CH 27 - Calm Before the Storm

Logan sat on the bed, in the private room provided for his comfort and convenience, and stared out the window. Three months ago he had dreamed of the unimaginable luxury of a real bed to sleep on. A clean shirt and trousers had been provided for his comfort as well as a porcelain basin for washing up and candles for light. There was even a mirror and a working clock on the wall.

None of it meant a damned thing to him. How could it, knowing Beauty was suffering less than two hundred feet away?

“I hate this plan.”

“It’s your plan,” Coyote replied in his mind.

“I know. That’s why I hate it.”

“You need to calm yourself. Anger will only lead to mistakes.”

“I am calm!”

Coyote did not bother to argue further and not just because the distance was making mental communication difficult. There was no point. They both knew Logan was furious at the cruelty he had been forced to participate in, but it wasn’t just that. Logan could keep his outrage in check for the sake of the mission.

It was the copper taste of fear in his mouth that he didn’t want to admit to. Fear for Beauty and Coyote, locked into cages, completely at the mercy of their enemies, and risking everything for his stupid plan. And something deeper that he did not want to admit, even to himself.

Baroness Graveek was terrifying.

She was like nothing he had ever imagined. Logan had grown up reading and watching science fiction. Countless tales of ancient monsters and ageless vampires had done nothing to prepare him for meeting one face-to-face.

Before today, “Elder demon” had just been a vague description. No longer. He had looked into her silver eyes and sensed the slow crawl of years come and gone. A dozen lifetimes lived. A thousand schemes planned and executed. An eternity at her fingertips to perfect her own brand of pure, perfect evil.

What possible threat was one twenty-nine-year-old professional soldier compared to that?

A man is not brave because he knows no fear. A man is brave because he is wise enough to recognize fear and do what is needed and right in spite of it. Those were his grandfather’s words to him, a memory of...

His last day on Earth. The day his grandfather died.

The scent in the room was sharp and sour; disinfectant, and an old man’s illness. He held his grandfather’s hand at his bedside. The skin beneath Logan’s fingers was loose and paper-thin. Long, iron-gray hair lay against the white pillow cover. Grandfather’s face was thin and sunken, crosshatched with deep wrinkles. Only in his dark eyes did Logan see the reflection of the great man he knew and loved.

Grandfather had sent everyone else away, even his reluctant and unhappy wife. They were alone.

“Do not grieve, my boy. I go to my ancestors and will be at peace.”

Logan nodded, unable to speak past the lump in his throat.

He felt the old man gently squeeze his hand. “Before I go, I want you to know that I am proud of the man you have become. There has always been much anger in you but you have mastered it. Your spirit is strong. Hold on to that.”

_”I will.” Logan heard himself manage to say.

“A time may come when your resolve will be tested. When or how I have never known. I only know that I have always felt a presence hiding in your shadow. Should such a day come, I am certain you will face it with heart and courage.”

“I don’t understand,” young Logan replied.

Grandfather offered a sad smile. “Neither do I, my boy. I have no easy answer for you. But remember that your ancestors and the great spirits of your people watch over you.”

“Grandfather...” Logan sighed, unable to say what has been said many times.

The old man grinned. “I know you don’t believe. That’s ok, my boy. I believe for you.”

Someone knocked on his door. A woman’s soft voice spoke up. “Mr. Denke, the Baroness has invited you to a celebration of your victory to begin at the stroke of midnight. She suggests you get your rest now. Shall I return to wake you in time to be ready?”

“Yes.” He felt a shiver of foreboding crawl down his spine. “That sounds ominous.”

“It does.” Coyotes agreed. “I suggest you take the advice to rest while you can. You will need to be at your strongest for whatever lays ahead.”

Logan tried. After so long in the cavern, the bed was far too soft for comfort. When he finally fell asleep, dark dreams of Beauty in peril crawled through his dreams.

He sat up abruptly at the first knock on his door, heart pounding in his chest.

“Mr. Denke? Please be in the main hall in thirty minutes. Fresh clothes are outside your door.”

“Yeah,” he called out and rubbed at his tired eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, he was as ready as he was going to get. A quick check in the mirror confirmed that the provided clothes did not quite fit. Black pants and a black, leather vest chased in scarlet thread clung to his body like a second skin. He wondered if that had been a deliberate choice by his demonic hostess.

“Nice look, Captain Tightpants,” he told his unhappy reflection.

Last but not least, he slid his only remaining weapon back into his boot. A dagger blade snapped in half with the hilt and handle removed would not have been his preferred choice but, in a pinch, it would make for an effective punching blade. It was better than nothing until he could reclaim the gear de Sade had taken away “for safekeeping”.

Logan began making his way to the great hall. Another door on this level of the keep caught his attention. Unlike the rest, this one had a sliding viewport and a security bar, both on the outside.

Locking someone in.

A quick glance around revealed no one else in the hall around him. He reached up to slide the viewport open and take a look inside to the sound of steady, rhythmic breathing.

At first, he saw only an empty, richly decorated bedroom, like his own, before movement caught his eye. Logan looked down at a pair of athletic legs and a well-shaped, and very naked, female behind, rising and falling at a steady pace on the floor. Muscle rolled beneath the pale skin of a strong, feminine back and the shoulder-length fall of a thick braid of auburn hair. Biceps flexed as the woman continued easily through a series of push-ups.