Legacy of the Demon (Kara Gillian 8)

He lifted his chin. “I will show you.”

“Not sure that’s a good idea,” I said with a wince. “The demon realm is a dangerous mess right now.”

“It matters not,” he announced fiercely. “I do that which brings Elinor closer.”

I tapped the table in front of him. “As long as you understand it’s not going to be a walk in the park, I won’t stand in your way.”

Pellini’s heavy brows drew together. “Kara, I don’t know that he can come with us.”

“Huh? Why couldn’t he—? Oh.” Damn. Pellini and I were the only ones who could get near the crystals. “Do we know for a fact that no one else can approach, even if they’re with us?”

“I tried it with Idris, and he still couldn’t get close.” Pellini leaned back in his chair. “But since that’s the only attempt, I’d say that we don’t know for sure.”

“And that was two months ago, right after the Earthgate appeared,” I said. “Kadir has tinkered with the crystals since then. I’m going to cross fingers and think super positively that he tweaked settings in our favor, since you’re his protégé. Plus, they’ve activated.”

“I’m happy to give it a try,” Pellini said, “but we still need the location of the gold in case I can’t get Giovanni through.”

“The west tower,” Giovanni said. “In the gallery below Szerain’s bed chamber.”

My heart sank to my toes. “A chasm swallowed that tower nearly a year ago.” When I almost caused a second cataclysm during the ritual to retrieve Vsuhl.

The color drained from Giovanni’s face. “His studio? The galleries? It cannot be so.”

“I’m sorry,” I said with a sigh. “The whole tower is gone.”

Pellini cursed under his breath. “So much for that plan.”

“No, there are others,” Giovanni’s voice wavered then steadied. “In the west wing. Smaller pieces, yet there should be enough.”

“All right, that works. Even though Giovanni’s info is a few centuries old, and stuff might have been moved, Turek will know where things are.” I smacked my forehead. “Holy shit! We’ll bring Turek back with us. And Michael, too! They can help me communicate with Szerain.”

“Who in god’s name are Turek and Michael?” Pellini growled.

I grinned. “Sorry. Turek is an ancient savik who’s essence-bound to Szerain. He’ll do whatever is needed to help Szerain. And Michael Moran is the brother of deceased rock singer Lida Moran, and can sometimes ‘see’ where the lords are at any given time.”

He straightened. “I remember that case. Your report said Lida coerced Michael into murder, then she killed him but his body was never found. Didn’t he have something wrong upstairs?” Pellini tapped the side of his head.

“Michael suffered a head injury when he was twelve,” I said. “His condition made it easy for his piece of shit sister to exploit him. She used his talent for making earth golems to get rid of anyone in her way.”

“Huh. And so you shipped him off to the demon realm.” Pellini stroked his mustache. “But if we already know where Szerain is, why do we need someone who can see him?”

“We know he’s in a dimensional pocket that’s tied to the outreach center and that he needs help making a move soon after the summoning. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to finalize plans, which means I have to improvise a way to communicate. I think that how Michael sees the lords can give me an arcane road map.” I pointed at the security monitor. “For example, how do we see the guard at the front gate?”

“Combination of wired and wireless signals.” Pellini frowned at the screen. “I think I understand. When Michael sees Szerain, you’ll use arcane tracers to home in on whatever signal he’s receiving.”

“Right. Then I’ll create a conduit to follow that frequency, giving Turek a pathway to telepathically reach Szerain. That’s my theory, anyway.” It was equally possible that Michael wouldn’t be able to see Szerain at all in the dimensional pocket, in which case he’d at least get the chance to play with fluffy kittens before he returned to the demon realm.

“There’s certainly enough to justify making the trip,” Pellini said. “The gold, the gimkrah, and getting a message to Szerain.”

“I’m going to ignore your weak-ass alliteration attempt, because this trip keeps getting better and better. I can grab Elinor’s journal, plus we can finally bring back that poor woman Farouche kidnapped last year and who Rhyzkahl enslaved.” I snapped my fingers as I dredged the name from my memory. “Janice. Yeah, that’s it. She’s been under Mzatal’s protection ever since right before the valve went kablooey.”

“I bet she’ll be glad to see us,” Pellini said.

I swung toward Giovanni. “Since we’re not sure if we can get you through the gate, and I don’t want to be caught with my pants down if we can’t find Turek, I need you to write down every place in the west wing where the gold statues could be.”

He gave a resolute nod. “I will scribe that which you require. Should calamity befall and the fates bar my participation in this quest, you will yet succeed.”

“That’d be great,” I said, “but trust me, I’m hoping we can pull this off and get you through. After all, we need to grab fifty pounds worth. And Pellini can only carry so much.” I ducked as Pellini winged a pen at me.