The Stone Demon

Eighteen





Donna was on the other side of town, in a cemetery.

But which one? There were plenty in Ironbridge. And where was Navin? She’d focused on him as hard as she could. If her teleporting power had worked the way it usually did, Navin should be here.

She turned a slow circle, straining her ears for any sign of life, but the whole graveyard was quiet.

Donna buttoned her coat and shivered in the cold air. She spotted tall iron railings and a sign. It seemed she was close to the exit. She took a step in that direction, fighting a vague feeling of nausea after the strange trip.

A loud groan stopped her in her tracks.

The tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She whirled, trying to pinpoint exactly where the sound was coming from. Now someone coughed—and kept coughing. It didn’t sound healthy.

“Nav?” she whisper-shouted.

Was Demian tricking her? She didn’t trust him not to be following her around, and half expected demon shadows to jump out of the real shadows.

“Help me,” called the voice, followed by another round of staccato coughs.

She froze, searching the darkness of the cemetery as her eyes adjusted. There was no moon—or if there was, it was completely blanketed in cloud—and the burial ground didn’t have any kind of nighttime lighting. The gates would undoubtedly be locked, and she’d have to climb to get out if things did go bad.

She took a quick breath and ran toward whoever was in pain. Was it Navin? Maybe Demian had hurt him. Or perhaps Simon had caught him sneaking around trying to get hold of Newton. She should never have asked him to help her!

Spotting a crumpled shape beside a freshly dug grave, Donna jogged over, slipping on the frosted grass.

Whoever it was, he was lying dangerously close to the edge of the grave. She stayed a few steps away, just in case, and crouched down beside the figure. It wasn’t as though she couldn’t defend herself if it turned out to be some kind of con.

And then her heart stuttered as she realized that the person on the ground was wearing a familiar red and black biker jacket. He rolled over, a lock of black hair falling across one eye as he squinted up at her.

“Donna?”

“Navin!” She scrambled forward. “Oh my god, Nav. Let me help you. It’s okay, I’m here.”

He frowned and licked his lips, as though trying to pick his words carefully. He seemed disoriented and even a little afraid. “How did you get here so fast? I only just called.”

“It’s a long story. Let’s get you out of here first, okay?”

He focused on her for the first time. “I know you’re super strong and everything, but please don’t throw me over your shoulder. My manliness couldn’t take it.”

She choked on a sob, not sure whether she was laughing or crying. She was just so relieved to be with him again, and that he was okay.

“Donna?” Navin watched her with concern.

“Sorry, I just spaced for a minute. Seriously, let’s get you on your feet and worry about everything later.”

She wrapped her arms around him, using her strength to haul him into a sitting position. “Do you feel sick?” She checked his face anxiously. Maybe he’d hit his head. He might be concussed or dizzy or—

“You look beautiful,” he whispered.

Donna froze. “What?”

“You heard me.”

Okaaay. A concussion was starting to look like a very real possibility here.

Their faces were almost touching. She could see a cut on Navin’s cheek, and his eyes didn’t look quite right. Even in the near-dark he looked sort of stoned. His pupils were huge.

“Nav, I think you might be badly injured. Is your head hurting? I think—”

“I think you should stop talking,” he said.

And then he kissed her.

It wasn’t like when Xan kissed her. Those kisses were hot and wild and tasted of sunlight. Navin’s lips were gentle, uncertain. It was as if he was testing her—testing them—wondering if this was really happening.

At least, that’s what she was wondering. Donna was so surprised she stayed completely still, allowing the kiss if not entirely participating in it. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, just a little. Just for a moment.

Just to see …

His hand was cold on the back of her neck and he tasted vaguely of cloves.

She pulled away, cheeks flushed. Confused.

“Nav … ”

What should she say? Should she say something about the kiss? Maybe she could pretend it hadn’t happened. That might be best all round.

“Yes!” Navin shouted. He raised both hands in the air. “First base, baby!” He jumped to his feet. “Woo!”

Donna sat back on her heels and stared.

Navin was dancing, gyrating his hips, thrusting and crotch-grabbing Michael Jackson-style. “The girl is mine!”

Donna narrowed her eyes. Her nausea had returned, sitting like a heavy weight in her stomach. She had a very bad feeling about this.

Navin stopped thrusting and laughed down at her. “Oh, Navin,” he simpered in a high-pitched voice, “you’re so handsome. I never knew you cared. Oh Navin, your lips are so soft.”

Donna pulled herself to her feet, stumbling as the blade and the cup shifted inside the messenger bag. “Demian?”

“Bzzt!” crowed Navin. “Wrong answer, princess.”

She backed away from this crazy person wearing her best friend’s face. She touched her lips with her gloved fingers, wondering how she could have let him kiss her like that. She should have known it wasn’t even real. How had Demian fooled her? She was such an idiot.

“If this is your idea of a joke … ” Her voice trailed off. Actually, she didn’t think this was the Demon King’s idea of a joke. She didn’t honestly believe that Demian was capable of something as human as … humor.

Could it be a wood elf, wearing a glamour? They’d done that before, with Navin, but surely it wouldn’t have quite so much personality.

The being wearing Navin’s form did a slow circle, head tilted back as he scanned the sky and took a deep breath of frigid air.

“It’s good to be alive, little alchemist,” he said.

Donna paused for a stunned second. “Newton,” she whispered.

“Ding-ding-ding! You have won a prize,” the demon declared, opening his arms wide and grinning at her. “It is I, Newton: summoned by the Dragon Magus, entrapped by sheer bloody fluke on his part—appallingly bad luck I was having that day, I might add.”

Donna thought she was going to throw up. She swallowed and rubbed her hand across her mouth, only half aware of what she was doing.

Newton-Navin raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter, princess? Didn’t you like my moves? Should I have gone with some tongue? I wondered about that, but you seemed to like the whole shy, romantic shtick … ”

“Shut up!” Donna gritted her teeth against a scream of frustration, of rage, and felt a visceral urge to punch something. “How dare you!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Newton said, not sounding even re-motely apologetic. “Did I hurt your feelings? Did you wish it really was sappy Navin delivering the kiss of your dreams? Did—”

“I said, Shut. Up.” Donna fixed him with a murderous expression. “What did you do to my friend?”

Newton/Navin made a big show of looking all around. “What friend? Where?” He pulled the waistband of his jeans away from his slim belly and looked down them. “Nope, not much here.”

She just stared at him, willing reality to change and for Navin to be there with her. Where he belonged. She remembered the kiss and pushed the still-vivid feeling away. It had just been one of those things. A crazy moment of relief.

And it hadn’t even been Navin.

Newton touched his toes a couple of times, twisting his body from side to side and then started jogging on the spot.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? What are they teaching children these days? I’m exercising, duh. You have no idea what it’s been like all these years. Trapped. Inanimate. In constant agony.” He sounded out of breath, but he kept jogging. “Wow, this is tough. Does Sharma actually do any exercise? He’s kind of filled out lately, now I come to think about it, so maybe he’s been working out.”

“You can’t stay in his body,” Donna said, her voice shaking.

Newton-Navin put his hands on his hips and stared at her as though she were the one who’d lost her mind. “Why not?”

“You just can’t!”

“That ain’t no good reason, baby,” he said. “I was Simon Gaunt’s bitch, and now I’m not.”

Donna let out an angry breath. “I realize that must have been hard for you. But taking someone else’s body isn’t—”

“You realize nothing,” Newton snapped. He stopped moving and glared at her from Navin’s eyes—only they weren’t Nav’s eyes. She’d known there had been something wrong. She should have trusted her instincts. Instead she’d allowed him to kiss her and now, here they were, in a cemetery in Ironbridge. Navin was … who knows where, and a demon was running around (literally) in his body.

Her whole world was falling apart.

“Newton,” she said, trying to get his attention. “You have to give him back. Please. I’m asking you. Begging you. Let him go and I’ll help you find another body. I’ll help you find your own body—wherever it is.” She frowned. “If you have one. Do you have a body of your own?”

He ignored her, jogging a few steps and then throwing what was presumably meant to be an invisible ball. “Howzat!”

Donna buried her face in her hands. Could this get any worse? She peeked between her fingers at the person who used to be her best friend.

“Newton … ”

“It’s alive!” he yelled to the skies, delight radiating from him. “Aliiive!”

“Newton!”

“No, no, no. Don’t call me that anymore.”

“You’re going to tell me your real name?”

“No. I changed my name. You can call me the Artist Formally Known As Navin. Get it?”

Donna suspected that Nav was still in there somewhere, what with the wacky humor and all. She simply had to hang on to the hope that he was okay—but that hope was a slippery thing, and it was fading fast.

As she stood shivering in the chill air, and the moon seemed to wink at her from between a gap in the clouds, she watched the figure of Navin Sharma raise his hands above his head.

“I’m the king of the world!”

Donna was so busy watching what was left of her friend, and wondering how the hell she was going to fix it, that she didn’t notice the huge shape swooping down on her until it was too late.