Lost Soul (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 2) (19 page)

"I'm not lying. I promise. I didn't see anyone." The boy shuddered as the demon traced a nail across his cheek. The vicious nail slid across skin, splitting it open to reveal the boy's cheekbone. No blood. The boy screamed, a low, painful sound that made me shiver. I wanted to kill that demon so badly. A glance at Saleem's corded neck showed he was equally affected.

"You know how I enjoy our little games. You know I can continue this for a long time."

The boy shook his head. "But I don't know anything about anyone."

The demon studied the boy's face, a look of uncertainty clear in his eyes. "That had better be the case because if I find out that you lied to me, I will enjoy much more than this little injury." The demon leaned forward and ran his tongue along the open wound. A white, forked tongue that glistened as it moved against the boy's cheek.

I shivered again, wanting desperately to separate his head from his shoulders, but Saleem again placed a steadying arm on mine and I breathed, shrugging him off. It w
ouldn't be long before he left, and what if we needed the ghost boy's master to get to Yanuk?

The demon laughed, the sound hollow and flat, as with all sounds here in the Greylands. He gave the ghost boy a hard shove, then put the stone back into his pocket. The boy fell to the carpet and sparks shifted and rippled through his body as the demon turned and walked out of the ballroom. It wasn't long before an outer door slammed and the demon was gone.

I was about to rise and go back to the boy when he turned to look in the direction of the bar, shaking his head almost imperceptibly. A sound at the door confirmed the return of the demon. He stood at the entrance and examined the room, suspicion still strong in his face.

The ghost boy looked up at him, a hand to his cheek. The demon sneered then turned and stalked off. This time the slam of the door was harder and louder, yet still oddly hollow.

Saleem and I rose from our hiding place and hurried to the boy's side. He still held his cheek. "Does it hurt?"

"Only while he held me with the stone."

"What was that thing?" I asked, as I stared at the exit door.

"It's the way the demons control us. They use it to torture us. Make us hurt so we won't rebel." He let go of his cheek and I blinked. The wound was gone. "Whatever happens to us while the stone is working is only temporary. The main purpose is that we feel the pain as a living person would. So every time they break a bone or cut into our skin, it hurts like we are alive."

"And when they take the stone away, you go back to normal and the wounds disappear?"

He nodded. "Yeah, all gone like nothing ever happened, but you remember the pain for a long time."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that for us." He was a means to an end, but I still felt bad he'd suffered on our account.

"It's okay. I've been through worse." He opened his mouth to speak but whatever he was about to say was cut off by a high-pitched shriek emanating from the corridor.

Nobody had a chance to move before we heard someone yell, "What the fuck!"

Skates whispered, "That's Lester."

I couldn't help but grin at the incongruity of a demon using human profanity in the land of the dead.

Saleem moved toward the door, and although I gave him an are-you-insane glare, he went anyway. He cracked the swing door open a little and peered through the opening.

An oomph sound filtered toward us, like someone being punched in the gut. Lester screamed, making me smile and wish I'd been the one doing the punching. "What the hell was that for?" he spluttered.

"That's for making things difficult for us," a guttural voice said. He sounded like he was enjoying administering Lester's punishments. "Yanuk wants to see you so you'd better come quietly."

"What does he want?" Lester asked, his voice quite petulant.

"Huh? You really think he tells us his business? You stupid or something?" The demon laughed. "You must be in deep shit if you're already this scared."

"Don't worry, Lester," another voice said with a cruel laugh. "I'm sure he won't make you suffer too long."

After a few shuffling and dragging sounds, Lester and his entourage left the building. Saleem waited at the door until he was sure they'd gone before coming back to us.

"They're gone."

"Why would Yanuk want Lester?" I asked, frowning.

" 'Cos Yanuk is Lester's master," Skates said, raising his eyebrows as if I should have already deduced this. I looked over at Saleem, who also seemed to have missed this vital piece of info. Skates looked from Saleem to me and shrugged. "Oh. Did I forget to tell you that? Sorry I do forget stuff sometimes."

A moment of silence passed in which I wondered if coming here was maybe my worst idea ever. Then Skates snorted. "Poor Lester," he said, grinning.

I shuddered to think how that could have been worse if they had found us. "I so want to kill that sucker," I said through gritted teeth. The ghost boy looked at me, startled. It seemed as if the possibility had never occurred to him. I felt a rush of pity for him. Willing to help us because of Nerina, yet expecting nothing in return.

"You will need him alive so he can lead you to Yanuk," the boy said, then he grinned. "Once he's served his purpose, you can kill him."

"Why do we need him anyway? Can't
you
lead us to Yanuk?"

The boy shook his head. "My connection is to
my
master. I can usually tell where he is at all times."

"But he can't always sense you?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I don't think he's smart enough. Or maybe he has some kind of block to his ability, but we've been connected since he made me his slave. I've always been able to find him, but he's a bit useless himself."

"So. Lester?" I asked, already feeling like I wanted to pulverize the freaking demon and needing to burn up some of the buildup of energy.

"Yup."

I snorted. "Nice demon name for a nice demon. What is he anyway?"

"Type of demon?" he asked and I nodded. "Lester is a lamia."

"Not very powerful for a lamia." I scowled
.

"Why do you think he wants me? He needs me to lure the young girls for him to possess." Skate's face darkened and I knew I saw guilt in his eyes. It didn't serve anyone's purpose to broach the issue of his guilt in obtaining the lamia demon's souls. I just wanted to find Yanuk so we could save Greer and now kill Lester the lamia.

"So, where to now?" I asked the kid.

"Now we track him. Follow him and we'll find Yanuk. If you are ready, that is." He looked at me, a question in his eyes.

A glance at Saleem confirmed he was just as ready as I was to get on with it.

Follow the lamia, find Yanuk, save Greer.

***

We headed through the ballroom with Skates going ahead to check the place out. All was clear and we made it to the alley exit without a hitch. Again the alley was clear and we headed outside, taking South Street and heading away from Tara's shop. The Greylands had no sense of time; the sky remained grey all the time. No change. Not evening a lightening of the sky to imply daylight. Not an easy life to live if you're stuck in a place like this. My chest tightened at the thought of Greer living here all these weeks. No surprise that both Melisande and Nerina said she was going a little insane.

It didn't take long to realize that Skates was taking us into the abandoned part of town, where back home I would find the red-light district where I'd killed the Gus-wraith, and the warehouse where leopard walker Brand had almost eaten me alive. Fitting that the demons would congregate in the unoccupied zone. Not that the entire Greylands didn't seem empty anyway.

Skates stopped so suddenly that I knocked my rucksack into his shoulder. It went right through him but I still felt bad.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I think we're being followed," he whispered, ducking into a nearby alley.

"I didn't hear anything." Not that that meant anything.

"You wouldn't if it was a ghost or even a demon. You wouldn't know until it was too late." He looked worried then moved slowly toward the corner, his back pasted against the wall, or rather almost through the wall. He peered around the edge then slammed himself back against the grey brick. "Yes, we were being followed. Two low-level demons. May even be working for Lester. You guys hide. I'll try to head them off across the street."

"Wait." I almost reached for him before realized I wouldn't be able to touch him. "Are they dangerous?"

"They might be." He looked worried.

"If they even look like they'll hurt you, I'm going to take a shot, okay?" I raised my eyebrows looking for his agreement.

"Sure. As long as you shoot to kill. Whatever you do, don't miss. Or I will be in deep shit if they survive."

"Okay, go." Despite my reluctance, I let him go.

Saleem and I ducked behind a large dumpster and peered out as Skates headed into the street again. He was about to cross the street when a shout sounded from one of the demons.

Skates stopped and turned to face them. Both the demons came into view. One a lamia who seemed thinner and weaker and a little more spineless than Lester. I didn't recognize the other demon's species. Not surprising as my experience with demons was pretty much limited to Wraiths.

"Hey, ghost boy. Who were those people with you?" the lamia asked, prodding his finger into the air in front of Skate's chest.

"Who?"

I cringed.
Bad move, Skates
. He should have owned up straight away and then created a cover story. Now he'd have to backtrack.

"Those two. Guy and girl. With you not long ago," the lamia asked while the other purple-skinned demon looked up and down the street, giving his grape-purple horns a cursory scratch.

Skates shrugged. "No idea. Just a couple of ghosts wanting to know where they were. You know, the whole new ghost shit." He shoved his hands into his pockets. Probably knew they were giving away his nerves.

"Don't lie to us, boy. Lester said you were up to something, and sure enough, you're down here cavorting with those two. Ghosts? My ass. They looked very alive to me. Just like that blond girlfriend of Yanuk's."

"Girlfriend? You mean more like his new boss." The other demon snorted, and the lamia shoved an elbow into his chest, making him cough up a wad of green phlegm. It struck me again that demons weren't colorless in the Greylands. Both the demons now confronting a very grey Skates were dressed in painful shades of orange and yellow. They probably looked much worse surrounded as they were by shades of dull grey. The wad of phlegm on the sidewalk glowed a sickly green.

"What do you mean? I thought Yanuk was in charge?" Skates asked, feigning curiosity.

"See what you did? You and your big mouth." The lamia backhanded the purple-horned demon, who held his hand to his mouth in utter shock

"What did you do that for?" he grumbled through his fingers.

"For having a big mouth. Going and telling the ghost boy that the girl is the boss and not Yanuk."

"Well, it's not as if that's a lie," the demon whined
.

The lamia growled. "Will you just shut the fuck up?"

"Fine." Purple Horns pouted and crossed his arms, refusing to look at the lamia again. That was good for me. I pulled my crossbow from my satchel and took aim. Things were heating up and the lamia looked unpredictable.

The lamia took a step toward Skates, who took a step backward, bringing them in a good line of sight. "Now, tell me who those two were and I might let you live."

"You can't kill me. I belong to Lester," Skates answered, lifting his chin. That was all the defiance he was up for.

"Not for long you don't," the lamia sneered.

"What do you mean?" Skates pretended to look worried. He seemed to be a pretty good actor. Must need the skills around here.

"You know the rules. When one demon kills another, their slaves go to the killer." The lamia's lip curled.

"So?" Skates jeered. "Lester is still alive. I just saw him a few moments ago."

The lamia grinned. "Not for long," he said again.

This wasn't looking good. Why would the demon tell Skates that and then let him live to tell his master? Skates gaze flickered across the street as if he was forcing himself not to look in our direction. Smart boy. The lamia followed his gaze.

"Where are they hiding?" He got nose-to-nose with Skates, his voice raised to what must have been threatening to him, but which only sounded flat and as unscary as a puppet show. "Are they in there? The old video store?"

"I don't know. They walked off in that direction so maybe they went in there. I have no idea." Skates shrugged.

"Don't lie to me, you little creep."

"I'm not lying," Skates whined and leaned away from the demon.

"Well, I have one way to find out, don't I?" The lamia grinned, the row of sharp vampiric teeth gleaming in the bleak light. He drew a blue stone from his pocket and I knew there was no turning back.