Demonspawn Academy: Trial One

by Annabel Chase

  Sage popped out a hip. “The realm is lucky I don’t have any succubus in me or there’d be a trail of dead bounders from here to L.A.”

  “That’s a lovely image, Sage,” I said. “Shall we get on with the search?”

  “We should try another tunnel,” Barris said. “The Watcher came from this way and didn’t see any sign of Harlan.”

  “Good point.” I turned around. “I guess we’ll check out the tunnel on the right now.”

  Sage didn’t bother to hide her smug expression. “I’m allowed to say I told you so, right?”

  “Would you resist the urge if I said no?” Barris asked.

  She broke into a cheerful smile. “Not a chance.”

  Chapter Six

  “Do we have to try another tunnel?” Sage asked. We were now on our fourth tunnel and her patience was wearing as thin as mine. “Can’t we go somewhere cool like a nightclub?”

  “Not in the middle of the day,” I said. “Besides, we need to get back before the Elders figure out we’re missing. We’re running out of time.”

  “I, for one, do not want to suffer Elder Alastor’s wrath,” Barris said. “He once made me practice magic by myself for an entire day because I was two minutes late to his lesson.”

  Sage giggled. “That was awesome. You turned every plant in the greenhouse into a cat. He was none too pleased.”

  I halted in my tracks. “Did you hear that?”

  “The sound of Barris whining again? Yes, I heard that,” Sage said.

  I stood perfectly still and listened. “It’s a scratching sound.” Up ahead, a pair of eyes glowed red. A shiver traveled down my spine and my wings expanded instinctively. Apparently when it came to fight or flight, I was a bit of both.

  Barris pushed down the top of my wing for an unobstructed view. “Did you see those glowing eyes?” he asked.

  The scratching sound started again, prompting my companions to huddle closer to me.

  Sage peered into the darkness. “What is it?”

  “At this point, it could be anything,” I said. “Shifter, vampire, hellhound.” I racked my brain trying to think of all the demons with glowing eyes. “Fluffy murder mice.”

  Barris gripped my arm. “By the devil, don’t say fluffy murder mice.”

  Slowly, I reached for my dagger. “Why not? We’re in a tunnel. They love tunnels.”

  “Aren’t fluffy murder mice the ones that travel in packs?” Sage asked.

  The eyes grew larger. Whatever it was, it was moving closer to us.

  Barris stuffed his hands into his pockets and began rooting around.

  “What are you doing?” Sage asked.

  “Looking for coins,” he said.

  “What? You think it’s some kind of Billy goat demon? You toss it payment and it will let us pass?” Sage asked.

  Barris looked at her sideways. “Fluffy murder mice like shiny objects. If we can toss coins to the side, we might be able to get past them without injury,” he explained calmly.

  I frowned. “Hang on. I think Elder Asago said that their eyes glowed white in the dark.”

  “Not their eyes,” Barris said. “Just the rest of them.” He paused. “Which this one is not doing, apparently. I only see glowing red eyes, not a glowing white body.”

  The sound of dramatic hissing bounced off the tunnel walls and my fingers loosened their grip on the handle of the dagger, ready.

  “I think it has a fur ball lodged in its throat,” Sage whispered.

  “Try the coins anyway, Barris,” I said quietly. “If they are a pack of fluffy murder mice, then we don’t want to be trapped in an enclosed space with them.” I knew from my studies that it would be a death sentence.

  A small creature crept into view. Its head seemed far too big for its body and its enormous eyes shone the color of blood.

  “Is it possible to find something both cute and repulsive at the same time?” Barris asked.

  Sage flicked a glance at him. “Yes,” she said.

  A feeling of dread washed over me as the creature inched closer. Thankfully there seemed to be only one, but my gut told me that one would be quite enough.

  “Barris, now would be a good time to test your theory and toss something shiny,” I said.

  He threw a coin over the creature’s head. It turned around in pursuit and I thought for a moment that we were home free.

  “What is with that tail?” Sage asked.

  “Forget the tail, are those fingers?” Barris asked with a shudder. The creature sported a tail that looked like a witch’s broom and its claws looked like bony spiders covered in black, wiry fur.

  “Gross,” Sage said. “How many more coins do you have? Let’s throw them all.”

  “Not so fast,” I said. The creature seemed to have lost interest in the coin. It shuffled back around and focused its haunting eyes on us, causing my heart to skip a beat. “I’m officially ruling out fluffy murder mouse.”

  “What else do we have that’s shiny?” Barris asked. “I can’t very well toss it Sage’s nose.”

  “Forget shiny, Barris. We have to try something else.” I fumbled around to see what else I had to offer the creature that didn’t involve sacrificing one of us.

  “Just kill it,” Sage said.

  “I can’t,” I said. “It has big eyes. It’s an unwritten rule that you can’t kill anything with big eyes.”

  “I hope I’m never trapped in a cave with you and a cyclops,” Barris said.

  “Here, try this.” Sage produced a packet of peanut butter crackers.

  The creature opened its mouth to make a hissing sound and I saw a set of gleaming sharp fangs. Terrific.

  Sage tore open the packaging.

  “Wait,” I said, placing a hand on her arm. “What if he has a nut allergy? Or a gluten intolerance? Check the package.”

  Sage looked at me like I had two heads. “I don’t think the demon is worried about gluten. And the package won’t tell us anything we don’t already know. The peanut butter crackers clearly contain nuts.” She shook the packet at me.

  “But what if he eats them and starts defecating everywhere?” Barris asked.

  “We’ll be long gone by then,” I said. “It’s not like we’ll have to clean it up.”

  The creature arched his back and the witch’s broom swept from side to side. He was either planning to launch an attack or clean the floor. Sage slid one of the crackers across the floor directly to him. The demon sniffed it before devouring it whole. I heard the satisfying crunch of the crackers as his fangs plunged through them.

  The demon shifted his big eyes back to us, expectant.

  “Give him another one,” I urged.

  The demon crept closer, his nose twitching as he went. I glanced at the remaining peanut butter crackers.

  “He wants more,” I said. “How many of those did you bring?”

  Sage shot me an incredulous look. “Only this one packet. Forgive me if I wasn’t planning to feed an army of demons today.”

  “May I?” I held out my hand and Sage gave me the remaining crackers. I tucked away my dagger and crouched closer to the ground. “Hey, buddy. Looking for these?”

  “Cassia, what are you doing?” Barris asked. “That thing will slice you like cheese.”

  “I don’t think he will,” I said. “Look at those eyes.”

  “Yes, they’re the color of blood or have you not noticed?” Barris said. “Look at that middle finger. It looks like my shoulder.”

  “And those teeth are like tiny chisels,” Sage said. “I’m starting to wish for fluffy murder mice.”

  I placed a single peanut butter cracker in my palm and held it out for the demon. He took a few cautious steps forward, dragging his strange tail behind him. His little nose scrunched again as he sniffed. “He might be murderous, but he is adorable.”

  The creature licked one of my fingers before grabbing the cracker with his teeth. His tongue tickled and I quickly pulled my hand away. He wolfed down the sec
ond cracker and fixed his enormous eyes on me again.

  “You’re not going to hurt us, are you?” I said, adopting a soothing tone. It was, in fact, Mariska’s tone that she used to reserve for trying to coax me to do something I didn’t want to do, usually something involving calculations.

  The tiny demon nudged my shin with the top of his head.

  “He likes you,” Sage said.

  “You don’t have to sound so surprised.” Carefully, I reached out to stroke the demon’s fur. It was every bit as rough as it looked.

  “What do you think his powers are?” Barris asked.

  “Lulling unsuspecting travelers into a false sense of security, clearly,” Sage said.

  The demon made a contented noise and I continued to scratch him gently. “We can ask when we get back to the academy.” Of course, we’d have to ask in a way that didn’t suggest any real-life experience.

  “We should name him Jiffy, like the peanut butter,” Sage said.

  “We shouldn’t name him anything because he’s a dweller demon, not a pet.” Barris still seemed wary of the small creature.

  “Besides, the peanut butter is Jif,” I said. “Unless you mean Skippy.”

  “I guess Jiffy is a nice combination of the two brands,” Barris said approvingly.

  “It was nice meeting you, Jiffy.” I patted the demon on the top of the head and resumed a standing position. “We need to hurry. If we don’t find Harlan in the next thirty minutes, we need to go back.”

  “We can try again though, right?’ Sage asked.

  “Only if we don’t get caught this time,” Barris said. “We don’t have phones. We have no idea what’s happening at the academy right now. Rylan and Zeph could be getting hammered with questions.” He covered his face with his hands. “By the devil, what if they’re using literal hammers?”

  I sniffed the stale air of the tunnel as we walked. “I smell donuts.” I smacked my head. “I can’t believe it.”

  “That you smell donuts?” Barris asked. “Elder Sam brought us donuts back from the city many times. Something called munchkins.”

  I shook my head, annoyed with myself. “Harlan was obsessed with donuts. Elder Sam only started bringing them to the academy because Harlan said he missed them so much.”

  “Then I guess we should follow that smell,” Sage said.

  We walked through the tunnel at a faster pace. Each time a train went by, we flattened ourselves against the wall.

  “This is slowing us down,” Sage grumbled.

  Barris gestured to the track with a flourish. “Then, by all means, step in front of the train next time.”

  I was barely listening to the two of them squabble. In the distance was a familiar silhouette. Short and squat with an awkward gait that I’d recognize anywhere.

  “Come on,” I hissed. I raced to catch up to him. Suddenly he turned and—disappeared into the wall.

  “Is he a ghost?” Barris asked, right behind me.

  “No, it must be a cloaked entrance.” I stopped at the place where he slipped through the cracks and placed my hands on the wall.

  “Allow me,” Barris said. He moved in front of me and rubbed his hands together, producing purple sparks. Then he pressed his hands on the wall and kept them there until the outline of a door materialized.

  “Finally useful,” Sage said. She patted his chest. “Well done.”

  I opted to do the polite thing and knocked. The door opened a crack and half of Harlan’s face appeared. It registered shock when he saw me.

  “Horns of a devil,” he said. “I never expected to see you again.” He looked at me with an expression bordering on affection. “What are you doing here, Cassia? Is Elder Sam with you?”

  “Trust me, Harlan,” I said. “I wish it were under better circumstances.”

  His brow furrowed. “You’re here without an Elder. How?” His gaze darted to my companions.

  “Can we come in?”

  Harlan jerked open the door and closed it behind us. He moved to turn on a light for our benefit and stood beside a small desk and chair. The space seemed more like a prison cell to me. Small and dark with minimal personal effects. To each his own.

  “What’s this about?” Harlan asked.

  “Mariska is dead,” I said.

  Harlan fell back against the chair. “Dead? That’s terrible, but why come to tell me?”

  Sage didn’t appear to be in the mood to be reasonable. She withdrew her sword and lunged at the demon, pressing the blade to his neck. “We know you came through the portal to steal the book. We know you killed her.”

  Sweat bubbled across his forehead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t been back since I left.”

  “Liar!” Sage spat. “Why did you do it? Did she spurn your advances back when you lived at the academy? You decided to steal the book to throw the Elders off the trail?”

  Harlan swallowed hard. “No! I liked Mariska, but I wasn’t interested in her like that. We were friends.”

  I blinked away tears. “Then why would you kill her in cold blood? She deserved better.”

  His eyes flashed orange and I knew that he was preparing to fight back. “Sage, let him go,” I said.

  She looked at me in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? I should slit his throat right now.”

  “A lot of good that would do us,” Barris said. “Then we’ll never know what happened to Mariska or be able to find the book.”

  Harlan used the momentary distraction to strike. His claws extended and he slashed at Sage’s arm that held the sword. The weapon clattered to the floor and she gripped her injured arm with a whimper. Harlan jumped on to the seat of the chair and launched himself over us, rolling to a standing position in front of the door.

  He swiped his stringy hair off his forehead. “You kids shouldn’t be here. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

  Thoughts of Mariska whirled in my mind. I couldn’t let Harlan escape, not when he had the information I needed. As he turned to open the door, I plucked Sage’s sword from the floor and flung it at his shoulder. The point of the blade caught a flap of skin along with the material of his shirt and pinned him to the door. He cried out in pain and tried to wriggle, quickly realizing that the more he moved, the more it hurt.

  “Help me,” he said.

  I marched over to him. “Is that what Mariska said when you slit her throat? Oh no, I guess not since she wouldn’t have been able to talk.” I leaned closer and said through clenched teeth, “Tell me what happened.”

  Harlan began blubbering like a baby. “It wasn’t me, I swear. I would never hurt her. I didn’t even know she was dead.”

  “But you provided the information, didn’t you? You may not have wielded the blade, but you’re the one responsible for her death.”

  “They threatened to kill me,” he said. His words came between gasps for breath. “I don’t know his name or what he looks like. He cornered me in an alley one night, but I didn’t see him. His fighters were cloaked too. Invisible. They beat me, but even then I refused to talk. I took my oath to Domus seriously.”

  “Well, you talked eventually, didn’t you?” Sage asked. “Otherwise Mariska would still be alive and the Book of Admissions would be in the archives.”

  Harlan pressed his forehead against the door and closed his eyes. “They tortured me. Look at my back. I’ll prove it.”

  I nodded to Barris, who shook his head. “I’m not lifting up his shirt.”

  Sage rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll do it.” She yanked up Harlan’s shirt to reveal angry welts that covered his back. She dropped the hem of the shirt and looked away.

  “I swear I didn’t tell them even then, not until they injected me with the serum,” Harlan said.

  “A truth serum?” I asked.

  He nodded and started to cry again. “They knew that I’d worked there. I don’t know how. They knew my name and where to find me. I didn’t want to tell them anything, but they asked direct question
s and compelled me to answer.”

  I removed the sword from the door and released him. He collapsed in a heap on the floor. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt anyone. If I could take it back, I would.”

  Part of me wanted to lash out—to kick him and scream until my voice left me, but I knew that Mariska would not have wanted that. Harlan had done everything he could to resist. This was a flaw in the Elders’ plan. If someone was determined enough, they could find a way in. It had always been a possibility and now it was a fact.

  “Can you tell us anything about his voice?” I asked. “Anything distinctive?”

  Harlan crawled away from the door and sat in the fetal position against the wall. “One of the invisible friends called him master. That’s all I’ve got.”

  Barris snapped to attention. “Vampire?”

  “It’s not definitive enough,” I said. “Besides, how many vampires are there in the city? Probably at least a hundred.” Rafe probably knew.

  Harlan placed a hand on his wounded shoulder. “More than that in a city this size. I don’t know that many vampires that dabble in truth serum though.”

  I’d have to take his word for it. I’d never met one. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Harlan,” I said. “Please don’t tell anyone you saw us.”

  When he looked at me, his eyes were sorrowful. “She was like a mother to you, I know. I used to watch you together. Made me realize how my own mother should have behaved toward me. You were lucky, Cassia.”

  A dull ache filled my chest. Harlan was right. Mariska was the closest thing I had to a mother and now she was gone. I handed the sword to Sage.

  “Let’s go,” I said. “We’ve done all we can here.”

  Chapter Seven

  I felt triumphant as we accessed the portal to return to the academy. We hadn’t solved the murder, but at least we’d put a piece of the puzzle in place. It was better than nothing.

  My positive mood didn’t last long. The moment my head poked through the portal in the main spire, I knew we’d been caught. Elder Alastor’s face was practically purple with rage. I had no idea how long he’d been waiting there. Once all three of us were safely through, he spoke.