by Devon Monk
“I can tell. You laced the trap with parsnip.”
“People underestimate the power of root vegetables,” I said.
“Will parsnips make you tell the truth?” Delaney asked.
“Yes.” She smiled and it was impossible to trust.
“So this is going to be awesome,” Delaney said.
I couldn’t help it, I laughed. “We don’t have to rely on parsnips alone,” I said. “How good is your dragon for sniffing out lies?”
“Good question.” Delaney crooked her finger at the little pig who was chewing on the dustpan it had dug out of the cupboard.
“Dragons aren’t truth keepers,” Xtelle said, a little too quickly.
“No,” I said. “But this dragon is hungry. Like, constantly. Usually, we wouldn’t allow him to eat another resident in Ordinary, but since you are here under false pretenses, and you haven’t signed the demon contract or followed the rules, I think watching you try to lie your way out of a dragon gullet sounds entertaining.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I would.”
She looked at Delaney. “You wouldn’t let her.”
“Yeah, I don’t see why not. Dragon’s gotta eat, and I’m all outta napkin holders.”
“But you’re the reasonable sister.”
“Is that what they told you? Huh.” Delaney just smiled and continued scratching behind the dragon pig’s ears.
“First question,” I announced. “Did you open the vortex in the park?”
“That’s not exactly how it happened, no.”
I glanced at the dragon pig. Its head cocked to one side and an ear flopped over, as if it were considering that statement. It grunted.
“All right, I’m going to take that as true.”
The dragon pig grunted again. Delaney nodded.
“Why were you at the vortex when it opened?”
“I’ve been…interested in Ordinary for some time. When the vortex opened, I was in the right place at the right time. I stepped through.”
“You shouldn’t be able to do that,” Delaney said. “Demons aren’t allowed.”
Xtelle didn’t appear to have anything to say about that.
“Did you open the second vortex?” I asked.
“No.”
“You just happened to be there?” I didn’t buy that for a second.
“I was following you. I happened to be there because you happened to be there.”
“And you knew how to close it?”
“It’s a vortex to the Underworld. The only thing that makes it different than any other vortex is it opened in Ordinary.” She rolled her eyes at my look. “Yes. I know how to close it because I have been a demon for all of my existence. I’m very good at what I do, and one vortex is like another. Happy?”
I glanced at the dragon pig. It grunted again.
“Next question,” I said.
“Boring,” Xtelle muttered.
I ignored her. “Is another vortex going to open in Ordinary?”
She paused, rocked her head to one side. I thought she was going to lie, but then her gaze slid to the dragon pig in Delaney’s arms and she frowned. “You don’t know, do you?”
I waited.
She glanced at Delaney, then back at me. “One of you must know.”
“Know what?” Delaney asked.
“You don’t!” She laughed, and there was nothing comforting in it. “Yes. There will be another vortex.”
“When? Where?”
She spread her hands. “I am not the one in possession of that knowledge.”
“Who is?” I asked.
She just shook her head.
“Go back to before,” Delaney said. “What were you surprised about? The thing you thought we knew, but don’t?”
She didn’t say anything.
“What does it have to do with the vortexes?” I asked, putting two and two together.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” she said blithely.
The dragon pig rumbled, a deep dragon growl I could feel in the soles of my feet.
“False,” I said. “I think I’ll find something else to contain you. Something smaller. Luckily, I have a warehouse full of things that will keep you bottled up for eons.”
“You won’t do that.”
“Why? Because I’m the nice sister?” I scoffed.
“No. Because you love him.”
The splash of heat across my face was fifty percent anger and fifty percent embarrassment. Okay, more like eighty-twenty.
“You’re talking about Bathin, right?” I asked. “The demon I just locked in a trap so that I could find you and get information out of you for how to stab him and throw him out of Ordinary?”
“Is that what this is about? Then I’m not sure why you’re talking about vortexes.”
“I know you made the scissors that will cut a soul away from his possession.”
There was no more smirk, no more smug. Her eyes were bright. Sharp.
“Yes.”
“I have them.”
“I know.”
“Is there a book and a page that must be used with them to release a soul?”
She watched me for a moment. “That is a very specific question.”
“I expect a very specific answer.”
“No.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“No, there is neither a book nor a page needed. Just the scissors. Snip. Snip.” She mimicked the motion with her fingers.
“What happens if a human uses them on a demon?”
“It doesn’t end well for the human.”
So, Bathin had told the truth. Okay, next question.
“Can a demon use the scissors on a demon to free the soul?”
She gave me a look of respect. “Yes.”
“Will you use the scissors to remove Delaney’s soul from Bathin?”
“It depends on what you would give me for that.”
“How about we let you leave Ordinary?”
“I don’t want to leave Ordinary.”
“Let me put it another way,” I said. “The only way you’re staying here is if you’re locked in a box.”
“Or an easily digestible napkin holder,” Delaney said.
The dragon pig oinked. Yep. We were telling the truth.
“You wouldn’t break the rules of Ordinary to imprison me.”
“We’re police officers. We imprison people all the time. Natural, supernatural, deities. All of ‘em,” I said.
She looked off over my shoulder as if she’d heard a sudden sound. Then: “I’ll take my chances.”
“What—”
Delaney clutched the dragon pig closer to her chest and stumbled backward.
“Delaney?”
She groaned and I dashed over to catch her by the arms as she crumpled to the floor.
“Hey, hey.” I tapped her face. “Come on. Delaney. Wake up.”
“You might want to strap her down,” Xtelle said. “A vortex is going to open. And oh, this one’s going to hurt.”
I pulled Delaney up against me, my arms around her. The dragon pig hopped up on Delaney’s legs and stretched its small body, as if it wanted to cover as much of her as possible.
I fumbled for my phone.
“You could let me out.”
“No.” I dialed with my thumb. “Ryder, I need you at your house now.”
“Is it Delaney?” I could tell by how he was breathing he was already on his feet, running.
“She passed out. I’ve got her. A vortex is going to open.”
“If it hits as hard as last time, she’s going to go through convulsions,” he said. “Call 911.”
“On it.”
I disconnected and dialed.
Xtelle just stood there watching me calmly, maybe even enjoying this. “She’s not moving.”
“She’s breathing. Her pulse is steady,” I said as the phone rang. How many times had it rung?
“You really should let me out of the trap.”
&nbs
p; “No.”
“I can help you.”
The dragon pig growled, and Xtelle held her hands up and chuckled. “Fine. I’m happy to stand here and watch.”
The call finally connected. “911,” Hatter’s warm voice said. “What do you need, Myra?”
“Get an ambulance to Ryder and Delaney’s place.”
“On the way. What happened?”
I had barely finished going through Delaney’s symptoms when the approaching siren was loud enough. I knew they were almost here.
Ryder beat them to it.
“How long?” He came to a skidding halt beside me, already out of his coat and putting it under her head. I could smell the cold salt air and sweat on his skin as if he’d run the whole way.
“Seconds before I called you.”
He ran his hands carefully and quickly over her body, checking her pulse, her breathing. “What happened?” He asked once he had ensured she was still breathing, still alive.
His eyes flicked from mine to Xtelle’s. “What did you do to her?”
“I had nothing to do with this.”
Ryder’s hands clenched into fists and his thigh muscles bunch under his jeans. He was a coil, a spring, a bomb ready to go off.
“She passed out,” I said. “Xtelle said another vortex is going to open.”
“Xtelle?” He wasn’t tracking details.
“Right there in the demon trap.”
She waved.
“Don’t break the line,” I said.
The EMTs pushed through the front door with their equipment.
“Back here!” Ryder yelled.
“All right,” Mykal, a vampire who was one of our best EMTs, said. “Go ahead and move to one side so we can get a look.”
I stood and pulled Ryder up with me. I forced both of us back one step.
“Does she have anything to do with this?” asked the other EMT, Steven, who was a human and well-versed in the secrets of Ordinary’s citizens. He tipped his head toward Xtelle while Mykal quickly took Delaney’s vitals.
“We don’t think so,” I said.
“She’s a demon, right?” Mykal asked.
“Yes. We have her contained.”
“I see that.” He nudged the dragon pig. The dragon pig growled.
“You can come with her to the hospital, okay?” Mykal patted its little head. The dragon pig oinked and hopped up off her legs so they could move her onto the gurney.
“One of you riding with us?” Steven asked. The dragon pig jumped up onto the foot of the stretcher and settled in, eyes glowing. “Other than this guy?”
“I am,” Ryder said, just as I said, “He is.”
“Where will you be?” Ryder asked me.
“Here. I’ll take care of Xtelle. Keep me in the loop with Delaney.”
“What about the vortex?”
“We’ll handle that when—if,” I clarified, “it happens.”
The EMTs were already halfway to the door.
He glared at Xtelle, then turned his searching gaze on me. “If you want—”
“Go. She needs you.”
He frowned, but gave in and jogged after them.
As soon as the door closed, I turned on Xtelle. “Tell me everything you know about Delaney being tied to the vortexes. Now. Or all those promises of letting you leave Ordinary alive are off the table.”
I pulled the fold of very thin cloth out of my front pocket. The flower inside those folds was dried, having been pressed for a century or more in the center of an old poetry book from a long dead, very sad, peasant girl who had also been a demon killer.
I’d found the book months ago, looking for anything that would free Delaney’s soul.
“That is a very rare flower,” she said. Her voice tightened, each word clipped, as if she were facing down a viper that would strike if she so much as breathed too loudly.
“It is. A very rare flower that can kill you. As long as I use the right words. Words I’ve memorized. So, once again. Tell me everything you know about the vortexes in Ordinary, and why they’re hurting Delaney. And then tell me how to stop them.”
She licked her lips, and I saw what might have been the first open and honest expression on her face: fear.
Good.
“Very well,” she said, softly, eyes riveted on the flower. “The vortexes are triggered by demons. From the Underworld. There is a knowledge, that Bathin, the Lost Prince,” and she didn’t say that like it was a good title, “can be found in Ordinary. There are many demons who would like to find him.”
I ignored the flip of my stomach and the kick of my pulse. More demons hunting for Bathin scared me. I could brush my fear off as being frightened for Ordinary, but that wasn’t true.
It wasn’t Ordinary I instantly feared for. It was Bathin.
Stupid heart.
“Does he have a price on his head?” I asked.
Xtelle shrugged. “As much as, yes.”
“He’s been here a year, and we haven’t had any vortexes. Why now?”
“It could be many things. You did tell the crossroad demon that he was here.”
“I didn’t have to tell her, she knew. And he stood right in front of her and threatened her. So it’s not like he was hiding out.”
Xtelle didn’t look impressed.
“Why now?” I lifted the flower which I held by the stem. If I snapped my fingers and incanted the spell, I’d find out if the fear on her face was real.
“You said it yourself. Bathin has been here a year. Inside Ordinary.”
I waited. There was something more I wasn’t piecing together. “His presence is drawing demons?”
“Yes.”
Yes, but that wasn’t all. “Him being here for a full year is drawing demons?”
“Yes.”
That wasn’t all of it either. I tipped my head back and stared at the ceiling for a second. What was I missing?
Then it hit me. “He’s had Delaney’s soul for a year.”
“Yes.” This, in a whisper, her gaze locked on mine.
“Now her soul is damaged. She’s the bridge to Ordinary. It’s made…holes. The damage to her soul is…punching holes into Ordinary. So vortexes can open. So demons can walk through. She’s a broken bridge.”
She didn’t say anything, and I almost snapped my fingers. Almost.
“The longer Bathin holds her soul, the more vortexes will open because Delaney will become more vulnerable,” I said.
She didn’t agree or disagree, but I knew I was right. I had to be.
“Those scissors,” she said casually, “do you still have them?”
“You know I do.”
She nodded. “Let me give you some advice. No, don’t look so surprised. I am a very old being. I have seen this world rise and fall and rise and fall again. Cultures, civilizations, peoples. While you might be more than human, you are still very human, Myra.”
“And?”
She clasped her hands behind her back. The gold cuffs were gone, which meant they’d never really held her in the first place. More lies. She gave me a soft smile.
For a second, she appeared to be a wise and patient woman who understood my pain. Who understood my life had just taken a corner I’d been barreling toward and trying to escape in equal measures.
“You are going to have to make the choice so many have before you. The choice that changes history. Are you willing to hurt someone you love to save someone you love?”
I didn’t know what to say. I knew the answer, what it had to be, what it should be, no matter how hard my heart was beating. “No one hurts my sister.”
She nodded, her eyes still soft, almost kind. “Are you willing to pay the price for her? To sacrifice for her?”
Was I willing to use the scissors to possibly hurt her soul while saving her? Even if it meant I would also hurt myself ? I think I’d always known the answer to that. But I’d promised Delaney I wouldn’t use them.
No Lone Rangering.
�
�I need a demon,” I said.
“To use the scissors?”
I nodded.
She tipped her head. “To spare yourself and your sister, yes. You need a demon. Are you going to ask me to do it?”
“Not now, no.”
“No?”
“You’re his mother. I’d never make you harm your own child.”
That surprised her. She blinked once, then just stared at me, expressionless. I’d never seen her so still. “You wouldn’t, would you? Not even for your sister’s soul.” She sounded incredulous.
“It’s not like I could trust you to follow through, anyway,” I said.
“You’d have to trust me.”
“And I don’t,” I said.
“And you don’t,” she agreed.
We stood there in silence for a full minute. Then she spoke. “So what will you do, Myra Reed?”
“I’m going to save my sister.”
She exhaled, and it was a mix of acceptance and maybe regret. “I have never doubted you would.”
Chapter 22
The problem was three fold.
One: How to keep Xtelle locked down, but close, in case I needed to use her. She was my Plan B, and killing or banishing her would mean I couldn’t use her if I needed her.
Two: How to summon a demon to use the scissors so I didn’t have to use my Plan B.
Three: How to stop caring if Bathin lived or died.
The easiest thing would be summoning a demon. I had the books. I had the incantations. I had the ingredients. All I had to do was go to the library, summon a minor demon I could bribe and control, then take it to stab Bathin, who was trapped in my living room.
But I couldn’t leave Xtelle in Ryder and Delaney’s kitchen.
I called Jean.
“Just checked on Delaney,” she said. “Doctors say it’s a coma.” Her voice shook a little, but then it steadied. “I left Shoe at your place to keep an eye on Bathin, and I’m going to head out on patrol. See if I can spot the vortex when it opens.”
“I don’t think you need to do that. I’m going to the root of this problem and am digging it up.”
“And where is that?”
“In the middle of my living room.”
“Bathin. The scissors.” She didn’t ask. She knew. “You promised Delaney you wouldn’t use them.”
“I’m not going to. Do you get any doom twinges when I say that?”
She shifted, and murmured something to someone, maybe Ryder, then I heard a door open and close.
