AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Anthony frowned at the cut on his arm. It would heal in an hour or so, and had already stopped bleeding. Mostly, he didn’t want Mom to see it or she’d lose her mind with guilt. He glanced back, not surprised to find the two men near Roldon dead, piled in a heap on the floor.
Demetria held the last man by a fistful of his hair, drinking blood from his slashed-open throat. Somehow, she managed not to get any on her dress. After a moment, she dropped the guy to the floor, helped herself to a napkin from the table, and dabbed the blood from her mouth.
All four assassins disintegrated into black vapor. Even the blood spray on the wall faded out of existence. Demetria frowned, making the sort of annoyed face that Tammy did whenever she tried to ‘eat only a little’ but ended up still hungry and wanted more. Evidently, the blood she consumed also disappeared.
Roldon stormed over to Demetria. “You almost got my family killed!”
“I did nothing of the sort.” She tossed the now-clean napkin back to the table.
“None of them can move,” roared Roldon. “They would’ve just sat there like helpless sheep.”
Demetria rested a hand on his shoulder. “Calm yourself. I spared them the trauma of witnessing this attack. None of them will be aware it happened. You will not be kept awake all night tending to their little nightmares.”
Roldon grumbled, shaking his head. “This must be Normund. Those men came from nowhere and returned to nowhere!”
“It is not necessarily him.” Demetria retracted her claws. “Remember, our adversary is not truly one of the nobles, but something much darker and more powerful. If she has, in fact, chosen Malin Normund as her temporary vessel here, whatever you believe the man to have been involved with is irrelevant. She could easily be disguised as Elden Galahir as well.”
“Damn it all. Normund has been dabbling with dark powers for as long as I’ve been alive. Ask anyone. If there’s some ‘great darkness’ causing this, look no further than the ones who play with forbidden power.” Roldon narrowed his eyes. “Speaking of which, what manner of being are you? Perhaps you’re the one doing all this?”
Demetria clasped her hands in front of herself. “The being responsible for this and I are not the same person, though we are similar in nature. She has obtained an abnormal level of power thanks to her influence over your… gods. We are fortunate in that she must act through the intermediaries of one of the nobles. We must find and free her mortal agent before her powers fully mature.”
“What happens if we don’t?” Roldon leaned on his chair.
“Then this entire reality crumbles away.” Demetria set her hands on her hips. “It would be unfortunate for you but I doubt it would be too painful. After a few seconds of extreme terror and panic, you’d simply cease to exist.”
Most of the color drained from Roldon’s face. “Then we should endeavor to stop this fiend quickly.”
“Indeed.” Demetria let her arms hang loose, then turned to look at Anthony. “It is not him. Let us turn our efforts elsewhere.”
Anthony nodded as she walked past him out into the hall.
“What about my family?” shouted Roldon. “They’re still stuck.”
“It will wear off soon,” called Demetria from the hall. “Sit down and eat. If you do not wish your family to be unduly frightened, act as though nothing happened, and we were never here.”
“For what it’s worth,” said Anthony to the nobleman, “I do not approve of her affecting your family’s minds.”
Roldon exhaled. “I suppose extreme times call for extreme steps. Say, you handle yourself well in a fight, lad. I’d be happy to fight at your side when you find this creature.”
“Thanks.” Anthony tried to stuff his hands in pockets these medieval clothing didn’t have. “I’d better go. We’ll definitely let you know if we could use your help.”
With that, he ducked out of the room and jogged after Demetria.
As they reached the front door, multiple startled gasps came from the dining hall. He pictured the family jumping as if in reaction to Demetria barging in, then seeing no one there and staring at each other in confusion.
He followed Demetria out into the street, admittedly confused. While they’d mostly eliminated Roldon as being Nesanth, he wondered why Demetria couldn’t simply walk up to each of the nobles and taunt them about the East India Company.
“Question,” asked Anthony once he caught up to her. “Couldn’t you figure out which one of them is Nesanth by saying that stuff about the Dutch Company? Whatever it means.”
She laughed. “Some years ago, around 1690, she tried taking over the Dutch East India Company. They shipped a particular type of tea she fancied, not to mention they happened to be a source of great wealth and power. Her attempt to assume the identity of a company liaison to influence a deal went tremendously bad… thanks to yours truly. I doubt she could have kept a straight face hearing me taunt her about it.”
“Okay, but that’s not telling me why you haven’t gone around saying the same thing to all the nobles.” Anthony scratched his head.
“Because I did not want to poke her in such a sore wound while alone.” She patted him on the cheek. “Having you with me is enough security. Alas, now that I’ve tried it once, she knows I am likely to mention it again. So, she will steel herself.”
“Omniscience?”
“Yes. She’s afflicting Quentin’s mind. Anything that happens in this world, she knows about.” Demetria nodded. “Unless it happens inside my house. We should return. Your mother and other associates should be there soon and will be worried if you’re missing.”
