Studies in Demonolgy: the complete series

by Nichols, TJ

  “That sound’s good. You look tired.”

  “I was up all night.” As the words left his mouth, he knew what it sounded like, even though that hadn’t happened. He wanted to explain, but he saw the look on Terrance’s face.

  It was better that he just shut up and let Terrance sort out how he was feeling.

  Angus had no idea how he was feeling. Was he trying to hold on to the almost nothing he had with Terrance because he was desperately seeking a reason to come back here?

  Mages didn’t have family; the whole tribe was their family. But he wasn’t a mage. Or a demon. He was human, and he didn’t want to be alone with just his magic and studies.

  “I’m going to go.” Terrance took a step back. “I’ll see if there’s any winter clothes around for you.”

  Angus wanted to ask him to stay, but that wouldn’t be fair. He watched him leave the room. Angus closed the door with a click. In another life he’d have been dating Terrance to see if there was something worth exploring. In this one he was letting him go because he knew that anyone he got close to would get hurt.

  Too soon, the masked warlock from the underground woke Angus. Then someone drove him to see his mother. He was still wearing his demon clothing under a borrowed jacket and shoes.

  It was a reminder that he didn’t belong in either world.

  He hadn’t seen Terrance since that morning. Maybe he’d be back this evening so they could spend the night together before Angus went back to Demonside. Was it wrong to hope?

  The car stopped at the curb in front of the house, and Angus got out. The whole trip had been silent, and Angus hadn’t bothered to break it. The car disappeared around the corner. If things went badly, he’d be escaping to Demonside.

  Snow dusted the sidewalk even though it was only autumn. He scuffed his foot in the stuff, sketching out an A like he used to when he was a kid. Then he erased it and stared at the house he’d grown up in. He shivered, the light pants from Demonside not keeping him warm at all. Heatstroke, then hypothermia. Did neither world like him?

  He made his way up the path and knocked on the door, not sure if his mother was even home. His heart was beating hard. What if she didn’t want to see him because his father had poisoned her mind? How fast would she ring the cops or his father?

  The door opened, and there she was. She looked as though she’d been crying. Her hair was pulled back in to its usual bun, but bits were sliding out.

  Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hand. “Angus? I thought you were gone for good this time.”

  “No, Mom.” Angus hugged her and shut the door. “I’m not that easy to get rid of.”

  She squeezed him harder. “Your demon should be killed for continually snatching you. It shouldn’t be allowed.”

  Ah, so that was the explanation being given. He closed his eyes. She was crying again. He didn’t want to join in, but he knew this might be the last time he saw her. She might never want to see him again after this.

  There had to be another way.

  He had no idea what it was. The underground wouldn’t help him if he didn’t help them. The college was never going to help him, and the police would arrest him. He needed the underground. They were the only ones who could bring him back from Demonside. Demonside would drain him eventually, taking the magic in his blood and then his soul even if he didn’t participate in any rituals.

  She released him. “I should never have let you go to Warlock College. You never wanted to go.”

  “I like magic.” Angus tried to give her a reassuring smile. It faltered for a moment. He couldn’t let her believe that it was Saka’s fault. She needed to know it had been his father. “Mom, my demon didn’t snatch me. Dad sent me over.”

  “What? That makes no sense. Why would he do that?” She stepped away from him. “He was so proud that you were finally a warlock.”

  He hadn’t told Angus that. His father had offered him a way out of the Warlock College—hand over Saka and get a mind wipe. If he’d taken that option, his life would’ve been easier. Would he have realized that something was wrong every time he listened to the news and saw the spreading icecaps or a demon in the streets? Or would the mind wipe have been so thorough he wouldn’t have realized anything was amiss? That was a chilling idea. He’d have been like everyone else, looking to the warlocks for help without realizing they were the cause.

  “Dad wanted me to hand over my demon so he could take Saka’s magic.”

  His mother stared at him as though he’d been speaking another language. “Why didn’t you? Your father knows about these matters. Your demon snatched you. He should be killed. I’m sure your father would’ve made good use of that magic. They need all they can get to stop these brutal winters.”

  Angus sighed. She wasn’t going to listen to him. He couldn’t convince her that demons were people too, and she would never side with the underground. He closed his eyes and drew in a breath. He needed to walk away. Maybe one day when things were better, he’d be able to stop by and see her.

  “I came to say good-bye, Mom. It’s not safe for me to visit you. The police want me. I’m accused of being a rogue warlock.” He wanted to make sure that she didn’t look for him, but he couldn’t lie and say that he was safe. Nothing he was doing these days was safe or sensible or anything like the way he’d imagined his life or even studies going.

  “Your father can fix that. I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding.”

  “He caused it.” He smiled sadly at her. “Whatever they say about me, I am trying to stop the ice from overtaking the world. I am trying to be a good person and help others, the way you always told me to. I’m going to become a healer.”

  “Angus, I think you are confused. Let me call your father. We can talk this through. Fix it up. You’ve obviously been through a lot and are upset.” She touched his cheek as though he was a child in need of calming. “Maybe you need a rest.”

  Her life was going to be ruined. He’d be gone. Her husband would be gone.

  A car pulled into the driveway. She didn’t need to ring his father. The people who had dropped him off had obviously called his father to tip him off. The car door slammed. He was running out of time with his mother.

  “I’m sorry, Mom.” Not for being who he was, but for the pain he was going to cause.

  The front door opened. Angus knew who it was before his father walked into the room.

  “You made it back.” His father didn’t seem happy that his son was alive.

  Angus faced his father. “I’m hard to kill.”

  “Tell him this is all a mistake, dear.” His mother looked at her husband.

  “Angus has been consorting with demons. He has joined the underground. He is no son of mine.” His father pulled a knife.

  Angus had nothing. He didn’t know where the knife that Saka had given him was, or any of his other things. The underground hadn’t given him any weapons—but then who would expect a father to pull a knife on his son? His gaze flicked to the blade. That was a knife made for stabbing and killing, not the fine little blade that Saka liked to use to draw blood.

  “No.” His mother stepped between them.

  Angus moved from behind her, he didn’t want her caught in the middle.

  “Stay out of this. Call the police and tell them that we have Angus in custody.” His father ordered his mother in a way Angus had never heard before.

  She hesitated, then backed away to obey, her gaze darting between her husband and her son.

  “There is no escape this time. I cannot send you back since your underground friends will just retrieve you.”

  “You could let me leave. We don’t have to do this.”

  “You have broken too many laws.” His father held the knife loosely.

  “So have you. The unwritten rules were supposed to protect demons and humans.” Behind him, Angus felt the shimmer as his father opened the void. Angus still needed to walk the circle, and it took him time to pluck apart the void
. His father was much more powerful—but then he’d killed plenty of demons to get that way.

  Angus knew how this was going to happen now. He knew why the car hadn’t waited.

  “The unwritten rules were created by weak warlocks who couldn’t see a different future.”

  Someone moved behind him, a demon. He could feel the cold of the void but at the same time, the scent of Demonside, dry and spicy. He longed for the heat and the noise of the tribe. The singing to keep away the riverwyrms.

  Angus didn’t argue with his father. There was no point. His father believed in what he was doing, that somehow the world would be better if it was colder and magic was locked up by a select few. It would take a very long time for the magic to trickle back across the void and for the world to warm. It would be too late for a barren Demonside.

  “Don’t let him through,” his father ordered his demon. “What I want to know is how you got a mage. A demon bursting with power. We would all like to know.”

  Angus smiled. “I have no idea… maybe because I never believed that a demon should be used as a means to an end.” He was lying now, but there was no way that he was going to share the truth. If his father or the college knew that mages could select, then they would find a way to manipulate it.

  “All you had to do was follow in my footsteps, and you could have had everything you ever wanted.”

  “I have everything I need.” He spread his hands and stepped back. He glanced over his shoulder. His father’s demon, the one who had saved him from the riverwyrm, was waiting. “Do you want me to fight? Cry or beg? What would ease your mind?”

  Sirens were coming up the street. His mother had called the cops, and they weren’t wasting any time. He glanced to where she had been standing, but she was gone, hiding.

  His father rushed him. The knife sank into Angus’s stomach. Angus grasped his father’s hand. Instead of catching Angus and taking him across, the demon turned. Angus and his father tumbled across the void.

  Angus’s back hit the hot midday sand of Demonside. Pain radiated through his body, each breath was short. He stared at the knife is disbelief. His father had stabbed him.

  Angus’s hands slipped on the blood, and he let go of his father.

  His father pulled the knife free and raised it to stab again. Angus gritted his teeth but didn’t close his eyes. He’d make the bastard look at him. He pressed his hand to the wound, blood wept between his fingers. He wasn’t a doctor, but he knew it was too much.

  “You couldn’t even die properly. You’ve dragged me to this demon-riddled desert. You were a failure as a warlock and a son.”

  Angus would’ve said that he was a failure as a father, but he was struggling to breathe.

  The winged demon caught his father’s hand before he could bring the knife down. The wrist snapped.

  His father screamed and dropped the knife. “Release me. I command you.”

  “You command no one here.”

  “You can’t harm me. The unwritten rules forbid it.” The words died on his father’s lips as he realized what he was putting his faith in.

  The demon forced Angus’s father to his knees. “You will apologize to Angus.”

  “Never. I will be retrieved.”

  The heat seeping from the sand was nice. Angus was cold. He’d never felt cold in Demonside before. His fingers were slick and warm where they covered the wound. His blood was wetting the sand. This wasn’t supposed to be how he died in Demonside.

  “Saka.” His voice was little more than a whisper.

  He could hear shouting. Demons didn’t shout, or at least he’d never heard them shout.

  A vampry knelt beside him.

  Angus flinched. He wasn’t ready to give up his soul. He turned his head away. “No.”

  “Hush.” The vampry placed her hand over the wound.

  Another demon appeared and added his hand. “We can’t wait.”

  A circle went up around the three of them.

  Angus wanted to move, to argue, but he’d run out of energy. The vampry placed her other hand on his forehead, and his eyes became heavy. Something moved within him, a tearing heat. He might have screamed.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Saka paced his tent. An entirely useless activity but there was nothing else that he could do. It was dusk. He should be up the mountain, but he wasn’t. No one had expected him to go. He wouldn’t have been able to concentrate anyway.

  He’d arrived too late to do anything but stare in horror at the dark stain in the sand around Angus’s body. Saka had wanted to lash out with magic at the old warlock who was Angus’s father for doing this. Someone had held him back. Several someones. They had stopped him from doing something he would regret, though no one would’ve blamed him. Loss could temporarily break a mind.

  The ache he’d felt when Kitu had vanished was nothing like the fragmentation of his entire world he’d felt when he’d heard his name being shouted out across the sand.

  He forced himself to stand still and be calm. It was for the best he wasn’t up on Lifeblood. He’d want to hold the knife and spill the blood, but a ritual was best done with a cool head and a calm heart. His was still beating too hard.

  Saka paced to his bed and swept the curtain aside. Angus hadn’t woken.

  Most people thought magical healing was neat and easy. It wasn’t. But it was effective. The mages who had attended Angus both knew what they were doing. He wouldn’t have been able to focus, but he could’ve lent energy or at least held Angus.

  The tent grew dark, and Saka lit a single orb. He didn’t want to leave. People had left food, or clothing, or items that Angus would need to live, as if they could entice him to stay in his body. His body would be healing… but there was still a chance that he wouldn’t wake if the shock had been too great.

  Was this one too many?

  He remembered Angus’s smile as he’d decided to go home and see how things were.

  Saka wanted to keep him here forever and safe from the humans who would hurt him. If he didn’t wake tomorrow, he would have to go home. Maybe being there would help. Maybe the underground could do something.

  They had let him get stabbed—by his father.

  An angry snarl escaped as the rage bubbled back up. He wasn’t used to feeling so helpless or useless. He needed to do something. Anything.

  So he went back to pacing.

  Green light rippled across the sky, illuminating the tent for a moment before fading. Saka inhaled and then exhaled slowly. The warlock was dead. Saka expected that the warlock had hated every bit of rebalancing he’d been forced to participate in. That brought him a small amount of satisfaction. Which was very petty of him.

  He hoped that the magic helped lift the rivers and strengthen Demonside.

  That was a better thought. One that was more worthy of his status.

  Someone stood at the flap of his tent. Saka walked over. The woman bowed and held out her gift. He didn’t know her; she wasn’t from his tribe.

  “For the human mage from Guda’s tribe.”

  “Thank you.” Saka returned her bow and then unwrapped the bundle. It was a set of knives in a red leather wrist sheath. The handles were white bone. They were a very valuable set of knives. He had been planning on trading for a full set for Angus to use while he was here.

  “You are pleased?” She smiled uncertainly.

  “Yes.” How could he not be pleased? Even if he wasn’t, turning away a gift would be rude… worse, it might encourage Angus’s spirit to leave because he wasn’t valued.

  Usually demons would want the human to give up their soul. But not this time. Saka hadn’t realized that anyone else, or any other tribe, had really cared about Angus. He thought they’d healed Angus because they knew that was what he’d want. And maybe because Angus was not a bad human, but one who was trying to help. He saw now it was more than that. The greater tribe wanted him to live.

  “Thank you. I am sure that he will use these well.” If he
wakes up.

  “If you ever need knives, I would gladly trade with you.” She bowed again and disappeared into the night.

  Saka carefully rewrapped the knives. In the morning he would have to speak to the trainees. They knew what had happened to Angus and would want to know what had happened to his father, but they had been kept out of it. No doubt they would be shaken.

  Putting himself out of the situation for a moment helped, but not for long.

  He put the knives with the other items spread over his main room. Angus had managed to accumulate a life in half a day. Quite an achievement for a human warlock in training. Saka smiled. There was enough here to tempt him to wake up and rejoin his body.

  He stood by the curtain, watching Angus sleep. “You have work to do, warlock. I am not done with you. You will wake up.”

  He willed Angus to blink or stir. Nothing.

  Pacing all night wasn’t going to help. He needed rest too. Although he wasn’t sure that sleep would actually happen. He lay down on the bed, and the warm breeze skimmed over his skin. Outside the tent there was soft singing and talking. The usual sounds of life.

  Saka turned over to watch Angus. He was breathing.

  He put his hand out so he could feel the human’s heart beating. His fingers traced the mark he’d carved there. He leaned over and kissed it. Angus had a good heart. He’d known that from the first time he’d seen him.

  “I don’t want another warlock.”

  Angus’s chest stilled for a moment before resuming the even breaths. Saka propped himself up. He kept his hand over Angus’s heart. “I don’t want another warlock. I want you.”

  There was a definite reaction this time. Angus blinked a few times as if trying to focus. He went to move, but Saka kept him down.