I bolt upright, panting for breath as I try to shake free of the nightmare. Torren’s name falls from my lips on a desperate plea but there’s no one around to reassure me that he’s all right. I fall from the cot-bed to my knees, sobbing into the rough fabric of the only blanket the prison supplies.
Hours pass in a daze of fear and hunger. Eventually I fall asleep again and thankfully no dreams come, I do however wake with a knotted stomach and a niggling feeling that something truly evil is coming my way.
THIRTY
Jason
It’s beenthree days and still no improvement from the hybrids. Rourke showed up on my doorstep last night, begging for my help in locating Areyna, but so far we’ve had no luck. I’ve been trying every spell I know to try to wake the hybrids, also with no luck yet. Rourke’s been in and out of my house so much that I’m starting to feel like he lives here. He’s been coordinating the search for Areyna and Ossias who went missing not long after Areyna was taken. We’ve worked out that lower-level demon mercenaries were hired to capture the two of them, but so far we’ve had no luck interrogating the ones we’ve captured.
I’d never have imagined I’d be someone who had to interrogate a demon, yet here I am, pliers in hand, preparing to pull the talons off a Mephisto demon. They’re ugly looking beasts that don’t have humanoid bodies. Their arms are like bat wings with talons on the end and capturing one was far too easy.
I’d just finished seeing off the assistants who helped me transfer the hybrids to my place, when Rourke came running around from the side of the house, “There’s a Mephisto demon in the woods out the back, put those spells to good use and help me capture it so we could see if it had anything to do with Ir-Regina tieghi’s kidnapping.”
“I don’t know any spells that would help with a Mephisto demon. I have a few offensive spells that might help though.” I admit, thinking about the stun spell I was going to use on Rourke if he turned out to be an enemy to me.
“That’ll work. Come onman-witchlet’s see what you’ve got.” The smartass ties his hair back as though he’s preparing for a huge battle, securing the dark strands with what looks like a strip of leather. I have no intention of being close enough to even be within arm’s reach of the demon, but I guess everyone has their own ways of preparing for a fight. I, myself, prefer to not think about the impending danger.
Not that there’s much to think about considering it doesn’t even take us a minute to cross the yard and be in the woods where the damn thing is hiding out. Even I have to admit that Rourke is right, capturing the demon might give us answers, the problem is, I have no idea how to get the answers out of the demon short of torture.
I don’t get a chance to think much more on it as we cross the tree line and it’s right there in front of us. The stupid creature doesn’t even bother trying to hide itself, just stands there with it’s taloned, spindly wings spread to the sides as though sheer size is enough to intimidate. Truthfully if I ran across one of these alone in a dark alley, I’d probably run the other direction. Rourke’s presence gives me a reason to stand tall, I can’t let him be the one to rescue Areyna and the other hybrids. I’ve fucked up enough and even though I know this small act isn’t going to change the way Areyna feels about me, it feels like the right path to her forgiveness.
The Mephisto demon just continues to stand there, staring at us while we stare at it. I can’t tell whether it’s male or female, but I’m going to assume it’s a male. I couldn’t imagine a female of any species being that ugly. Its head isn’t humanoid, its head far too elongated, its eyes too large, much like it’s mouth and the tusks attached to said mouth make it look more like a boar than anything. It’s the skin more than anything that makes it appear otherworldly; a black so dark it appears to be made of pure shadows. I suppose the giant red and black eyes don’t help matters.
As we stare at each other, it raises its wings, the talons on the ends clenching like fists. The bastard raises a single talon, flipping the bird at us before launching itself like a dart, heading straight for Rourke. I throw my hands out, creating a shield out of air to deflect the creature’s initial blow, but the asshole goes straight through my shield as though it isn’t there. The two-foot curved horns on its head hit Rourke right in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and making me thankful the creature can’t skewer him with curved horns. The grunt coming from Rourke makes me think of those goats that headbutt people on the funny videos Areyna loves so much, but the high-pitched scream out of the demon’s mouth drags me back to reality.
I curve my hands, using all the power I have in my to throw the stunning spell at the creature. It ducks, but not quick enough. My spell hits it right in the snout, making it yelp before it’s body loses all control. The creature lands right on top of Rourke, pinning him to the ground. From my angle it looks like the two of them are locked in an intimate embrace which makes me bark out a laugh.
“Stop cackling like an evil witch and get this fucking beast off me!” Rourke snaps from beneath the creature.
It takes some manoeuvring but after about ten minutes, we manage to free Rourke and drag the beast back to my house. Once we’ve got it inside, I hesitate, unsure where we should do the actual interrogating considering I’m not even sure the creature can speak.
I needn’t have worried. Rourke, ever the planner, had already prepared the basement, attaching chains and collecting tools.
Which is how I found myself, standing here with a pair of pliers in my hand and a demon glaring at me from beneath swollen eyes. “Rourke it hasn’t so much as spoken a word this entire time, are you sure it’s capable of speech?” I ask for the third time.
“I can speak.” My head whips around, staring at the creature. “I was just waiting to see if you were actually going to man up and use those things. You’re not very good at torture, you know?”
“It’s my first time.” I deadpan.
“It shows. It’s okay though, you’re very intimidating, just a bit of advice though; You shouldn’t stop in the middle of it to question your partner in crime, it makes you seem a little wishy-washy.”
“Oh, thanks.” I reply automatically before shaking my head, “Wait, what?” I ask, my head starting to pound with a headache.
“Hang on, this might make things easier.” The demon begins to shimmer, like he’s got a million fireflies buzzing around his body, then I blink and the fucking creature turns into a man who looks like he could be a bodybuilder model. “Okay, that’s better, it’s really hard to form words around those tusks. You’re looking for the pretty girl, Raynie right?”
“Areyna.” I correct automatically.
“Yeah, the pretty one with the demonic blue and black hair.”
“She’s not demonic.”
“She is a Quinbrid, Shifter, Demon, Vampire, Fae, and Seelie. You’re searching for her and you don’t even know what breed she is?” The Mephisto demon asks.
“We know she’s a hybrid.”
“Quinbrid. All five breeds in one. Doesn’t matter, I want to help find her. She means a lot to me as well.”
“What?” Both Rourke and I shout at the same time.