“All I have to do is jump down there,” he said with a gesture towards the rippling summoning circle. “You’re the one who will be stuck here with him.”
“That’s–I mean–I should go. You should go.”
“If you want my advice, be far away when he gets here. If I were a mortal, I’d be at least a quarter of a planet away, if not hopping to another plane of existence. I hear the fairy queen’s realm is nice this time of year. Well, every time of year. She doesn’t allow it to be
“You’re rambling.”
“Tell you what,” he raised one of his gloved hands in front of him. A blue eyeball shimmered into existence hovering in the air. A glass eyeball. “That was a nice doll. I’d love the chance to kill you later. Get away from Zagan and use that in place of a doll to summon me.”
“Why would I want that?” Juliana half shouted.
“Well, you summoned me for a reason, I assume. At least this way, you’ll get me instead of some completely unhelpful demon.”
Juliana frowned and didn’t make a move to grab the eye.
“Take it or leave it, milady.” He gave a brief nod of his head. “I hope to see you soon.”
With another nod of his head, the demon collapsed. Like all the strings holding him up had been cut. Rather than crumple into a heap of limbs, he fell straight through the floor.
A moment later and the ripples ceased rippling. The glass eye still hung in the air.
Juliana plucked it out of the air with only a moment’s hesitation. She wasn’t being forced to use it and leaving it lying around didn’t seem a good idea. Perhaps Ylva would be willing to talk to her later on.
For now, she just wanted to leave before Zagan showed up.
— — —
The glass of hellfire shattered in her hand. The room temperature liquid burned her hand as it dripped to the floor. Small whiffs of steam dispersed into the room where the drops hit.
Martina Turner paid it no mind.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing,” repeated that infuriating demon. He was enjoying this. The grin on his face couldn’t mean anything else.
“And the demons that attacked my professors?”
“Nothing.”
Martina was glad she hadn’t reached for a second glass.
“Except…” Zagan trailed off. Waiting.
For her to repeat the word.
Absolutely infuriating. Martina was having second thoughts about summoning up demons as guards. Perhaps hiring on regular humans would be for the best. Less insubordination that way. She wasn’t sure she could handle much more between Zagan and Catherine.
And he still hadn’t continued his report.
“Except?” Martina said through grit teeth.
“I believe the embryonic girl is looking into that. Or the one she calls master.”
Martina flipped through a report on her desk. “Ah, yes. Randolph Carter. Harley Warren. Devon Foster. All aliases. The school’s administrators were rather interested in him following Eva’s little reveal. The self-proclaimed demonologist with no familiar and no–”
“I am interested in him myself. However, he seems fearful of me–”
“I do not wish to disturb him. He may be the reason I am here.”
“The big upset in Hell?”
“Something like that.”
Martina made a small humming noise as she nodded. He’d been short on details over that particular incident. Whatever it was had been enough for him to submit to a contract. To ask for one, no less.
“The administrators are wanting to hire him on as a special consultant. Likely in relation to these demons that attacked my professors. The demons you continually fail to turn up any information about.”
Zagan just shook his head with a smile. His golden eyes flashed lightly before settling down. “They do not concern me.”
“They concern me!” Martina slammed her hand down on her desk. Shards of glass embedded themselves into her fist. Before she could even feel the pain, the glass vanished from her hand, reforming into an unbroken cup full of hellfire. Martina grasped it and took a quick drink.
The demon in front of her gave a polite smile.
“Because they concern me,” Martina said, “they concern you.”
“Aren’t you hiring guards for this menial work? Surely they can handle it. The demon I sensed this afternoon wasn’t near as strong as a jezebeth or a carnivean. I have far better things to occupy my time with.”
Martina hit a button on her phone. Audio only, no video. She was once again forced to wait until the very last second before the other end picked up.
“Catherine,” she shouted. With any luck, the demon would have had her phone right up to her enhanced ears. “Would you have been able to deal with whatever demon appeared earlier?”
There was a short sigh on the other end of the line followed by what sounded like the turning of a page. “Undoubtedly. But…”
Martina could feel her blood pressure rising. “But?”
“It would have been too much work.”
Martina slammed the button to disconnect the call. Why that creature was considered a demon of lust rather than a demon of sloth, she would never understand.
“That doesn’t change that she would have been unable to deal with the carnivean and the jezebeth.”
