Don't Date Demons

by Sophie Stern

  Harrison seems to know what I’m thinking.

  “I didn’t touch it,” he says. “The blade is yours.”

  “It’s not,” I say.

  “It is. I know you don’t believe in using magic as a way to survive, but it chose you. I’ve never seen anyone use the Sword of Edith the way you did.”

  “How do you know I don’t believe in using magic?”

  “You’re too determined to depend on something like that,” he says, and I chuckle. Okay, so we’re only a few hours into this relationship and already, he’s got me pinpointed. Nailed. Understood.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything.”

  “How do you know so much about it? Edith? And for that matter, why is it called the Sword of Edith? It’s not really a sword, is it?”

  “You’re right,” he says. “It’s more of a knife.”

  “It’s because the name was translated wrong,” Daisy says from the darkness. I look toward the voice.

  “Are you okay?” I ask.

  “I’m alive,” she says. “That’s all I can say for now.”

  “She’s right,” Harrison says. I wonder how long Daisy was awake for. I didn’t hear her eavesdropping. “The blade was brought from a time long ago when languages were very different. Some of the earliest vampires brought it to this place.”

  “From where?”

  “Wherever the fuck they came from,” Daisy says.

  “We don’t know?”

  “Nobody knows. Hell, maybe. Heaven. Maybe another country. Maybe purgatory.”

  “Purgatory isn’t real,” I shake my head. Daisy and Harrison both laugh.

  “Fallen angels you can believe,” Daisy says. “Demons, you can believe. Purgatory, you question?”

  I shrug even though she can’t see it. Talking in the dark makes me feel uncomfortable, like I’m going to share more information than I might otherwise.

  “When the vampires began to speak other languages, they had to translate their old words so the new vampires could understand. Sometimes they made mistakes.”

  “Sometimes they said stupid stuff,” Harrison adds.

  “Was it a mistake, though?” I ask. “It felt...powerful. More than a knife would normally feel.”

  “It is magical,” they both say in unison.

  “Maybe,” I say, but I feel like their explanation is flawed somehow. I think they’re missing something. We all are. I stand up and move clumsily to the table. I try not to bump into anything, but in the dark, it’s nearly impossible.

  “A few more steps,” Harrison offers helpfully.

  “Thanks,” I groan as I bump into the corner of the table. Somehow, I manage to grab the blade and lift it up. I close my eyes and hold it, feeling its weight in my hands. “Tell me what you know about the blade, Harrison.”

  It’s not a question or a request. I already know what Daisy knows, so what information does Harrison have that we’re missing?

  “It was brought to City 3140 years ago, long before Derek was in power. It was kept by an eccentric billionaire who enjoyed traveling and, as legend would have it, a good glass of wine.”

  “What else?”

  “When he was killed a few years ago, the sword went missing. It was listed among the items stolen from his estate. An official investigation was opened, but nothing ever came of it.”

  “What makes it so powerful, though? Why did Zax want it so badly?”

  “I can answer that,” Harrison’s deep voice sounds. I wish we had lights because I’d give just about anything to see the expression on his face right now. Is he happy? Sad? Angry? How is he feeling about all of this? I don’t know him well enough to know what he’s thinking.

  You know him well enough to let him play with your breasts.

  My inner-voice is kind of a bitch sometimes.

  “Zax wanted to take Derek’s place. The sword is the only blade that can essentially one-shot vampires. It was blessed by a witch long ago.”

  “No, it was blessed by a demon,” Daisy says.

  “Uh, I thought it was blessed by an angel,” I offer up.

  “Well, which one is it?” Harrison asks.

  Wait a minute.

  “What if the reason it’s so powerful is that it was blessed by many different creatures? A sort of supernatural and overpowered weapon that could be used to destroy any enemy?”

  “In the wrong hands, it could be dangerous.”

  “In the right hands, though, it could save the world.”

  Daisy pipes up. “Well, we are in the midst of a war, I take it. Maybe we should, you know, try to do some good with it. After all, we kind of slept the day away. It might be time for us to stop being lazy and start doing some good.”

  In our defense, without getting some sleep after the adventure we had, we’d all die immediately. I can’t speak for demons, but tired humans don’t run very fast.

  “She’s right, you know,” Harrison says. “Derek isn’t going to stop. He’s going to slaughter the humans. We can help stop him.”

  “We can’t stop him. We’re only three people.”

  “But we have something other people don’t,” Daisy says. “We have the sword.”

  I lift it up and hold it even. I’m still missing something about this damn knife. Why is it called the sword? The people who made it were insanely clever, smart. They were brilliant. They were much too intelligent to have a translation error keep them from properly naming their weapon.

  But maybe that’s it.

  I hold it up again.

  “Edith,” I whisper. “What’s that old poem, Daisy?”

  “The one about the angels?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where angels lie, where demons die, where good witches fly, there is a place so bright and free, it’s hard to see at all. And once upon a midnight dream, there was a little mage, whose eyes so bright and hope so dear, could break free from any cage.”

  The sword glows.

  It begins to glow in my hand.

  “Uh, what the fuck?” Harrison says.

  “It’s an old nursery rhyme,” I whisper. “I heard Daisy singing it when she was pregnant.”

  “I used to sing it to my daughter,” she says. “But I didn’t know...it was just an old song.”

  “No,” Harrison says. “It was an old spell.”

  The swords glow grows stronger and as it does, the weapon elongates. It’s hot, heating my hand, and I’m tempted to drop it, but I can’t. Suddenly, the entire weapon turns icy and the light nearly vanishes. It falls to the floor, heavy, and I scoot forward to touch it.

  “What the fuck was that?” Daisy says.

  “I guess we know why it’s called the Sword of Edith,” I whisper. “It’s not a knife at all. It really is a sword.”

  We gather round the sword, which still has a very faint, very weak glow. For the first time in a day, I can see everyone’s face. Daisy looks exhausted. Harrison looks pissed.

  “Zax knew,” he says. “He must have known. Daisy, where did you hear the song?”

  “From him,” she admits, shaking her head. “He was the one who first sang it to the baby.”

  “He knew the spell and he knew he was going to go after Derek,” I say. “Daisy, what’s the counter-spell? What’s the next line of the song?”

  She sings the next line and the sword shrinks down again, hiding itself once more as a small blade. It looks like a knife again, but we all know the truth.

  “It’s not strong enough to kill a vampire like Derek in its knife form,” Daisy says. “Derek is much too strong and shrewd for that. Besides, you’d never get close enough. No one would. The sword, though, well, it seems very strong.”

  The magic that surrounds the weapon in its sword form is basically unbearable. I feel sweaty and tired just from holding the weapon. In knife form, its magical abilities are much more manageable. No one ever warned me that magic could make you tired.

  “Zax was a dick,” Harrison says. �
��But at least we know now. One slice and Derek will be gone.”

  “It seems too easy,” I say.

  Daisy scoffs. “Easy isn’t in the cards for us, I’m afraid, but Amy, I think we’ve got a chance.”

  “How?” I shake my head. “How are we even going to get close enough to Derek to kill him?”

  “We don’t have a choice,” Harrison says. “If we don’t, he’s going to destroy the entire city. Angels, demons, shifters, mages. Everyone is going to die.”

  “Unless we stop him,” she says.

  I know what the right answer is, and I know what I have to do, but is it wrong that I’m so scared? I’m absolutely, completely terrified of this and I don’t know why. I already went to the Mountain. I barely escaped in one piece. Now my friends want us to go on a new quest, a terrible quest, to save the city.

  It seems stupid and immature to believe we could do something like this, but when I look at Daisy and I think of everything she’s lost, I know there’s no way I can deny her this.

  “Okay,” I finally say. “We’ll do it. But first, I need new glasses.”

  “I don’t think there’s anywhere we can go for those,” Harrison says. “Everything’s basically on lockdown.”

  “Don’t worry,” Daisy says with a smile. “She knows a guy.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Harrison

  The guy she knows is a total nerd-demon who lives with his adoptive shifter parents. When Amy and I knock on the front door, a wolf and a bear answer the door. They don’t speak. Instead, they step aside and give us room to walk by. Obviously, they recognize Amy, but no one speaks. It’s a little unnerving.

  Amy leads the way down the hallway of the little house, which is brightly lit. Apparently, the shifter family isn’t worried about vampires coming by for a snack. Vampires don’t eat demons. They certainly don’t eat shifters. One tried, long ago, and the death was so painful and terrible that it’s become something of a horrible urban legend for vampires everywhere.

  Shifter blood doesn’t quite taste the same as human blood.

  The house is clean, albeit a little musty, and Amy leads me down the hall. It’s lined with pictures of the demon man and his parents. In some pictures, they all look human. In others, the parents are in their shifter forms. I wonder what’s more comfortable for them. Are they happiest when they look like their true selves?

  Or do they like looking more humanish?

  At the end of the hallway is a door. Amy raps five times and then turns the knob.

  “Why five?”

  “Just to let him know it’s me.”

  The door opens to a narrow staircase. Again, she leads the way, unafraid. I move to go first, but she stops me.

  “He’ll be upset if you go first,” she says. “He doesn’t know you.”

  “Uh, okay.”

  By the time we reach the foot of the stairs, I can see the entire basement. It’s big and wide. There are floor-to-ceiling items. Lots of tech. Lots of equipment. It’s kind of stunning, really. Everything is glowing and beeping. There are clear boxes and each one is labeled with its contents. I see night vision glasses, ear pieces for easy communication, and a bunch of items I’ve never even heard of.

  “Amy!” The man says. He stands from his command center at the back of the room.

  “Ezekiel!” Amy rushes forward. He moves to meet her, but I notice he has a slight limp. A vampire injury, perhaps? Maybe Ezekiel has seen his own share of violence.

  He wraps her arms around him. A quick pang of jealousy washes through me, which is stupid. Amy isn’t mine to keep or hold. She’s not even really mine to protect, but I’ll be damned if I don’t keep her completely safe. She’s not going anywhere. I’m not going to let any harm come to her.

  None.

  “It’s been awhile,” he says, looking at her. “Everything okay? How are the glasses I made you?” Suddenly, Ezekiel seems to notice me. He stills. “And who is your friend?”

  “This is my,” Amy looks over her shoulder at me. How is she going to finish that sentence? More importantly, how should she finish it? It’s not like we’ve had time to talk about our relationship. We don’t know what it means, how it works. Neither one of us has taken the time to define what happened between us in the apartment.

  In all honesty, we aren’t even friends.

  We don’t know very much about each other at all.

  “This is my lover,” she finally settles. The look on Ezekiel’s face is a mixture of horror and shock, followed by realization and disappointment. I almost feel totally bad for the guy. Obviously, he has a thing for Amy, but I’m guessing that she doesn’t return his sentiments.

  Lover, though?

  What an interesting word choice.

  Out of all the things I thought she’d say, lover was not one of them. I try not to let my sheer excitement show. The idea that Amy would consider me to be her lover sends a thrill through me.

  “My name is Harrison,” I say with a short bow. Demons rarely shake hands with other demons. It’s more polite to bow, which is what I do. It lets him know that I respect him and that I’ll follow his instructions as carefully as possible. I’m letting him handle this one. I’m not trying to step into his territory or anything like that.

  After the slightest hesitation – which I’m not even sure Amy notices – Ezekiel bows back to me.

  “A pleasure,” he says.

  “Well, then,” Amy says. She turns back to Ezekiel. If she’s noticed any amount of agitation or discomfort between Ezekiel and myself, she doesn’t show it. “The reason for our visit,” she begins.

  “Yes,” Ezekiel looks at her. “How can I be of assistance?”

  “It’s the glasses,” she says slowly. “They were damaged.”

  Ezekiel sighs and holds his hand out without another word. Amy pulls them from her pocket and thrusts them over. He makes a clicking sound with his tongue as he considers the glasses. He holds them in his hands, turns them over, and finally nods.

  “Water damaged?”

  “Yes.”

  “Anything else?”

  “No.”

  “One week,” he says.

  “One hour,” she counters.

  “It’ll cost you.”

  “I’m good for it.”

  “Well then,” Ezekiel smiles and motions to the couch on the other side of the room. “Have a seat.”

  Amy and I sit down. She leans back and closes her eyes, as if this is the most normal thing she’s ever done.

  As if our entire lives aren’t about to change drastically in the next few hours.

  “Do you come here a lot?” I ask her.

  “When I need something,” she tells me. “Ezekiel is the best.”

  “I can see that,” I murmur. “It’s quite the setup.” Even for a demon, Ezekiel’s lair is impressive. I’m guessing this took him years to build up. He’s remodeled the space and if I had to guess, he did it on his own without parental involvement.

  “How did you two become friends?” I’m curious.

  “Through a mutual buddy,” Ezekiel offers. He doesn’t look up.

  “Daisy,” she says, filling me in. “They had worked together on a job before and then when Daisy and I got together, Ezekiel was able to help us out more than a few times.”

  “Saved her ass,” Ezekiel clarifies. “I saved her ass. A lot.”

  “It’s true.”

  “Well, I suppose I should be thanking you,” I say to Ezekiel, but he just shoots a glare in my direction and turns back to the glasses, which he is painstakingly fixing. Something tells me that he’s a little disappointed I’m here, but I try not to worry about it. I’m not in any sort of competition, after all.

  Besides, it’s nice to have a few minutes where we don’t have to worry about being hunted or found by vampires. I don’t like the idea that the vampires might be looking for Amy. She’s a kind person. She doesn’t deserve to be sought after by monsters.

  Ezekiel’s family doe
sn’t have to worry about being hunted. They’ve done nothing wrong, after all. Normally, a demon wouldn’t think twice about being found or bothered by vampires, but Zax made sure I had a bounty on my head. I’m sure of it. He might be gone, but that’s not going to stop vampires form hating me. Hell, even the angels probably hate me.

  And then there’s Amy.

  Sweet, gentle Amy.

  She doesn’t even know half of what we’ve really gotten ourselves into. I get the feeling that Amy genuinely thinks this is going to be an easy fix. After all, she’s so damn brave. She doesn’t seem like she’s ever been scared of anything in her life. I know that’s not true. She was scared last night, but she was also willing to fight. That’s the thing about Amy. Even when she’s afraid, she’s bold.

  Even when she’s nervous, she’s willing to fly.

  Today is going to be hard. We’re going to have to find a way to get into the Mountain and we don’t have a lot of time. We’ll need to get the magic users to stop their barrier. If we can convince them to stop what they’re doing, then we may have a fighting chance against the vampire. After all, it’s not like vampires can go out in the sun, and daylight is coming. We should reach the Mountain by mid-morning and if everything goes according to plan, we’ll be able to bring down the barrier when the sun is bright in the sky.

  If we can bring this entire thing crumbling to the ground when it’s daytime, then we’ll have a chance to destroy the empire that Derek has built.

  And we’ll have a chance to stop him.

  The barrier has to come down first, though. I’m not stupid. I know that if we sneak into the Mountain and try to attack Derek before we’ve taken out at least part of his army, we’re going to be totally, completely fucked.

  “Done,” Ezekiel says. I look up.

  “That was fast.”

  He shrugs modestly.

  “Come on,” he motions for Amy to come over. “Let’s see if they work.”

  She moves over to Ezekiel and reaches for the shades. He’s changed the exterior color, so they’re black and blue now instead of a deep grey.

  “Why the color shift?” I ask.

  To my surprise, he doesn’t seem irritated at the silly question.