Even as a rack of clothes appeared in front of them, Prax shrugged and walked by. Rack after rack of clothing slid in front of Prax. Each one, he simply sidestepped and moved on.
Until a solid brick wall appeared in front of them.
Scowling, he tore a one piece dress off of its hanger and haphazardly draped it over himself. “Happy. Now?”
The black dress had huge cutouts at the sides and one strap was torn from his handling. Far from anything Shalise would wear, but she didn’t exactly have fine control over what appeared. The only reason it covered anything was because of Prax’s bulky muscles holding it in place. But, it was better than nothing at all.
With a mental nod, Shalise said,
Prax stalked off down the hallway, grumbling under his breath as he went.
When they finally reached the main entryway–Shalise had to open the giant gate–they found three people standing on the other side.
Devon was one of them–as she guessed–but the other two would have had Shalise’s eyebrows halfway up her forehead had she had any control over her body.
“Professors Baxter and Lurcher,” Prax repeated. “Why are you here?”
The voice that came out of her mouth was hers, no doubt about that, but it was tainted with Prax’s lack of proper inflection. His question came more as a statement than any real question.
Devon and Professor Lurcher stiffened in an almost identical manner. Professor Baxter, however, took half a step forwards. “Shalise?”
“That isn’t her,” Devon said. “Even discounting the physical changes, there was no recognition in that thing’s eyes when it saw us.”
“Partially correct,” Prax said. “Shalise
Professor Baxter pulled back, giving Prax a glare.
A glare that Shalise could almost feel. It wasn’t a very nice glare. The professor’s arms were shaking. One of which, Shalise noted, had her silver dagger gripped tight with white knuckles.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing irreversible.”
Prax ignored her. “Though the situation is unusual, but she is alive and well. Very noisy too. I assure you, this situation is not by either of our choices. Shalise seems to be under the impression that you mortals had some insight I lack.”
“The nun said you had a familiar brand, but the demon is in control?” Devon scratched at his scraggly goatee. “Let’s see it.”
Shalise gave a mental sigh as Prax gripped the already torn strap of the dress and pulled. The fabric tore right down the middle, revealing a full half of her chest, including the mark.
Professor Lurcher immediately spun to one side, averting his gaze. Professor Baxter first glared at Prax, then at Devon.
Who, notably, did not turn away. Rather, he walked forwards and knelt down right in front of Prax.
A scary look came over Professor Baxter as Devon started poking and prodding around the brand. She looked about ready to stab him in the back.
“This is a regular familiar sigil,” he said, oblivious to Professor Baxter’s continuing glare. “But you are a cambion. You shouldn’t be able to take over your host. What did you do?”
“The biggest difference would be the state of her soul and my core. Neither of which were inside our respective bodies at the time of our familiar bond.”
Professor Baxter’s anger faded in the blink of an eye. Her face turned white as a sheet. “Her soul?”
“We got them back,” Prax said.
Shalise’s vision rolled up to the black sky as Prax said, “Juliana as well. And everything was normal up until we regained our souls. Then, our control switched and I have been unable to break our bond thus far. I believe that my core and her soul have been muddled together.” Prax spread his arms wide as he put on a smile. “Now,
Professor Baxter’s already sheet white face turned several shades paler. Professor Lurcher still faced away from them.
On the other hand, Devon scratched at his chin. “Merged souls? But you talk about her as if she were her own entity still.”
“She is,” Prax agreed.
“Fascinating. I wonder if there were a way to properly get you two tog–”
“Foster,” Professor Baxter snapped. Her voice had a slight tremble to it, but most of her paleness had vanished and had been replaced with anger. “If you say one word that does not involve returning Shalise to normal, I will personally dose you with so much memory potion that you will be unable to remember how to learn.”
