The Trouble with Demons Read online

  Alana cast Jared an irritated look. “That doesn’t explain anything.”

  “Three years ago, two men summoned a portal near the pizza place where Hunter used to hang out. He’d never seen another demon, never seen a gateway to the demon world. They brought forth a female Kubiteron. She was blonde and green-eyed like you. Hunter was at once attracted to her. Inborn trait. Can’t be helped.” Jared took a deep breath. “I’d been experimenting with locating demon signatures, trying to find someone else like me.”

  “So you hadn’t met Hunter yet?”

  “No. I’d just spotted the Kubiteron and Hunter’s signature on the laptop and headed in their direction, though I’d meant to keep a low profile because Hunter was a Matusa. The summoners, fearing what they’d done, killed the Kubiteron. Hunter didn’t react in time to save the girl. When I arrived, he had nearly killed one of the summoners. The other had fled the scene. Hunter was so enraged, when I tried to stop him, he nearly killed me.”

  Alana stared at Jared. “And you call him a friend? So what happened?”

  Jared shrugged. “Hunter finally realized I was a demon and could track others close by.”

  “So you were convenient, useful, his slave.”

  Jared gave her a scowl. “I’m not his slave.”

  “What about the other summoner?”

  “He died from a heart attack.”

  “That Hunter had caused.”

  “Suppose so, in a round-about way. Hunter learned how to open the portal. He vowed to send our kind back when they were summoned into this world so no summoner could harm a lesser demon again.”

  “So you were fourteen at the time?”

  “Yeah. Hunter was fifteen.”

  “How come you guys knew about your demon heritage so young?”

  Jared shook his head. “Everyone’s different. My human parents said I learned to walk when I was nine months old. I could type complete sentences on a computer keyboard long before I could master writing my A, B, C’s in cursive.”

  “I was reading chapter books when I was five.”

  “Yeah, see? Maybe for me it had to do with my being full demon. But in any event, everyone’s different. Hunter said he took forever to walk because his human mother coddled him so. Don’t tell him I told you though.”

  She chuckled.

  Jared bolted up stone stairs that led to a gray stone building, and Alana hurried to follow him. Strange writing was etched in the stone.

  “Their equivalent of a court house. Birth records, genealogy information, family roots, that sort of thing,” he said.

  “Did you know your parents' names?”

  He jerked the door open and let her go inside first. “No. I’ve tried to find which demons were summoned to earth world at about the time I was conceived. Records for millions exist all over the world. I’ve gone through maybe a thousand, checked leads, every one of them a dead end.”

  “I’m sorry, Jared.” And she really meant it. At least she had a mother who loved her, even if she kept secrets from her. She figured it all stemmed from having a fling with a demon and her mother had to keep secrets after that. Or maybe her mother’s father had been unreasonable to live with. Yeah, as much as he was mean to her over having anything to do with someone who was not a magic user, Alana could understand that.

  The hall seemed to stretch forever and the ceiling was several stories high. She wished they’d hurry up and get there. Doors twice as tall as Jared broke up the walls along both sides. “Why are the doors so tall?” Her heart fluttered. Were some demons that big? Her footsteps sounded eerily noisy against the marble floor when everything was so deathly quiet.

  “Their file cabinets are tall.”

  She laughed inwardly at herself. Now why hadn’t she thought of that?

  “You ever want to know about your father?”

  She ground her teeth and for the first time ever, she told the truth. “Yeah. As much as I hate to admit it, yeah, I do.” Though why she was telling such an aggravating demon, she didn’t know. Well, maybe she did. She guessed she felt sorry for him for wanting to locate his parents and having no success. “I want my dad to know I exist. I want him to know how much my mother still loves him.”

  “It won’t make any difference to him, you know.”

  “That I exist?”

  “No. They say demon parents take great pride in their offspring.”

  How could he say such a thing when his parents were both demons and abandoned him?

  “They probably tried to save me from something or someone and left me in a human family’s care,” he responded to her questioning gaze.

  “Ah.”

  “What I meant was your father probably wouldn’t want to return to your mother. She summoned him, controlled him, and no demon likes to be forced to do anything, especially not by a human. Same thing with Hunter’s dad. All we can hope for is that his dad will care enough about him to want to return and take care of him or know someone who can.”

  A tall, thin Elantus demon approached Jared, his gray eyes shifting to Alana. He smiled at Jared and gave a nod. “Jared.”

  “Treikal.”

  “Are you searching for your parents again today? Or perhaps for the young lady’s?”

  “Neither. We’re looking for a Matusa.”

  The man’s brows rose.

  “Long story. We need to help a sick friend, and we’re hoping his father might be able to assist us.”

  “Hopefully you have a name this time.”

  “Bentos.”

  Treikal rubbed his chin, then nodded. “Come this way.”

  The man moved slowly along the black marble floors, his shoes never making a sound. Demons were sneaky, crossed Alana’s mind. She communicated to Hunter, “So far, so good. We’re in the building housing court records.”

  “Treikal has been like a father to me,” Jared said, with no effort to speak softly. “He taught me the ways of our people, helped me to build my database with information about some of the demon types, though I’m still compiling information.”

  “Now I understand how you know so much while you were raised by humans. But how did you make a portal appear so you could come here if you’re full demon?”

  “Hunter summons it for me whenever I want to cross over.”

  “How did you become friends? I mean, after he nearly killed you?”

  Jared’s expression turned grim. “A long story.” He motioned to Treikal. “Treikal thinks we might be related, even if distantly. He says there’s always a connection between family roots. We sense it when we meet a relative no matter how far removed.”

  “Yet, you still haven’t found your parents.” But her curiosity about how Jared and Hunter had finally become friends garnered her real attention.

  “Without names or other details, it’s hard to make much headway.”

  Treikal nodded. “Knowing Bentos’s name helps. Does the young lady also seek a parent?”

  “Her father, but we have to concentrate on Bentos right now.”

  “She shouldn’t be here, you know.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  She wondered if it was because of her human heritage. Although, they didn’t seem to know she wasn’t full demon. “Well, I don’t know why I shouldn’t be here. So will someone please enlighten me?”

  Treikal’s mouth curved up slightly when he heard her barbed tongue. “You’re a Kubiteron. Just the other day a Matusa was expelled from the Dallas Earth city madder than, well you can imagine.”

  “Expelled by whom?” Jared asked.

  “Another Matusa.”

  Alana’s heart thundered harder. She knew the demon could hear it beating, too. But no matter how much she tried to quiet it, she couldn’t.

  “You know who the Matusa was that expelled the other?” Treikal slowed his pace and motioned to a room.

  “Yes, our friend,” Alana guessed. “The demon cut his skin and poisoned him. We need to find a cure.”

  “Ah. Fereng
us saw a Kubiteron female in Dallas and said he claimed her. Except the younger demon knocked him back into our world. Ferengus left a lasting impression however with the younger man, who he swore wished the Kubiteron for his own. You would not happen to know this female, would you?”

  Alana’s throat felt parched. “He only saw a vision of me.”

  “A vision?” Treikal looked at Jared for an explanation.

  He shrugged. “She has strange ways. Some demon, but some… something else. Not human. She will not tell me how she does these strange things.”

  No matter how much Jared irked her, she would not tell him she was half witch.

  The old man smiled, his skin wrinkling under his eyes glittering with humor. “If this friend of yours did not already want the Kubiteron…” He lifted a hand toward computer screens resting on what looked to be a hundred tables or more. “She might have been yours.”

  She scowled at him. “I’m not the Matusa’s or anyone else’s.”

  Treikal laughed. “As I said. This system has all the data about demon families. Look at will. But mind you, the rumors will quickly spread that the young lady is here. Ferengus or some other will come for her.”

  Jared punched in a code into the computer. “Not in the court of records.”

  “They will wait on the steps outside the building where she will have no protection,” Treikal warned.

  “Thanks for letting me know this before we came here, Jared.”

  “What are friends for?” He gave Alana a sinister grin.

  ***

  For two hours, Alana and Jared sat on chairs at a terminal, searching and cross-searching records. Treikal had left them alone, but from time to time demons wandered into the football field sized room. None of them appeared to be interested in research, just in who was doing it. Chills erupted over Alana’s skin when she caught the seventeenth demon in an hour staring at her. But none of them were Matusa, and only one was a male Kubiteron. She thought they would be one or the other. The one, because supposedly the Matusa were crazed about having a female Kubiteron, and the other because he might have been her father.

  As many records as they’d already looked at and had no success, she thought their task impossible. “Jared, is there a hospital we can go to that might have an antibiotic or cure for Hunter?”

  “Our best bet would be to get hold of Bentos. Except for the court of records, we are not demon citizens. We wouldn’t have access to some places.”

  Jared finally leaned closer and gave her the reason for all the interest. “All demons desire Kubiteron females. You’re a rare commodity. But they know the Matusa wants you, and so they will look, but not touch.”

  “That’s just great.”

  He brought up another record and his face brightened. “I think we’ve got our man. Doesn’t he look like Hunter?”

  Her heart raced. Ohmigod. Was it him? “Blue eyes, blond hair, long not spiked. Same stubborn chin. Looks like him and same name as Crissie gave us. But none of them have last names.”

  “Nobody has the same first name. No need to give last names.”

  But would he aid Hunter? Would he even know a cure? Her stomach tightened. “How can we contact him?”

  Jared pushed a button. “A direct line to the person in the file.”

  “What if they’ve moved?”

  “All demons are in the court of records. If they move, their records are updated at once. It’s just a formality.”

  At the bottom of the screen, someone typed: You seek me for what purpose?

  Jared, Elantus, seeking Bentos for the purpose of reuniting him with his son, Hunter, in Earth world. Son dying of Matusa poison, needs antidote. Can you assist us?

  Us? Identify us.

  Jared’s face darkened and his eyes glowed. “I really hate the formality you have to use here. Pardon. Jared, Elantus, and…

  Jared turned to her. “Your name?”

  She ground her teeth. “Alana.”

  Jared shook his head and typed in: Elana,

  She pointed to the screen. “A, not E.”

  “He isn’t going to care how you spell your blasted name.”

  “Spell it right! I care.”

  Cursing, Jared retyped her name. Alana, Kubiteron, seeks help from Bentos to save his son.

  Kubiteron female? Earth inhabitant?

  Half Kubiteron, half…

  Alana punched Jared in the arm when he hesitated. “Human.”

  He glowered at her. “You’re not human, but I don’t know what you are.”

  “Type in human,” she growled.

  …human. Jared clenched and unclenched his hands.

  Staring at the screen, Alana crossed her legs and rocked her foot. “What’s he waiting for?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Explain Kubiteron female.

  “He’s hung up on you instead of Hunter.”

  “Give me the keyboard.”

  “You don’t know how to respond formally. If you say the wrong thing, you can piss him off, and then…”

  She jerked the keyboard away from Jared. Listen, Bentos, your son is dying. Who I am is of no consequence. He desperately needs your help. I tried to heal him, but had no success. So will you help or not?

  Is this the Kubiteron speaking?

  Yes!

  Jared ground his teeth. “Jeez, you never end anything with an exclamation mark. Never.”

  She was really beginning to dislike this world. “Why do they have it on the keyboard then?”

  “They like Earth-world technology.”

  “Well, then, they ought to learn to deal with exclamation marks.” She typed another message: We don’t have all day! Are you going to help us or not?

  Why do you want to help my son?

  “What are you going to say to that?” Jared said, crossing his arms. “If you lie, he’ll know. And you can’t tell him you want his son to kill a Matusa for you.”

  “Give me some credit, will you, Jared?” I witnessed a Matusa kill a human woman. I need your son’s protection.

  You can have mine.

  Her mouth dropped open. “He can’t mean what I’m thinking he means.”

  “That he wants you? I’d say it was a pretty sure bet.”

  “This is unreal.” She typed: I was mistaken to think demon parents had close attachments to their offspring. Thanks for nothing!

  Jared reached for the keyboard, but she signed them off before he could react. “What now? You’ve just blown any chance we had at getting his help!”

  “You know what, you be Bentos’s main squeeze. It ain’t gonna be me.” She stalked out of the room, her heart in her throat. She had signed Hunter’s death warrant. Now what was she going to do? Her thoughts scrambled together, and she couldn’t untangle them to come up with a plan. Tears welled up.

  “Wait up!” Jared raced after her and seized her arm. “Ferengus or one or more of his buddies will probably be waiting outside.”

  “So what do you suggest we do?” She bit back tears, hating herself for blowing up at maybe the only chance Hunter had. But no matter what, she wouldn’t offer herself as a love slave to his father.

  The oak door to the court of records opened. A Matusa sauntered in, his black satin hair hanging past his shoulders, his raven-colored eyes looking Jared over as if considering the weakness of the other demon, then his gaze shifted back to her. Ferengus—he was the one who hurt Hunter. He was the one who said he’d claimed her. She expected to have to fight the one from the alley in Baltimore.

  This Matusa she wasn’t ready for.

  Chapter 10

  Hunter heard male voices speaking way before the men reached his hospital room, and he quickly closed the portal.

  “She’s been here,” one of the men said at the nurse’s station, his voice anxious.

  “She used a sleeping spell on the nurses.” The other’s voice was older, more sure of himself.

  Crissie looked at Hunter, but he held his finger to his lips to sil
ence her question. He knew she couldn’t hear the men’s words, but it was his closing the portal that had worried her.

  For a moment, silence followed, then the first man said, “We’re looking for a blonde-haired girl, green eyes, slender build, petite. She was visiting a sick friend.”

  “Yes, yes, a girl who looked like this photo came in with a boy. But we told them it was too early to visit with the patient. They had to come back later.” The woman yawned. “To my knowledge, they haven’t returned.”

  “Who were they seeing?”

  “The boy had been visiting with Hunter Ross all day. In fact, one of the nurses caught him staying in his room way past visiting hours late last night.”

  “And he’s in which room?”

  “Oh, 410. Right over there. Wait, are you family?”

  Nobody responded to the question, which Hunter thought exceedingly odd.

  “This patient of yours, Hunter Ross, is he young? Old?” an older man asked.

  “Young, eighteen.”

  A significant pause ensued. Then the older man cleared his throat. “Is he terribly sick?”

  “Very. He’s not responding favorably to any of the antibiotics we’ve given him.”

  “Thank you for your time, miss,” the older man said.

  Then another thought occurred to Hunter. How had her uncle located her? Jared was right. The girl was different and now it looked like her uncle was pretty strange, too.

  Hunter wished Alana had communicated with him again, but with no further word, he feared the worst. Now, he wondered how he would manage an irate uncle as he figured that’s who the one man was. The poison felt like it was eating away at Hunter’s body, and he had no strength to call on.

  When a red-bearded man stalked into the hospital room with four others, Hunter tried to steel his back. Frustrated, he couldn’t do anything but lie weakly against the stacked pillows. An older gray-haired man inspected the room, then nodded. “She’s been here.”

  Before the redhead spoke, Hunter’s mother folded her arms and glowered at the men. “Unless you’re family, you must leave at once. My son is extremely ill.”

  The redhead gave a slight bow of his head, as if he were attempting to appease a protective mother. Then he turned to Hunter and said in a low voice, “Where’s Alana?”