Demon Lover, Part Two

Meghan poured wine for her sister and Rachel. I stuck to tap water.

            “He was human when I met him.” Katrina wiped a hand over her eyes. “Then after a few years he told me the truth—he was born in a demon realm, but his mother brought him here and raised him as a human. And he was fine.”

            Meghan snorted. “I always thought there was something off about him.”

            “Shut up.” Katrina gulped her wine. “Everything was fine. Six years. We got married, I got pregnant, Nikki was born . . . everything was still fine until about two years ago. Then one day he just . . . disappeared. For a month. He left a letter—here, I can show it to you—” She started to stand up.

“In a minute.” I wanted her story. “What happened then?”

“He said he had to—go home for a while.” Katrina settled back on the sofa. “When he came back, everything was fine. I thought.” She sank into the sofa, as if trying to hide. “But after a few days he was different. I tried to ignore it. I tried to help him. But every once in a while he’d . . . change.”

Rachel was sitting now. “Change how?”

Katrina rubbed her forehead. “He had—horns?”

Oh god, Rachel breathed. Only I could hear her. But I knew what she meant.

She’d never told me all the details, but I knew one time she’d met a demon. Out on a lake somewhere. Something tall and powerful, with horns. Strong and seductive and . . . tempting.

I stood next to Rachel’s chair and put a hand on her shoulder.  She elbowed me in the ribs. Ow. “Can you show me the letter?”

Katrina pointed. “Meg? It’s in the bedroom. In the drawer next to my bed. I just can’t . . .” She grabbed for some tissues on the table next to her.

Exasperated, Meghan stood up and went to the bedroom. Katrina leaned forward.

“The thing is . . . ” She whispered. “It was good for a while. So good. Then . . .” She shook her head. “Then it got bad.”

Meghan came back. “Is this it?”

Kat—

I’ll come back. But I have to go. I can’t stay away forever. I thought I could. But I’ll come back for you. And then we’ll all be together.

R.

“He came back, like I said, and it was . . . okay for a while.” She gulped more wine. “But then, like I said—he changed. He hit me, more than once, accused me of cheating on him. Then he . . .” She closed her eyes. “Hit Nikki. I had to leave. And I took Nikki.”

“Asshole.” Meghan folded her arms.

Katrina groaned. “All right, all right! Am I the only one here who’s made a mistake?”

“Peter was different!” Meghan kicked at the sofa. “Just because he was—”

“Hello?” I held up a hand. The last thing I wanted was to listen to family drama. Especially if this was leading the way I thought. “Where is Webb now?”

Katrina shrugged. “Probably back in . . . wherever he was born.”

“How does he get there?”

Rachel looked up at me. “Oh, no.”

“One thing at a time.” But I stepped clear of her elbow.

“He can open a, a portal.” She sketched a circle in the air. “But he didn’t do it at Meghan’s house.”

“No.” Meghan glared. “He just took Nikki and left. In a car.”

“But he was in—you know, demon mode.” She mimed horns rising up from her skull. “Nikki was screaming . . .”

“I was screaming.” Her sister shuddered.

I would have too. “Okay.” I took a deep breath. “So he can’t create a portal out of nowhere, probably. Which means he may have one open somewhere.” And I thought I knew where.

I parked my Honda in front of Webb’s apartment complex and paid the full amount on the meter, planting the ticket inside the car’s windshield. If we stayed longer longer . . . I just hoped Katrina would pay the towing fee.

Webb’s landlord was happy to let us into the apartment before we could call the police to look into a possible child abduction. He even stayed out in the hallway.

            The apartment was empty. The curtain on the wall was think purple velvet. I pulled it open.

            A hole in the wall shimmered with every color of the spectrum, including a few I’d never seen before. It pulsed like a living thing, as if breathing in and out, and I could smell rank, fetid air drifting into the room.

            Katrina moaned. “Oh god, oh god . . .”

            Meghan glared at me. “Now what?”

            I looked at Rachel.

            She shrugged off her backpack.

            We’d argued—briefly—on the way back to our building before meeting Katrina and Meghan here. Briefly, because we’d had the argument before. We’d stopped off to get supplies.

            My Taser was broken, but Rachel handed me a stun gun—the kind you jab against someone’s arm for a shock. She also gave me a small canister of pepper spray. She buys it in bulk—“I’m a girl in Chicago, right?”

            I’d considered bring the Japanese Army sword my father had given me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to practice fencing for the first time against a demon. The only time I’d used it was to kill a sleeping dragon.

            “I’m coming with you.” Katrina gazed at the portal.

            Meghan rolled her eyes. “Me too, I guess.”

            What the hell? “Wait a minute—”

            “She’s my daughter!” Her face was red.

            “And I’m her sister.” Meghan clutched Katrina’s hand for a moment.

            I looked at Rachel.

            She lifted a fist. “So help me, if you say anything like, ‘Women . . .’ I’m going to punch you into another dimension without going through a portal.”

            I lifted both hands. “Fine. Fine.”

            She handed out more pepper spray. “I’ve got flashlights, water bottles and granola bars. Also sweaters. And a change of underwear, but that’s just for me. Hopefully we won’t be there that long.”

            Katrina pocketed her spray and patted the leather purse slung over her shoulder. “I’ve got my own. But thanks.”

            “Yeah.” Meghan looked at the spray. “Does this really stop demons?”

            “I don’t know.” She zipped the backpack up. “Worse comes to worst, I’ll kick it in the balls. That worked one time.”

            I raised an eyebrow.

            Rachel sighed. “I’ll tell you later.”

            My mouth was dry, but I didn’t want to ask for a water bottle right now. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

            “Everything okay in there?” The landlord peeked through the door. “Whoa—what’s that?” He stared at the swirling portal.

            “Modern art. Who knows?” I managed a casual shrug. “We’re fine. We’ll let you know when we’re finished.”

            He was skeptical, but he didn’t want to stay. “Just don’t go trashing the place.”

“Not at all.” I glanced around and saw a landline phone. “We’re just waiting for a call.”

The landlord closed the door.

Katrina squeezed her sister’s hand. “You don’t have to do this, Meg. Nikki’s my daughter.”

“Of c-course I do.” She pulled her hand away. “She’s my niece.”

Great. I looked at Rachel. “Can I at least go through first?”

She sighed. “Men.”

Stepping into the portal felt like dropping into an icy ocean without any bottom. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t feel any part of my body. I closed my eyes, hoping I hadn’t just jumped into a bottomless pit.

            Then I fell onto hard ground, gasping for air. I rolled over, shivering, and sat up as my heart pounded.

            A demon with five horns growled at me.

“What are you doing here?”            His skin was green, and he wore a loose shirt and tight jeans.

            I blinked. My knee hurt from the fall. “Uh, nothing.”

            He shook his head with menace. “You’re human.”

            “Yeah.” I glanced over my shoulder, looking for the portal. “I can explain—”

            Then Rachel came through.

I twisted before she fell on top of me, and pulled her out of the way before Katrina dropped down. Rachel coughed and punched me. “Are you okay?”

            “Fine. But—”

            The demon snarled. “She’s human, too.”

            Rachel looked up. “Who’s your friend?”

            I struggled to my feet, helping Rachel. “This is, uh, I didn’t get your name?”

            “Humans aren’t meant to be here.” The demon stepped forward, claws jutting from his forearms. “I’m Argunn.”

            “I’m—”

            Katrina stumbled through the portal and fell, and then Meghan fell right on top of her. The two of them thrashed together on the packed earth. “Ow! Goddamn it! What are you—” They disentangled each other with Rachel’s help

            I turned back to the demon. “Tom Jurgen. And this is Rachel.”

            Argunn’s yellow eyes burned. “How many more are you?”

            “This is it.” Unless there were more portals linked to this one.

            “I’m looking for my daughter.” Katrina hadn’t entirely caught her breath. Meghan was helping her stand. But she was determined, even though her legs shook from the trip through the portal. “She’s with a man—a demon—named Webb.”

            Argunn’s growl sounded like a suspicious pit bull. “It’s not safe here for humans.”

            I staggered in a circle, trying to get some bearings. The portal glowed in a cliff face next to us, the sheer slope rising a hundred feet over our heads, topped by a rocky boulder perched on the precipice.

            The ground was covered with thin black grass. Overhead the sky was dark, with scattered stars and occasional flashes of electricity.

A clutch of trees stood around us. The air smelled like a burning forest. The wind blew leaves with jagged edges from their branches. One leaf stung my cheek and jabbed my hand as I brushed it away. A stream from somewhere deep in the mountain flowed a dozen yards away.

            I’d gone into another dimension once. But never into a demon realm. This was going to be different.

            I took a deep breath. “Like she said, we’re looking for Webb.” Then I patted my pocket and felt my stun gun. I had to ask: “Are you going to try to stop us?”

            His lips pulled back, revealing long double rows of sharp teeth. “You think I can’t?”

            Some days I wished I’d taken my mother’s advice and become an accountant. “Let’s just say . . . you don’t want to get Rachel mad.”

            “Jerk.” Rachel punched me. But she laughed under her breath.

            “I’m not leaving without her.” Katrina stood up straight.

            “And she fights dirty.” Meghan stood next to her. “I’m her sister. I know.”

            She clenched her fists, but glanced at Meghan. “It was just that one time. We were nine.”

            “And I’m still limping. And you stole my GI Joe and cut his—”

            “Shut up!” Argunn roared. I could smell his breath—like charcoal mixed with bad weed. “I don’t care! I’m just trying to tell you—”

            “Where is Webb?” Katrina lurched forward. “Do you know? Tell me!”

            The demon backed up. “Follow the river. That way. Two kilometers. Then go east. He’s there. Then leave.”

             “Okay.” I looked up at the sky. “Which way is east?”