” he said, and though moments before he’d seemed cool and selfcontained, his eyes now glowed and it looked for all the world like he was considering throwing a punch.

  Lugh’s eyes glittered strangely as he glared at Raphael. Andy was taller than Tommy, so Lugh had to look up to meet his brother’s eyes, but that didn’t reduce his air of authority.

  “Let go of my arm, Raphael,” he said. He hadn’t raised his voice even a little bit, but it was a command, not a request.

  “And if I don’t?”

  Lugh rolled his eyes. “Don’t be childish. This isn’t helping the situation.”

  Raphael gave Lugh a little shove when he let go of his arm, but Lugh didn’t retaliate. “Do you understand how many people will suffer if you ride out on your white horse and get yourself killed?”

  “Of course I do,” Lugh answered mildly. “That’s why I don’t plan to get myself killed. Now why don’t you all sit down? I’ll tell you what I have in mind, and then we can shuffle hosts again so that Andrew doesn’t have to put up with you any longer than necessary.”

  “Shouldn’t we call in the rest of the council now?” Adam asked.

  “I promised Andrew his sentence would be as brief as I could make it,” Lugh said, drawing a scowl from Raphael. “You can call the rest of the council members later and fill them in.”

  “All right,” I said, “let’s hear this plan of yours that’s going to let you duel with Dougal without getting yourself killed.”

  Lugh pulled over a dining room chair and sat on it. Maybe he thought the straight-backed chair was more dignified—or more like a throne—than the sofa or love seat.

  “When the time comes for the duel, we will switch hosts once more so that I am in Tommy’s body. I believe Dougal won’t dare cheat, so my chances against him should be fairly even.” Raphael opened his mouth as if he was about to interject something scathing, but one look from Lugh shut him up. “If I win, then our problems are solved.”

  I was pretty sure that was an overstatement. Dougal had sent an awful lot of his supporters through to the Mortal Plain already, including who knew how many criminals and at least one demon who was powerful enough to be part of the official royal council. A change in leadership in the Demon Realm would have no effect on the demons who were already here. But killing Dougal would be a nice first step.

  “But I have a contingency plan for what to do if I lose,” Lugh continued, and I’d almost describe that little smile of his as smug. He looked at Adam. “When you go looking for a location, make sure there are woods nearby. On the day of the duel, you’ll go to those woods early and find yourself a secure hiding place up in the branches. If Dougal Tasers me, you shoot my host.”

  We all started talking at once, but Lugh held up his hands for silence.

  “Let me finish,” he said, and we all subsided. “Morgan, you’ll be stationed here, at your apartment. If I should fall, Adam will send you a signal on the phone, and you’ll immediately begin the summoning ceremony. I will give you my True Name. You’ll be able to get me back to the Mortal Plain before any of Dougal’s people can manage it. We’ll be set up to move faster, because we’ll be expecting it.

  “The situation will, obviously, not be optimal. Whoever is with me for the duel may well be killed by Dougal and his people when they figure out what has happened.” He looked at Raphael. “And we would not have Tommy Brewster to move Raphael back into, so he would have to remain with Andrew, at least until another alternative appears. But I will not be dead, and Dougal will not have the power of the throne.”

  There was a long, painful silence as everyone chewed that over. I had to admit, it sounded like a pretty good cheat. The worst-case scenario still sucked, but it was not the utter disaster that Lugh’s death would be. And it was unlikely we were going to find a better way to kill Dougal.

  “Do you have any idea how many things can go wrong with this clever plan of yours?” Raphael asked.

  “What if Dougal’s people spot Adam? What if he can’t get a good shot? What if he does get a good shot, but it doesn’t kill Tommy? Remember, a superhost can take a bullet to the brain without dying. I’m not sure I know exactly what it would take to kill one.”

  “With the right kind of rifle and ammo,” Adam said, “I can blow half his head away. I don’t think even Tommy can survive that.”

  “Maybe not, but what if phone service hiccups? Or—”

  “Calm down, Raphael,” Lugh said. “I’ll be the first one to admit we can’t make this foolproof. But if you think we’ll ever come up with a truly foolproof way to kill Dougal, you’re wrong. When the full council is here, we can discuss plans for each of the contingencies we can think of. But the basic plan is s
olid. You have to see that.”

  Raphael scrubbed his hands over his face. “Jesus, Lugh,” he muttered from behind his hands. Then he huffed out a deep breath and let his hands fall away from his face. “I know the plan is a good one,” he said, every word spoken with great care and deliberation. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  “No one has to like it,” Lugh responded. “But unless you have a better suggestion, this is the way it’s going to be. Understood?”

  Raphael pursed his lips, but he nodded.

  “Good. Now I shall return to Morgan, and you can call in the rest of the council to work out all the details.” He looked over at me and held out his hand.

  I stared at that hand for a long moment. I’d have thought I’d feel reluctant to take Lugh back, that I’d have enjoyed my time alone inside my head. Instead, I felt a surge of eagerness. It scared me a little, made me wonder if I was a little bit like Jonathan, growing “addicted” to my demon.

  But I took Lugh’s hand nonetheless. The moment our hands touched, the weird ache in my chest went away, and Tommy collapsed in a heap.

  The next several hours were probably the longest argument I’d ever had the pleasure to participate in. As soon as Lugh was back in me, and Raphael was back in Tommy, I called Saul and Barbie and told them to come over for a council meeting. Then I called Brian. I probably should have explained over the phone what had happened this afternoon—it wasn’t like he wasn’t going to find out anyway when he got here—but I chickened out and just told him Lugh had called a meeting.

  The guys had gotten started with the arguing while I was still on the phone, and the tension level rose another notch when Saul arrived. I managed to stay out of it for the most part, at least until Brian made his appearance.

  The others were still too busy debating details—none too politely, I might add—so it was left to me to explain to Brian that I’d gone to face Dougal without telling him. We managed not to have a screaming fight about it in the middle of the council meeting, but only barely. I understood where he was coming from—I had a long, shameful history of withholding information from him, and I’d promised I wouldn’t do it anymore. But it wasn’t as if I’d had a choice, not with three demons siding against me.