Lost Soul (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 2) (21 page)

I ignored him and continued to circle him. Moving my fingers, I felt the wound pulse again. His eyes fell to my blood-drenched fingers and he licked his lips again. I spun the scimitar around and hit him full force in the neck. His head went spinning across the alley floor. His body fell to its knees and then tilted sideways until it collapsed in an ungainly heap.

I heard a grunt a few feet away. Saleem's battle with Pink Jacket just ended. I stared at the pile of two bodies then grimaced as Yellow Teeth turned to green goo. Poor Saleem. He was in for another surprise when he goes dumpster diving for the ghost stone
.

He pushed himself up. "You could give me a hand you know." He glared at me.

"No, I couldn't." I made a face at the goo then stumbled back a few paces feeling a little lightheaded.

"You're hurt," Saleem cried as he tried to wipe off some of the sticky residue.

"Thanks for the tip." I answered with a raised eyebrow.

"Is it bad?"

"I think I've lost quite a bit of blood." A popping sound drew my gaze and I watched as Scarface's headless body began to shrivel, as did the head a few feet away. It whitened and reduced to a desiccated heap. I nudged it with my toe and it burst into a shower of ashes.

Almost at the same time, Pink Jacket melted into a pile of black ash.

Okay then.

Skates reappeared beside us moving my attention off my wound and onto the matter at hand. "Well that was four demons you guys killed. And I think they were the outside guard."

"That's all they have? Seems a bit stupid to have such a light guard." I shook my head.

"Yanuk thinks everyone likes him as their leader. He doesn't foresee any sort of uprising or coup. He's wrong, but as long as he doesn't know, it's good for those who do want to get rid of him."

"Are there any interested parties?" I asked, curious about Greylands demon politics.

"Various factions. No one in particular that I know of." He shrugged.

"It doesn't really matter. Not for what we need to do." I glanced at the now empty alley and at the flecks of green goo on Saleem's jacket. "Now we go get Lester out alive."

I stepped forward and lost my balance, almost falling to my knees, the alley and the door spinning crazily around my head. I blinked as Saleem caught me, nausea gripping my throat.

"What's wrong? You've lost way too much blood," he said, frowning and scanning my wound.

I shook my head. "No, it's not that." I paused and swallowed hard. "I feel strange."

"Maybe poison?" Skates offered.

"Poison?" Saleem almost roared the question and Skates flinched.

"Yeah, sometimes the demons poison their swords. It may be what's affecting her."

"You could have warned us," Saleem snapped.

"Leave the boy alone." I waved a hand at Saleem. "He's done a lot to help us so far."

"He could have warned us," Saleem repeated, his face dark with annoyance. "And now you're hurt. We have to go back to base."

"No. We need to get Lester first. We can't let this opportunity slip by," I insisted, glaring at Saleem. I knew he meant well, but I was fine.

"Don't be stupid, Kailin. You'll probably bleed to death before we find this demon."

Who gave him permission to boss me around?

Skates cleared his throat. "I know where he is. I peeked in while I went to check the place out."

"Fine. Let's go get this done before she dies on us." Saleem pointed a thumb in my direction and then helped me to get back on my feet. "You have bandages?" he asked me.

I nodded. Grams had packed a first aid kit just in case. Saleem dug around in my satchel and withdrew the kit. I lifted my shirt as he grabbed a swab and pressed it to the wound. I held it there while he unraveled the bandage and began to wind it around my waist.

"That will have to do for now." He sighed looking more worried than before.

"What's wrong now?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral.

"The poison. It looks like it's spreading. And it's spreading fast. Your skin is changing color and the veins look black."

"Shit. That's not the demon's poison. That's from my Wraith-sword wound." I looked at the armband but didn't want to even think about peeking at the wound. We didn't have time. "Okay, we'd better get moving. If the poison is spreading, it means I won't have too much time to hang around here."

I leaned an ear against the metal door again and shook my head. "Two people walking up and down this floor. I'm going to have to scale the wall."

"You're insane." Saleem shook his head and just gazed at me.

"I
am
a walker, you know."

"And I
am
a djinn, you know," he imitated me and grinned.

"Oh." I scratched my head for a moment then gave him a crooked grin. "I'd forgotten."

He smiled brighter and then said, "Right, I'm going in. You wait right here. I'll open the lock from the other side."

Then he disappeared.

***

I hoped that when Saleem appeared on the other side of the metal door, he wouldn't be greeted by a horde of feral demons.

Apparently he hadn't been. The lock clicked softly and the iron door sighed open. Saleem held it just wide enough for me to slide through, then turned the handle quietly to shut the door.

We tiptoed up the staircase immediately to our right, keeping as close to the wall as possible. My panther senses told me we were safe to proceed around the corner. No heartbeats or breathing or movement of clothing to indicate anybody coming up the hall.

First door on the left was right there at the top of the stairs. Skates appeared so suddenly beside me I almost jumped out of my skin
.

"Is it safe to go in?" I asked the ghost boy. His face was strained as if he didn't want to go in. "You don't have to go in if you don't want to." I offered him the out but he shook his head.

"No. I made this bed." I did a small double take at the odd words but returned my concentration to the door when he popped his head through the wood and pulled it back out smoothly. I had to admit it was too weird seeing Skates headless for a second. "It's clear."

My hand touched the doorknob and Saleem spoke in my ear. "What do we plan to do with him?"

"I'm happy to kill him on the spot because he's a danger to the boy, but we do need to get information from him first. Maybe we can take him back to base and get our info there. The less time we spend here, the better."

I freed my demon sword from its sheath and leaned against the doorjamb for a moment. I didn't dare touch my wound, but I felt the moist heat of it, knew the bleeding hadn't stopped. I swallowed against the nausea that crawled up my throat, turned the handle slowly, and slid into the room. Saleem and Skates followed in silence. The demon sat in the middle of the empty room safely encased within a pentagram protection spell drawn on the floor. He looked up as we entered and his eyes popped wide.

"What are you doing here?" Lester's voice was a growl with a hint of sharp.

"These two wanted to talk to you." Skates tipped his head in our direction, appearing nonchalant, as if bringing two strangers to see his trapped demon master was a normal, everyday thing to do.

"Who are you?" Lester asked us, smiling, his shark-like lamia teeth gleaming dull in the light of the single bare bulb that lit the room.

Lester thought he was too smart. Saleem and I exchanged a glance. "Don't you worry about who we are, Lester." I emphasized his name. "We're here for information. We'll be gone as soon as you tell us where to find the person we are looking for."

"Who do you want to find?" He scrambled to his knees careful not to touch the ring of salt keeping him prisoner.

"We're looking for a girl."

"Aren't we all," he said, smacking his lips, then he looked me up and down, making me want to relieve him of his bloodshot eyeballs immediately.

I grunted and curled my fingers around the sword handle. Lester watched me closely, his hand sparing a worried glance for my stiffened fingers and the weapon I held. If he was affected, he didn't show it despite being caught within the magical ward.

The magic also meant there was no getting him out of the room, let alone the warehouse. If Yanuk saw fit to bind his own flunky, then I didn't trust him to stay with me long enough for us to get back to base.

I tried something else. "You do know you're next on the list right?"

"What list?" He grinned.

"Oh, not the list to take over Yanuk's role." The grin faded fast. "The list of demons to have their existences terminated."

He blinked and his face darkened. He wore a bright orange suit complete with multi-shaded orange tie and looked like a skinny pumpkin, his pale face at odds with the garish brightness of his clothing. "What do you mean? Who said that?"

"Oh, just a couple of demons. A lamia who liked to wear purple and another demon—I wasn't sure what he was, but he's dead now so I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?" I walked around the pentagram. He glared at me, more angry than disbelieving. He was fairly easy to convince. "Why do you think you are here within this little magical circle?" I asked, waving a finger at the salt ring.

"My master is just punishing me because I came back without information about the two of you. You are the two newest inhabitants of our dead world, are you not?" He grinned, his eyes flashing a shower of orange.

"Your master?" I stared at the lamia. "Who is your master?"

"Yanuk, of course. You aren't very bright, are you?" Lester smiled and I was getting pretty tired of his toothy grin. But I let him think he had the upper hand.

"So you're not a man of you own making."

"Who said I ever was? That little traitor there?" Lester glared at Skates who took a step back.

"You leave him alone." I stepped in front of the boy. "So since Yanuk is your master, I assume you can sense him?"

"Yeah. All his slaves know where he is all the time. That's not new news. Just like I know he was downstairs and now he isn't there any longer."

"Mmh. I'm not so sure about that. It's probably just the magic of the circle that's blocking your connection." The lamia lost his grin and stared around him. "We can help you, you know."

"Why would I need your help?" His words were defiant, but they didn't match his expression.

"Because you are caught here in this little magical salt circle and maybe, just maybe—" I toed the edge of one portion of the salt ring. "I can get you out."

He nodded eagerly, his grin widening.

"For a price," I said.

The grin disappeared. "What do you want?"

"We want information on the blond girl. Help us find her and we'll set you free."

The lamia rubbed his hands together. "Sure. Let's go. I can take you to her."

"Nope. That's not how it's going to work, Lester." I wagged a finger at him. "You see my friend over here? He's a demon too. And he has this neat power to go wherever he wants. So you tell us where the girl is, he goes to check it out and comes back here. If it all checks out, then you get to go free. And everybody is happy."

His eyes narrowed as he glared balefully at me. He was stuck and he knew it. "Fine. I'll tell you where she is."

"Good. So talk."

He cleared his throat and rattled off an address that almost had me choking.

"What? Say that again?" I couldn't believe my ears. Of all the places in upside-down Chicago, Greer chooses to live in my apartment. Anger gripped my gut in a twisted fist. She certainly wasn't staying there out of nostalgia for home. The demon repeated my address, but I ignored him and tapped my sword against my boot. My ribs throbbed and my head hurt. We had to move.

"Fine." I looked at Saleem. "Go make sure she's there." Just as he was about to disappear, I stopped him. "Wait. Use the fire-escape. It goes right up to the window in the living room. You should be able to see her if she's walking around."

Saleem nodded then disappeared.

"What kind of demon is he?" Lester asked, sounding a little too haughty for my liking.

I almost flinched, but held it together. For a moment I'd forgotten that the demon and even Skates were still in the room. "None of your business. Just shut up and hope he comes back and fast. I'm just waiting for a reason to gut you."

"Whoa. You sound just like her."

"Who?"

"That blond bitch. She's controlling and manipulative. No surprise she's practically running the whole place. Plus it helps she's a little psycho too." He sneered.

"What do you mean? Who is she controlling?"

"Yanuk, of course. She's barely been here a few weeks and she's running the whole show. You want her, I ain't stopping you from finding her. You'll just be walking straight to your death."

Those words chilled me. "Is she killing anyone?"

"No, she leaves the dirty work to her slaves."