Chapter 8
Sun shone down on Galaden through the open window so that his whole body glowed. Rachael couldn't take her eyes off him. She lay on the bed after their lovemaking, filled with joy. She had thought him perfect in his carved form, but she realized she'd underestimated his beauty. Pacing the room, his brow slashed with righteous anger about the demon, he was magnificent.
And he loved her.
She could feel it to the marrow of her bones and her whole body seemed to vibrate so that she glowed inside with a happiness she'd never known before.
Galaden stopped pacing, held out his hand and a white ball of energy grew then winked out. "Damn! This light energy is too slow. I need life-force energy. I must be at my peak to destroy the demon before he seeks me out."
"What do you mean life-force?"
"Every living breathing thing carries energy. When I became king after my father died, I could touch a human subject to heal them. That's why you're glowing at the moment. You are absorbing some of my happiness." He gave her a boy-like grin, which was so different from his usual countenance. "But using energy transference can be dangerous and I have not practiced it for thousands of years. I fear I have lost so many of my skills. Although I can take what it is that gives them life, taking too much can be dangerous."
"Use me if I have tired you," Rachael urged him, thinking of Phoebe. "I have to do something."
"I can't. On a single person it can be deadly. You'll become exhausted, too lethargic to move, some humans even drop into a coma. It is better to move within a crowd and absorb their mass energy; that way no one is harmed, unless I take too much and then it can make humans sick. They will simply believe they are tired, due to the hardship of the day."
"But you don't have time to waste. You told me that yourself. You have to defeat this demon. If it means helping to save Phoebe, it will be worth it."
His smile vanished the moment she mentioned Phoebe's name. Instead, he gazed at her, his expression grave. "You don't understand what you're asking me to do."
"I want you to do this. I love my friend and I know you'll be careful not to drain me dry."
His gaze dropped to the floor and he wouldn't look her in the eyes. "Damn it, Rachael, never offer me your life-force to bring down a curse. I will find another way."
His voice sounded so solemn, so mournful as though he feared the temptation of what she was offering him. "Perhaps we could climb the High Line stairs. It's an unused rail track and the garden on top of it is in full sun," she said.
"I will wait until noon when the sun is at its strongest but even that may be too slow in this cold country. Our country in our past lives radiated heat for most of the year. It was not populated with complicated humans like this city. The energy was simple and clean."
She watched him wishing he would take up her offer to use her as a source of power. "But that's several hours away and you barely have the strength to walk this room."
"I must use these precious moments to track Phoebe." He looked down and opened his clenched fist. Inside it, he held Phoebe's necklace. "I cannot sense where she is. The demon must have used his cloaking powers to protect her essence, which means he has garnered great strength in the short time he has been here."
"Then how will you find her?"
"There is another way. I will use Envy to track the demon. Envy was wrought from the mountain of Har Karkom, the seat of Agrat's demon queen mother. All humans have their own scent. You would recognize your loved ones if they were standing close, even if you couldn't see or hear them. In a similar way, all cellular energy has a signature and Envy will trace Agrat's. It will be simple for Envy to find him as there are few of his kind in this dimension. Use a demon to track a demon."
