Touch of the Demon

more, and now Rhyzkahl,” he said with regret.

I let out a long, slow breath, seeing flashes of red and shadow, feeling an echo of the Wrongness. “I think I understand far more than I want to,” I murmured. With a shudder I willfully changed the subject. “How is this all going to work? Getting Szerain’s blade, I mean.”

Mzatal narrowed his eyes. “The specifics are not finalized as there is much to be determined through our work.” He regarded me as though weighing what to tell me. “However, the plan is to utilize my nexus as the seat of a beacon ritual to locate and transfix Vsuhl. When that ritual is set, it will require tending until it culminates—a matter of hours to weeks. Once it is complete, we will perform the actual retrieval of the blade at Szerain’s nexus since that has the strongest connection for Vsuhl.”

“Okay. What’s a nexus?” The rest kinda made sense—at least enough for now.

“A focal point. A link to the source potency,” he said. “Szerain’s is the columned platform in his courtyard. Mine is here, at the base of the cliff.”

“All right,” I said. “So when do we start work?” It felt good to finally have a goal and direction.

“It will coincide with your training,” he said. “It is near dawn now. Meet me in the workroom at midmorning.” He stood from the bed, clasped his hands behind his back. Chatty-time was over, and a sliver of relief went through me. I felt comfortable around this lord, and that in itself made me uncomfortable and wary. I sure as hell wasn’t ready to blindly trust any of these qaztahl. I was ready to focus on something—anything —to move this along.

“Sounds like a plan,” I said as I climbed off the bed. “I’m going to hit the bath first and spare you my dreaded Stinky Summoner power.” Mzatal gave me a slight smile and nod, then left for his table in the outer room.

I headed to the bath chamber, then peeled off my nightshirt and undies and dropped them on the marble bench by the wall. I almost never took baths at home anymore, but if I had a bath like this, I sure as hell would. It wasn’t a bathtub, but a pool cut into the natural basalt of the cliff that backed the palace. Steam rose and the surface stirred gently as though the water circulated. Steps led down into it, and a shallow shelf with a headrest for lounging beckoned invitingly.

I crouched and dabbled my fingers in the water. Perfect temp. Damn near perfect everything. Okay, great, I was trapped away from home, but I could sure as hell enjoy the luxuries.

I stood and moved to retrieve a towel from the shelves. A wave of dizziness flowed through me and was gone, but as it retreated color leached from everything as an all-encompassing grey fog rose. Heart pounding, I went still as I struggled to make sense of the sudden, surreal shift.

Rhyzkahl appeared in the fog about ten feet from me, beautiful and terrible, wearing the same white and cream he’d worn during the ritual. I sucked in a shocked breath. Adrenaline dumped into my system, sending my heart pounding. He’s not really here, I realized, though that didn’t calm my racing pulse. It was a dream-sending. I knew from experience how real and potentially dangerous they were—an actual contact with the lord, not a product of my subconscious. This one had greater presence than any of the previous ones, like the difference between a black and white photo and one in color.

“Get the hell away from me!” I said, voice shaking.

He took a step forward. “Kara.”

“No. No!” I gasped, taking a reflexive step backward. “Get away from me!”

Rhyzkahl raised his hand, and I stepped back against an unyielding barrier of potency. “Kara, come,” he said softly. “It will be different.”

Sweat trickled down my sides as I fought back panic. “No you’ll make me different!” I pressed back against the barrier. “Fuck off! I’m staying me!”

Rhyzkahl took another step forward. “Yes. That is what I am here to tell you. I will reverse all.” His eyes traveled over my scars. “All.” His breath came heavily as though it challenged him to say this. “Come.”

His gaze felt like a foul touch. “I trusted you once,” I shot back with a curl of my lip. “Never again. You fucking tortured me.”

He stepped within a pace of me, aura surrounding me, suffocating me. “It can be undone,” he said with a shake of his head. “Dear one, it is not too late.”

“Yes it is! You can’t undo the fact that it happened, not without destroying me in the process.” My breath came in shallow gasps. He wasn’t even projecting terror at me in that way, but his presence alone brought it forth. “You’re the one who said it was too late, and now you sound like a psycho stalker.” I pressed back against the potency barrier. “I’m not going with you. I’ll never go with you. You can’t undo this.”

Another aura. Mzatal. I vaguely felt his arm across my chest, but it was as if he was the dream and Rhyzkahl the reality. Rhyzkahl sensed it too. He looked beyond me then snapped his focus back to my eyes and spoke with measured intensity, breath hissing. “You do not understand.” He caught my face between his hands. “Kara, all will be well. I will take you away. Away from here. Away from the realm. And you will be you and whole.”

Mzatal was there, somewhere—an invisible support. “No,” I said, baring teeth. “I do understand.” Though my heart still slammed, I gathered myself, gripped Rhyzkahl’s wrists and tugged, seeking to get his vile touch off my face. “I understand that you would give me over to Jesral and those other fuckers. I understand you lied to me and betrayed me. I will never ever go with you. Get that through your blond head right now.”

A whisper passed through my mind, and I knew Rhyzkahl read the truth of my words. Good.

His breath quickened. He released my face and took a step back, hands lifted as though he still held me. A stricken look swept over his features, and he shook his head, looking strangely lost.

I felt Mzatal’s physical hold on me more clearly as well as his nonphysical touch. “Rhyzkahl. Leave me now,” I said as I took a step toward him, willing him away.

He retreated another step.

A flush of determined anger seared through me. “Go! Leave me alone.”

Potency surged over me as he tensed and dropped his hands to his sides. “Ungrateful chikdah.” He spat the words and took another step back, visibly shaking in what could only be anger.

I blinked in true surprise at the slur. “Wow. Yeah, dude. A couple of pointers here if you want keep a girl. First, don’t torture her. Second, calling her ugly names is also a no-no.” I held steady to my core and the supporting presence of Mzatal. “Get away from me. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

“You think your savior’s hands are clean?” he asked with a short, cold laugh. “You will see me again. Soon.”

Mzatal’s encouragement to continue to resist and push came through clearly, and I did so with ferocity. I shook, there was no doubt about that. But I also had no doubt that I could and would push this fucker away. My fingernails bit into my palms as I rejected his presence with every fiber of my being.

Rhyzkahl took a forced step back and growled an angry curse. He turned his back on me, lifted his open right hand. “You had all within your grasp and cast it aside. You will be mine.” He made a fist and ripped it forward, wrenching the dream-sending away.

I gasped and my knees buckled. Mzatal held me securely from behind, his left arm over my shoulder and across my chest until I could get my legs to support me again. I managed to do so, then pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes. “Shit.”

Mzatal muttered something in demon as he half-carried me back into the bedchamber and settled me in his chair. He dragged the sheet from the bed and draped it over me, then crouched and peered up into my face.

“What was that?” he asked, naked concern etched in his features. “I could only peripherally sense it.”

I grimaced as my head throbbed. “Dream. A dream-sending from Rhyzkahl.”

“That was no dream. This has happened before?”

“Yeah, shit. A bunch of times on Earth,” I replied, rubbing my temples. “This time it was way stronger than before though. When I died, the link was broken, but he hooked it right back up next time I summoned him. The bastard.”

Mzatal laid his hands over mine at my temples and eased the headache, then drew my hands down into my lap and held them there. Without taking his eyes from mine he called out to Gestamar. “Have Idris prepare a purification now, with the last quadrant open. I will need to specialize it.”