by J. P. Rice
My desk held my computer monitor and a corded phone. That was it. Nothing fancy.
She hung up the phone, and spoke calmly, “There you are. The door was unlocked so I wandered in and couldn’t find anyone in here. I was just about to call your cell phone.”
The door was most certainly locked. I eyeballed her suspiciously.
She stood about five-five, bronze skin with light freckling, rich mahogany eyes flecked with silver sparks and long, red hair, Titian-tinted to be precise. She smiled shyly and revealed a crooked set of teeth. Her long, thin nose sniffed the office air and her wide set eyes carried a sense of calm confidence. The homely woman should have been nervous, and her sense of ease made me uneasy.
As I studied her briefly, I detected dark magic coming from her.
I caught a whiff of sesame and orange. It led my eyes to a burning candle on my desk. “What the hell. Did you light my candle?”
She put her hands up in front of her chest. “That was lit when I walked in.”
I went over and pinched out the flame. It was a special candle I’d made in the Deep Burrow to celebrate a new beginning with my girlfriend. I’d planned to light it before our special conversation.
I got back to the issue at hand. “What do you need help with?”
She fingered her ginger locks, casually throwing the tangled mess over her shoulder. The blue spandex pants and matching long-sleeved shirt showed off an attractive figure. “It’s something in my basement. I’m not sure what it is. I hoped that you could help me get rid of it.”
I kept playing her game as I brought all my magical repertoire to the surface. “Do you have any idea what it could be?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never seen it. Only heard it. I’m too afraid to go down there.”
More dark magic vines were slipping out of her purple tennis shoes and wiggling around on the floor. Only people versed in magic could see the vines. They were important when sizing up an opponent and could range in size from a drinking straw to a telephone pole.
I didn’t even want to know her name yet. There was a good chance I’d end up killing her. I didn’t need that weighing on my conscience right now. “Where do you live?”
“Excuse me?” The question seemed to take her by surprise as she scratched her left clavicle nervously. Her cheeks reddened, hiding her freckles.
“Where. Do. You. Live?”
It was a simple question, four simple words, yet she paused again, setting off alarms. She finally said, “Just down in the city.”
“Where?” I pressed, trying to gauge her reaction.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve been stalked before and I’m not comfortable just giving out my address.” The lobes of her ears were starting to turn red.
“I understand that, but if you want my help, I need to know where to go.”
“So you will help me? I’d like to be sure.” Her eyes darted around the room.
Something shady was going on. Was the ‘thing’ in her basement infecting her with dark magical forces? Hell, was there even a basement to begin with?
I had to be careful. “I’d like to say yes, but I’m not sure what we are dealing with. I’ll definitely take a look at it.”
“I’m kind of in a rush, but I’m just glad you can help. Sorry, but I have to go now.” She walked by me, heading for the door.
“Just a minute. I need a way to get back in contact with you.”
“Right. Sometimes I’m just so forgetful.”
Time for the setup.
Keeping an eye on her, I went over to my desk and grabbed a small note pad and a pen. I placed the pad on the desk and handed her the pen.
It was time to see if she knew the Pittsburgh area code or if she was just bullshitting me. She leaned over and her right sleeve moved up her arm, revealing a tattoo on top of her wrist. Noticing the Dank Artistry symbol of the Red Cavern, I brought my magic to the surface.
I pounced and grabbed her arms, pinning them behind her back. “Nice tattoo, demon. Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?” I was expecting a fake number, not a demon.
She struggled to get away, but her strength was no match for mine. I easily corralled the much smaller woman, and she stopped trying to break the hold. I said, “You might as well come with the truth. I know you’re in cahoots with the Red Cavern.”
“Fuck.” She took a deep breath. “Let me go and I will tell you.”
“Here’s the deal. I will let you go. However, if I suspect that you are going to try something stupid, like running again, I won’t hesitate to fuck you up. Don’t be foolish.”
I released my grip, and she turned around facing me. Her shape and features were all the same, but her skin had turned deep purple. “You are a demon.”
“Tremendous observation. Why don’t you just let me go?”
“Why don’t you just tell me what the hell you were doing first?” I moved my back closer to the door.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I was sent here by the Jersey Devil to tap your phone.”
“Sons a bitches. Why would you demons want to tap my phone?”
She explained, “Because you always seem to know what’s going on in this city. At least that’s what the Jersey Devil said. They keep going back and forth on whether they want to kill you or not. The devils still believe you are corruptible. The Jersey Devil says you have a soft spot for women that’s going to get you killed one day. He really doesn’t like you, by the way.”
“The feeling is more than mutual. Back to the subject at hand. Why did he send you? Why not just do it himself?”
She stared at the ground and looked up with her long lashes fluttering. “Because I begged him to do it.”
Shocked, I asked, “What? Why? What do you have against me?”
Her purple chin swung back and forth as she shook her head. “Nothing against you. I was going to tap the phone and then make a run for it.”
“Make a run for what? Where are you going to go?”
“To get away from my cruel life in the Red Cavern.” She looked out the window in wonder. “I don’t know where I’m going to go. I can look like a human as you saw earlier.”
Now I was intrigued. “Won’t they come after you?”
“Don’t care. I already feel dead inside.” She drew in a long breath and asked dramatically, “What do I have to lose?”
“Your life.” I had learned from many sources that demons didn’t have the same emotions as humans. They all supposedly took pleasure in the misery of others. A society of schadenfreude.
She huffed. “What life? Being used for my body by the will of the Chieftains, demi-devils and devils. What’s that? It’s not living, I can tell you that. You might as well kill me right now and get it over with.”
An idea struck me. “No. I hate to do this to you, but I have to send you back to the Cavern.” I hoped to trade the demoness for my knife, subsequently saving my own life.
She muttered, “I’m not going back.”
“Oh, I’m afraid you are.” As soon as the words escaped my mouth, a sudden unseen force blasted me in the chest, knocking me back into the front door of my office. I bounced off the door and crashed to the ground.
How the fuck had she done that?
The demon tried to hop over me and escape. Reaching up at the last moment, I grabbed the tight pants around her ankle. The young woman had strength, dragging me toward the entrance. She pulled the door open and squirmed to get loose. Reaching out with a stretched right arm, I clutched onto the spandex covering her backside, firmed my grip and dragged her back in.
I jumped up, still holding her leg and she toppled to the ground. Reaching over, I slammed the door shut and went to lock it. Before I could accomplish that, the demoness bit my calf and I yelped in pain. Yanking my leg away was a bad idea, stretching the skin even further and causing more damage.
Using my other leg, I repeatedly stomped on her chest until she finally unclamped her jaw. I went to dive on her but
another invisible force hit me, lifting me, holding my body parallel to the ground. The demon sprang up with a wicked uppercut and caught me flush on the chin.
My teeth smacked together in an uneven clack and bright streaks that looked like neon tadpoles raced through my peripheral vision. The force holding me up died and I fell four feet to the ground.
All right. Enough screwing around.
She tried to run past me again. I kicked her foot into her other one, and she tumbled into the front door shoulder first. I called on a lock bubble, worrying that with her advanced understanding of magic she would detect it.
She grabbed the door knob, twisted it, and pulled. Freedom was so close.
I blew into my hand and a bubble formed. A prism of colors raced around inside the giant bubble. Just before the demoness ran out the front doorway, I flung the lock bubble toward her. One side rammed into her back, and the central force of the bubble pulled her inside.
I raced over to the door, delicately pulling the bubble toward the middle of the room as she pounded on the shell, attempting to break it. I locked the door, and turned back to my visitor.
“Not bad.” I rubbed my jaw. “You’ve got some pretty sweet magic skills. I couldn’t even see your forces coming at me. You’re one of the first ones.” Her weak magical vines had acted as a decoy. I’d never seen that before on a being.
She spoke without emotion, “Lot of good it did me. Why do you want me to die?”
Aaah, she was throwing down the sympathy card. I explained, “It’s either you or me. If I don’t get this knife back from Aka Manah, I’m a dead man. Sorry about the bad life in the Red Cavern, but you’re a demon.”
“You’re going to trade me for a knife? A piece of property? I suppose that’s what I am.” Her head slumped down in disgust. That was pretty convincing. Maybe some demons did have similar emotions to humans.
I tried to explain, “It’s not exactly like that. This knife has rune symbols on it that have been blessed by the Celtic Gods. It can be used to cause great harm if it falls into the wrong hands, as it had when Aka Manah claimed it for himself. I knew that if I lost it, the wage would be my life. So it’s not just a knife, its basically my life. My life or a demon’s.” I raised and lowered my two hands like invisible scales to weigh the decision. “Not a hard choice.”
“Doomed by birth, huh?” Her bottom lipped trembled. Damn, she was good.
“Excuse me?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “You’re saying that because I was born a demon, I should believe in all the disgusting things they do. Not every demon is evil, just like not every human is benevolent. Ever heard of a guy named Hitler?”
She wasn’t talking crazy. I concurred, “I see your point, but there’s really nothing I can do. It’s you or me.”
“I guess he was wrong.” She sniffled, tears building in her glossy eyes.
“Who was wrong?”
She paused and swallowed. “The Jersey Devil said you had a soft spot for women. Guess he was wrong.”
“Looks like it.” I tried not to let her get to me. Coming from a shitty past, I felt for her, but sometimes life presented difficult choices. I tried not to let my sympathy cloud my head.
She started crying. I didn’t know demons cried. It all seemed like an extravagant act until actual tears had been shed. “What—what are you doing?”
“I’m crying, you obdurate jerk. Am I not allowed?” She wiped her cheeks with the backs of her hands.
“But you’re a demon. Demon’s aren’t supposed to have feelings.” No. Nope. Not falling for it. Before a surge of sympathy ran through me, I went to the closet and picked up the bungee cords.
Before you ask. Yes, detaining bad guys was exactly why I kept bungee cords in my office. With great care, I popped the bubble, and grabbed her ankles. After I secured her legs so she couldn’t run, I forced her arms behind her back and bound her wrists.
I cast a protection spell on the bonds because her magic skills could easily allow her to break out of the bungee cords. I locked them into place, essentially turning them into steel, and stuffed her into the closet. Remembering that I would need to feed her in a little while, I shut the door.
Her screams caused further regret, but she was a demon, at least that was what I kept telling myself. I rushed out the front door before I changed my mind.
I needed her to get my knife back. I wasn’t cruel. Really, I wasn’t. Huh. I had always preached to never believe someone’s words, believe their actions. I realized how this looked bad, but I wasn’t a monster. Plus she was a demon. So why did I feel so rotten about it?
Confused about the situation? The Celtic Gods had given me an enchanted knife with explicit instructions not to lose it. Yes, I lost it. The condition was my life because of the destruction the object could cause.
Right now it was in the possession of Aka Manah and the demons of the Red Cavern. The demons hadn’t rushed to my front door to make a deal. In fact, I hadn’t seen the aforementioned Chieftain since he had grabbed the knife during a huge brawl and run away from me.
The clock was ticking. Hopefully, I could pull the trade for the demoness to save my life. I felt okay as long as no other distractions popped up. I wanted to make a bunch of calls.
I opened my door and detected an intruder in my house. I prepared to kick some ass.
Chapter 3
I stepped inside my house and sensed a strong level of magic. Was another demon inside my house? Was the girl in my office a red herring? I shushed Colossus with a crazy look in my eyes and tiptoed up the steps.
A creaking of floorboards above me told me that someone was in my lab. Slowly and quietly, I ascended the steps and reached the top. I heightened my senses and peeked around the corner. Closed door.
I knew it wasn’t Alayna because we had a rule of tying a yellow Beatles necktie on the outside door knob. We used the marker because my mentor/landlord came freely in and out of my apartment. Technically, her apartment. And she was a crazy Beatles fanatic. I kind of liked them myself.
Detecting one person, I put my hand on the door knob and steeled myself. A peal of thunder nearly made me jump through the roof. Settling down and shaking out my nerves, I prepared to bust in and kick some major ass until the smell of vanilla and roses snuck into my nostrils.
Alayna’s signature scent.
Not letting my guard down, I pushed the door open and performed a cursory scan of the room.
Only Alayna. The faerie stood about three-and-a-half-feet tall. Her thick braids alternated from black to platinum blond and hung to the small of her back. Fair skinned, the perfect homunculus always wore her signature, amethyst dress that could have come from a princess’ wardrobe.
Raising her hand, she shaded her blue eyes from the rush of incoming light. “Damnit, Mike. I think you may have ruined it.” The faerie turned on the light and returned to the long table in the middle of the room.
“Sorry. You forgot to put the tie on the door. What are you working up?”
“It’s a return agent. A liquid potion that when applied should return that person to this room. Hopefully. Let’s test it out.” She held up a clear vial. “We’ll go downstairs to find out if it works.”
I needed to broach the subject of the dragons. We arrived on the first floor, and I turned to my mentor. “We need to talk. In here, shall we?” I gestured to the couch.
We sat down on my couch. I said, “I assume you either saw or heard about the dragon infiltration.”
“No.” Her face carried a quizzical expression as she set down the vial.
“You didn’t hear them flying in?” I lived about ten miles from the city, but Alayna’s ears were much more powerful than humans.
“I was up in the lab with noise cancelling headphones on and with the lights out as you saw.”
I tucked my right foot under my left knee and faced Alayna. “Okay. We got dragons in Pittsburgh. Had to come at some point, right?”
Concern dashed thro
ugh her eyes and she spoke in a monotone, “Dragons. What color dragons?”
“The flying ones were black.”
She gasped dramatically, closed her eyes and lowered her head. “Were the other dragons the long, slithery ones known as river dragons?”
“They were calling them sewer dragons because they kept popping out of the sewers and manhole covers. But that does sound like them. Most of them were purple. Ugly looking suckers.”
She still had her head down, rubbing her temples with her thumbs. “I knew this day would come.”
The whipping wind beat against my apartment, lightning flashing through the closed blinds and thunder booming closely behind. I opened the blind and was met with a gloomy darkness. I asked, “What day would come? What are you talking about?”
“I want to tell you something, but I know it could end up getting you killed.”
That had never stopped her before. “Spoiler alert. Everything I do could end up getting me killed. The Gods are going to put me to death if I can’t return that runed knife in ten days. You might as well tell me.”
“It’s not just you who could be killed. And we’ll get that knife back.” She raised her chin, dreary eyed with crow’s feet racing back toward her temples. Her wrinkles only showed up when she was worried or scared.
“You. Are you talking about you?” My dog Colossus jumped up on the couch with us. He hated storms.
Alayna said, “I am. I haven’t told you much about my past.”
A light drizzle started tap dancing on the roof. I said, “You’ve basically told me nothing about your past. Except that you’ve lived in the Deep Burrow. No details though.”
She spoke with sorrow, “Because the details would have put your life in more danger than it already is. Imagine that if you can. If people were to find out my true identity, it would put a whole new army of baddies chasing after us.”
“As long as it’s not the beings from Sleepy Willow, we should be fine. Right?” I chuckled and immediately stopped. Alayna’s unblinking blue eyes and sealed lips spoke louder than a scream.
