Demeti held it until Lucas was barely retaining his consciousness, then he cut it off as abruptly as it had started.
“Let us be clear”—the Torshin said as he walked around to face Lucas—“As to just who is the master here.”
Lucas panted in pain, but at least the attack had resolved one embarrassing issue. His body was his own once more.
Demeti pulled something from his pocket—a glowing ball that levitated above the palm of his hand. It trailed a rope of pure energy behind it. Was that the leash he’d seen in Udo’s display room?
Confused, he watched as one end wrapped around Demeti’s wrist. Then the other snapped out toward Lucas, striking him a glancing blow across the cheek.
It was colder than ice and burned like fire. Lucas flinched away, and it pulled back, hesitated in midair as though it were a living entity, and then hit again, leaving a bloody welt across his chest.
Like a cobra, it was lightning fast. Lucas was helpless against it, and it bit deep into his flesh, sending agony radiating through him. The room’s door opened.
Two men stood framed by huge Dires. One was unassuming, no taller than Lucas with a potbelly and a balding head. The other was razor-thin and tall, with long, flowing dark hair and a disturbing resemblance to Demeti.
Demeti paused the whip and spun to face the newcomers. His eyes blazed. “I thought I made it clear I was not to be disturbed.”
The smaller man’s forehead poured sweat. “I know sir, and I’m sorry, but Finn insisted—”
The other Torshin straightened. “You need to hear this, brother.”
“Hear what?” Demeti snarled.
“That energy surge we felt from the human realm ? John might have found what caused it. Or rather, who.”
Demeti straightened and pulled the whip back into the ball, before placing it in his pocket. He waved a hand from Lucas, to the balding man. “Lucas, meet John. My resident Seer. He’s only fair to middling, I’m afraid. But I keep him because Seers are hard to come by. And the other annoying one is Finn, my younger brother.”
Lucas blinked the blood from his eyes. Seers were Cryptids that could glimpse the future. A very useful talent, if you wanted to take advantage of nefarious opportunities.
Demeti’s attention returned to the portly man. “Okay, John. Tell me what you’ve seen that sends you to my chambers in direct violation of my orders.”
The Seer swayed from one foot to the other, and the sweat dripped off his chin. “I saw a man.”
Demeti snorted. “Splendid. And this man was important enough to interrupt me?”
John swallowed. “The man was using life energy to kill humans. Or rather, he will be using it.”
Even through his pain, Lucas sensed the sharpening of Demeti’s interest. “Like what I sensed before?”
“I think so, yes.”
“Describe him to me.”
John swayed from foot to foot. “Very tall, and well-built. Long flowing gray hair. Gray eyes.”
“Gray hair? Not white?”
“No.”
Finn stared at his older brother. “If he’s manipulating life essences, what is he? There aren’t many other than us that can do it. Only the Watchers.”
Lucas listened to the exchange as the pain slowly ebbed to a dull ache, leaving him hanging limp in the chains. He’d never met a Watcher. They were powerful, but the only ones he’d heard of were female. And they didn’t kill things. At least, he didn’t think so.
Demeti’s exhalation was almost a whistle as he confirmed Lucas’s thoughts. “Only the most powerful Liberi females become Watchers. But there is a male version called Bellati. They used to roam the realms as warriors, but they have been confined to their home realm since the war.”
John hurried to add detail. “His eyes go black when he calls on the power. And in my vision—he turned the humans to ash.”
Demeti’s eyes gleamed. “Bellati are rare.”
