Free Starfire by Kate Douglas Page B

face licked in return. Finally she stood up and grinned at Selyn. “Hi, Selyn. Is Dawson around?” Eddy looped her scabbard with DemonSlayer over her shoulder and shut the door of the vehicle.
    BumperWillow bounced and yipped and whined as if they’d been separated for months, not merely a few hours.
    “He is. I’ll get him.” She turned toward the dwelling, but Dawson was already opening the door and stepping outside.
    “Have you got him?”
    “We do,” Eddy said. “He’s still pretty groggy, but he’s able to walk. Where do you want him?”
    “Selyn can show you. I’ll go in and open the room.”
    Dax helped an older gentleman out of the back of the vehicle. The man stumbled, and Dax caught him with a sturdy arm around his waist. Eddy took his other side, and between the two of them they guided the chancellor into the house. He walked as if he’d had too much to drink, but Eddy and Dax managed to keep him on course.
    BumperWillow trotted along beside them with her tail wagging and tongue hanging out. Selyn led them through the main room and down the hall to the quarters Dawson had prepared.
    She kept glancing back, shocked to see that the one who had destroyed so many lives was nothing more than a tall, gray-haired man who didn’t appear at all big and strong or even particularly dangerous.
    No, he just looked like a slightly inebriated older man in a wrinkled robe who needed to fix his messy hair. She stepped aside when they reached the room. Dax and Eddy walked Artigos inside and then helped him lie down on the big bed. Eddy carefully removed his sandals, while Dax helped center him so he wouldn’t fall off.
    Even knowing what evil he had done, they treated him with respect. Confused, Selyn stayed back, out of their way.
    Dawson left a cup of water beside the bed and checked to make sure there was cool air circulating from an overhead fan. He stopped Dax with the light touch of his hand. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”
    Dax nodded. “He should be. The longer he’s out, the better. He’ll need to be well rested before we try removing the demon from him.”
    Dawson paused and stared intently at Dax. “You’re positive he’s possessed?”
    Dax shrugged, staring at the chancellor. “I can definitely sense demonkind in him. It’s difficult to tell how powerful it is. Its presence is subtle, as if it consciously hides itself, which makes it inherently more dangerous. I fear it has become more deeply entrenched—a part of him, like a parasite feeding off his soul. Rather than fighting for absolute control of a man’s mind, some demons are capable of melding entirely to the host’s consciousness. They control in a more passive manner, but over time, they control completely.”
    Dawson glanced at Selyn, then again at Dax. His eyes looked haunted. “That doesn’t sound good. Does Alton know?”
    “Not yet. He’s supposed to call later. I’ll tell him then. It wasn’t until I’d spent time with his father that I could be certain.” Dax opened the door, but he gave Artigos one final look. Then he stepped out of the room with Eddy behind him.
    “How long do you expect him to be out like this?” Dawson carefully locked the door. He handed the key to Selyn, folding her fingers around it, before following Eddy and Dax down the hallway. Selyn stared at the key for a moment, surprised at the trust Dawson placed in her. He’d said she would control the key, but she really hadn’t expected him to follow through.
    He hadn’t even hesitated. Bemused, she stuck the key in her pocket and walked with him.
    Eddy glanced over her shoulder. “Alton wasn’t sure, but he expects his father’ll be pretty loopy, at least until tomorrow.”
    “Loopy?” Selyn glanced at Dawson.
    “In a trance,” he said, laughing softly. “Must be one of those untranslatable words.”
    She returned his smile without even thinking about it, and then she realized she couldn’t recall ever smiling as much as she had today.