by Logan Jacobs
“Get ready to snatch him when he passes this spot,” I ordered Ashe. “I’ve got questions for this guy.”
“Already waiting,” the demon woman replied as her fingertips started to grow silver claws.
“No venom,” I warned. “We have no reason to torture him yet.”
“Fine,” Ashe sighed, but then the gray-haired man stopped just at the corner of the alley.
He held an object in the palm of his shaking hand, and I narrowed my eyes at the sight of it.
It was a small blue stone that glowed and cast an azure light across his sweaty face, and my skin prickled as I stared at it. The stone gave off a strange energy I hadn’t experienced before, but then the gray-haired man closed his fingers around it, sent a fearful glance over his shoulder, and vanished into thin air.
“Shit!” Ashe hissed. “What the hell was that stone?”
“The tabaxi mentioned the dark elves had an illegal mining operation,” I reminded her. “I think they’re mining magical orbs. I heard glass rolling around during that payoff.”
“And there’s no way a human could have vanished like that without some serious magical assistance,” Ashe agreed with a nod of her head.
“This is good news,” I decided, and a devious grin spread across my face while I considered all the possibilities. “If we go after this group of elves, imagine the power we’d gain.”
Ashe’s lips curled into a sinful smile while she admired the look on my face.
“If some of these orbs contain darker magic…” the demon woman purred.
“I know,” I chuckled. “We’d be more than set to take down any demons who come hunting us, and the Blessed wouldn’t even be an issue. With the power of magical orbs at our disposal, we could tear the Blessed limb from limb without needing our hell powers at all.”
“We’d also have a nice, secluded place to stay, a solid income, and cover from the Church,” Ashe added, and her pink eyes glinted at the prospect. “Do you think that manor house has a big bed inside of it?”
“I’ll make sure it does,” I chuckled and stroked her silver cheek. “I’ll need a nice soft place to fuck you, after all.”
“We could have the imps continue to mine the orbs, as well,” Ashe purred as she leaned into my fingers. “Based on the location of the dark elves’ house, they have to be mining them from the forest surrounding Rengfri.”
“They’re getting through that large stone wall somehow,” I agreed.
“And with the imps doing the work,” Ashe continued, “we can avoid endangering ourselves while keeping up the business. It’s perfect for us, Atticus.”
“What we need to do next is find the dark elf who runs it all,” I replied. “And the human who just vanished, but overall, I think we may have our work cut out for us on this one.”
“Oh, how difficult can it be to kill a measly dark elf?” Ashe snorted. “I’m sure you’ve killed a few in your time.”
“I haven’t,” I admitted. “You know how the Dark King is about elves. Their bodies don’t take to the rebirth as well as others, and they cause a fantastic amount of trouble up here on the surface world. They’re more valuable as mortals, but either way, we’re not just talking about any dark elf. This one has magical orbs at his disposal. Then there’s the issue of this man with the brown hair.”
“What issue?” the demon woman whispered. “He smells like the Dark King himself.”
“Not quite,” I snickered, “but if the man with the brown hair helped set the dark elves up in that grove of oaks, keeping him in the dark about a change in power might be more difficult than we expected. I doubt a man of his wealth would ever set foot in the Shadow Quarters, let alone the Grimmway, but we can’t risk word getting back to him about this. Not until we’re sure he’ll support our arrangement.”
“What are you planning, then?” Ashe asked as she narrowed her pink eyes.
“I’m thinking we take out every dark elf in this operation,” I decided, and Ashe actually purred at the idea. “The tabaxi said there was only a small group of them involved, and if we can kill off anyone who could get word to this man with the brown hair, that gives us time to get settled and keep up appearances.”
“And we’ll never have to worry about getting sold out,” the demon woman added.
“Exactly,” I agreed.
“I love the sound of killing dark elves with you,” she suddenly moaned with a hungry look in her eyes. “I can already imagine their terror when they see you bearing down on them with me by your side.”
“I’m looking forward to it, as well,” I growled as I pulled her close. “The two of us have made a good team so far.”
“These have been the happiest moments in my existence, Atticus,” Ashe sighed as she stroked my chest. “Every second with you brings me joy.”
“I feel the same,” I said as I kissed the top of her silver hair. “We make quite a pair, eh? Two demons on the run…”
“I will make you very proud and do anything it takes to see you victorious.” She moved her lips up to kiss my neck and then my chin.
“I know you will,” I murmured.
The two of us melted against each other as I bit at the demon’s plump lips, and I could sense her eagerness to please me. Lust, greed, and obedience wafted from the silver-haired woman while she whimpered around my tongue, and it was an intoxicating mixture.
I’d never had anyone so devout to my existence before. I was used to being the one in service to the Dark King and his higher-ranking demons, but the shackle was off now. No one demanded anything of me except for myself, and I had full control over what my next move would be. I also had a gorgeous little fiend clawing at me for my attention, and everything about her moans and kisses proved she was completely dedicated to enacting my will.
And right now, my will was to steal these dark elves’ operation right out from under them, gain the power of their magic orbs for myself, and deceive whoever this brown-haired man was into covering our asses until we escaped the Port of Rengfri altogether.
Ashe and I left our spot in the alleyway after I kept her pinned against the wall for a few delicious moments, and then we headed back through the side streets of Rengfri. My eagerness to get to work had started to fester in the pit of my stomach, but there was mortal hunger there, too, and I could tell Ashe felt the same way. She kept growling under her breath at the people we passed on our way back to the Shadow Quarters, and I decided I’d better keep the beautiful fiend well-fed, with both food and sex, while we were trying to maintain a low profile.
She was too prone to following her whims already, and on an empty stomach, she seemed twice as murder-minded.
A seller had a cart of food set up on our way to the Shadow Quarters, and he sold the same legs of meat we’d already had, but I also noticed some cuts of bread like I’d had with the stew on my first day here. Thankfully, my pockets were still loaded with stolen pieces, and I could afford to get Ashe anything she wanted.
A human woman stood in front of us by the food stall, and her ginger hair curled down the back of her tunic while a thin piece of material wrapped around her head. She asked the seller for some of the bread, paid him the three pieces he asked for, and then walked away without noticing we were behind her.
“What would you like?” I asked Ashe when it was our turn.
“Some of that delicious meat,” she replied.
“Two legs of meat and some bread,” I told the seller.
The man barely looked up from his stall. “Slices or a loaf?”
I had no idea what either of those options were, and he must have realized this when I didn’t respond.
“Do you want the whole thing, or just some of it?” he asked again and waved his hand over the bread.
“The whole thing,” I responded as my stomach growled.
“Four pieces,” the man grunted.
I slapped the coins onto the counter that separated us, and once he checked I had given him the right amount, the
man unhooked two legs of glistening meat and then wrapped half of the bread in some thin paper. Ashe and I grabbed the food and walked away without saying another word, and the demon woman was already tearing into her meat before we reached the nearest corner.
We ate as we walked along toward the Shadow Quarters, and the meat was extremely salty and oily, but the bread was so soft and fresh that it paired with the meat perfectly.
“Oh, wow.” Ashe’s eyes grew wide as she took her first bite of the bread. “This is sooo soft and moist on the inside.”
“I told you it was good.” I grinned.
We were so absorbed in our meal, we didn’t have the ability to speak much as we devoured the meat and bread, but I thought over my plans as we walked along. I didn’t want to return to the manor house in the grove until we knew what we were walking into, so we needed to find out more about the elves who ran the mining operation. I doubted the tabaxi from yesterday would be able to tell us any more than he already had, since he seemed sincere about knowing very little yesterday. The dwarf woman and the kobold had been generous enough to speak with us, but they seemed out of the loop here as well, and it was clear we’d need a more informed accomplice if we wanted to gain information quickly around here.
The human with the brown hair was a complete mystery to me, and I couldn’t work out who, or what, he was by the clothes he wore. Sometimes it was easy to tell what sort of work a being did on the surface world, but this man had looked a lot like every other rich man we’d seen wandering around the Port of Rengfri. He had a distinct air about him, though, so I hoped it wouldn’t be too difficult to figure out what his deal was.
The vanished subordinate posed a large problem, too. If he was the middleman in all this, it would be crucial that I kept him alive and happily employed under me. Unfortunately, tracking vanishing mortals wasn’t an easy feat.
“What shall we do now?” Ashe asked as we crossed beneath the entryway of the Shadow Quarters, and she tossed her gnawed-on bone into the grass.
“What we really need is to hunt down that tinsel fairy again,” I mused. “She gave us good advice about the Grimmway before, and I’d be willing to bet her kind are well-informed on what goes on in this area.”
We continued through the streets that led along the outer edges of the Shadow Quarters, I glanced down every alley we passed while I looked for a pair of white wings. Ashe kept her nose trained on the hunt, and I was about to think we’d have to give up for the day when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“There,” Ashe murmured in a low tone, and she pointed up the road. “There’s a deliriously happy fairy around here…”
We carefully proceeded down the street, and a few seconds later, I heard a familiar giggle echoing from up ahead.
“Yeah, I think that’s who we’re after,” I whispered to Ashe.
“I’ve never been happier to hear the sound of a damn tinsel fairy,” she chuckled.
Ashe may not have been a fan of the fairy when we first met her, but she definitely wanted to see me succeed now, and the tinsel fairy was our best option moving forward.
The delicate giggle of the fairy led us toward the proper alley, and when we turned into the shadows, we were met with a tiny, brown-haired tinsel fairy. She had blue eyes that were too large for her face, and the intricate white wings that billowed from her back fluttered happily at the sight of us.
“We meet again, demons,” the tinsel fairy said with a coy smile.
“You must have known we were looking for you,” I guessed from her smile.
“I pay attention around here.” She shrugged her tiny shoulders.
“What is your name?” I asked.
“Sparkles,” the tinsel fairy replied, and I tried not to cringe at the deliriously bright smile she sent me.
“You can’t be serious,” Ashe snickered. “There’s no way your name is fucking Sparkles.”
The tinsel fairy’s smile hardened, and her blue eyes glinted until she looked a little deranged with her wings buzzing rapidly behind her.
“Are you making fun of my name, bitch?” Sparkles squeaked.
“No,” I quickly answered. “No, it’s just so… unusual. You won’t find any demons named Sparkles, so… I’m Atticus, by the way. This is Ashe.”
“Ooo, what a nice and flaky name,” Sparkles sneered at the demon woman, and Ashe rolled her eyes. “So, what is it you need this time?”
“Some insight,” I answered. “Your word proved helpful to us earlier, and we were hoping you might be willing to teach us a thing or two.”
“I suppose I could,” Sparkles giggled. “Only because I looove your pretty eyes, though… Atticus… and the shape of your arms and chest.”
I raised my eyebrows as she stared straight into my eyes, and I could sense the sheer delight she felt in response to my evil nature. Still, she didn’t smell particularly evil herself, and I smirked at the strange ways of the tinsel fairies.
These girls were maniacs.
“We were recently made aware of a dark elf who is the head of an… independent operation here,” I explained. “He’s based out in the grove beyond the Grimmway. Have you heard of him?”
“Hmm…” Sparkles tapped her tiny chin with a finger. “Does he illegally mine magical orbs?”
“That’s what we think, yes,” I replied.
“And he enslaves innocent imps to help him with the quest?” The tinsel fairy gave me a pointed look.
“Yes…” I nodded slowly. “That sounds familiar.”
“I know of him!” the fairy giggled. “He’s a real piece of shit.”
“We could have guessed as much,” Ashe sighed in frustration. “I don’t suppose you have anything more useful to tell us?”
“Hey, Ashe,” I muttered and glanced over. “Let’s be patient. Sparkles is being helpful.”
“Yes, and you asked if I’d heard of him,” the fairy said with a sarcastic grin. “I answered the fucking question, Flaky.”
“My name is Ashe,” my demon lover growled. “And I’d watch that glittery tongue of yours if you don’t want my claws tearing it--”
I carefully stepped between the demon and the fairy, and I offered Sparkles a charming grin while I blocked Ashe’s path.
“Is there anything you could tell us about this dark elf’s setup?” I asked. “Anything about the group that works for him, for example? We’re interested in learning as much as possible without drawing too much attention to ourselves.”
“Ooo, this sounds like all kinds of trouble,” Sparkles giggled with bright eyes.
“Correct,” I snickered back. “I’d wager you like causing trouble.”
“So much!” the fairy squeaked, and the same manic smile sprang to her face.
“Well, just so long as we remain discreet and informed, I think we can deliver on that front,” I assured her. “Do you think you could help us, Sparkles?”
“Oh, yes, I could,” the tinsel fairy giggled. “I can tell you that this dark elf you’re after has a group of eight other dark elves working for him. They’re all pieces of shit, and the leader gets a human man to conduct many of his transactions for him. So, apart from the innocent imps who are forced to mine the orbs, their whole group stays hidden and basking in their wealth as much as they can.”
“Fantastic.” I grinned. “That’s all very helpful.”
“I hope it is!” Sparkles squeaked. “Are you going to slaughter all of them?”
“That’s none of your business,” Ashe growled.
“I was asking your master, not you,” the fairy snapped, and she flushed with anger while Ashe gaped at her.
“How did you know he’s my master?” Ashe demanded.
“Because you look sooo pretty and tamed when he touches you,” Sparkles answered. “It’s sweet. I like it.”
“Oh.” My demon lover smirked a little, and then she shrugged. “Well, I like it, too.”
“I’m sure you do,” the fairy giggled. “I’ve always wondered w
hat demons are like together in bed, but after seeing you two side by side, I’m imagining it’s fucking wild--”
“Is there anything else you can tell us,” I cut in.
“No, I’m bored and want to go start a fire somewhere,” Sparkles sighed. “Oh! That reminds me. I should probably warn you to stay off the streets tomorrow.”
“Why?” I frowned.
“Because the Church banquet is tomorrow,” the tinsel fairy squeaked, and she rolled her eyes. “Those holy fuckers will be everywhere, and even more of them travel into the port from all over this time of year to attend.”
“Gross,” Ashe groaned.
“Mmm… yeah,” Sparkles giggled. “Normally, it’s funny to see everyone around here panic over it all, but last year, things got a little dicey. A lot of raids sprang up around the time of the banquet, so I’d be careful with those pretty eyes of yours.”
“Thank you,” I said with a nod. “We’ll keep that in mind, but are you sure you should be starting fires if this banquet is coming up?”
“Of course, I should!” Sparkles grinned like a lunatic. “Have a nice day!”
Before I could ask her any more questions, the tinsel fairy pivoted on her wings, dashed up into the air, and out of the alley.
“Great,” Ashe snorted. “We have a pyromaniac as an informant.”
“I kinda like her,” I chuckled. “She’s crazy.”
“I hate her giggles,” Ashe growled. “Her name makes me want to puke, too, but there is something charming about her energy. Like she’d burn the city down and sing a merry tune while she did it. I like that…”
“I got the same impression,” I snickered. “But I think we can trust her. Tinsel fairies may be mad, but it sounds like she’s got a grudge against the same beings we want to conquer. If she knows we’ll cause the trouble she wants, she’ll help us do it.”
“Well, that’s true,” the demon allowed. “She also loves our eyes… I have a feeling that sparkly bitch is dying to see what kind of havoc we’re capable of up here.”
