Chapter 10

“Is Danyael...” Keyx started to ask, looking for the words as he watched Danni vanish into the crowd.

“Danni is a queen, a flaming gay Daemoni and Damn proud of it,” Kira explained with a giggle.

“Danni is a Succubus Daemoni aka sex Daemoni, and he just happens to prefer men. He’s a great Daemoni to have around when you need it but the dude takes longer in the bathroom than most women I know,” Thea explained. “Sorry about claiming you like that. I didn’t think you needed Danni’s attention on your first day. He can be overwhelming.”

“Thanks,” Keyx smiled at her.

“So Thea, what the heck was all that about with Damian? He waits this long to chat and tries to pull that kind of stunt?” Kira asked angrily.

“Damian? Don’t you mean Danni?” Keyx asked, confused.

“Damian is the Daemoni Prince or leader of Danni’s realm, Ikisat. During that lovely exchange I was actually talking to Damian who had taken over Danni. To answer your question, Kira, who knows? It doesn’t take much for him to turn into a demanding asshole. I can play that game, too. He turns into an asshat Prince, I turn into a bitch Daemoness. It’s the nature of our deeply messed up relationship.”

“And Innara? Have you chatted with the almighty bitch queen recently?” Kira asked.

“Kira was brought into D Corp thanks to Innara who decided to possess her for a while,” Marcus explained, a strange look in his eyes.

“Not since she denied being behind the attack in Ikisat, which we all know she was. She decided to seemingly play nice by bequeathing me with the ability to command Daemoni Princes into submission. For example, just now, the phrase ‘Xa kaera’ commanded him to ‘Be gone’.”

“Oh he has to love that!” Kira snickered.

“Oh I'm sure he does,” Thea smiled wickedly. She could tell by the look on Keyx’s face that he was quite confused, so she then asked, “Did Marcus explain my rather unique parentage?”

“Somewhat.”

“I’m just a plain old Mythic with a whacked out family and enough relationship baggage to fill a warehouse, or two.”

“My girl here is anything but a plain old Mythic. I’m a werewolf, that’s an ordinary Mythic. You, my beautiful Thea, are unique and exceptional, with enough family insanity to make the average therapist run away in fear!” Ajax interjected as he brought a round of drinks to the table. “How she maintains any semblance of sanity is a true mystery but somehow she does it.”

Thea blushed prettily at his comments as she stood up and kissed his cheek. “Ajax, I can always count on you to make me feel good about myself!”

“Cuz I love you, babe! You know that!”

Just then a waiter appeared with a round of appetizers. As Thea went to take a bite she got a face full of pepper and just as suddenly sneezed little sneezes of blue, pink and purple fire. Her horns reappearing with a vengeance, she yelled, “Liam James, your ass is grass and I’m coming to mow it!”

Liam was bent over the bar laughing to the point of tears when he realized Thea was coming for him. “Awww crap!” he exclaimed as he went to escape.

“Oh Liam is in trouble now. He purposely gave her an appetizer that would bring out the Daemoness in her. Watch as he tries to escape,” Ajax instructed with a wicked laugh.

“Liam is like Thea’s older brother,” Kira explained while laughing. “They’re always messing with each other.”

As Keyx watched with a smile, he saw her use her Daemoni abilities to move faster than the human eye could see. Just as Liam thought he’d escaped, Thea appeared behind him and gave him a swift kick in his ass. As suddenly as he turned around, she was gone, only to reappear once again behind him as she kicked him in the ass a second time. Raising his hands in submission before engulfing her in a hug, Liam said something they couldn’t hear causing her to punch him in the gut hard, knocking the air out of him. Leaving him gasping for air, Thea returned back to their table with a smile.

“Jerk-face should know better than to mess with me like that. Anyway, sorry about all of that, Keyx. Hopefully all of this Daemoni stuff hasn’t creeped you out or anything.”

“Not at all. It was kewl. So are your Daemoni powers tempered by your Celestian side? I’d expect Daemoni powers to be more hellfire-like instead of blues, pinks and purples.”

“That is a really good question. I’ve never thought about that... but, yeah, I think they probably are... interesting,” Thea said thoughtfully. “Wanna see my favorite power? Watch this.”

She formed a small ball of energy in her hand and tossed it at Liam, hitting him square in the butt. As he jumped up and rubbed his ass, he glared at Thea as she stuck her tongue out at him and smiled wickedly.

Ajax shook his head as he snickered. “I better get myself back to the bar. Theanna, my love, call me.”

Thea nodded as she replied, “Absolutely, my sexy wolf. Stay out of trouble with the ladies!” At Ajax’s wink Thea could only shake her head and laugh.

“Your control over your powers is getting impressive, been practising?” Marcus asked, watching Thea intently.

“Yup, figured I might as well use them if I have them.”

“What about your language ability? Have you always had your talent?” Keyx asked her.

“I guess so. My parents were killed when I was really little and Darius took me in shortly thereafter. He says he knew I had a talent for languages when I walked into a room where Swahili was being spoken by some of the adults and then the next day my toddler-speak was mixed with Swahili.”

“That’s pretty kewl. What about your powers?”

“Those appeared gradually, mostly when I hit puberty. I’ve lived my whole life around D Corp hearing about my crazy parentage and all of the prophecies involving me, so it wasn’t a shock.”

“Prophecies?” Keyx asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Oh yeah, the oracles across most Mythic circles regularly have prophecies involving this one here. On average they only tend to be right about 25 percent of the time, well except for some pretty reliable ones. My absolute favorite ones and the ones least likely to be accurate are the ones from the Daemonic seers. One claimed she was the anti-Christ and another claimed she was the leader of the four horsemen,” Kira laughed.

“And I hate horses! The only Daemonic seer I trust is Galena, Damian’s sister. The rest are just crazy.”

“Some prophecies are accurate, doesn’t matter the seer,” Marcus snarked under his breath.

Kira looked at him strangely. “You ok babe? I’m getting a weird vibe off you tonight.”

“Yeah, just tired. I’m going to the bathroom,” Marcus muttered as he stood up, gave her a kiss on her temple and walked away.

Kira watched him until he was out of sight before turning to Keyx. “I know you just met Marcus, but does he seem ok to you? Ever since his last assignment he’s seemed a bit off every now and then.”

“Yeah he seemed fine. I’ll keep an eye on him if you’re worried.”

“Please do. I dunno, my gut is just worried.”

“Absolutely.”

“Don’t worry, Kira. Darius told me that his last assignment was gruelling and he saw some stuff that was tough to see. I’m sure he’ll be ok in time,” Thea comforted as she hugged her best friend.

“Thanks babe! I just worry,” Kira smiled.

“So, Thea you’re all famous across Mythic circles. That is really very kewl,” Keyx smiled, changing the subject to lighten everyone’s mood.

“I guess. It can be a pain too,” Thea lamented. “Makes it hard to go out and just have fun.”

“Thea here is a bit of an adrenaline junkie. If it’s a fun, scary adventure then she wants to try it. You should see her drive!” Kira explained with a laugh.

“Like you can talk! Darius and Glen are still pissed you introduced me to motorcycles,” Thea laughed in return. “It’s all about living life to its fullest. If I learned anything by my training, it’s that life is too short! Have you been through training yet?”

Just then, the DJ started playing a Spanish-style techno dance number. “Hold that thought, handsome. I’m about to be...”

“Thea, oh Thea!”

“...bellowed for,” Thea finished with a laugh.

Keyx watched as Danni appeared and taking Thea’s hand, pulled her onto the dance floor. As Keyx appreciated Thea’s sultry and beautifully graceful moves, he found himself thinking how fascinating this woman was.

“Thea’s a great dancer,” Kira said as she watched Keyx watching Thea.

“She is,” Keyx agreed.

As Kira wondered where Marcus was, someone else was also watching Thea dance. His phone vibrated as he kept hidden in the shadows. “Yes, mistress?”

“Do you have eyes on her?” the voice on the other end asked.

“Yes.”

“Stay hidden then. We’ll need you to act as soon as an opportunity presents itself. You know what to do.”

“It will be done, mistress!” Ending his conversation, the Mythic disappeared until it was time.