Diana Rowland - Touch of the Demon

I made mental note of his casual Earth references and understandings. I’d seen Eilahn shift, but Helori’s was a seamless morph that kicked the ass of any CGI. Only a few seconds later he smiled at me from a human face, then drew the gauze cloth around his waist and tucked it in a fluid motion. About the height of Mzatal, lean and lithe, he wouldn’t have stood out in a crowd. That kind of surprised me since Eilahn was an absolute knockout in human form, and most of the lords seemed pretty damn good-looking. He did have the same multi-racial quality as Eilahn, but it served to make him blend rather than stand out.

He came over to sit cross-legged on the blanket, then planted his elbows on knees and chin on fists as he peered at me. “Hungry? Thirsty? Sleepy?”

“Not sleepy,” I said. “Tired, but not sleepy. I could eat, though.”

He seemed to go distant for a moment, then reached and drew cheese, a knife, and a round loaf of bread from…elsewhere and set them all before me. That was a pretty cool trick.

“I’ll be right back.” He winked, leapt up, and disappeared into the trees. I watched him go, then cut some bread and cheese and began to eat. A few minutes later Helori returned and deposited a double handful of cranberry-looking things on the blanket. “That should help tame your appetite,” he said with a smile.

Trusting that he wouldn’t give me anything nasty, I tried one and found it to be sweet and juicy, with a texture like a cross between an apple and grape. “These are good,” I said. “Thanks.”

Helori dropped to sit beside me again. “I do realize that what the demon realm calls ‘good’ may be ‘horrendous’ on Earth. I will do my best to offer only tasty tidbits, though I encourage you to always test because I might misjudge.” He grinned.

“Will do.” I held up a berry. “These look a lot like cranberries. My aunt and I string cranberries and popcorn garlands for the Christmas tree every year.” Lowering my hand, I let out a soft sigh. “I’m still hoping to make it back home for Christmas this year.”

“That is only a couple of weeks away,” he replied, obviously familiar with the Earth date. I made a mental note of that. “Perhaps with an escort,” he continued, “but not alone, not that soon.”

I popped the berry into my mouth and nodded. “Eilahn made me promise not to leave my house or another warded place until I could summon her back.”

“She is wise for her youth and quite devoted.” He glanced over at me. “She would not be denied in her determination to go to you.”

“I thought Rhyzkahl asked her to go,” I said, surprised.

“Well, yes he did.” Helori’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “Though it became his idea to do so through the counsel of Olihr, who conspired with Eilahn.”

My surprise deepened. “But why? I mean, how could she possibly know about me, let alone want to be my protector?”

“Your existence became well known among the syraza as soon as you brought Rhyzkahl through the first time,” he told me. “She touched in to the impression and resonated instantly.”

“That’s…wow.” Amazed and deeply flattered, I had no idea what to say about that. “I do like her very much.”

“Good!” he said with a chuckle. “Because I think you’re stuck with her. Though Eilahn alone is not adequate protection for you yet.”

“I know how to be careful.” But a frown tugged at my mouth. Being careful hadn’t helped me the past few days, had it? “My house and the police station are warded like crazy.” I could take care of myself at home. Yeah, I’d have to become a hermit, but it would be worth it simply to be back.

Helori wasn’t smiling anymore. “You know how to be careful in your old paradigm,” he said, serious. “It served well enough for a time with Zakaar and Eilahn watching over you, and limited interest in you from other than Rhyzkahl. You are known now, so that interest is no longer limited. Others will seek you, and you are yet unschooled in the arcane beyond basics.”

A sick knot began to form in my gut. “What are you saying, Helori? That I can’t go home?”

He shook his head. “No, I’m saying that you need to be far better prepared before going home. Even a brief visit before then would require an escort in addition to Eilahn, and it would still be inadvisable.”

“Okay, so I’ll summon more demons,” I said, desperately clinging to the comforting thought of getting away from this place soon. “I’ll owe favors if I have to.”

He reached and laid a hand on my arm. “You have had a brief glimpse of the work that Idris does, yet you comprehend only a fraction of it,” he said with quiet insistence. “You know now that there is so much more apart from rudimentary Earth-side summoning. You need expanded skills, and you have the resources, now, to acquire them.”

My eyes dropped to my hands in my lap. The low breeze stirred my shirt, brushing the fabric against the scars covering my torso. A nameless dread rose within me. “I can’t stay here,” I said hoarsely. “My aunt and my friends, they don’t know what happened to me. They don’t know if I’m alive or dead.”

“They can be notified through Gestamar, when next he is summoned,” Helori said quietly.

I let out a harsh laugh utterly devoid of humor. “Yeah, that’d be some letter home. ‘Hey, y’all, weather’s great here. Miss you tons. Oh, by the way, I got the shit tortured out of me, and everything’s all fucked up. Write soon!’”

“They would know you lived,” was his gentle reply. “Your choice to stay here and learn is critical, Kara. To best protect those on Earth, as well as yourself, you need to be as strong and capable as possible. Zakaar will most certainly be watching over your friends and family in your absence, though his primary focus is Ryan.”

I heard what he was saying. I would put everyone in danger if I returned home. Not just myself. Heartsick, I let the hope of going home anytime soon crumble to ash.

Helori shifted his hand from my arm to the base of my throat, touching the sigil carved there.

I drew back. “Don’t. Don’t touch them.”

He kept his hand extended toward the sigil. “You must look,” he urged. “You must know.”

I stiffened. “I’ve seen them.”

“You will not even glance at them now.” His eyes darkened with concern. “They are a part of you. You need to know them.”

“I know them, I promise,” I said, voice cracking. “I remember every agonizing instant that went into the making of them. Every day, for the rest of my life, I get to have the reminder of how stupid and gullible I was.”

He shifted to crouch beside me, looking every inch the syraza even though he was in human form. “You can use them to remind you of that, or you can use them to remind you, every moment of every day, of how strong you are to have thrived despite the motherfucker’s best efforts to destroy you.” He cocked his head, dropped his eyes to the scars that showed above the neckline of my shirt. “I look at them and see tenacity and strength. You need to know what Rhyzkahl put on you, not just that he put them on.”

I scrubbed at my face. “I look back at my time with him and see all the hints and clues that I should’ve picked up on.”

“When you first realized his intentions, what did you feel?” Helori asked quietly.

My lower lip quivered despite all efforts to maintain control. “I was…I don’t know. I was disappointed.” I scowled. “That was my main feeling. So fucking disappointed that he turned out to be such a…” Shaking, I took a deep breath and screamed it: “FUCKING DICK!”

Searing anger rose, near startling me with how foreign the sensation seemed after being so long immersed in panic and fear. I’d been ready to direct the anger at myself, yet now I knew that wouldn’t do me any good. I was the goddamn victim.