Secrets of the Demon

Chapter 3

I frantically scanned the water as both Ryan and Zack pelted up alongside me. The miasma of the river surrounded me—a strange melding of mud and water and rot and the effluvia of every city upstream. It smelled a bit like death, and for the barest instant I felt the power beneath the muddy roiling surface—a deep and ancient force that had carved its way through a continent. I’d felt the barest touch of that raw elemental force once before, when I’d nearly died in the Kreeger River. But there was no comparing that trickle to this beast. There was no way I could tap the power of this river and survive.

Fortunately, I had other means at my disposal. “Get her out!” I commanded the zhurn.

But my order was unnecessary. Skalz had made a tight circle after tackling the pair and now made a silent dive into the water. Five heartbeats later it knifed back out of the river, with Lida in its grasp. It deposited her at my feet and then stepped back and melted into the shadow of a nearby wall so thoroughly that I could only see it because I knew to look for the two pinpricks of red light that were its partially closed eyes.

Okay. Totally worth the effort to summon a demon to use as backup! My pulse slammed in relief now that disaster had been averted, and I sent an impression of thanks to the demon along the mental bindings. I crouched by the coughing and shaking girl. “Lida, are you hurt?”

Ryan moved forward and handed me a small flashlight. I gave him a grateful smile and shined it quickly over her. Her makeup was streaked in chaotic patterns across her face and her hair was plastered to her skull in snaky tendrils, but I couldn’t see any obvious injuries. “Are you hurt?” I repeated.

She shook her head. “No,” she gasped. “I . . . I don’t think so.” She looked up at me, eyes wide, and for an instant I could see beyond the crazy makeup and hair and piercings to the scared and uncertain teenager. “Wh- who was it? What happened?” She looked around in confusion. “How did I get out of the river? Oh my god, I thought I was dead for sure!”

Crap. We were all quite obviously dry. “Another member of our team dragged you out,” Ryan said quickly. “He’s gone to see if we can find the, uh, guy who attacked you.”

I had to hide a smile. Well, it was mostly true.

“Team?” The confusion in her face increased. “Who are you?”

“Police and FBI,” I explained. “Your manager contacted us about the death threats, so we were staking out the concert.”

“Oh,” Lida said, her eyes wide and her voice small. “I didn’t take those seriously at all!” She gulped. “Wow. Good thing that Adam did.”

Knight chose that instant to pull up to the levee in his unmarked. He left the lights in his car flashing, then headed our way at an unhurried pace.

“I’m not much into running,” he told me in a low drawl, giving another of his sardonic smiles. To my surprise his eyes flicked to where Skalz was hiding in the shadows, and then back to me as he gave a low snort of amusement.

Okay, so I didn’t run either.

“There’s rumors of all sorts of tunnels in this area,” he continued as he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket, voice still low and casual. “Gutter rats supposedly use ’em to move around the city.” He shrugged. “Could be your bad boy ducked into one.”

I gave him a slight nod. I’d ask Skalz as soon as I had the chance. I needed to get rid of all of these people around me first.

Knight’s lips twitched. “How ’bout I get out of your way and go take care of those officers hoofing it this direction? And maybe Agent Garner can take Miss Lida over to one of those benches so she can have a chance to settle her nerves.”

Okay, he was way too perceptive for me to be comfortable around him, though I couldn’t bitch since I did need a couple of minutes alone. Knight winked at me, then turned and walked back in the direction of Decatur Street, holding his badge up to neatly intercept two approaching NOPD officers.

Zack took Lida’s hand and gave her a smile. “Can you walk, hon’?”

“Yeah, I can walk,” she replied, taking a deep breath to steady herself as she took his hand. The scared teenager was gone, covered by the same confidence that she’d shown on stage. Except for the fact that she was soaking wet, I’d never have known she’d been thrown into the river. I couldn’t help but be a bit impressed. I hadn’t possessed even a tenth of that much poise when I was that age.

“C’mon then,” he said, gently tugging her to her feet. “Let’s get you to where you can sit down more comfortably.” Her gait was still pretty unsteady as he led her away, and she leaned on him slightly for support.

Okay, she’s still freaked out, but she knows how to cover it well. Then I saw her smile up at Zack and had to suppress a laugh. Or maybe she’s just trying to impress a cute guy. I didn’t miss that Zack returned the smile with a charming one of his own.

I glanced over at Ryan. He wasn’t bothering to hide his grin. He also wasn’t even breathing hard which was personally annoying to me. If I’d sprinted nine blocks I’d be gasping for someone to call 911. “He’s a smooth one, isn’t he,” I remarked.

“He has those teen idol looks,” he replied with a laugh. “The girls melt all over him.”

“It’s good that he can keep her distracted,” I said, watching as Zack settled her on a bench about a hundred feet away. That was all the distance I needed.

“I’ll go see if Knight needs any help,” Ryan said abruptly, then spun away and headed toward Knight before I could question why. But the reason hit me as he walked away. He didn’t want to be near the demon.

I stepped toward the shadow where the zhurn lurked. “Skalz, what of her attacker?” I murmured.

A tendril of shadow slid forward and I heard something fall at my feet with a wet plop. “I retrieved a portion of it.” It spoke in a voice like crackling flame. I frowned and crouched, shining the flashlight down at what looked like an oozing clod of clay. I glanced back up at the demon. “Mud? She was attacked by mud?”

An odd noise came from Skalz as it straightened, and it took me about half a dozen heartbeats to realize it was laughing. I scowled, getting the unnerving feeling that it was laughing at me. “What?” I demanded, feeling rather petulant.

“It is a construct.”

“A what?” I was missing something here.

“A creature of inanimate matter given a semblance of life through arcane means.”

“You mean like a golem or something?”

“Yes,” it hissed. “A very similar creature. An arcane construct.”

“Oh.” I looked again at the blob in front of me, trying to visualize it in man form. I didn’t know diddly squat about golems other than what I’d read in the occasional storybook. Time to do more research, I thought with a mental sigh. “Okay, well, was it destroyed when it went into the river?”

“Such creations are durable, but it would likely sustain some damage,” it answered. “Feel. Look deeply.” Before I could move it seized my hand and plunged it into the depths of the yucky blob of mud.

Gross! was my first thought, but an instant later I could sense what the demon was talking about. The resonance I’d felt earlier washed over me so heavily I could almost taste it. <It will not affect you so deeply the next time you encounter it,> the demon sent along the mental bindings.

Skalz released its grip on me and I stood up, shaking my hand to get the clinging mud off it and wishing I had something to wipe it off with. I’d remember that resonance though.

I glanced quickly around. Zack still had Lida a good distance away, and facing the other direction as well. Ryan and Knight were down near the street and I didn’t see anyone else nearby. Now was as good a time as any to send the demon back to its own sphere.

I drew in breath to begin the chant for the dismissal of the demon, then blew it right back out again in aggravation at the sound of more running footsteps. I looked back to see the keyboardist and bass player from the band hurrying over the railroad tracks toward us, along with Lida’s manager, Adam Taylor, huffing his way a few hundred yards behind them. I’d met Taylor earlier in the day during the planning for the stakeout, but I’d never met any of the others.