Free Demonfire by Kate Douglas Page B

or otherwise, had its pluses.
    The guard stopped in front of
a barred door. Inside, behind the bars and a barrier of pure energy, two
terribly dejected-looking humans and a rather odd animal covered in curly
yellow hair sat huddled together on a single sleeping cot. Alton dismissed the
guard. As soon as the man was gone, he glanced at Taron. “Shall we?”
    “I’m ready if you are. Between
the two of us, I think we can take them should they offer resistance.” He
grinned after making his dry comment, obviously not all that concerned with any
particular threat from the prisoners.
    With a wave of his hand, Alton
directed the bars to part. The energy field winked out of existence. The sense,
but not the scent, of demon wafted from the room. Alton glanced at Taron and
frowned. He received a questioning shrug in return.
    Totally confused and not just
a little uncertain, the two Lemurians entered the cell.
     
     
    Dad was going to be so
disappointed in his much-lauded Lemurians. Jackasses! Eddy and Dax had barely stepped through the flowing wall of gold when they’d
been nabbed by a couple of big bruisers who looked tough enough to work for the
Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department—except the deputies back home were a hell
of a lot nicer.
    The guys that caught them this
morning were sorely lacking in diplomatic skills. Brawny and powerful-looking
in spite of the blue robes that reminded her of something you might wear at an
expensive spa, the Lemurian guards hadn’t said word one to either her or Dax.
    No, they’d merely trapped them
in some kind of energy beam so they couldn’t do anything but follow orders, and
marched them down a dark tunnel, straight to this damned little cell. Eddy
glanced at Dax, but he wouldn’t even meet her eyes. She couldn’t imagine how
awful he must feel. Sent to save the world with only a week to achieve the
impossible, and they’d spent at least the last two hours locked in a stupid
cell, Lord knows how far under the ground. A cell with bars across the doorway
and, for added assurance, some kind of sizzling, sparking beam that looked like
it would fry anyone who tried to go through.
    Obviously some of the stories
she’d heard about the Lemurians and their advanced technology were true, but
the part about them being honorable and brave warriors was a crock. All her
dad’s talk of Lemurians battling demons throughout history was just
that—nothing more than hot air. It looked like none of it was going to help
them a bit.
    Now how the hell were they
going to get out of here?
    Bumper whined. Eddy stroked
her blond curls. “It’s okay, girl. We’ll think of something. They can’t leave
us here forever.”
    Says who?
    Willow’s telepathic voice
carried the sound of tears. Eddy glanced to her right and saw the sprite’s
little face barely peeking out of Dax’s shirt pocket. Her wings were droopy,
and there was no shimmer to her at all.
    Not a blue sparkle to be seen.
    “We’ll get out, Willow,” Eddy
said. “Don’t give up hope.”
    Dax raised his head and looked
at her. “How do you do it?” He shook his head. “You never show fear. You never
give up. I wish I were more like you, Eddy Marks.”
    His sad smile made her heart
clench. Then she remembered the taste of his lips on hers and the kiss they’d
shared. “You’re not giving up, Dax. None of us are.” She wrapped her fingers
around his hand and squeezed. “I’m not sure how, but we’ll get out of here.
They have to help us.”
    She felt the slightest pressure
against her fingers as Dax returned her squeeze. Just the warmth of his hand in
hers made her feel better. More connected. Stronger.
    She looked around the tiny
room that seemed to have been carved out of solid rock. It was light, and the
air was fresh, even though there were no windows or visible light fixtures.
    And no way to contact anyone,
anywhere. She thought about the cell phone in her pack and almost laughed. The
company said you could get a signal