Free Demontouched: The Demontouched Saga (Book 1) by Douglas Wayne Page A

catch it. I put my focus into the blade of the knife and thrust my hand forward. Duncan’s hand twists slightly as the blade enters his neck. The orb bounces off of his fingertips and shatters the moment it hits the pavement.
    I walk up to the asshole, sword in hand. “Your thirst for power makes you weaker.” I thrust the point into Duncan’s heart. Grey smoke billows from the wound, filling air. He lets out a final scream as the last of the smoke exits his body.
    I run over to Sara and untie her. She turns around and holds me tighter than ever, looking me in the eyes. “I love you.” She tilts her head in and gives me a kiss.
    After a minute I pull my head back and smile. Guess this means she is completely over the stripper panties. I tilt my head back in for seconds.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    -14-
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I tip over my backpack, dumping the pieces of the Orb of Souls onto my table.
    “Couldn’t keep it in one piece?” Zeke says.
    “Duncan was more interested in the orb than the knife.” I shrug. “I was more interested in keeping us alive than keeping the orb whole.” I look back at Sara sitting on the couch. “Besides, it looked a lot sturdier than that.”
    Zeke holds up one of the larger pieces to the light. “It looks like it still works.”
    “Then we better find out why they had it. I find it hard to believe that they created this thing just to transfer Eunie to Nal.”
    “Talking about Nal.” Zeke looks at me. “How do you think he will react when you bring him Duncan’s head?”
    “Considering he might have sent me up there to die, I don’t think he will throw me a party.”
    “I’ll talk to Uriel. She has to know another way to help you get control.”
    I haven’t told him that I was able to do new things when he fought Duncan. It could just be Eunie wanting to keep me as a host, but something tells me there is more to it. “That’s a good idea. She may be able to come up with another plan.” I gather the shards and put them into a bag. “You should give this to her too. It will be a lot safer in angel hands than mine. Thats for sure.”
    “What are you going to do?”
    “I’m going to go pay Nal a visit. Even if Uriel comes up with something, Blaine’s journal may actually have something worthwhile.”
    “I should go with you. We don’t know how he will react knowing you killed Duncan.”
    “Or when he finds out that he won’t be taking Eunie from me just yet, if that is what he had planned.”
    “That too.”
    “I have to do this on my own. If I walk in with an angel, they will know the jig is up for sure. Right now we have to assume he is still in the dark, that is, if what Duncan said wasn’t a lie. If I walk in with the head he may just think I got lucky. We may be able to play him for a bit longer yet if so.”
    Zeke grabs the bag and walks to the door. “Take care of yourself then.”
    “You too.”
    I sit back and start rubbing my fingers through my beard. I look over at Sara and smile.
    “I get it.” She smiles back. “What do you need me to do.”
    “Try to find anything you can on Einuir. Something tells me he isn’t who we think he is.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    -15-
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I notice the shirt is leaking blood onto my passenger seat. I wish I had thought to put the head into a plastic bag, but those are things you think about only after you cut the head off of a demon. If it wasn’t trashed enough before, I really need to get rid of the car now.
    I take my time driving to Nal’s pad. I thought I knew him pretty well after working for him for the last three years, but Duncan said some things that has me thinking. On one hand, Nal isn’t exactly going to win any good citizen rewards, but he cares more about his people than your typical demon. I normally wouldn’t give a shit, but the more I think about it, the more it looks like he was sending me to die. I could be wrong, I find it odd that he didn’t know Duncan was