He focused on me with effort, pain he couldn’t hide reflected in his eyes. “What of . . . Rhyzkahl?”
In those three words, Zack managed to express profound grief and frustration. Considering Rhyzkahl’s betrayal and torture of me, I was inclined to do a happy dance to celebrate the lord’s downfall. But Zack had been ptarl bound to Rhyzkahl, as his chief advisor and advocate, for millennia. His concern outweighed my anger.
“I haven’t heard anything new,” I said gently. “When I left the demon realm he was cloistered within his palace. According to Mzatal, he’s debilitated to the point where he can’t take care of his plexus, so the other lords are pitching in to cover it, like they do for Szerain.” Each of the eleven lords had a plexus, a chamber dedicated to monitoring and adjusting the arcane potency flows of their planet. Without constant attention, the flows would tear the world apart. Preventing that end was the one thing the lords agreed on unanimously. “I promise I’ll let you know as soon as I have any new info.”
Zack slumped into the cushions with a long sigh as though he’d never draw another breath. Candlelight glimmered in a tear on his face. Though I couldn’t hear the words, I read them on his lips. “Thank you.” His hand went slack in mine, and my heart thudded in dread until I spotted the shallow rise and fall of his chest.
I untwined my hand from his and kissed his cheek again. “No,” I whispered as I stood. “Thank you, Zakaar.” I looked down at him, struck by the eerie sense that I might never see him again. Aching, I finally turned away, caught Sonny’s eye and nudged my head toward the door. With a last glance at Zack, I exited to the heat and blinding light of the afternoon sun. I wiped away tears and cleared my throat as Sonny followed me out and closed the door behind him.
“He’s fading,” I said hoarsely. “And I have no idea what to do for him.” I wanted to thrash the rest of the demahnk and all the demons who’d turned their backs on him. Stripping his innate connections to the others was like pulling a fish out of water and leaving it to die slowly, gasping for breath.
“Every day it’s as though less of him is here,” Sonny said, grim. “I can barely get him to eat or drink anything, and he only moves when he has to. It’s not good.”
“Keep doing what you’re doing,” I said. “Let me know if there’s anything, anything, that you need and I’ll take care of it.” My brow furrowed. “Has he had any contact with Ryan . . . Szerain?” The cagey demonic lord Szerain had recently freed himself from his horrific imprisonment as Ryan Kristoff. He continued to maintain the persona of Ryan, but I didn’t know where he was or what he was doing.
Sonny shook his head. “Zack’s had me call him a few times, but it always goes to voicemail.”
“I know Ryan’s working, but he’s not answering my calls either.” It was one thing for Szerain to snub me, but blacklisting Zack was beyond the pale. Szerain wouldn’t even be here if Zack hadn’t kept him sane in his hellish prison for over fifteen years. “Let me know if he calls. Anything else I should know?”
“He talks in his sleep at times,” Sonny said with a small frown. “Not a lot, but there are a few words and phrases he repeats. Jill, Rhyzkahl, and Szerain I recognize, but the others must be a different language.” He paused, clearly trying to recall the sounds. “Ekeeree akar is the most frequent,” he finally said. “Sovilas mir nah shey. Zarbeck. Ashava.”
“I’ve heard a couple of them,” I said. “Nothing alarming, but I’ll keep them in mind.” I didn’t know what “akar” meant, but the Ekiri were an ancient race that abandoned the demon realm thousands of years past. Xharbek was Szerain’s demahnk ptarl, though he was deep in hiding for reasons unknown to me. I didn’t recognize Ashava or the longer phrase. “You have my number. Keep me posted on how Zack’s doing, please.”
“You got it, Kara.”
“You’re the best,” I said. And I meant it.
With that I headed for my car. Nearby, Eilahn leaned on the seat of her new Ducati motorcycle, her helmet under one arm, and her foot propped on the curb. With her sleek multiethnic look and hot chick body, she might as well have been posing for a motorcycle pinup calendar.