Chapter 25
Riley's swearing and shouting protests died after a few hours, a pleading protest to my metamorphosis at the hands of the Ifrit.
I had tried to connect to the Wish Demons fears, but there were none that I could exploit. Inside their mind, they burned with hatred for their master. Caught in an endless cycle of being trapped to a vengeful master, before fulfilling their revenge, and finally turning on their Summoner.
Their summoning was meant to be a gentle journey, ending in a shocking karmic slap. Something that Daniel had done worried the Ifrit. Its mind was full of bastardized runes trapping it into the bidding of a Mimic Sidhe, convinced that his heritage was the result of a random attack at the hands of the Fae.
The door swished open, the sound like a letter leaving and envelope. The Ifrit's smoke retreated into its box, waiting patiently as Dr. Daniel reinforced the simple salt ward around it.
Riley's cage had been moved. Blood painted the concrete floor, mixing with the dust to create gritty patches of red and black.
Dr. Daniel drifted into the room, looking at me like I was a mild inconvenience.
“You should be dead.” He said, with a detached voice. “Why aren’t you dead?”
I rolled my tongue around my mouth, wincing when I felt a loose tooth pull free from my host’s shredded gums. I spat the molar onto the floor by his feet.
“Where's Riley?” I asked.
Daniel glanced at the spot where her cage had been. He did not answer my question as he squatted down by my side and gripped my forearm. Careful not to touch the iron shackles, he turned over my arm to survey the pristine skin.
“Why are you immune to iron?” Dr. Daniel demanded, frantically turning my arm over again, almost yanking it out of the socket.
“Maybe because I'm not Fae.” I laughed heartily. Even with my enhanced healing, one of my eyes had swollen shut.
“You’re half Blood Sidhe, it should still work.” He muttered as if I wasn't there. “It has to.”
“Where’s Riley?” I repeated, a heavy sinking feeling meant I almost didn’t want the answer.
He ignored me.
“Why did you kill all Hunters with Fae lineage?” I asked as Daniel stood up and slapped the dust away from his hands.
“I wanted to.” He said, his tone was bored. “I thought that it would help cover up your death.”
“Sucks to be you.” I coughed. “You know that the Ifrit will turn on you, right? Once your revenge is done, it'll swallow you whole and go back to Hell.”
My smug smile slowly faded when Daniel looked unfazed.
“What did you do?” I accused, my voice still weak, and my lips covered in blood.
“Ifrit kill their masters,” Daniel said flippantly. “As long as I transfer ownership to Miss Riley Fisher before my crusade ends, I shall live.”
“And Riley?” I squinted, which was hard to do with two black eyes. Daniel shrugged. “You don’t care. You've already killed so many people, what's one more?” I laughed without humor. “There is a special place in Hell for people like you. Stretched out on Lucifer's dining table, and taken apart piece by piece.”
“If you believe in Hell.” Daniel straightened the lapels of his shirt.
“You’ve literally got a Wish Demon on a leash!” I waved my hand towards the rattling brass box.
“He doesn’t speak, how do you know he's a Demon.” Daniel pointed out.
“You've worked with the Hunters for how long?” I asked rhetorically.
“This conversation is tedious.”
“Damn right it is.” I snarled. “Are you deficient in some way?”
Daniel's face rippled. The only sign that the mimic Sidhe was bothered by our conversation.
“You had no family growing up, right?” I groaned as I tried to sit up. My body was one big bruise. “The Blood Sidhe killed your parents in some war of the houses, and you had no one to teach you what you were. It's an unfortunate backstory. I'll give you that, but you can't just go on a killing spree.”
“I can. I did.” Daniel pointed out blankly.
I cursed, using some very creative anti-fae language. “Why are you torturing me?” I asked, imploring for a response from the sadist.
He didn’t have an answer for me, and that was the scariest thing of all.
I drifted along the horizon of the Human Realities and the Dreamscape, like a girl on a rowing boat dipping her fingers into the water. The Ifrit had been caged since Daniel had come and gone from my concrete cell. I laid on the floor, bleeding, and in pain.
Even in shackles, I could reach up to undo my silver collar. I could escape whenever I wanted, but I had grown attached to Frankie Gardiner's body. If I left, she would die. Completely and finally. I did not know my host, but I had lived her life for a few weeks. I respected her enough to try and preserve her body for as long as possible.
I didn’t know how long that I laid on the concrete floor, staring up at the fluorescent lights, when the seamless door pulled away, drawing away to show Daddy Davenport in all his glory. His dark eyes were alight with rage.
I turned away and continued to stare at the ceiling. “Nice try, Dr. Dan. You haven’t quite perfected the brooding stare, though.”
“Mara.” Warren Davenport marched into the room, dipping down low to wrap his hands around the thick iron chains attached to my wrists. “What the hell happened?”
It was him. He was real. He smelled like cinnamon gum.
“Daniel found me.” I pointed out. My facial expression clearly said that I doubted his observation skills.
He gave me his signature look. “Why didn’t you escape?”
“I was waiting for you,” I said simply, and it was the truth. “Where are my mates?”
“The Ifrit has set up some pretty comprehensive defenses around the building. I was the only one that could get through.” Warren studied my chains and tested their strength. “We have to hurry. Daniel might come back at any moment.”
“Don’t tell me that you're scared of Dr. Dan?” I sassed, watching intently as the iron beneath Warren's grip turned burning red with heat before snapping in an array of sparks. Damn. Hot stuff.
“I’ll shoot him on sight,” Davenport remarked as he freed me from my shackles. “I would prefer not to.”
I hadn’t heard the door open again, but Davenport must have done, because he stiffened, his hand twitched as he reached for his holster.
“I have no qualms with shooting you, commander.” Daniel drawled. I shifted, seeing that the short doctor stood behind Warren with his arm extended and a pistol in his grip. Daniel's hand did not shake as he unclipped the safety.
“Dr. Gardiner.” Warren addressed him formally. “We can talk about this. Find a way to deal with this.”
Daniel clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. Blood hit my face in a fine spray, Davenport slumped, the back of his head was gone.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t blink.
He'd killed Warren.
Daniel Gardiner had killed Daddy Davenport.
Bang. Gone. Dead.
I froze. Struck numb as I stared down at Warren's body.
Then, the Mimic Sidhe laughed. Daniel Gardiner chuckled like he had heard a benign joke on TV or something. Not like he had killed a man. A man that I loved.
My vision went red. I leaped up and wrapped my hands around Dr Daniel's neck before he could blink. Roaring in his face, I took us both to the ground. His head bounced against the concrete and tears dripped down my face as I slammed him down. With sure hands, I gripped his red hair and began to pound it into the concrete. Determined to make him pay. To make Daniel's head look like Warren's did. There was nothing behind Daniel’s eyes. No human empathy.