“No, they’re perfect.” I shifted my weight, feeling more silly than badass. “Where did all this stuff come from?”
Kai joined us, slipping knives into the pockets of his armored vest. “We started putting it together a couple months ago. We planned to surprise you on your first job, whenever that happened.”
“We might’ve mentioned it,” Aaron added, “except you’ve avoided all references to training, and without training, you can’t take jobs, so …”
I hid my guilty wince. It wasn’t that I was opposed to going on jobs with the guys. It was just that, well, they were already so accomplished—and powerful. In comparison, any attempt I made to train would seem like a kindergartener learning to tie her shoes.
Felix joined us, his expression bleakly disapproving. He handed me my phone, an earpiece clipped into it. “Your phone is all set up. Press this button to activate the mic.”
After hooking the earpiece into place, I slipped my phone into a front pocket of my new jacket. I was already sweating under the leather. No wonder some guildeds had been written up over the summer for skipping their leather gear.
Felix gave me a few more instructions on following the grid and reporting our movements, then scowled deeply at Aaron. “You keep her safe.”
“We will.”
“Are we ready?” Kai asked.
“We just need—”
Ezra walked out from the basement. He was dressed all in black and a thick strap crossed his chest, holding his two-part pole-arm that could be used as a baton, dual short swords, or a double-bladed staff. Long gloves ran up to his biceps, the knuckles and elbows reinforced with steel, and he wore a knitted black hat over his hair. Without the soft brown curls to soften his face, intimidating severity sharpened his features. His pale eye gleamed dangerously.
“—Ezra,” Aaron finished. “You ready?”
He nodded.
Felix looked across us. “You’re starting on Grid 132. Head southwest.”
With no more ceremony than that, the four of us trudged to the door. I could feel eyes on my back—Miles and Sanjana at the healers’ station, half a dozen members of other guilds, and scattered Crow and Hammer mythics. They watched us go, and as we filed outside, I couldn’t shake the feeling of a funeral march.
Chapter Nine
Walking through the empty streets was neither exciting nor mentally engaging, and that was leaving my brain with way too much time to dwell on what was coming.
As the four of us strode along dark sidewalks, I mentally cast about for less terrifying topics. The first one to jump to mind? Why, my chat with Izzah, of course. But there are appropriate times for delicate conversations about sensitive topics, and then there are excessively inappropriate times.
I can tell the difference. Really, I can.
Smiling brightly, I fell into step with Kai. He squinted at me with instant suspicion.
“Hello, Kai.”
“No.”
“‘No’ what?”
“Whatever you’re planning to ask me. No.”
Our quiet steps tapped against the damp pavement, but the rain had let up. Empty shops stared with blank windows as we passed. It was four in the morning, and the city wouldn’t wake for another couple of hours.
That was how long we had to lure out the demon and kill it.
I squashed my kindling fear and bumped Kai’s shoulder with mine. “Oh, come on. You don’t even know what I want to ask.”
“I know that snoopy look.”
A pout pushed my lips out. “I’m not snoopy. Ezra, I’m not a snoop, am I?”
His gaze shifted away from the nearest alley. He smiled at me. “Of course not.”
“Ha! See?”
“Snoopy is a mean word,” Ezra added. “You’re persistently inquisitive.”
My victorious grin faltered. “Wait—”
Felix’s voice buzzed in my ear, reporting Keys of Solomon activity in our area. I swallowed my retort and passed on the warning. As Kai led us into an alley, the comforting glow of the streetlights dimmed, and my gaze crept toward the rooftops. We didn’t need to go through alleys, but the whole purpose of this mission was to tempt the demon into attacking Ezra again.
Was the creature really waiting for Ezra to reappear? I tried not to think about the possible explanations for why the demon was so intent on murdering the aeromage. I might be “snoopy” about Kai’s love life, but when it came to Ezra’s secrets, I had no desire to pry.
Desperate for a distraction, I poked Kai in the arm. “Why did you dump Izzah?”
“I knew it would be something like that.”
“You broke her heart.”
“I know.”
His casual acceptance sparked my anger. “Do you enjoy being a complete douche-canoe to women?”
“Tori,” Aaron cut in with sudden irritation. “Lay off.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it, feeling torn. On one hand, I should respect Kai’s privacy and not freak over his romantic decisions, which had nothing to do with me. On the other hand, I had a hard time ignoring his shitty playboy habits.
Kai glanced at me, surprised I’d fallen silent. His mouth twisted. “I broke things off with her because of the death threats.”
His flat words took a moment to register. “Death threats? Against Izzah?”
He nodded, dark eyes fixed straight ahead. “From my family.”
Aaron and Ezra showed no surprise at this revelation, so they must know all about Kai’s roots—the runaway son of the mythic world’s largest crime syndicate. His two best friends must also know he was engaged to marry a woman his family had chosen.
“But you left,” I said quietly. “Don’t they realize you’ll never go through with the engagement?”
“They still consider me their property. Property has value, and they’ve promised it to another family. Even if a wedding never happens, anything that threatens the arrangement is unacceptable.”
In the eyes of his family, Kai’s relationship with Izzah must have threatened the engagement. So they, in turn, had threatened Izzah, and he’d ended things to protect her.
“That’s bullshit!” I burst out. “They can’t prevent you from dating anyone for the rest of your life!”
Kai snorted. “Actually, they can.”
“But—” I bit off my protest. Kai knew what his family was capable of better than me. “That’s completely unfair!”
“Life’s not fair.”
I struggled to control my helpless outrage. “Okay, I get why you ended things with Izzah. But … why do you date a zillion women, then?”
His eyebrows rose. “A zillion?”
“At least I didn’t say a bazillion women. So? Why?”
“Why not?”
I peered into his face as though I could activate my laser-beam vision and see what he was thinking. His mouth curved in a half smile but he said nothing more.
“His family can’t be bothered to keep track of every girl he takes out for dinner,” Aaron supplied unexpectedly, “so they mostly leave him alone these days.”
“Oh.” I supposed that made sense. And he did have an endless line of women waiting to date him. I’d seen firsthand how many phone numbers he received on even the most mundane outings.
As we crossed a street and entered another alleyway, I pondered his dilemma. Did his family intend to thwart him from ever having a meaningful relationship with a woman? No, wait. He’d said he was waiting for his fiancée to marry someone else. If she broke the engagement, then he’d be off the hook.
Tapping my lower lip, I wondered if there was a way to encourage this fiancée to hurry the hell up and marry some other dude.
“No,” Kai said.
“‘No’ what?”
“Whatever you’re thinking. No.”
I threw my hands up. “You don’t even know what I—”
As we stepped out of the alley and onto a sidewalk, I bit off my protest. So far, the streets had been eerily empty, but half
a block away, a dozen people stood in the center of the road. It wasn’t a friendly meeting, judging by the angry shouting.
Actually, make that familiar angry shouting.
“Is that Izzah?” I asked, squinting at the group.
“Sounds like it.” Kai took a step closer. “Who are the others? What are they yelling about?”
Aaron strode past us, taking the lead. “Dunno, but we should find out.”
Kai joined him, leaving me standing there. Was I the only one of us with a fully functioning short-term memory? We were expecting the demon to attack us at literally any moment, weren’t we? And our plan hinged on having zero witnesses to said attack? I glanced questioningly at Ezra beside me.
He shook his head. “Attention span of five-year-olds.”
“I suppose we should go supervise.”
“The kids might get in trouble if we don’t.”
We hastened toward the confrontation. Izzah and Mario, plus two other Odin’s Eye mythics, stood near a quartet of men and women in a tight cluster. Across from them were three men that couldn’t have looked more villainous if they’d tattooed swastikas on their foreheads.
Ezra abruptly stopped a solid thirty feet from the group. “Uh, maybe I’ll wait here.”
“Why?”
“There are contractors. Mario, plus two more in that group of four; they’re Grand Grimoire mythics, I think. And the other three people are—”
“Let me guess. Keys of Solomon.”
He nodded. “Two of them are contractors. See their pendants?”
I squinted. He could see their jewelry from here? Then I spotted the first “pendant” and realized it was hard to miss. Each contractor had a chain around his neck with a palm-sized steel disc hanging from it, displayed on their chests like first-place ribbons.
“What are those things?”
“The demonic artifact—it’s called an infernus. The demon is bound to the infernus, and that’s where its spirit is contained when the contractor isn’t commanding it.”
It occurred to me, not for the first time, that Ezra knew a surprising amount about Demonica. Was this common knowledge?
Aaron and Kai reached the terse group of mythics, and the latter’s voice rolled through the quiet street, low and steady. If anyone could defuse this situation, Kai could.
Izzah said something sharp, pointing at the Keys mythics, and Kai swung toward them.
“They did what?” he demanded loudly.
… or not.
“I warned the GMs,” Izzah yelled. “Now look!”
“We haven’t done anything but try to find a demon in all the pathetic chaos you lot have caused,” the oldest Keys member said, his smug undertone begging for someone to smack him. I’d volunteer as tribute, but I wasn’t close enough.
“You used your demon to attack the Grand Grimoire team,” Izzah accused venomously.
The Keys mythic folded his arms. “Prove it, bitch.”
“Watch yourself,” Kai growled.
“Watch yourself, mage,” the man shot back, “or you’ll get to meet my demon. Ever seen a demon before, kid? Try not to shit yourself when you do.”
Kai’s hand closed around the hilt of his katana. “You think you can call it out before I stop your heart?”
Holy shit. Was Kai even trying to defuse the situation? Maybe I should step in and bring it down a notch. I did a quick mental run-through of the possible outcomes of my intervention. Visions of screaming and fire and bodies scattered across the pavement flashed through my mind.
On second thought, I’d probably make it worse.
The Keys man snorted derisively. “We’re not wasting our time on a runt like you. We’re here for a demon.”
Ah okay, so Kai did know what he was doing. The Keys man started to back up—
“Then I’ll give you a demon!” Mario snarled, grabbing the pendant hanging from his neck.
Deep red light ignited from between his fingers. The streaks of power leaped to the pavement and coalesced into a rippling splash. It expanded upward as though the magic were pouring from the infernus into an invisible mold. The light condensed and solidified, and when it died away, a demon stood in front of the contractor.
I gulped down a surge of terror. The demon had come out of the pendant like a Pokémon out of a poké ball. Beelzebub, I choose you!
This beast was even taller than the winged one, but thinner and gangly—not that its lack of bulging muscles made it any less terrifying. Its eyes glowed like hot lava and horns lined its head, a narrow mane running from its forehead down its back to a lion-like tail. Giant claws tipped its fingers, and tusks jutted up from its heavy lower jaw.
The red light had barely diffused before more crimson power erupted from the two Keys’ pendants. A pair of demons manifested in front of their masters. One was shorter—as in seven feet instead of eight—and built like a tank, its entire back adorned with thick spines. The other was tall and thin like Mario’s, but with its limbs covered in plate scale. All three had skin in varying shades of red-tinted toffee, wore minimalistic armor, and possessed the same glowing red eyes.
With my eyes locked on the beasts, I blindly reached for Ezra. My fingers closed tightly around his wrist—and cold radiated through the thick fingerless glove that covered his arm from knuckles to bicep. The air held only a slight chill—he was containing his reaction to the demons as best he could.
But this was still all kinds of bad.
The two demons faced Mario’s, but they didn’t otherwise move. All three creatures scarcely seemed to breathe, so still and silent they could have been statues. Horrible, nightmare-spawning statues.
Aaron and Kai gripped the hilts of their swords, while Izzah clutched the handles of her narrow-bladed knives and the Grand Grimoire contractors held their pendants, ready to call their demons too.
I whipped my phone out, flipped to the camera, and yelled, “Hey, idiots!”
A dozen pairs of eyes turned toward me.
As I raised my phone, I almost forgot what I’d been planning to say. To the naked eye, the three demons looked as solid as the mythics, but on the screen, they showed up as semi-transparent, featureless shadows. Freaky.
“I’m recording you,” I called, “just so you know. Are you sure you want to kill each other? Maybe you could save this for a better time—such as never.”
“Who the hell are you?” a Keys man sneered.
I tilted the camera toward my face. “For the record,” I told the phone, “Mario called his demon first, but the prickbags from the Keys threatened to kill Kai with their demons before that. I’d call it a defensive move.”
What I’d actually call it was an idiot move, and if we came out of this alive, I planned to inform Mario of that—with significant volume and a lot of bad language.
I flipped the camera back down to point at them. “Okay, go ahead.”
The Keys shifted uncomfortably, then the oldest one barked a laugh. “Fine, girl. We’ll play your game.”
He touched his pendant. Red magic glowed across the heavyset demon’s hands and feet, and streaks of power shot for the infernus. The creature dissolved into crimson magic that whisked back into the pendant. As quickly as it had appeared, the demon was gone again.
The other Keys contractor called his demon back, and only then did Mario summon his into the pendant. Not once had any of the demons so much as twitched.
“All right, cool,” I announced. “Aaron, Kai, we should mosey on, hmm?”
Kai glanced at Izzah, and I could imagine the warning look he gave her. “Are you moving along?”
She gave a short nod and turned, grabbing Mario’s arm. Hauling him with her, she marched down the street. Her two team members hastily followed. Muttering among themselves, the Grand Grimoire group headed in the same direction, glancing warily over their shoulders at the Keys.
“Aaron, was it?” The older Keys guy looked him up and down. “You’d be the Sinclair kid.”
The youn
gest Keys contractor sneered. “Crow and Hammer fledglings, eh?”
The first time Aaron and I met, Aaron had introduced himself like I should recognize his name, and I’d thought he was an arrogant jerk. It annoyed me that he really was sort of famous among mythics.
Finally showing some sense, Aaron and Kai ignored the taunts and strode back to me and Ezra. Yes. Good. Let’s get out of here before things went wrong in a big way. The Keys watched the two mages withdraw—then started after them.
Well, shit.
“Aaron Sinclair,” the old guy mused. “So that would make you the Yamada boy, wouldn’t it?”
Kai grunted eloquently.
“I’m Burke,” he introduced himself, sounding almost polite. He gestured at his comrades. “Halil and Fenton.” He waited to see if Kai would offer his name. “Anyone from the Yamada family must be a cut above the Crow and Hammer’s rejects. We’re always looking for new talent.”
“A flattering offer. You can shove it up your ass.”
The old guy smirked. As he and his pals drew closer, I got a proper look at them. Burke was bald and wrinkled, with a narrow, sinewy frame. He looked tougher than a piece of beef jerky left in the sun, and that was without the demon pendant hanging around his neck.
Halil, the middle-aged one, had cheeks so hollow he must be missing most of his molars, a look his square jaw and sunken eyes didn’t help. He was huge—taller than Aaron—with broad shoulders and thick, muscular limbs clad in leather gear. A sword with a two-hander hilt jutted over his shoulder and he wore brass knuckles on his right hand. Either a sorcerer or a mage. I was guessing mage.
The youngest guy, Fenton, was also a contractor. His arms, bared by a wife beater, were heavily tattooed, and his dark hair was greasily combed back from his face. He leered at my boobs—or at the suggestion of boobs beneath my leather jacket.
“Aw,” I said, “look at this guy. He’s never even seen a girl before.”
Fenton’s gaze jerked from my chest to my face, confusion twisting his eyebrows. “What?”
“Only a basement-dwelling loser would stare like that.”
“What?”
I looked sadly at Aaron. “And he’s deaf too! Poor thing.”
Demon Magic and a Martini: The Guild Codex: Spellbound / Four Page 8