Diana Rowland - Touch of the Demon

“On the scale of lordly ratings, ‘nice’ serves,” Helori said with a smile. “He involves himself with the power games as little as possible, but will not hesitate to step in if he sees the need.”

As my gaze traveled over the palace, I caught a glimpse of iridescent wings atop the stone arch.

“Rayst and Seretis had a lot of syraza with them at the conclave,” I said. “Do the syraza like them more or something?”

“It is a preference,” he replied. “The potency environment is not only stronger there with two lords together, but also more comfortable due to the nature of those two. And thus many of the younger syraza live near and associate closely with Rayst and Seretis.” Helori smiled. “It took much for the other lords to agree to the shift—for both to be in the same geographic location—because the entire structure of the potency flows had to be reconstructed. But it was long enough ago that all came to agree on it.”

I pursed my lips in a frown. “Ilana is Mzatal’s syraza-counselor, his ptarl, and Zack…Zakaar is Rhyzkahl’s. Where is Szerain’s?”

“Xharbek.” Helori exhaled. “Xharbek is in hiding.”

My brow furrowed. “Because Szerain is in exile? Or because of why he’s in exile?”

“Both.” He fell silent for several heartbeats before speaking again. “Xharbek is thought dead by, well, most.”

I regarded him, considered his words. “But you don’t think he is.”

His eyes met mine. “No. I do not.”

Interesting. Yet another addition to the mental clue board. At this rate I was going to need a mental clue wall.

I lifted my chin toward the structure as we came closer. “It’s not as Palace-y as the others I’ve seen.”

“Each lord builds according to taste and purpose,” Helori said. “Simply viewing and feeling the residences gives much information.”

That seemed quite true from what I’d seen so far. I glanced back at Helori. “Rayst and Seretis. Are they together together?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yes. And have been for a very long time.”

I chuckled. “Well, no wonder they’re happier than all the other lords. Or at least they seem that way.”

“More at peace,” he said with a nod. “Though that too is a relative term.”

The nehkil veered slowly away from the dwelling. The faint flicker at the edge of my sight told me that there were probably aversions or some other sort of protective wards in place to keep wildlife away. I stayed silent long after the home of Rayst and Seretis disappeared from view, pondering everything that had happened since my arrival in the demon realm.

When the sun touched the horizon I turned back to Helori.

“I think it’s time for me to go back now.”

I exited the tree tunnel in Mzatal’s realm with Helori by my side. My steps slowed as I looked out at the greens and dark greys of the mountains, the glinting glass of Mzatal’s palace, and the dark finger of the column. I wasn’t healed, not by a long stretch, but now I felt as if the fracture had at least been set. And I was ready to face Mzatal.

Helori, still in human form, slid a look at me as we made our way down the stone path and stairs. “Idris is working in the entry hall.”

Shame tightened my gut. I’d had the fucking gall to think that he was the naïve one. Wasn’t that a laugh.

“He was instrumental in your recall,” he continued. “Mzatal could not have accomplished it on his own. Both worked continuously from the time of your departure until the time of your recall.”

I stayed silent for several heartbeats. “I understand now why he stays with Mzatal.”

“It is as perfect a pairing of student and teacher as I have ever seen,” Helori replied.

The simple cave-like entryway beyond the stone and glass doors struck me as refreshingly unpretentious after the opulent grandeur of Rhyzkahl’s palace. Idris stood near the wall to the right, crafting a ward with an ease and elegance that I could only dream of someday having. He glanced my way as we entered, and his eyes lit up with surprise and delight. “Kara!” He turned to me and nearly fumbled the ward, then grinned in relief as Helori lifted a hand and kept it from completely unwinding.

Helori moved off, leaving me alone with Idris. “Yeah, it’s me,” I said, instantly realizing how dumb that sounded.

But his grin only widened. “God, Kara, you look so much better than—” He flushed. “I mean…shit. Sorry. You look great.”

I held back a low laugh. “Thanks. I feel a lot better, too,” I said with a sigh. “I’m sorry you had to go through so much to get me back. Running away to Rhyzkahl was about the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t know it was stupid at the time,” he said with a scowl. “It was Rhyzkahl you were dealing with. How would you know?” He shook his head. “I mean, back on Earth, that is. When you got here, Lord Mzatal should have…” He trailed off, then straightened his shoulders. “He should have told you more,” he said definitively.

Damn. Idris grew a spine while I was gone.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re back,” he continued. “I, um, we were really worried about you.”

“Well, thanks for everything,” I said with a small smile. “I owe you, big-time.”

He flushed and smiled sheepishly. “Nah. It was no biggie. You’re kinda special, y’know?”

Special? Was he crushing on me? Weird. “No, I just managed to attract the attention of some powerful people. A perfect storm of Shit Happens.” Sighing again, I leaned my back against the wall. “The first time I summoned Rhyzkahl was an accident . I was trying to summon Rhyzel, a luhrek, at the same time that Peter Cerise—the Symbol Man killer—was trying to summon Rhyzkahl. The lord simply hijacked my summoning to escape Cerise’s binding.”

Idris began tracing a new ward. “Yeah, whatever. I couldn’t do it.”

I frowned and tilted my head. “Have you ever tried? I mean, summoning a lord?”

His gaze snapped to mine. “You gotta be kidding! No way!”

“Then how do you know you can’t do it?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Maybe when you get back to Earth you can try summoning Mzatal.”

He stared at me as if I’d tried to tell him that two plus two equaled three. “You’re serious.”

“Well, yeah,” I said. “I mean, as long as Mzatal’s willing. That’s what matters most. And I could show you the storage diagram I used so that I had enough power. What do you have to lose?”

“My measly life?” he said, then grinned and shook his head. “I dunno. Katashi is using four summoners to summon Lord Mzatal. And Lord Mzatal has always been willing.”

That didn’t make sense to me. “I always thought it was easier to summon Rhyzkahl because he was willing.” I shrugged and made a mental note to find out more later. “Well, if you do give it a try, don’t summon any of the other lords.” I wasn’t smiling anymore. “Especially not Amkir, Kadir, Jesral…or Rhyzkahl.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he assured me. “Even talking about summoning Mzatal is a stretch for me.”

“Yeah, well, don’t even be alone with any of them.” A shiver ran down my spine. “Especially Kadir. He’s twisted.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, his portrait freaked me out enough. Don’t need to see the real thing. Since I’ve been here, Lords Vahl, Elofir, and Seretis have been here a few times, but none of the others.”

“Portrait?”

“In Szerain’s gallery,” Idris said. “On the third level of his palace. There’s portraits of demons, humans, all the lords, all sorts of stuff.” He whistled low and shook his head. “And you know how Szerain’s paintings and sculptures are. Well, that portrait of Kadir felt like he was about an inch away, breathing on me. Scared the shit out of me!” He made a face at the memory.