The Blood Bracelets #2: Demon Born

Chapter Sixteen

Kael walked into Zed's like a man returning home after years of war, because Zed's place offered a bed, a shower, and nowhere near as many threats as everywhere else was offering him lately. His body ached with every movement and though any injuries he had received over the last few days had well and truly healed, he was still subjected to the stiffness of overworked muscles, the throbbing of bruises and the tenderness of recovery.

When the door shut behind him, Kael saw Zed peer out from around the kitchen in surprise.

'What?' said Kael.

Zed shrugged. 'I'm surprised someone remembered there's a door here.'

'That doesn't sound good,' Kael remarked, joining Zed in the kitchen. 'You've had visitors, then?'

'Not exactly,' Zed replied, returning to the bench where he was sharpening kitchen knives. 'Ace and Eljae.'

Admittedly, Kael had forgotten about them. 'Where are they?' he asked, because he certainly couldn't pick up on any other demons in the building.

'Who knows? I think Eljae was taken by an Immortal, and Ace went to go after her. He made another deal.'

'With a demon?'

Zed gave him a look. 'No, with a banker – of course with a damn demon, Kael.'

Since Zed had a particularly large knife in his hand, Kael took a step back. 'I'm sure Ace can handle whatever he and Eljae have gotten themselves into. I just came here to shower before returning to the Halls.'

'You got yourself a free pass into Immortalville now or something?' Zed asked, scoffing.

Kael took a seat at the other end of the table, giving into the tiredness of his body. He thought on the meeting between Fury and Belial, remembered Belial's riddle and how Fury had shattered the blood bracelet. Feeling the loss like it was his own limb, Kael held his bare wrist as if expecting to feel the bracelet there.

The sound of Zed placing down the knife and sharpening stone made Kael look up, only to find Zed watching him carefully, as if concerned. 'All right. What's happened, kid?'

'The demon inside Taryn is loose,' said Kael tiredly, 'and she's powerful. She broke the blood bracelet's binding.'

Zed's eyes widened in shock, but he also looked somewhat impressed. 'I've never heard of that happening before. So what's Taryn now? An Infernum?'

'Maybe,' said Kael, 'or something worse. She goes by the name Fury, and she's trying to unseal Lucifer.'

'Talk about aiming high,' Zed murmured. 'The more important question, though, is Taryn still in there somewhere?'

Kael looked down to his wrist again, but without the blood bracelet he couldn't feel Taryn's presence. Not that it had helped him lately, like it had in the past. Thinking back on it now, the bracelet hadn't reacted to the connection between Kael and Taryn since before the moment she was taken by the Alchemists. It hadn't been the blood bracelet that led Kael to Taryn in Sydney, after all; it had been Fury's demonic energy, he had just been too reluctant to admit it.

Maybe the connection had been severed long ago, and Fury had merely broken the empty shell that his blood bracelet had become.

'I didn't ask if the blood bracelet was still there,' said Zed, cutting through Kael's train of thought, 'and I didn't ask if the blood bracelet can tell you if she's there. I'm asking if you think she's there.'

Kael looked back to him, remembering how he had seen Taryn behind Fury, like some sort of ghost, but in that moment he had felt her near him as if she had standing right at his side. So he nodded. 'She's still there.'