His education started now. “The scent of brimstone and caffeine always gives them away. I’m pretty sure the coffee breath is a vain attempt to cover up the brimstone. The question is what kind of demon are we dealing with.”
“We don’t have demons here.” Erna sounded shaken. “They can’t access the outer planes. It’s one of the reasons my kind left the Earth plane. Or so the history books claim. Any demon who comes here is merely passing through. The Planeswalker clans cause no trouble here.”
“Apparently they kidnap companions, so I would say that’s trouble,” the queen pointed out. “Can whoever is out there get through the barrier?”
“They should walk right past it,” Dean explained. “Don’t get me wrong. If it can find the barrier it’s possible to push through it, but I doubt it’s going to find the wall. It’s nothing to worry about.”
But then I saw it. Red eyes glowing in the gloom of the night. Whatever it was, that sucker was tall. It moved from the trees to the field, and I started to get the outline of a reed-slender body moving with no grace. It jerked this way and that, as though it couldn’t quite make its muscles move the way they should.
Arwyna floated in the air next to me, her wings moving in a slow beat. The pixie hadn’t strayed far from us. She’d clung to Zoey’s hair or Dev’s, but she seemed to have gotten some of her strength back. “Bad. Bad.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s pretty bad.”
“What is it?” Daniel asked.
“I think it’s a demon.” Quinn moved slightly in front of him.
“It’s not a demon,” Erna argued. “Like I said, the only demons around here are Planeswalkers, and they don’t come out this far. They stick close to the doors.”
“Could we follow one back to the Earth plane?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t think we want to follow that demon.” Something was wrong with it. Even from a distance I could tell. I felt the weight of the sword in my hand.
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Dean replied. “They don’t like it when you follow them. They will take you somewhere, but like I said before, the price is your soul.”
“But if we laid in wait,” Daniel began.
“You could end up on a plane of existence where there’s no oxygen.” Erna had moved closer. “He should be turning away. You’re right. That’s a Planeswalker. What is it doing so far from a door? This is not the path it normally takes.”
The path it was taking was about to lead it right to us. Though the demon swayed and generally wouldn’t pass a field sobriety test, it was still making its way to the cottage.
It was closer now, and I could see that it wore dark robes. The hood had fallen back, and I could see those red eyes and stark features. It looked like the demon had been given too little skin to stretch over its body. Everything about it was lean to the point of miserliness.
Still, what was coming our way was a demon, and that meant no matter what it looked like, it was dangerous.
“I should talk to it.” Daniel’s shoulders squared and he got that kingly vibe.
Unfortunately he didn’t have the kingly strength and invulnerability to go with it.
“Talk to it?” Zoey had stepped in front of Dan. “You’re not going out there.”
“I’m still the king,” Dan said.
“I’ll go with him.” It would kill the king to take a back seat. Zoey was his wife and Quinn his partner. They wanted to coddle and protect him, but I knew that man and what it would mean to him. It would mean he wasn’t enough if he wasn’t a vampire. It was a lesson he wouldn’t forget, and it could hurt him long after I’d stabbed him and made him turn again, which quite frankly couldn’t happen fast enough for me. “He’s the king. All the demons know that.”
“Kelsey, I know what you’re trying to do, but that demon will be able to tell Daniel is not…himself.” Quinn spoke in quiet tones as though trying to soften the blow his words would create. “If demonkind knows the king is…”
“Weak.” The king spat the word like it was bile in his mouth. “If demonkind thinks something is wrong with me it could hurt negotiations.”
“Oh, god. Is that the reason Myrddin did it?” The queen covered her mouth as though the question had escaped.