Demon Bait (Keeley Thomson)

by P. S. Power

  All of the words describing insane ramblings. Ones that, she knew, were real.

  "I will take my leave now, Keeley Thomson. Mistress of Souls, and leave you to what evil you must do in order to influence things as must happen. I... well, my nature is to wish people well, and happy. Blessed, even. I do not know if that would be of aid to you. We will meet again, however, as we have before. You will not remember me."

  Of course she wouldn't. She never did. None of her kind did. Almost no one could, regardless of who they were. Keeley watched him leave, walking away, toward the street in front of her house. The world was a bit too tan in the area for her taste. Going into massive droughts too, over the next years. That reminded her of another thing she could do in order to make some extra funds. Shipping water in. That, or getting some kind of set up to make it? Take it from the ocean and use solar desalination perhaps? For her own gain, of course. Even if the result would be good for others in the end.

  That part at least made sense. She, and the others, all of them, were boundaries for the real people. Not actual controls, for the most part, but ways to steer them toward the right goal.

  "Hey, do I ever get to meet this God of yours? He could at least drop in for cookies or some tea, don't you think?" It sounded flip and unbelieving, but that was the way she felt, so it worked for her, she thought.

  It was designed to get a laugh, but the Angel turned, from about twenty feet away and went still, listening to something that Keeley simply couldn't hear. Then he waved at the world around her.

  "He is here, Keeley. All around you, always. Not as a metaphor, as a part of things. Look through my eyes, if you can, and see what is there to behold."

  There was a moment of disorientation, since it was pretty clear that his offer to lend her his perspective was real. When he looked over at her, she saw herself as he did. She was... Hot. Young and fragile seeming, too. Also possessed of a strength that flowed from her, into the world and beyond. It was black, which was the color of evil, but also golden in places. Nearly divine at times. Mainly just bad, but that wasn't the only thing she was.

  There were streamers of light as well. Faint things that moved to a golden expanse that was all around her. It was within everything, and when she noticed it, Keeley felt awe. A touch of something came back to her, a thing so unexpected that she nearly cried, for a moment.

  It was love. That sounded corny enough to bring her out of that contact a little, but not totally. There was a sense of a word. Not the actual sound, but a knowledge of what was, as this huge thing as big as she could understand, and larger than that by far, communicated with her.

  "You are loved, my daughter." That was the general idea.

  Nothing else came, no instructions or hints about how to live or what to do. Just a sense that this wasn't special or new. This was, in the end, what existed around her all the time. She lived within the light and love, and had simply never noticed it before. It wasn't part of what she was able to see. No one was allowed that. Not her kind, not the Humans or their cousin races. If they had been able to get it, they wouldn't have needed guidelines. Then, they also all would have been Angels, more or less. Perfect, and not able to do the wrong things that were needed for the end point to be reached. That was a big part of the plan. It was why there were things that were broken and backwards. So that, in the end, a thing could be born that encompassed everything.

  The connection broke, and her mind reeled, hurting deep inside from the dissonance. It was bad enough that she had to force herself to heal more quickly than normal, using magic. If not, she probably would have died from brain hemorrhages. Several of them.

  Mikey made an odd gesture, and vanished, not speaking to her again. Either he thought that was dramatic and well timed, which it was, or he knew that she wasn't going to be ready to talk to him for a while. That one was right too, she decided. The thing was, after touching God like that... She remembered him. It wasn't perfect recall, but it was all there. She could sense the presence around her too. God. Right there, watching her, all the time.

  Even in the shower. Even when on the toilet.

  Perv.

  There was, at least she imagined, a soft sense of a smile or laugh that came to her. It faded, slowly, but she remembered it. That didn't go away. She waited for a long time, but nothing happened to remove it. So, finally, she rewrote her notes onto her computer. It would help keep things straight if it wasn't hand written. That looked a bit more crazy than not. Good spelling would help, too. It wasn't long, only about forty pages in all.

  Then she ate more, shopped, and thought for a long time about what to do. There was, she understood, really only one part of the whole thing left to handle.

  Tarsus.

  The rest of them were her friends. Her family. Finias would be there for her parties, and to hang out if she wanted... and Zack, well, they needed to get together and probably go out a few times at the very least. Greater Demons didn't have a lot of morals when it came to sex, which was, she realized, a good thing. For her. For them. It set that line for others, so they knew where not to cross it themselves. They were evil, but the net effect, over all, was not so bad. The Angels would be the same way, on the other side then, she thought. They did good, but in the end they showed how not to go so far that it became unbalanced that way either.

  Tarsus however, wasn't her buddy. He could react badly to what she told him. Except of course that she was only going to use about half the truth. Doing more than that was a good way to have herself ambushed, after all.

  So, she started cooking and invited him over for supper that night. It wasn't a real meal time, being about three in the morning, but he could, he allowed, eat. That was a constant thing in their lives. Gluttony beyond reason. Needed just to survive.

  He came to the front door, and held a bottle of wine for them to share. It was a nice red, which would go with the hamburgers she'd made nicely.

  "We could save it for a nicer meal, if you want?" That was fine with her, but he just waved that away.

  "I'm sure this will be fine. It smells very nice." He came in with very little hint and sat comfortably at her kitchen table. His look was his normal one. Meaning a bit sour faced, and like a Roman patrician. Keeley knew it was done that way on purpose. The haircut was a big part of it, being very straight in the front, cutting across the forehead in a straight line. Over a nose that was excellent for looking down at people.

  After she got the first load of food on the table, she ate a burger in about six large bites and then wiped her mouth with a linen napkin. She had mayo on hers and a bit of relish and mustard. She'd never been all that into ketchup, so at least it didn't look like her mouth had just consumed a person or anything that gross.

  Without preamble she started in, just explaining, if with a few lies. She made a point of shielding well enough that he wouldn't pick up on Angelic influence as a reason for her actions. It hadn't been, totally. She didn't think.

  "Xenses is dead. The Rage, The Chaotic and Helmsman too. The Void is... Still around, but won't destroy reality. I can't explain that to you. By that I mean, as you might well understand, that I can't do it, not that I won't, or don't think you should know. I..." For some reason she kept speaking, almost hearing someone whispering in her ear. Because, of course, an Angel would know how to best handle a Greater Demon? It seemed to her that she might just have a bit more experience there. Then again, maybe not. She was only sixteen after all.

  She looked the Demon in the eye, a soft brown at the moment and smiled.

  "I was going to lie and claim that they caught me off guard and I had to do it, but it took planning and care. I worked out that removing them forever would... create problems that we couldn't fix, with the rest of reality. To that end we might need to release or at least kill, the ones that Darla and I captured. It isn't perfect, but it's how things need to be. Again, I can't explain this to you in any meaningful way. It would be good if you would trust me, but I'm not counting on that. T
he fact is however, that it's already done, and the bodies buried." She fought the urge to cross her arms defensively and just ate some more.

  Then she waited, being stared at the entire time. Not for a few seconds or even a minute but a half hour of dead silence, before he said anything to her.

  "Is that so? Well... I do wish you would have shared your plans with me. I guess I can't complain too much, however. The spirit, if not the letter, was carried out, and you lived, which is a better outcome than I'd hoped." There was another long silence, but a far more normal one that took about half a minute before he took a sip of wine from a crystal goblet and then munched half a burger of his own.

  Looking at the clock on the wall, a sign that he was going to suggest he leave soon, he spoke, softly.

  "When we first met, I thought you too weak to survive long, amongst us, Keeley. Most of our kind come into power in the first years after waking, with strength coming first. That you did not frightened me. I worried for my granddaughter. That you would be harmed, and used. Then I made myself stop that, but not forget the feeling. After that, no matter what was thrown at you, you handled it. Not perfectly, but well enough, which is all that should be asked of the young. It's almost as if you possess some guidance that I simply cannot see. Regardless. I congratulate you on your achievement. It had to be done, one way or the other. Now, what do you have planned?"

  She didn't need him to go into that one too deeply. He wanted to know if she was going to take over the Council, or perhaps simply enslave them all.

  "I was thinking that I might get a job as a camp councilor. Sneak in and watch what my friends get up to when I'm not around. See if they say mean things about me behind my back."

  "Take them as yours again? I notice that you have... several others now. What is that, seventy-two?"

  It was so, she nodded.

  "That's just the start of those here in my territory. I'm not taking my friends as slaves however. I think, no matter what happens, that they deserve to be free." She wanted to giggle, but didn't and managed to look over a French fry at the Greater Demon. Her grandfather. "You know, I don't know how it happened, but I think I might actually be growing up. A year ago I was just a girl, and now... I think I'm ready to start life as what I really am. It hasn't all been easy, but..."

  There was a smile and he stood, then surprisingly gave her a hug. Oh, true, he also managed to cop a feel of her left breast, rather unsubtly on the way back to standing, which he held for about ten seconds as she sat there, letting her nipple go hard. This wasn't about sex, however. It was his way of teasing her, and her own of showing him it wasn't going to work. Not now.

  "Perhaps you have at that. Well, break a leg and don't take any wooden nickels. I'll call if you have an assignment coming any time soon. You passed the Second Crucible, so you asked for it. Most of the others are smart enough to throw the thing, when their turn comes. Do you have any idea which of us you'd like to work under?" There was no double meaning to the words, at least.

  "Gregor, I think. In a strange way, we have the most in common." It was strange, but The Librarian merely nodded.

  "Good, I'll let him know that. Until we meet again."

  Then almost directly, dropping a single silver coin, if a large one, on the table, he walked out. It was his payment for the food. Then, shortly after that, he got onto the inroads, entering politely outside the front door, and vanished.

  Chapter fifteen

  In a way, Keeley reflected as she looked into her bathroom mirror, change was both good and bad, at times. In that moment she meant the slightly rough patch of skin on her left cheek that was a series of raised, slightly pink, bumps.

  The entire face that looked back at her was different, since she'd shifted most of her appearance rather carefully, becoming a new person as far as anyone normal could tell. With a bit of acting, it would fool everyone. She was shorter, for one thing, being barely five feet tall, now. Her body was a bit rounder too, her mass having been condensed and spread over her smaller frame. It wasn't a huge thing, and she was still cute, but not so much that heads would always turn while walking down the street.

  Her eyes were a nice blue, but not a special one. Just a light color that worked with the sandy blond hair she had now. The skin was tan, but just a healthy glow on a white girl, not anything that made her look more exotic or ethnic. There was a roundness to her that was adult, but not overdone. Smaller breasts, wider hips than she'd had before, and a higher pitched voice.

  Keeley decided that this face, this new part of her, would be called Ella. It was a bit of an old fashioned name, but close enough to things that were popular at the moment not to sound too strange. On top of that, it was plain enough not to seem fake. Even if it was.

  Like she'd just thought however, no one would ever know that.

  Unless God told them. She sent out a thought, trying to mimic what Angels did that way, and mainly failing so far. It was just a poke, saying that He better not tell on her. She couldn't be certain but she thought, on some deep level that there was the hint of a smile that came at her then. From... Somewhere.

  That part was strange, but she was adapting. That, and keeping her mouth shut.

  There was no real reason to try and insist that everyone else acknowledge that being, after all. For one thing, experiences aside, there was no way to prove that it even existed. That probably meant she was insane, and not just privy to the secret information, but it was either true or not. Dwelling on that kind of thing was for Humans. Not her. She was, as she'd finally started to internalize, not one of those. It had taken a long time for that to sink in. Months, even.

  That got her to smile and regard the face in the mirror again. She spoke to it, trying out the new voice, which was very different than her old one. Less self assured, but more friendly and playful.

  "Well, Ella, are you ready for your first day as a camp councilor?" She'd gotten the job fair and square, simply applying for it. There had been a last minute cancellation, due to a Vampire getting into a fight the night before, which she'd heard about from Zack.

  Okay, that part was cheating a bit, but she had simply planned to get him to let her in, being that he owned the place. This way would be a lot more interesting.

  Her friends had finished their trip to the Grand Canyon, which meant that her Durg, Kevin, was making his way toward Becky, so they could move off to Hollywood, or at least L.A. It was a good enough plan, especially since Darla had already arranged for the girl to have a small but important part in a decently large picture. Not that Becky knew that yet.

  The rest of them were fine. They had their own lives and businesses. Rebekah, her Vampire friend, had been more than pleased to help start a major blood collection business in Sparks, and Keeley's newly rehabilitated junkie squad was stepping up nicely. They weren't Mensa members, but their new jobs didn't require that from them. Just hard work and showing up in time.

  Other than that, nothing too major had been happening over the last few days. Not that boring wasn't a good thing. She was, she decided, quite in love with the idea now. There was work to do, but that would always be the case, except for brief lulls between major happenings.

  Soon she'd need to see about coming up with a few real businesses to keep her entertained.

  She was, except for the need to put some clothing on, ready, she decided. The future would come, and while it might not be perfect, or, thanks to God staring at her butt, private, but she'd manage. Keeley was, after all, a Greater Demon. Which was a thing that she wasn't going to fight being any longer. She had a place in the scheme of reality, and it was as important as anything ever got.

  So, keeping that in mind, she got herself ready, and moved toward the next thing. There was work to do, and she was, finally, ready to do her part to make it all happen.

  A real adult.

  A Demon girl.

  Smiling she spoke in Ella's voice, winking at her own reflection, then decided not to do that again, since it was a bit
too similar to her old mannerisms.

  "A Demon woman, Keels. And don't forget it."

  On that note, she went to make everything ready. It wouldn't do to keep the plan of the universe waiting, after all.

  Other works by P.S. Power that you can pick up today on Amazon.com:

  The Young Ancients:

  The Builder

  Knight Esquire

  Knight

  Ambassador

  Counselor

  Slave Line

  The Dark Half of the Sun

  A Simple Darkness

  Ancient Kings

  Lord of the Sky

  The Silence Within

  Kingdom of Stars

  Goddess of the Moon

  Envoy to Earth

  The Keeley Thomson Universe:

  Keeley Thomson: (The Complete Series)

  Demon Girl

  Keelzabub

  Mistress of Souls

  Demon Trap

  Demon Bait

  Other Places:

  Shortcuts

  Detours

  Road Blocks

  Other books in the Keeleyverse:

  Christmas of the Vampire (Richard Swirlin, Vampire)