Part 17 (1/2)
No mistaking CB's presence up close and personal. There was a sudden lack of open s.p.a.ce in the immediate area.
Jack s.h.i.+fted his grip to give Danvers a better angle on the shoulder. ”So what's wrong with him?”
”You mean besides the holes? It was the Powershot. Not the smartest thing to do.”
Jack answered Leah's question with one of his own. ”Who are you?”
He'd keep asking until he got an answer, like the world's biggest, red serge-wearing terrier. Given Leah's earlier opinion of all and sundry, and given that Jack was definitely one of the sundry, the odds were good she wasn't going to tell him. The trick was figuring out how much of the truth would shut him up.
”She's a demonic consultant,” Tony told him, trying not to think about what Jack's partner was doing to his shoulder. ”A what?”
”Demonic consul... OW!”
”Sorry.”
”It's okay.” And it was. The flash of white light accompanying the pain seemed to have cleared his vision. Where cleared meant he could see people standing around him and pretty much figure out who they were. Beyond about three meters, things were still a little fuzzy-like his focus had been pulled so he had no depth of field-which likely meant there'd be something with teeth and scales charging in from the fuzzy any minute now.
”Tony?”
Or not.
Lee gradually came into focus as he came closer. Then came into focus a lot faster as he broke into a run and dropped to one knee.
”What happened?” he demanded, his hand closing around Tony's wrist.
Tony opened his mouth, but Jack filled the words in. ”It's the aftereffects of frying a demon.”
”You're hurt!”
”It's uh...” He glanced over at the blood-soaked pad in the RCMP officer's hand and decided not to bother with the whole manly denial thing. ”Yeah.”
”It's not as bad as it looks.” Danvers' matter-of-fact tone made it convincing. Given that it was his blood, Tony wasn't entirely convinced, but Lee seemed to be.
Seemed to be glaring at Jack.
Who still held Tony cradled against his body while Danvers finished with his shoulder.
Lee was glaring?
Tony had no idea how Jack was responding, but something in the way his grip s.h.i.+fted and the way muscles moved in his chest, made Tony think he felt amused.
”How are the others, Mr. Nicholas?” CB's bulk reappeared like a mahogany wall at the end of Tony's feet, the force of his personality enough to break through Lee's... well, to break through whatever the h.e.l.l was up with Lee.
”Fine. They're good.” The actor sat back and turned, visibly distancing himself from the scene on the floor-although his fingers maintained their grip. ”Mouse thinks the gaffer's nose might be broken.”
”And Mason?”
”Would be on the phone to his agent if there was a phone around to be on.”
”I'll speak with him in a moment.”
”I can't say that I blame him, CB.”
”Demons.” Jack ignored Lee's reinstated glare, but there was nothing that suggested amus.e.m.e.nt this time. He s.h.i.+fted Tony's weight onto his partner, who caught it, steadied it, and raised a skeptical eyebrow when Tony muttered, ”I can sit on my own.” ”What about them?” CB demanded as Jack got slowly to his feet.
”She said demons. As in more than one. They had a plan to send the demons back where they came from. That...”
All eyes turned with his gesture to the smear of ash on the floor. Tony could just barely make it out. ”... isn't the end of this. Is it?”
And all eyes turned to Leah.
Who looked at him.
His stomach growled.
Chapter Six.
”HOW LONG IS THIS Demonic Convergence going to last?”
”I don't know.”
”You don't know?” CB repeated Leah's answer as a question, an eyebrow raised for punctuation. There were rumors that eyebrow had once caused a loan manager to wet himself-a rumor that Tony, having more than once been on the receiving end of said eyebrow, was inclined to believe.
Leah proved to be made of sterner stuff, but then she'd already survived plagues, the Inquisition, disco... ”Information on the last Demonic Convergence was pa.s.sed on as an oral history for centuries before finally being written down by an insane monk in 332.
He was a little vague on duration.”
”Rather an important point, don't you think?”
”As a matter of fact, I do.” She matched his dry, sarcastic tone precisely and then sat back and crossed her legs. ”Fortunately, we know that the Convergence is of limited duration, just not exactly how limited. My best guess would tie it to the moon through one full cycle. A month, no more. Maybe a little less.”
”And your worst guess?” CB growled.
She shrugged. ”The planets change position slowly and the stars slower still.”
”You're saying this could last years?”
”It could.”
”Demons could be dropping into my studio for years?”
”Or the one Tony destroyed could be the only one you'll see. There's no way of knowing for sure.”
Liar, Tony thought. He was impressed by how much like a consultant she sounded and less impressed by how heavily edited the story had become. She hadn't mentioned that the demons were only coming through because a Demonlord was directing the convergent energy. Nor had she said anything about being an immortal Demongate, confident that Tony would keep her secret.
Since he'd already lied for her once today, he supposed she had reason for the confidence. After all those years with Henry, he was good at secrets. And given that the residue of Arra's spell seemed to be exerting a stronger pull than Leah, the whole Demongate thing seemed a little less relevant than it had.