Daimon by DANIELLE BOLGER (e reader .txt) 📖

more than that. So much more than a pretty puppet, like you are, and will die as.”

“I see. You're no puppet, you're his doll.” I turned back forward. “When Rose and I fight, will you interfere or should I eliminate you now?”

She chuckled softly behind me. “You don't have to worry about me. Rose wants to play with you, and I never get in the way of his games. I'll be no more than a spectator.”

I nodded. “Good. I'll see you later.” As my heels clicked over the stone floor, I heard Ruby snarl behind me, but I ignored it. I trusted what she said, that she posed no immediate threat to me. I decided to save my energy for Rose himself; I could always deal with her later.

It was a longer chamber than it appeared from the front. It was as if it was designed so that each loud step would only procure greater trepidation. I walked steadily. It did not matter how imposing this greeting would be. I was resolute in my chosen mission, and thanks to Rose himself, my fear was far more easily managed as this new species. Greater hearing, sight, physical strength and emotional stability—albeit more instinctive—it was true, that this father had given me a great few talents, but he made a mistake—he played god. He gave me power, and for his own peculiar pleasure allowed me my free will—a perfect combination to destroy him. A little, I thought, like Hercules given the power to fight the gods. I was no hero, but I would be an avenger. I would play his twisted game, and I would win.

Click. Click. Click. I trotted down the granite steps and descended into the shadowed depths.

Darkness, I postulated, that is what the real hell is made up of.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Welcome, Jane, I've been hearing that you've wanted to meet with me,” a voice penetrated from the other side of the long hall. The man possessed an English accent. I knew it was him, Rose, but through the heavy shadows I was not yet able to make him out.

My feet carried me forward along the center aisle, passing long wooden rows either side. There were books laid on these, books with a single cross embossed on every one. I almost laughed at the irony of the image, but all I could do was gulp with consternation.

I wanted to say something back to him; the man I was dying to meet, the one I was dying to kill; but maybe because of the darkness, I felt that he was not truly before me yet. He had been so elusive all this time that it was hard to imagine him near without the proof of my eyes. I expected to encounter Smoke, as Rose's protector, first. I did not see him, nor hear, nor smell him. I did not want to admit it to myself then, but it was likely fear that kept me from viewing him. I think I preferred the cold myth, to the hot devil.

I continued pacing forward, my footfalls steady, as if unhindered by any of these thoughts. Even when I was human, I was a competent actor.

I came upon a staged scene. There were a handful of lowly lit candles, flames still, around a widely birthed altar; a white bowl in the forefront, raised to waist level; and beyond were three large wooden chairs that had a royal quality to them. Two of these were occupied.

I felt Ruby brush by me in a blur and stealthily take her place in one of the winged seats. She faded into the shadows with the others, but the red flames of her hair could still be made out. The sudden interception made me halt.

“Please, Jane, come. I haven't seen you in some time. I would like to see how you're getting on. The last time...I wasn't sure if you'd make it.”

His voice reflected in my mind, I do want something from you, but it is not your money, Jane Kirra, that I want. It is your heart.

His voice uplifted. “It pleases me to see you’ve succeeded. Your bio gave me great hope, and I see that it was not misplaced.”

My bio? He does know. That was why I was chosen.

“Jane, come closer, let me look at you with proper lighting,” he requested.

I obeyed and walked tentatively forward without so much as a smart-ass comment to his warped perception of proper lighting. Compelled by a force similar to gravity, I was pulled up a step and entered the raised threshold. The wooden boards clunked loudly beneath my feet.

I stopped.

Just meters away Smoke's black eyes cut through the darkness as he sat stiffly in the chair to the left. To the right, Ruby was smiling broadly as she looked upon the figure seated between them. Rose watched his fingers swirl onto the wooden handle of his chair. He paused this movement when he felt my eyes on him and snapped up to shoot me a challenging glare.

I frowned, almost not believing what I witnessed, not wanting to accept the oddity before me. I thought him gentle from his voice, but I did not expect the form seated before me. He was blond-haired, sweet-faced, slender, and no more than sixteen or seventeen years in appearance. How could I attribute all those devilish and beast-like conjurations to a boy who looked like someone who helped out his grandmother on weekends? He smiled so delicately that his eyes caught the dim light, where they flashed a majestic deep purple. He really is a beautiful flower. I wondered where he hid the thorns.

“My friends have shown great concern in you,” he mused. “They don't appreciate your...free-spiritedness.” He began to tap his fingers on the armrest. “I ordered them to let you be, allow the toddler her tantrums. Then you started learning how to control your power, how to rule your ferocity, how to cultivate it, and this had them worried. You see, they fear my existence, or lack of it. We share a bond that ties them to my lifeline. Should I die—they all do— which is one reason why they would do anything to protect me; even...disobey me.”

The information hit me like a fist to the solar plexus. I could barely more than whisper, “They all die?”

He nodded. “I am the alpha, the gateway to the dimension of power. The...router, I guess you could say. Should I die, my subordinates would not be able to stream any longer.” The pattering of his fingertips was all that could be heard for a moment. “Knowing that, are you still so motivated to kill me, Jane?”

I simply muttered, “Zach...”

“That reporter.” I could hear the smile in his soft voice. “You know, my sources tell me that he may have loved you, but you kept rejecting him. Though it seems that you wouldn't reject his heart.”

I was shivering all over: fear, hatred, despair, and guilt all intertwined. I could not make sense of it, and I could not decide what was more important. I wanted vengeance, but I did not want to die. I wanted to see my friends again; I wanted to tell my brother I was sorry. I vowed that I would seek revenge for Zach, but there was just still so much to live for. I want to live, Zach.

“You did very well against Freddie and Sage. I wonder, though, did taking the heart of someone so important to you give you the strength to actualize those achievements?”

I hung my head down low as I considered my plight. The brief discourse between Alex and I repeated itself in my mind: If you kill Rose, no matter what else happens, that will be enough. Now, there were no ifs about it, no possibility of escape—It was kill and be killed.

“We're connected too, aren't we?”

“You are my daughter, so, of course you are,” he stated matter-of-factly, “and like any child, who could live with themselves after taking the life of their father?”

I gasped.

“C'mon, Jane.” He appeared suddenly, an inch from my face. “Don't tell me this junction scares you.”

He slapped me so hard I fell to the floor. My head clunked against the floorboards, reverberating beneath us.

“Maybe you need further motivation,” he snarled. “Ruby, grab the girl and prop her in my chair.”

“Certainly, sire,” Ruby responded.

After a bustle of movement, I felt supple fingers grasp my chin. Rose’s fingers dug into the flesh beneath my jaw, and pulling against the bone, sharply yanked my torso up off the ground. Now that I was sitting and gave him no resistance, he was gentler. His warm fingers caressed my cheek and turned it sideways. My face was aimed toward the center chair. As I focused, a sickening dread filled me. No. Not her! Don't take her away from me, too.

“Sandra!” I screamed. She did not move, she was as still as the dead.

Rose kicked me in the abdomen and pushed me into the floorboard so hard splinters serrated my skin.

“Christ, you've gone and put a hole in my lovely altar,” Rose complained, sounding more like the teen he resembled.

I fumbled to lift my body from the newly created hole and realized that, as I groped for something to hold onto, I was brushing objects along: shards of wood intermixed with gray fragments; objects that were long, firm and yet surprisingly brittle. There were bones under the floorboards, and I was guessing that they didn’t belong to animals.

Ignoring this revelation, I pulled myself to my feet and rushed toward Sandra. Before I could reach the chairs, Smoke clasped onto my shoulders with a vice-like grip, immobilizing me.

“You can have her, if you win,” Rose baited me.

“She's alive?” I panted desperately.

“She is unconscious; alive, but sleeping, thanks to a great amount sedative. It's wonderful that, in this city, certain detectives have access to just about any drug one could require.” He chortled.

“What,” my voice was little more than a whisper, “will you do to her if I fail?”

His answer slipped fluidly: “Replace you, but...somehow I don't think she'll survive the rebirthing process.”

“No, no!” I screamed, flailing against Smoke's wall-like structure. He did not give an inch. How is it that, after all, everything I gained, I’m still incapable of putting even a dent in this guy?

“Will you take me up on my offer?”

“I'll fucking kill you!”

“Excellent. Ruby, grab the girl; we'll go into the garden to do this. Jane,” he turned back to me, “you're still too weak to be of any fun in a fight. If you defeat Smoke here, then we'll have our game. In the meantime, Ruby and I will prepare...Sandra was it? For her rebirth. You have approximately one hour, don't squander it.”

“No, I'll kill you now!” I screeched, as I fought frantically against my captor, writhing to attain freedom, but nothing could break his grasp. He just clenched tighter; my shoulders crunched under the force.

“Don't disappoint me, Jane. I've been setting this up for years.” With a great gust of wind, Rose's presence was swept away, along with that of Ruby and Sandra. The force of the departure stirred the air creating a gale strong enough to fly my hair above my shoulders and snuff out the tiny flames to the few candles. That left me alone, ensnared in the darkness by the boogieman.

Chapter Twenty-Six

I felt suffocated, not by my attacker, but from the ensnaring darkness. My owl-like eyes normally allowed me to see in low lighting, but this time, there was nothing.

Smoke was there, unseen in the darkness. I felt him tightening his grip on my shoulders. His fingers were harsh and cruel as they began to pierce my flesh.

“You haven't a hope,” his