I stood patiently in line with the rest of my peers, looking around the old warehouse sized building. Packed bleachers filled with chattering, screaming parentage, the school colors of blue and grey everywhere muted by black robes and stupid hats. Heavy hot and itchy, we all stood in differing states of anger or irritation, waiting for the long winded jerk bag to get on with the names.

"Lisa Nule."

The sparkly energetic blonde next to me that never gave me the time of day screamed in joy and went to get her diploma and listen to the inane mouthings of congratulations from our principle. Finally.

"Melvin Numen."

I stood up and walked over, amongst the cheers and catcalls. I was not well beloved by our wonderful school body, being of small stature, large intellect, and 'nerdy' appearance. A winner of scholastic bowls and terrible at sports, and voted most likely to turn warlock. The last was a source of chagrin, as I really didn't see myself as the vengeful school shooting humanity hating jackass type.

"Congratulations young man."

The Principle, a jolly balding man nearing his 50's murmured, snapping me out of my spiraling thoughts. Screw it, celebrate now, worry about later when it happens. I took my silly piece of paper rolled into a scroll and left to make way for the next poor schmuck to get out of the institutional madhouse and on to higher learning.

An eternity later, the last person was called, Frederick Willington the 3rd, and we had all officially graduated and caps flew. As quickly as I could, I escaped the madhouse crush of other students also trying to escape. The noise was just short of sanity threatening. I crested the human wave, heading towards where I last saw my parents.

My father, the normal one, was a cop. Not a beat cop, he worked his way up. He was a detective, working narcotics. At 6 feet 1 inch, he was average height and build, with wiry muscle and a slight athletic bent. His was a face that couldn't stand out in a crowd, or be described without describing half of the population of the United States. This belied a quick wit and sharp mind. if not for the weather beaten exterior age had wrought, people would no doubt say I was his younger brother. I took after him almost entirely, and was very proud of his accomplishments.

My mother was a loon. Not one of those nice harmless air-headed types of loons, I mean she was just ever so slightly bent in ways that made you cock your head to the side in wonderment in the best of times....and made you outright fear for your life on bad days. She was also hotter than the fires of hell, as the saying goes.

Rich auburn hair, green eyes, a playboy centerfold's body and a card carrying meds taking fruit loop. I knew she'd never hurt me, it was obvious she loved me, but I wasn't so sure about anyone else. Even now, knowing what to look for, I could spot 3 combat daggers secreted on her person...anyone else would no doubt only see the amazing green dress she wore.

She ran up to me in a way that drew the eyes of every guy in the vicinity to her person...or her front. Inwardly I cringed; she was not wearing a bra...again.

"Great job honey! You did it!"

"I graduated mom, yes. It's something anyone can do."

"But you did it without any eldritch horrors eating the school, or the principle shooting you all, or....."

"Darling, that is enough. The school is well protected. And Melvin, don't be a smartass to your mother."

"Yes dad, sorry mom."

"I don't mind honey, I just want pictures! Hold still and smile!"

I did as ordered, suppressing that inward sigh as dad was watching.

A small eternity and many digital camera flashes later, dad broke it up.

"Alright Sam, that's enough, if we don't hurry we won't make our reservations."

"Oh, OK." She pouted, somehow managing to look around 20, instead of the 46 I knew her to be.

"So where are we headed?"

"Headed to the finest in the land Melvin...the Retreat."

My mother's eyes lit up even as I groaned. The retreat was a hole...sure the food was great, but it was always filled with holier than thou spiritualists, including the owner. they always had some new age flavor of the week thing going on there. But the reason mom and dad liked it, and the main reason it was always packed, was that it seemed absolutely free from demon attack.

In the 50 years since it's founding, the Retreat had offered 4 star cuisine to the wealthy or those with pretensions of wealth, in a completely demon free environment. It had never been attacked, not once, and the rumors had it that those demons close while rampaging simply changed direction. It was considered good luck to eat there on special occasions, as if somehow that blessing would rub off.

I thought it was silly superstition, but it was a local legend, and kids of all ages would flock to the Retreat for sweet 16's, graduations, birthdays, you name it. My mother couldn't get enough of the place. She would likely book a table every week if not for the ridiculous waiting list. to get tables tonight dad must have called months in advance.

We made our way through the press, my dad and I treading through the waves of people crashing into us, my mother simply walking casually as people made way for her, until we reached the doors.

"Hey Merv! Wait up!"

I turned to see Felicity Andrews headed my way. Felicity, or 'city as she was known, was kind of an enigma. She was taller than I was, almost as tall as father, with lustrous brown hair and hazel eyes. A track star, she was tentatively listed as number three in the "unofficial list of top ten school hotties", a periodical written by some of the more refined gentleman of our graduating class. Despite that she seemed to have a thing for me. For my part, I had no idea how to handle her.

"Yeah city, what's up?"

"I was wondering, if you'd like to go somewhere to celebrate our release from the madhouse? My treat!"

"Can't city, the pod people have made reservations to the Retreat, and you know how they get if I were to skip. Dad would track me down and mom would wave crystals at me or something."

Her face fell. what the hell, ..I didn't understand her at all. I wasn't anyone special. We never even ran in the same circles.

"Alright...but you're not doing anything tomorrow, are you?"

"No, I'm off work tomorrow, it's a lazy day...why?" I was a bit wary, she was planning something.

"Simple, pool party at my house to celebrate, and everyone is invited. Since you have no excuse...see you there!"

And she flounced off before I could protest.

"come on son, let's go before the est of this crowd gets the same idea. You can flirt with your girlfriend later."

That grin of my fathers' pissed me off.

"She's not my girlfriend dad."

"Only yourself to blame for that son, let's go."

We reached the auditorium doors and the line slowed. The reason was obvious. They were there. The one to the left was a warlock, the one on the right, a witch. both wore black robes chased with silver, cowls pulled up even in the heat, hiding their features. Both had a stamp in hand, and were slowing the line as they stamped the hand of every graduate to leave.

The line was silent and docile, in part due to the large winged gargoyle looking monstrosity on the left, and the even larger looking red eyed snake guarding the left...the respective demons the two controlled.

Any hint of resistance was likely to be dealt with swiftly. After all this was among the most sacrosanct duties given this shadowy branch of our
government.

My turn both seemed to take an eternity, and approach far too quickly. Then the family in front of me was waved through, not having any graduates in their ranks, (the oldest child was one I vaguely recognized as a sophomore) and the Witch dismissed my parents and looked right at me. I could only tell because her head was turned my way and I felt her gaze on me...the cowl hid her face even in the bright lighting of the auditorium.

"Melvin Numen, Stick out your hand please?"

I stuck out my right hand (the one I'm reasonably sure I could do without if necessary) and she carefully used her stamp on the back of my hand, making an unbroken pentagram upon it.

"In a week's time if you have not returned to this facility to get tested, this mark will activate and you will die. Do you understand?"

I nodded.

"Then you are free to go. See you inside of a week, Melvin Numen."

She made a note next to my name as we left, none of us speaking. The way she kept stressing my full name was creepy. Made me think of some of the old rumors.

"My my, would you look at the cat! it certainly is big!" My mother exclaimed, running up and petting the 5 foot tall winged gargoyle beast.

"Mother, that isn't a cat, it's a demon. Please stop petting it before it kills you."

My father didn't even waste time with words, and showed no fear as he reached out and dragged mom away by an arm.

"Bye bye pretty kitty!"

I couldn't resist the face palm. Luckily enough we weren't all rent limb from limb, just followed by the gaze of a bewildered looking eldritch foe of all humanity.

"Well now that that's over, son why don't you drive?" Dad tossed the keys to his vintage restored 66 Chrysler Newport boat-car.

"Got it dad."

And I did, mom was flaking out a bit more than normal, and dad was going to basically sit on her and keep her from killing us all. the last thing we needed was her deciding to drive instead of dad. But she wouldn't refuse me.

The drive was uneventful, and even sort of peaceful, with dad in back with mom whispering in her ear constantly, and not up front driving me crazy with the usual comments about driving to fast or too close, or whatever.

Once out of the school parking lot, traffic was surprisingly light and we made good time. Twenty minutes later and without even swapping paint, I pulled in to the Retreat...and 5 minutes after that finally found a parking spot. The place was as always, packed.

We walked in the door, and Giles was there. Giles Brousard was the owner, hailing from Paris France. He immigrated seeking asylum from some minor war or other, but kept his accent.

"Ahh, Samantha, what a pleasure to have you among us! Your table is right this way, please! Come, come!"

We followed the excitable frenchman to the back, and the table mom favored when we came here. next to the fire exit, but facing the front door and With no
windows close.

Giles seated my mother facing the door, while dad and I took seats facing her.

"Ahh, that day Melvin...it is good that you came here, yes? I will perform the ritual to make sure you do not get selected by the demons."

I looked around, seeing a few classmates already seated or waiting in line.

"Will you do it for my classmates too?"

"those that are here, yes. I can only do so much."

Faker. I rolled my eyes.

"whatever, good plan I guess."

"You will see Melvin! Yes, you will become a believer, and have wonderful food doing so! Your menus."

He handed off the three yellowed parchment menus that popped from nowhere.

"I will send Cynthia to you in a moment, please wait patiently."

He left us alone.

Mom perused the menu, I set mine aside. Dad also set his aside a moment later.

"So son, given any thought on what you're going to do?"

I'd put off my guidance counselor and skipped career day, simply because the sword of Damocles hadn't yet dropped. My dad knew this, and knew the selection was still upon us for another week.

"Well state has given me a scholarship for criminal justice...thought I'd follow in your footsteps."

He started a bit and smiled...a little thing, soon enveloped by his habitual poker face.

"That's wonderful son, But I'd prefer you try forensics or the science angle; you're too brilliant for a beat cop."

"We will see what happens when we get there I think, not really too worried about it now."

"well just keep in mind, forensics experts can make twice as much as a detective, if they're good."

I nodded, then Cynthia was there. Giles' daughter, I always empathized with her.

"Hello there Numen family! How are my favorite regulars today!"

"Here to celebrate a graduation! Bring out the margaritas! Beer by the keg!" My mother yelled in response, dampening the buzz of conversation quite a bit.

"Mom! Inside voice please."

"Samantha, please."

"Um, so...ready to order?"

"Son, you first."

"I'd like fettuccine Alfredo and a coke."

"I'll have steak tartar and a Guinness."

"And I'll have Salmon terrine and tomato bisque please. Oh and a margarita!"

"alright, it shouldn't be more than 20 minutes. I'll be back with your drinks soon."

We made small talk, even after the drinks arrived. We were avoiding the 800 pound gorilla in the room with light hearted meaningless banter. The gorilla didn't care of course, it just sat there between us all. Other families were having the same problem.

We finished our meal (excellent, at least deserving of its four star reputation) and left the standard tip for Cynthia on the table. On our way to pay and leave, Giles appeared next to us again, following us.

"It is on the house Samantha, And I have done the ritual! Have no fears! All will be well!"

My mom was of course drunk by this time, having downed 5 margaritas, her poison of choice. She grabbed his hands and planted a big sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"Oh thank you Garson! I just know everything will be alright now!"

My father all but dragged her out as she blew kisses to Giles. I, for my part, slouched over and tried to look inconspicuous.

"Drive us home son, I got her."

I drove as ordered, carefully maneuvering the boat down the back roads as dad kept mom from getting too loud. We pulled into the drive and I tried to hand dad the keys.

"Keep them son, it's your car now. Just take care of it, OK?"

I will, and thanks dad. She gonna be OK?"

"Yeah she will son, this is just hard on her. You can raid the cabinet if you want, but no going anywhere if you do. We'll be upstairs."

He unlocked the door and went in first, while I stood there admiring my new old car and enjoying the night air. The stars were exceptionally bright in the cloudless sky. A few deep breaths later I walked in shut the door, and threw the deadbolt. a short side trip to the liquor cabinet later and I was upstairs with a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass.

Sobbing could be heard from the master bedroom, loud deep wracking sobs that tore at my heart. shutting the door I turned my wall mounted television on and upped the volume. I found a zombie movie marathon, poured myself a shot, and kicked back to relax.

*****************************************************************

I woke with of course, a pounding head, dry mouth, rolling stomach, and other side effects of a night spent drinking while watching a movie marathon. My alarm clock read just after 10am, which meant I was likely late. I turned off my television and listened. All was quiet, which meant that my parents were gone. that meant dad was at work, and who knew where mom was? Likely visiting her new agey friends.

With no need to keep particularly quiet or take the usual precautions, I stumbled my way amidst curses and bright lights, into the shower. I drank about half the water pouring out as I cleaned up, and took four aspirin. Label warnings be damned. Feeling a bit more steady, I threw on some random clothes, ran a comb through my unruly hair and made my way downstairs to have a quick breakfast before dealing with what I had to do.

There were powdered donuts on the counter; dad's idea of a joke. He always liked poking fun at police humor. A note on the fridge told the day's tale. Dad was at work, and mom was seeing her shrink. It wasn't her scheduled day, so I assume I was at the heart of it...well my graduation in any case. Lunch was in the fridge, yadda yadda yadda, we love you, signed dad. Taking it down, I grabbed a mountain dew from the fridge. The lunch consisted of a sandwich of questionable origin.

I could always eat out later I guess.

So four donuts (which translates to five minutes) later I grabbed my keys and locked the door, going to my new beastly ride. Sure it didn't look like much, but it had a v8 standard, and could hit 0 to 60 in 6 seconds. I know, my dad showed me once.

It was still there, which meant he had to be in the old Lincoln, also lovingly restored. And mom would no doubt be in her little fiesta. I still couldn't believe I had my own wheels. Dad must have been planning this for years, the Lincoln was a relatively recent addition.

We weren't poor by any stretch, but we weren't rich either. I mean dad was on a cop's salary, and mom hadn't worked since I was born. Which reminded me; I checked my wallet. A 20, which was enough for lunch and gas...barely. The older a car was the more gas it guzzled.

I had a job stocking shelves at the local grocery, but I wasn't sure it would be enough to cover the new insurance fees I was sure dad would foist off on me in the name of building my character.

My character was built plenty in school, but the less he knew about that the better. Felicity Andrews' party today was hopefully the last I'd have to put up with it though.

It was a beautiful day once I got past my light induced pounding head. The sun seemed especially bright, the trees filled with green, flowers blooming, and people friendly. It kind of annoyed me, truth told. How dare this day, of all days, be so freaking bright and filled with promise?!?

I made it to 'City's house without incident, pulling into the gated drive that led to her palatial house on the hill overlooking the good part of town as a benevolent king looked upon his subjects. I parked my car carefully amongst the rows of others ruining the manicured lawn and walked around to the back.

The pool was a large Olympic size, and crowded beyond belief. Our entire small class had to be here...which I guess was the point. Snacks were thrown on tables in a half-hazard fashion, a card table loaded past it's safe breaking point with beverages of varying alcoholic content next to it. Not my kind of scene at all.

"Melvin you came! awesome, that makes everyone!"

"Hi, sorry I'm late City."

"No problem, you're fashionably late. I bet you forgot your trunks too, right? No don't answer, I know. Anyway, enjoy yourself, got to mingle."

"OK, no problem. Have fun."

I grabbed a coke and faded into the background, watching the zoo animals in action. Sudden freedom didn't seem to change them any. It took a good twenty minutes for the jackals to find me. The jackal in question this round was Randolf Smith, son of a lawyer who lived just down this same hill.

"Hey Melvin." He said my name with a smirk, but at least he used it for once. Odd.

"Hello Randolf."

I was always polite and cordial...most of the time.

"So what did you think of that set up after graduation? I bet that witch was really hot under that robe of hers."

"she probably had needle teeth and horns. You know what they say."

"True. Seems a shame though, she sounded hot."

So do telephone sex operators, and most of those are uglier than sin...jackass.

"so have you gotten tested yet?"

"Nope, just woke up and came here."

"I got tested this morning, it was easy...one minute standing in their circle, and it was 'goodbye Mr. Smith, enjoy your life.'"

He showed me his hand, where the blue star that meant you were of age or past and had been tested resided. No draft dodging for him, no siree! ....I really needed to rein in my sarcasm.

"Good for you. I'm just trying to avoid the initial rush. I'll likely go tomorrow or the next day, just hate the idea of standing in lines."

He gave a noncommittal grunt.

"I doubt they take anyone from our class..in fact I'd bet on it, our class is so small I doubt any of us have that infernal spark they look for."

Ahh, now I got it. I of course was the one person they'd all bet against. I'd never been caught messing around with Ouija boards or tarot cards or any of the other crap kids normally messed with at least a little, never been caught reading those bastardized copies of the 'Necronomicon' or 'the Various Mysteries' as Randolf himself had (an act that had almost resulted in his expulsion)....but I had the completely unwarranted reputation to uphold, apparently.

"I don't know, Sometimes even small classes have large percentages...like Salem. Read any good books lately?"

A childish dig maybe, but warranted in my opinion. He paled; no one liked to be reminded of Salem. One year, half their class was selected. They still managed rates of eight percent, well over what any other lone town could manage, even with that culling.

"Good point Melvin. So anyone you want to bet on? I'm running a pool."

"Not a soul. I don't believe there is any behavioral link that indicates who might get picked."

"Then how do you explain Salem? You just mentioned them, and the entire town is full of the type."

"I think it's genetics actually, recessive traits and all that. I mean, look how many devil worshipers and crystal wavers aren't picked."

"Hmm, maybe...but if it was you'd think science could prove it by now, I mean we found mapped the human genome."

"How do we know what the demons look for? For all we know it could be tied to hair or eye color. Hard to find that needle in a sea of haystacks."

"I guess. Oh well, we will see. Not swimming?"

"Nah, not a fan of the water...you know that."

He should, he dunked me in the municipal pool enough, whenever I decided to show up. He nodded and walked off, back to no doubt confer with his peers.
Ah well.

"And the douche leaves. Hey man."

I turned to see Jeremy Swanson, one of the nerd crew that is so typical of high schools the country over...and my closest friend. He considered me a member of his chess club, even though I'd never joined.

"Hey Jeremy, how are you doing?"

"Good man, good."

I caught him giving my hand a fleeting glimpse.

"How are you? Stanford still taking you?"

"Of course they are, just cause I missed valedictorian is no reason to write me off."

"You could have, you let Dewey have it on purpose."

"I will neither confirm nor deny that assessment."

while Jeremy was my best friend, I wasn't his. Dewey Harris was, and they were basically inseparable.

"So where is old Dewey? Even he should be here."

"Hes over by Gloria, trying to get her to give him the time of day."

Dewey has had a major crush on Gloria Luxhall, our resident token rebellious emo/goth chick, for years. She has never once responded that I know of.

"Ugh, he should give that idea up. Gloria hates everything, including him."

"Tell em about it...but word has it she likes brains, so our resident valedictorian might just have a shot this time."

I looked over and notice Gloria was actually talking to him, even if she did look bored out of her skull. Dewey's wide eyed eager puppy impression probably wasn't helping matters. I saluted the attempt with my coke.

"The plot thickens. You sir, are an officer and a gentleman."

"I confirm nothing, plausible deniability all the way. Which reminds me, why do you keep stringing City along? She's nice, has avoided the Randolf types for years, and carries a torch for you large enough for the statue of liberty to use."

I held up my right hand.

"The sword of Damocles. I won't do anything till it's not hanging over my head."

"Including live. Take a word of advice man, you've almost waited too long. Plan your life some, map it out. You've wasted years on what ifs here. Stop doing that."

"Tomorrow man, we will know tomorrow."

I know that most people are able to shove the selection in the back of their minds and do whatever they want, much like the British during the blitz and IRA days. I'm told most people simply enjoy their lives to the fullest while they can, and find their peace there. I just couldn't do that; I wasn't wired that way.

So tomorrow was when my life truly began.

"Whatever dude. I plan on going tomorrow too. Over half the class went today, the rest seem to be waiting the week."

"All according to plan."

"Hey, doing OK you two?"

I turned to see that City had snuck up behind me, a couple cold cokes in hand. She handed me one as I replied.

"All good here, just discussing your love life."

Jeremy smacked me in the back of the head as City gave her priceless look of embarrassed surprise.

"Idiot, you're not supposed to tell her you think she does it like a weasel to her face!"

"Whoops." I deadpanned.

She laughed.

"Just don't let my parent hear you say that. I think my dad still wants to discuss his gun collection with you."

I looked around in mock fear.

"He's not here is he?!?"

She laughed again.

"no, of course not, they started their second honeymoon today. Said I was a big girl and had the run of the house. Pretty sure they knew I wanted to pull a party like this at least once."

"You mean one bigger than your sweet sixteen, which shall live in infamy."

"Of course."

I couldn't remember that party; none of us who went could. I'd hazard a guess that for many of us that was our first time getting drunk off our ass.

"Well, I'm going to swim in my pool while I still can, getting colder you know! See you boys later!"

She ran giggling, and stripped her shirt and shorts off along the way. The bikini underneath revealed, she cannon-balled, splashing everyone near the pool with a laugh. My mouth was suddenly dry, So I took another long drink of the coke she'd handed me before.

"You know she's too good for me right? I can't be the only one to have noticed that."

Jeremy gave me a look approaching pity.

"Man, it doesn't matter if she is. you're who she picked. Just enjoy it while you can...before she wises up."

"truer words were never spoken."

I watched the lovely mermaid swim along, laughing, splashing, racing others. I felt the need for air...outdoors no less. My former class as a whole was stifling in its gaiety, it's mindless merriment. the dark clouds threatened to haze my vision in red again, as they had done once before.

"Look man, this really isn't my scene. I came for her, but I need to leave before I get pissed off. Any way you could make apologies for me?"

"sure thing dude, I'd imagine she already knows you want out of here. She knows you better than you do."

"Probably. Catch you later man, give Dewey the good word and all."

"I will. Catch you on the flip side."

We fist bumped and I left.

Checking my watch as I walked to the front again, I frowned. I actually had blown quite a bit of time at the party...it was 3:54. Time for late, very late lunch. Kind of surprising, since I talked to all of three people. The only ones with the guts to come up to me in fact. Back down the mountain I go, the radio keeping me company with the areas' only rock station. The local Burger Barn was only eight blocks from here, an easy drive.

The place was mostly empty, with only a few kids younger than me inside, and I ordered my usual...a triple and large fries. Sitting at my customary booth (back to the wall, watching the entrances...a habit I learned from my mother.) I ate quickly; my parents would be back home soon, regardless of where they had gone. I was done and getting up to throw my wrappers away when the main plate glass window exploded.

What had caused the window to explode was a 3 foot long or so gray hairless dog with jagged teeth reminiscent of a dinosaur. It's head was perhaps twice as large as it needed to be, but it carried it easily. Greenish purple blood flowed freely from large rents in its' skin, but it didn't seem inconvenienced; it jumped over the counter,onto a worker in a spray of blood that hit the ceiling, the process almost an afterthought.

The window disgorged another apparition, even as the fastest people were hitting the exits. This one was a grey gargoyle, large and seemingly chiseled from rock itself. It wore a red loincloth (for which I was thankful) was hairless with numerous scars all over it's body. It was carrying it's summoner in
it's arms, a robed woman.

I also recognized both from yesterday. they both turned to me, the only one visible not already running for the hills.

"Which way did it go?"

I pointed to the counter.

"It probably went out back through there. It lept over the counter." I pulled out my phone, no longer as interested in leaving.

"what's that for? pictures?"

"What? no! There is a guy down behind the counter. He might still be alive."

Her demon went over the counter and she followed, vaulting it easily.

"Well you can call, but call 912, not 911. Don't worry about this guy...hes dead."

I took a step over, but she shook her head.

"Don't kid. You don't want to see this. Got to go."

Her voice and rapid steps receded into the distance. Solid advice, 912 was the rapid response anti demon task force, Sort of a anti demon SWAT consisting of specially trained police, fire, and EMT's. And of course, every squad had a witch or warlock too.

"912; state your location." That was a bit different, normally the authorities asked for the nature of the emergency first, didn't they?

"1rst and Palmer; the Burger Barn, Oakwood."

"Are you safe sir?"

"For the moment, pretty sure it's gone. It was some sort of dog, with huge teeth, about 3 feet long. A witch and her demon were chasing it. The reason I called was the dog mauled one guy to death that I saw, and there are probably more. Some might still be alive.

"Response is rolling, I estimate 5 minutes sir. Your name please?"

"Melvin Numens officer."

"Alright Melvin. I'd like you to go somewhere you know you'll be safe. A freezer or windowless room, something like that. Can you do that?"

"I don't see anything like that. I'll just go to my car; It's pretty much a tank, and can outrun whatever that dog was. Thinking it will double back?"

"It has happened before. If you're going to your car, please just drive down and meet our officers."

"Sure."

While the police might have issues with witnesses leaving crime scenes it was apparently encouraged by the ADTF; good to know. I took a cautious look outside. Looked clear, so I sprinted for my car, the only one left in the lot, got in (I left it unlocked) checked the backseat quickly (you watch horror movies and ignore your backseat, I dare you) Fired the tank up and left, heading down main in the direction I knew the ADTF had to come.

I wasn't long in finding them, tearing down the road sirens blaring, lights flashing, in two blue painted military grade armored hum vees. I pulled the quickest three point turn I could and followed them as they tore back to the Burger Barn.

I waited with my hands visible on my window while the two vehicles disgorged six people each in the dark black ADTF variation of the blue SWAT uniforms I'd seen before. The first group formed a perimeter around the building, weapons up and scanning their surroundings with piercing stares.

the second went into the building itself, in teams of 2 like one would see in the movies. Their Warlock went with them, demon leading the way. I was too far away to tell gender or features, but the robes were a dead giveaway, and looked rather tacky with a kevlar vest over them.

"Mr. Melvin Numens?"

While I'd been watching the show the driver of the first hum vee had snuck up on me. He had a clipboard in hand, which struck me as a bit more incongruous than the Kevlar over the warlock's robe did.

"That's me officer."

"I'll take your statement now sir."

"Of course."

I told him everything while the other officers processed the scene. Occasionally he would get pulled away by another officer reporting in, but since my statement was quick I was done almost before the ambulances arrived. Which was when I saw the gargoyle again, carrying the headless corpse of the demon dog. Behind him was his witch, carrying the missing head. She was conferring with the officer that took my statement as I left.

shit I was late, it was now nearly six. Playing fast and loose with the speed limit I made it home just after six. My dad was waiting on the porch.

"no note, no call...."

"There was a demon incident in town, I got sort of mixed up in it."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Where and how?"

"As a witness, and at Burger Barn. I was only witness that stuck around."

"how bad?"

"there was at least one dead that I know of. Mom's paranoia saved my life. you can read all about it tomorrow, I made a statement."

left unspoken was the silent agreement that this wouldn't be mentioned to mom. She had been flaky enough as it was lately.

"don't want to talk about it?"

"Talked about it too much already, really. Just want to kick back and relax."

"I'm here if you want to. But for the record, your party went long, alright?"

I nodded.

Mom was in my face as soon as I closed the door.

"And where have you been?"

"City's party ran a bit long, I'm sorry. Phone was dead, so I couldn't call."

She stared into my eyes for a long moment while I shuffled from one foot to the next, then nodded. She was awful when it came to remembering to charge her phone, so I knew she'd believe me.

"OK. Dinner is cold, you'll have to heat it up.

"I'll just put it away, not really very hungry."

Before I knew it I found myself hugging her. Awkwardly I broke the hold.

"Love you mom; you two have fun, going to fill out some lovely paperwork in my room after I clean up."

She looked as bewildered as I felt.

"Alright son, just leave them on the table and I'll mail them in the morning."

Suiting action to words I went to the kitchen while dad pulled mom into a game of Clue. She loved that game.

Dinner tonight was beef stroganoff. One of my favorites, but I wasn't really in the mood for it tonight, even if I were hungry. After putting the leftovers away and doing the dishes, I journeyed upstairs.

On top of my desk next to my ancient computer was a small pamphlet of college applications I'd never completed. I'd sent two out, but the others...they were for very good colleges that my grades were probably not good enough for, which was why I hadn't sent them. However, why not send them? Worst thing that could happen is they would turn me down.

So with one of the die hard movies in the background I spent a few hours filling them out and in envelopes. around the 10th one I took a break for a coke. My parents were still awake and playing board games, so I snuck back upstairs, leaving my envelopes where they would be found. Somewhere around the next
die hard, I fell asleep.

**************************************************************

Mornings suck, and Sunday morning sucked more than most. When I got downstairs both mom and my college submission were gone. Dad was reading some file, and muttering to himself. I grabbed a bagel and a morning coke.

"What's up dad?"

"Just reading this report."

Dad never pulled punches with me...he always told me about his job, and how warped the world was. Which was in part why I was so screwed up, but I didn't hold it against him.

"Report on?"

"Seems that demon you saw yesterday was part of one of my cases. The summoner was a merc allegedly hired by Mikel the Butcher in order to win a turf war. Said summoner finally went crazy, and let his demon go. The ADTF is still investigating how he learned to summon demons in the first place. The books aren't easy to get anymore. Current theory is an old German legacy copy smuggled out somehow."

"Smuggled out of Germany? Wow, long distance."

"Not too far out of the realm of possibility for the Russian mafia. Especially when you consider Mikel is the grandson of a Russian officer rumored to be in Germany during the Reaping."

"Wow, but to carry a book like that out....different times, very different times, I guess."

He nodded.

"Most of this could be wrong; it's just conjecture after all, but It has a certain logic to it."

"Did they catch the guy?"

"Nah the demon killed him and ate his soul before going on that rampage. Final tally is 8 dead. We're a bit lucky that other summoner was in the area testing kids or it would have likely been higher. We're also lucky someone had the presence of mind to call 912. The situation could have gone very differently."

"That not happen often?"

"not often while the event is still going on. Usually it's an hour or more after the fact. Not too many survivors ever, and those that do generally call from a safe location...like a safe room or bank vault. Those that call immediately are generally those that are bleeding out. the rest don't want to even have a chance to see another demon, even a tamed one.

"A valid point."

"So does you plan for the day involve mowing the grass? I needs it, and you've got work tomorrow."

"Well it didn't but it does now. Guess I'll have time. Was going go back up to the school and get tested."

"Ahh, right. best to do that now."

I nodded and stood up.

"Going like that? Not going to clean up some first?"

"Nope. Right in, right out." Be damned if I'm cleaning up for those jerks.

Another beautiful day, sunny and nearly cloudless. The beast still had enough gas, and I was actually feeling pretty good for once. The drive down to the school, the last one I'd take if I could ever help it, was uneventful, and I could see Dewey, Gloria, Jeremy, and Felicity holding up the wall to the gym. I parked and approached.

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

"Oh we just thought we'd hang out here for a bit."

They followed me to the doors.

"you hear about Burger Barn?" Gloria asked, ever the gossip.

"No, what about it?" I replied, playing it cool. City echoed me.

"It was attacked by a rogue demon! Isaac, the guy who graduated last year and was working there, was killed! Daria said it right in through the window, the reinforced plate glass window!"

Gasps greeted this announcement.

"So close to my house..." City muttered wide eyed.

"It's OK City, nothing happened. your house has that top of the line security system too, with the anti demon measures right?"

"Yeah but it wasn't on... I didn't set it. It wasn't on the entire night!"

"It's ok City, you're fine...but you should probably set the alarm when you get back home."

"...Right."

"And on that happy note, we're here. So who gets tested first?"

We had walked right past the unmanned door and empty hall and into the Gym proper. The parquet floor the basketball team played on was pulled up revealing the testing circle, a six pointed star of some esoteric kind or another.

"Oh, mememe!"

Gloria stated, running ahead of us and to the testers, two warlocks this time. Of the witch that I saw yesterday, there was no sign. As for Gloria...second most likely to get selected, in action. A goth and a warlock groupie. We watched as she talked to the pair of robes. I noticed the Gym wasn't as unoccupied as I thought at first. There were army, actual military in fatigues, stationed at several points in the gym, mostly hidden behind equipment and the like, but not really trying to hide.

Weird....how did we not notice them until we were nearly in the middle of the room? I pointed a few out nonchalantly to Jeremy and he nodded, he'd noticed them. City and Dewey only had eyes for Gloria and her test.

"So think she'll get picked?" Jeremy asked.

"Nah;' I replied. 'She's a wannabe...I doubt she actually has the temperament. She views the robes as rock stars."

Sure enough, mumbo jumbo was spoken, not quite loud enough for me to make out, and nothing. No lights, bells or whistles.

"Anyone know what a positive looks like?"

The others shook their heads as with a brief back and forth with one of the warlocks Gloria headed back over, looking disappointed.

"Well I wasn't picked. Someone else's turn."

Dewey stepped up, not to be outdone.

Five silent minutes later, and he was back among us. As each of my friends was tested and found wanting by the darker side of life, my mood rose. Perhaps this year, like many others, no one from our school would be picked at all, and it could be business as usual. Then City was done, and it was my turn. I walked up with a smile, feeling a bit numb.

"Hi...melvin Numens.

"Yes. We know. Please take your place within the hexagram please."

I did so. This time I could hear the gibberish being spouted.

"suscitatio antiquus cruor!"

It sounded like Latin, and the star immediately reacted, sheathing itself in a corona of red fire which felt cool to me. The light show peaked at the ceiling as I watched in bemused awe.

"NOOOOOOO!!!"

Felicity's shocked cry brought me to my senses. I looked over to see my friends in various stages of shock and dismay. My grin didn't slip. I gave Jeremy a nod, and he nodded back. Somehow we two had always known; somehow the entire school had, or at least suspected.

"You need to come with us Sir."

I looked, bemused. Some of the soldiers I'd noticed earlier had broke ranks and ghosted behind me. They stood there just outside the star, weapons not quite raised. They looked tense. I held my hands in plain sight, though not up.

"relax guys, I'm not going to do anything crazy. Though if I'm going to get shipped off I really should tell my parents, get some of my stuff, that sort of thing."

"Please come with us Sir. Everything will be provided for you on site. Your parents will be notified."

"Alright, alright. Relax."

I watched my friends get ushered out of one side of the Gym while I was ushered out the opposite. My 'escort' was a 4 man team which bracketed me in a typical diamond formation as if I were a V.I.P. they were guarding, weapons out and scanning for trouble. They didn't seem the type to talk, so I didn't. They led me to one of their military issue hum-vees. Inside at the driver's seat was a witch. The shrunken gargoyle lying down in the back was a dead giveaway.

"So we meet again."

"So we do Mr Numens. Get in."

"Alone in the car? Not waiting for anyone else? Seems like a waste of gas."

"Article 4, subsection 13, Summoner draft law amendment; also known as 'halo's law'."

Oh, right...the halos were a radical christian group that didn't believe summoners were needed to fight demons, or something. Several years back they had ambushed a bus full of draftees with the help of the parents of said draftees. 2 warlocks would up dead, along with over a dozen of the parents, 21 of the extremists...and all of those chosen from the town of Galapagos Michigan.

Republicans and democrats agreed that the incident was a double tragedy; not only was the body count higher than any school shooting, the loss of manpower of those fifty potential warlocks was largely considered to be what finally led to the loss of Poland.

"Right, well makes sense I guess."

"don't worry Mr. Numens, you'll get there. all recruits are considered as important as federal government officials now."

"Oh, I get a security detail and million dollar pension now?"

"Pension comes later, but you got the best security detail money could ever buy. You're very own summoner, here to make sure you get to your destination. Here, put this on."

She handed me a crude looking silver bracelet. There were squiggles of some kind engraved on both sides of it. Under her watchful eye I slipped it on.

"What's this?"

"A tracking and protection charm; allows me to track you in case you get lost, protects you against small arms fire and grenades, potential enemy spells, that sort of things."

"Alright." Sounded stupid to me, but that was going to be the world I lived in now.

she waited, looking at me.

"...What?"

"Seat belt, Mr Numens."

"Oh, right."

I belted up and she took off, driving through the parking lot at 20 mph.

"Might want to slow down...won't speeding attract attention?"

She looked at me and smirked.

"Yeah you're right, I'll take it easy. Plenty of time to get to the Eyrie."

"The Eyrie?"

"The various centers that teach the art are nicknamed. The one you're going to is called the eyrie. Big tower, built in the middle of nowhere, looks like something out of 'The hobbit'. You're in luck, it has a good reputation. The one I went to was 'The hole.', guess what it was?"

"Uh, a hole?"

"A re-purposed subway station, and kind of like the community college of summoning. Where you're going is probably Stanford...or Harvard."

"complete with snobbish assholes?"

She snorted, shooting me a glance.

"Mind reader. Yeah complete with snobbish assholes."

We hit the outskirts of town and I saw a glimpse of a tail, a mid 90's blue ford sedan. I kept quiet.

"Well, screw this. you're going to be one of us soon enough."

My driver doffed her hood and the effect keeping her face hidden immediately stopped. Her features resolved themselves to show a rather cute if mousey brunette, dark brown hair a mess, green eyes alight with mischief. she looked a bit like one of those actresses that played the perky but not quite as hot best friend in a romance comedy. Couldn't have been more than a few years older than I was, either.

"Keep staring like that and I'll get self conscious. Something on my face?"

"Sorry...I'll be blunt, it's more like what isn't on your face."

"My lack of horns and needle teeth? No tusks or pig nose?"

Her demon snorted.

"Well yes. Sorry if that offends, there are stories, you understand. How you're all marked somehow, and how the robes are to hide that."

"Well those stories are true, pretty much. We make pacts with demons you see...a bargain for power. Those who bargain poorly...who lose that demonic haggle to their demon, usually end up looking like the stories suggest, or worse."

"and if you don't mind me asking, what did you lose?"

"Well in return for Thor there, as I call him...hes a minor demon lord understand, not one of the wimps...I lost the ability to feel emotional extremes. That was the cost he wanted in return for his service and his magic."

"Magic? I thought that was just something the demons themselves did."

"That is mostly true; however the true lords of hell as they are called, can share their power. Thanks to thor I can fly under my own power and do some minor nukes without benefit of summoning circles and the like."

She held up a hand and lighting arced crackling between the delicate digits.

"So,' I turned to Thor. 'do you nobles have a rank system? What rank are you?"

He stared at me a minute, sniffed, then turned over, pointedly ignoring me.

"He doesn't really like people; most demons don't. He tolerates me. For the record he told me once he was the knight of the 212th lord of hell, a "pyfthr of the uncrowned."

"Hmm, never heard of him."

She snorted again.

"Most haven't, hes basically what human aristocracy call a 'hare catcher lord'. A trumped up normal guy living in a castle too big from him, surviving off ancient deeds. That said...I told you his common use name. Don't use it. He's minor, but hes bad juju. He'd chew up a greenhorn like you, and spit you out. And if you called on him to bargain, he'd probably own your soul inside an hour."

"Got it. So names have power then?"

"theirs and ours. Our names have power to them for some reason, and theirs have power to us. We can do a quick and dirty summon with nothing more than a bit of our blood and their use name. Saves us the time of the average 6 hour ritual."

"Six hours? I can't stand still that long."

"you will; or rather you'll sit that long. It's kind of a requirement. You don't even want to think about screwing that ritual up. Or any other for that matter."

"But the 'quick and dirty magic you get is safe?"

"well it's safe-ish...can't lose my soul using it, and doesn't take forever to work up to. It's pretty handy, but I cant do much with it. Thor is stronger than the general run of the mill demon, but hes still small potatoes back in his home."

the demon harrumphed and glared at her; she didn't seem intimidated, which made me remember what she said before I got sidetracked.

"So what does the demon get out of the deal? You said he got your emotional extremes...like fear, love, anger, hate?"

"Yes, sure did...he got all of them, including embarrassment! It's simple; the trade itself gives him power somehow. The action of us selling something we have fuels a demon. Furthermore they try to gear what they bargain for so they can lead us down the path of evil. Somehow most of us picked through the ritual you took part in only get asked for individual things for services, like our emotions or appearance. Most of the early summoners got asked for their
souls outright."

"And they gave them up?"

"Not us. Not the allied summoners. The Axis however, pretty much were all the soulless. More demonic than the demons they conjured."

I shuddered.

"don't worry, they're all dead. Though rumors persist of second generation summoners somehow living in what's left of Germany, somehow."

"I don't see how that is possible."

"Me either, but I won't immediately discount it. I've seen some pretty strange things on the job."

We passed the time during the trip talking, listening to the radio (which was surprisingly good for what I'd consider a federal vehicle) and playing I spy and slug-bug. I learned her name was Karen, she was from Ohio, and had been a summoner for 5 years. She was assigned to the testing and care of new summoners and helped the ADTF when asked.

She learned about my friends and family. I saw no reason to not be as open with her as she was with me.

About an hour and a half into the drive I caught my first glimpse of it. The Eyrie. A huge rust red finger sticking out of the ground in the middle of a small patch of scrubby desert. It had to be at least 20 stories tall, and with no windbreaks I couldn't figure out how it stayed up.

"Magic, duh. The wind parts around it."

"what?"

"Everyone asks. It's good old fashioned magic. Why we do it that way rather than engineering genius, well you'd have to ask the summoner that had it built. Of course he's dead now, so good luck with that."

"Oh."

My phone rang.

Karen stared at my pocket as I jumped.

"Go ahead. Normally I'd have taken it standard operating procedure, but you haven't tried to use it once. It's likely your parents."

"Yeah, likely, thanks."

I quickly fished it out of my jeans and hit the proper button.

"Melvin honey!?! That you!?" Oh great, it's not the level headed parent.

"Yes mom it's me, guess you all heard by now?"

"Where are you?!?!" I looked at Karen; she shook her head.

"I can't tell you where I am mom, sorry."

"listen honey, this is very important! you can't trust anything a demon says!"

"I know mom, I've heard the stories, heck you used to tell them to me as a kid at bedtime."

how she thought that wouldn't traumatize me, I never learned.

"No honey you don't understand! You have to listen ....ry word, and .....!"

"Mom the phone is dying, I'll remember. I love you and dad! See you as soon as I can!"

And the call dropped. No bars anymore.

"sorry should have warned you; Cell phones don't work within a certain distance of the tower, and we just hit it. you get what your mom was trying to say?"

"She was telling me not to trust the words of a demon."

"Good advice."

"yes but really predictable, I mean it's stuff you tell kids at the same time you're teaching them to look both ways and not to talk to strangers. Of course mom is insane, so she may just be forgetting things again."

"Maybe, don't discount it just yet. May save your soul."

"I hope you're kidding."

She looked me full in face before pulling her hood back up over her head. Not five minutes later we pulled up to the very large gate breaking the monotony of a very large fence, topped with very sharp razor wire. More army types in desert fatigues walked both sides of the fence and manned the gate. Karen passed some paperwork form the driver door pocket to the dour looking soldier in the guardhouse, and he opened the gate.

Not one second after we drove through, the gate slammed shut again We drove through the military base set around the tower in silence, I wasn't paying attention to the military housing, the drilling troops, or even the sprinkling of black robed summoners walking here and there, most without their hoods up.

No it was the close up what appeared to be a tower made up of massive red brick, at least a full city block wide at the base. Karen pulled up in front of it.

"Welcome to your new home! At least for a minimum of three months anyway."

Before I could get out, she held out her hand. I slipped my phone into it. We both got out, leaving the hum-vee right in front with the keys in it, and I opened the door for her. She led the way inside the cool interior, which surprisingly looked a lot like a combined office building and dormitory, both prefabs.

It was almost amusing how soulless and impersonal it all looked. At least the lighting was bright; I had almost expected rush torches, and cold dank stone walls.

I was led to the left hand side, which were apparently apartments. Sure enough, each door was marked, 1-100.

"This is the first block; there are four more. You're not the first here, but I managed to get you a lucky number apartment. Number 66!"

she handed me a key. Her hood was down again.

"Where did Thor go?"

"Back to his own apartment in hell. We don't keep our demons out when there is no need for them."

"So at the school?"

"Policy, schools with us there have been hit in the past."

"people are scary. Explains why I didn't see any outside."

"Almost. There are guards here, they use theirs on shift. Here."

She handed me a black phone. I didn't recognize the make.

"The push to talk is active. Use it with the number 1, and it calls me. Go ahead and find your room, check to see if everything you need is there, all that moving in crap. I need to check in myself. You call, I'll meet you in front of your door. Got it?"

"crystal clear."

"Great. See you soon."

And she walked off, leaving me to my own devices...or seemingly, till I noticed the cameras cleverly hidden in the ceilings. So rather than explore I found the correct number and entered. Doing what I was told like a good little drone beat the alternative, I was sure. It was indeed an apartment, with modestly tasteful furnishings and real wood molding. The couch and chair were both grey and overstuffed. A desk was randomly tucked into a corner with a comfortable looking computer chair next to it. There was a was kitchen straight back and a door to my left.

Opening it I found the bedroom, a pretty standard single bed sheathed in grey, as well as the typical bureaus and shelves for various items. An open door led to the bathroom, which was white and clean enough to shine in blinding fashion. going back to the desk I found a notepad and pen, and started getting down to business.

***********************************************

*chirp* "Hope I'm not interrupting Karen."

*chirp* "Just talking with my boss. You all set?"

*chirp* "Yep, you're team is surprisingly thorough; I couldn't find much missing."

*chirp* "They have done this sort of thing many times, But they always seem to forget something. I'll be right down, got to give you the grand tour anyway."

I waited patiently, pacing. It took just under fifteen minutes for the knock I was expecting. I opened the door to see Karen standing there alone.

"The base has an excellent military store, and you get a stipend. Here is your card, don't lose it. It's a pain in the butt to get another."

She handed me black debit card, with a series of numbers on it and nothing else. I was beginning to sense a trend here. She left, I followed, locking the door.

"Cautious type are you? Might work out here."

"I see no reason to make it easier for someone to screw me over."

"I'm with you. So what did they forget?"

"Well they guessed at least one size of clothes right, so I put the rest on the clothes rack in the bedroom as requested, and put the ones that fit away. Not so sure what I need seven sets of grey robes for, but I'm sure youll tell me. The soap they provided makes me break out, so I need to replace it, and they forgot dental floss."

"...Dental floss?"

"Yes, dental floss. they have a good mouthwash, but I like to be thorough."

"You must be all kinds of fun at parties."

"Absolutely. I'm like a rabid weasel at a party."

"...What?"

"Sorry, old joke among my circle of friends. I might explain it later if you do something for me."

"And what is that, exactly?"

"Explain to me why there is no television, computer, or even radio in that small apartment you're housing me in?"

"That's simple; the higher ups feel the undistracted approach to learning is best. Can't have any of that crap till you subdue your very own demon."

"That's...asinine. They want me to study in perfect silence?"

"Or get out and do something else useful with your time. Remember, you're in the army now, drafted and everything."

"Oh, right...we are technically under the army. Do I have a rank?"

"Yep, officially you're an 'acolyte'. That's what the robes are for. the actual army rank is specialist, or OR-4. You're very first day it takes a sergeant or better to order you around, seniority doesn't count. The minute you graduate, assuming you do, you jump to lieutenant. Of course, after that it depends."

"Depends on?"

"What the higher ups think of your performance. Do badly, and you're a grunt. You get three more months of boot camp, a promotion to first lieutenant, and sent to one of the fronts. That's a bad idea, since only 1 out of 3 summoners sent to a front make it home alive. Do really well, you'll likely be kept stateside and used in work like recruiting."

"Or police work?"

"Oh that sort of thing interest you? Yeah you can get police work if the brass feel you're suited for it."

Our conversation had eaten up our walking time; we were at the store. don't the army call them Px's? Anyway there we were, a store laughingly called 'Spells-R-us', looking much like a local walmart, in smaller scale.

I walked in and there was even a greeter. A man in military fatigues and a floppy hat, looking like a Gandalf reject, snowy beard and all.

"You gotta be kidding me."

"Hah, that's just Ralph, the owner. Retired captain.'She leaned closer and muttered; 'Doesn't really have all his marbles."

I waved to him and muttered back; "You think?"

"He's harmless enough; just don't get him talking about Harry Potter."

"you mean that pollyanna crap kid's story that says you can do magic without demonic help, and beat demons at their own game? Shudder worthy garbage."

"Agreed. Had a huge spike in morons getting themselves killed playacting magic after the movies. Kept trying to fight demons off with twigs and Latin. But Ralph, he loves the stuff."

"Let's get what we came for and get out; place already gives me the willies and I still need that tour."

"Sure thing. I won't even shop for myself, I'm so considerate."

"Why would you shop here? you don't live here do you?"

"No, only seasonally, like now...got a furnished apartment here in the tower, much like yours. But...this shop sells everything on the cheap, and what they don't carry they can order."

I started walking buy and snagging useful stuff, like coffee, assorted perishables that weren't stocked, and other things.

"So you mentioned Latin. I could have sworn I heard Latin during the ritual used to select me."

"you did, not saying Latin isn't used, it's one of the languages that rituals were translated in. We could probably do English if anyone cared to, but that just increases the chance others will overhear what you said....with unfortunate consequences. You'll know at least some Latin before you leave."

"Good to know."

Seeing a selection of metal stabby implements, I added a survival knife to the growing pile. Karen let it pass without comment, or even a raised eyebrow. We finished and I paid with my shiny new card.

"Yo Ralph!"

"Yes Karen?"

"This is acolyte Melvin. He just bought these bags. Would you be so kind as to watch them while we tour? We will be back to pick them up before we tour the tower."

"Certainly Karen, enjoy the fresh air. Not too many days left before the birth of the death of hope."

....What?

"...Right. Anyway, we'll be back later."

I barely made it out of the store.

"Guy might be worse than my mom."

"Well I don't know about your mom, but I know what happened to him. For most people, seeing demons causes their minds to unhinge. Prolonged exposure worsens the effect, by some multiple I'm not math whiz enough to know. The stronger demons can literally have someone gibbering and pissing themselves inside an hour due to their presence alone. Ralph was at the front for a long time...too long, but we didn't always know what we know now."

"Sucks to be him."

We chatted while she showed me the highlights; the barracks, the training yard, the fence, the mess hall. Outside the fence was 200 miles of desert. The land was flat, you could see for miles away.

then we grabbed the stuff I bought and went back to the tower, where I learned they where the library, work rooms, our own mess hall were. There were even public rest rooms near them. This place was too big...heck the library alone covered half a block, and went up three floors. All those banned and forbidden books....

I'd gotten a jump on that at least. With nothing to do in this place but read, I'd grabbed a starter set, so to speak; English translations of 'The Various Mysteries', 'The Virulent Truth', and Latin for dummies. I'd almost checked out 'summoning for dummies', but that was a bit too much for my personal weirdness meter.

"OK, last thing. Starting tomorrow, you're in the army. You got here early, so today was free. But tomorrow you're going to be expected to wear the robes, be up at 5am, all that crap. you'll be in classes most of the day; they are going to try and cram your head full. So set your alarm, and be prepared for more school."

"Will do. Five a.m. huh? stupid."

I shut and locked the door, and settled in to read.

*******************************************

So five a.m. bright and early saw me showered, made presentable, and dressed in standard fatigues with a robe over them. I was one of very few dressed thus, which added to my anger. Honest to dog drill sergeants walked among the 120 or so of us present, taking us in with hard eyes and disdainful expressions. Then an older gentlemen with a sour lemon expression, a heavily decorated robe, and a body showing through that robe that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger nervous walked up to a podium set in front of us all.

"Good morning maggots!' He had no microphone, nor did he need one. I fought the urge to stick my fingers in my ears, standing as straight as possible. 'Welcome to the glorious united states army! As stated in federal law, as of 1959 a federal draft is in effect for all persons with the skills and or abilities required to defend our glorious country from demonic incursion, as well as halt the spread of demonic influence among the allies of the glorious United States of America!

To that end, you have all been drafted, in accordance with federal and local laws! You're my fresh meat now, and a member of the Summoners Corps! You will refer to it as such; the first person calling another a warlock, witch, or other derogatory term will be cleaning heads for a month! The next will clean toilets Till they die, and will then clean Hell's toilets for all eternity!

Now you may ask yourself why you? Well that's simple. You worms stand on the backs of giants! Heroes of humanity the likes of which our world will not see again! Let's all take that walk into history book lane, shall we? in 1945, the closing months of world war 2, a psychotic gasbag known as Adolf Hitler ruled Germany, and had led the German country to it's own demise. But that wasn't enough for the Aryan scum.

You see Hitler was fascinated by the occult. Perhaps obsessed would be a better term. Unfortunately for humanity at large, in his scavenger hunts for relics and lore, he found some real gems among the crap he collected. So when the allies were winning he got the bright idea to use them. He took his most fanatical SS, taught them what are now known as the rudiments of summoning, and set them loose. As the allies reached the outskirts of Germany, the first known summoners, true warlocks who had sold their souls to the lords of hell, opened a full gate to hell in order to stop them.

It succeeded; but only after the demons were done massacring every German man woman and child left in the city. The time they spent on that saved the allies, as it was time needed to pull out. You see the allies learned early on that normal weapons did absolutely nothing to demons but slow them down. A massive half year long was holding action was instituted. Hundreds of thousands died to ensure the encroaching horde from hell gained as little ground as possible in strength.

At the end of that time, we had erected the wall; a wall similar to the great wall of china, spanning the heartland of Germany. We had to cede it to the enemy; the gate was still active. At this time, special forces from many countries performed suicide missions into Berlin to discover how the gate had been opened, and how demons were summoned and fought. Wise men from other countries stepped up and added to the overall knowledge of how to fight. This knowledge was added in the form of protection charms and runed weapons, and we began to hold rather than just lose.

Then the first summoners came to the line, even as the Poland threatened to break, and France was invaded. They helped more than anything else. We began regain what we had lost, and it looked like our children might never know the horrors we had seen! However, those first summoners, those heroes, fell one by one to crippling madness or, their souls devoured by the very demons they pacted with, slowly twisted and became that which they hated most. Some however took much longer to fall than others. In some cases, decades longer. And we learned, as humanity is wont to do.

Some of us, whether by nature, nurture, or both...are more resistant to the sirens' call of power, the lure of hell. Some of us are immune to the madness that besets others. That is why we have the selection, and the draft! So that you few, you lowly worms, can stand on the backs of hose giants, and finish what they started! Nothing less than the fate of humanity itself will be decided by your actions.

Now on to brass tacks. You are drafted. that is reality. Your butts are ours for 10 years, the duration of the draft. After which you can rejoin civilian life where you left it, rich as lords and sipping mai-tai's in Tahiti...or you can rejoin the fight. It all depends on you, the world will be your oyster by 29.

Look to your right, then your left. There will be no racism in my beloved Corps, to me you are all equally worthless! You are here to learn, and learn hard! you're only concern is the skills you need to save your lives, and the lives of your friends and loved ones. Keep in mind that no matter where you are, no matter what hole you die in, you are the last stand for humanity in a hostile world; any act you take from now on directly affects who lives or dies! The only distinction made in my Corps is Summoner, soldier, or civilian. You are the elite, the cream of the crop...should you succeed. Should you fail, nothing more than death and an unmarked grave awaits you, your soul feeding hell's own death machine.

The circumstances of life and death are dire for you, so that the rest of humanity survives. Do not forget. That is all."

....What could you say to that? The various sergeants gathered us up one name at a time, arranging us into squads while the commander in chief and living legend of the Summoners corps calmly walked out.

(tbc)

Now normally, I am a young man of iron resolve and nerve of steel.

But Today, I, like many of my classmates, I was nervous almost to the point of throwing up. Three months of 10 hour cram sessions, practical lessons(where demons were summoned in front of our squads), and learning various ecletic bits of esoteric formulae from over a dozen different ancient civilizations ( one wonders how they learned this stuff...I mean, who taught them?).

Also the visits with psychologists and psychiatrists (mental health was deemed a priority, so extensive files were written about us all...reams of paper no one was every likely to really read.) The pt with the cadets being trained as grunts for the war effort (in my case alone, I remained the only one of our class able to run 5 miles with them without puking my guts out, robes or no...and We all had free run of the outside, after all, where were we to go?)Led to this day; or night, more specifically.

Conjuring night, where all would be acolytes either summoned and bound their demon, failed and got nothing (and were sent to the front as shock troops...the knowledge learned here being deemed too useful to waste) or failed spectacularly and got their souls eaten, and bodies killed. The living rooms of our apartments had their furniture moved, and the rugs rolled up to reveal the surprise of our very own personal summoning circle. Enochian glyphs of demon
binding carved into tablets of stone sealed the rooms from hostile exits by demonic forces.

Nothing stopped them from getting in of course.

Tonight all 482 of us would at once, try to summon a demon each. tomorrow our own instructors would open our apartments should we fail to come out, to usher the failures out or destroy the victorious demons where they stood.

But for now, it was a time of rest, we had the day off; we could do whatever we liked...until midnight.

"Hey there Melba!"

Of course even here wasn't safe from the behaviour of morons, mystical acedeme or no.

"Why hello Justin. How's life treating you?"

Justin Bell was 6 ft 2, handsome, blond haired and brown eyed...and he knew it. He'd been cited 3 times for sneaking into female summoners' apartments; 3 different female summoners' apartments...and this was widely cited as the reason he didn't make squad leader. I of course knew better....his grades were near the top of the class, but not quite good enough. that honor belonged to his sidekick, Harry Trudeau, the victim of many Harry Pothead jokes.

I was sitting in the mess, which doubled as our day room or socializing room with our squad leader and a few people from squad 3 (we were squad 6). Our squad leader was Terrence Jones, a no nonsense farm boy from Illinois. I would lay odds he would be a drill instructor and staff sergeant before the year was out...if he survived tonight.

"I don't get it, why do you keep calling him 'Melba'?" He asked Justin.

He wasn't all that bright though.

"Because it's a type of toast, and so is Melvin. Can't you just spot the loser waves coming off him?"

Terrence's thick face scrunched up in real anger.

"No, and if you don't stop talking shit, I'm going to bust your ass. Sarge will let me too."

Justin backed down. I think he suspected me of telling on him during one of his midnight trysts..I did see him, but I didn't care and didn't need to say a word; I mean really, did he really not notice the cameras the entire time he was here? Either way it wasn't enough for him to start something then get his teeth kicked in; we both knew Terrence meant it.

"So, want dealt in? I was just about to leave."

Just call me peacemaker.

"Um sure, what are you playing for? Still quarters?"

"Yep, knock yourself out."

"where you going?" Terrence asked as I got up.

"where else? out. then some last minute studying."

"OK man, later."

I walked out, and out of the tower, at my best nonchalant speed. Even so Karen caught up to me before I'd gone more than 20 steps though the door. I didn't know why, but she seemed to consider me a project of hers, acting as a mentor of sorts whenever possible; it didn't surprise me she had today off, she probably asked for it three months ago when she brought me in.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Just thinking about where I'll end up."

A little white lie; I was thinking more about the summoning itself and what she told me when I asked about it. I knew I'd be playing that tape again in the privacy of my own apartment.

"You know, Terrence was disappointed when you didn't make squad leader. He marched right into the colonels office and told him he was making a mistake, that you were better suited."

I began listening to my surroundings again.

"Oh really? So then why was I passed over?"

"Seems someone noticed a tail when they were brought in, someone has been checking our defenses, and still getting to know our people. That same someone has aced every course and practical application exercise involving manhunts, demon hunting, and law enforcement. So there really wasn't any choice in the matter; our best student in squad 6 just isn't slated for an active front line army role...or rather they are too qualified."

"That seems like an oxymoron to me."

"It does? Then consider this bright boy...America is on a water locked continent. the gate is across a sea, and yet demons have been appearing here and there on our soul, Canada, and Mexico in ever increasing numbers. How? shouldn't America's own best and brightest be working on such a problem? Or even solving other such problems for other countries while people perfectly qualified to hold the various fronts yet are not qualified to solve such problems do so?"

"Point taken, I guess...just seems like we're sending people off to die."

Yes there was a definite we there now. I still didn't like it, but no one could ever really escape the draft. Best we could do was try to live through it.

"We are. We got no choice. Almost half of my class that survived to be sent to the front is dead now. I'm the lucky one, and I have to deal with that. We all do, if we survive. The best we can do is try to solve the problem once and for all; close the gate in Germany, and annihilate every demon currently on the planet."

"A tall order."

"we owe them no less."

"So... you said out of those that survived. Been meaning to ask you, how many didn't? what's the percentage?"

"Under 10%...out of 1000 people, only 40 died that night, and fewer than that failed."

She never sugar coated it for me, I liked that about her. Reminded me of my dad.

"Well...some died because they made a mistake in checking the circle. If so much as a hair breaks it, the thing is useless. Some just flat out got out bargained, forgetting elemental things; possibly out of fear, not sure. And some, well...the Demon have ranks, as you know. A definite hierarchy. The elite of hell are so far beyond the normal run of the mill demon it scares the piss out of me, emotional extreme or not.

Consider Thor....hes one of the elite, but the lowest rung. He can take out a good pack of those demon dogs you saw in your burger joint. But hes minor; a strong enough vassal of a minor lord. When you summon, you bargain to make a contract. The more powerful the demon, the more it can cost. The current theory is, that some demons are so strong that it takes such a strong individual that the costs asked for in some cases are too high for the soul, and it breaks under the strain.

Added to that is the fact that summoners feel it when their demons are present; Thor feels like a constant sickness in my mind, an oily malaise that I can feel in the back of my head. Other summoners feel the same. It causes the mind to break, and the theory on that is the weak mind can snap right off. Just another of the problems our best are trying to help solve with their sexy minds."

"A bit over my head."

"True, but you and I are more the action oriented thinkers; we involve ourselves in practical problem solving."

"Oh we do, do we?"

"Yep!"

We left the compound, and I started jogging around the fence. Karen kept pace easily at first, but started to lag after the first lap. She stopped and waited while I did 5.

"you didn't have to wait." I told her once I stopped, panting.

She handed me a canteen, about half full of water.

"I wanted to impart one last bit of advice to you. Get a good nap before your summoning tonight. It helps to be clear headed and awake...and don't drink to much, you do not get a potty break during the ritual."

"And I assume the pee would break the circle?"

"Well it can, given the right circumstances....like a demon canny enough. Liquids don't normally cause containment loss to an engraved circle."

"Alright well, thanks for taking the time Karen, think I'm going to review my notes and preparations."

"Alright, take care. See you tomorrow, k?"

"Sure thing."

While the Corps had summoning down to an mass produced art, each summoning was actually an individual affair. Little things like the type of chalice used, or the amount of blood sacrificed, or even the language used for the chant made a difference and couldn't help but be altered a little from person to person based on temperament. After all, we weren't all trying to summon the same demon...just in general get demonic attention and see what answered.

Hey, I thought it sounded stupid too. Most of us did, but it made a certain amount of sense.

I bought a few drinks (green tea) and went back to my apartment to review my notes and recheck my calculations.

******************************************************************************************

I woke up at 11, right on time, and set about rechecking my preparations. The circle was complete, I brushed it with a whisk broom to make sure nothing was obstructing or breaking it. I set the chalice, the candles, and the ritual dagger I'd be using in their proper places. And reviewed my notes - again. We had been told that if nothing responded in six hours, we had failed. Reports of demons coming after the third hour were scarce, and therefore unlikely.

Everything had already been checked by an experienced summoner (Karen in my case, of course.) and pronounced as up to par, even with my little additions. The clock struck 12 as I was lost reading, and I almost missed my mark. Slitting my hand and allowing the blood to flow into the chalice, I began with the standard chant, then added my own appeal:

"Ego capto socius phasmatis pro succurro!"

Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. After nearing an hour, I wanted to just stop and wash out. I was bored out of my skull, and my throat was already getting raw. My surprise when the clock chimed the hour and the blood red sulfurous smoke spewed out of the center of the circle was total. My eyebrow raised however, when the smoke resolved itself, not into a bal rog or imp or other such horrific apparition, but a dapper looking possibly middle aged
man.

He was rather tall, perhaps as tall as Justin, perhaps a trifle more. He had grey hair, not the grey hair of age, but of a pigeons' feathers; uniform and a strange color for hair. He had a rugged but refined look to him, as if he were used to the outdoors or sports, without being large or imposing. He was obviously nonhuman however, with large jet black feathered wings and red eyes.

The stories were right; just by standing there he scared the hell out of me.

His eyes tracked and he saw me right as I finished the last refrain of the chant; breaking it off in the middle would have been bad.

"Well....a hairless ape finally had the guts to try summoning me. Well done human; release me and I'll show my appreciation."

"Don't bother. I am not that stupid. Your name? I'll settle for your use name."

"You think to make me bow, scum? I bow to no man, nor will I ever serve a human. Go back to your mud hut and play with your pet rocks."

"You WILL serve me. You must answer, demon! I compel you! Reddo!"

If anything, he appeared to lean back as he grinned, exposing sharp predator teeth, perfectly pointed and likely perfectly sharp.

"I am the duke of hell known as Grex, little monkey. And your name?"

the texts were of two minds about giving out your own name. Legends said that some demons could compel you through name alone. However, recent experience of other summoners suggested otherwise; that demons could gain some power over you by knowing your name, but not that power. That is, if they knew your name.

"My name, or as much of it as you should know now...is Melvin. You said you're a duke of hell?"

"Indeed! I am regent of the crags of despair, in the ninth circle."

He looked at me expectantly.

"Sorry, never heard of it...or you."

I couldn't resist; most demons have huge egos. He didn't rise to the bait, however. With a long suffering sigh he replied.

"Of course, it's to be expected; what do your parents teach their children nowadays? No time for the classics, like who eats them in the night. Well, let's get down to business, as my boss would say. What do you want, mortal?"

"For your kind to stop coming through the gate and killing my kind, and for you all to go home?"

"A worthy ambition, but alas, I cannot command all my brethren...most just simply follow other masters."

But not all, good to know.

"Then I'll settle for you, serving and protecting me to the best of your ability from all enemies and potential hurts of any dimension or reality while I carry out that aforementioned task and the full complete and unrestricted access to your power, commonly called magic by us humans. Both for as long as I feel I require it."

"So you want the complete unrestricted servitude of myself, and the access to all powers of a ruler of the ninth circle of hell, do I have that correct Melvin? I just want to be clear here."

I thought it over...I didn't see any way that could be misconstrued...after all he was the only ruler of the ninth circle, wasn't he?

"Who rules the ninth circle of hell?"

"Ahh, you ARE paying attention. I do of course, and you're correct in your suspicions. I am the only ruler of the ninth circle of hell; I do not share the seat with anyone."

"Do you serve anyone?"

"Everyone in hell serves someone. I serve the Boss directly, don't make me say his name, it won't end well for you, and I won't have nearly as much fun...and I serve the Lady of lost hope, grand duchess of hell and one of the fabled 20 generals of the end."

Another thing to file away for later...like tomorrow, when I beat answers out of this guy. His aura was beginning to anger me more than frighten me.

"Alright so what is your price for what I'm asking?"

"The price for my wonderful service and power? Hmm, I wonder. I don't suppose you'd be willing to part with your soul, would you?"

"No, not even a little bit of it."

"Ahh, such a shame, such a shame. Well the standard price for services after souls is years off your life. Ten at least in this case...for my services alone under a standard contract, not nearly the all encompassing loophole free contract you desire.That doesn't even cover my magic. I could see myself agreeing to ten years however if say...you'd sweeten the deal."

"With what precisely?"

"Your first name."

"My what?"

"Your first name; names have power silly mortal. Your parents chose a name to express your essence. I want your first name. In response, you get a new first name of my choosing. Something to better express the new you, and I keep the energy gained from you willingly giving such a thing up."

"what will that do? Speak truthfully; reddo!"

"It won't hurt you in any way. Your form wont be altered from it, nor can I alter your form with it. I cannot compel you, nor coerce you to do anything you do not wish to do with it. It is, after all, when the cookie crumbles, only a name. And does not a rose by any other name smell as sweet?"

"What can you do with it?"

His look soured a moment before he was all smiles again.

"Not much; I can slightly alter your perceptions and attitudes with the proper name, making you more...yourself. Let's be honest, Melvin does not suit you at all."

"Honesty is appreciated. Let me think on it."

"Take all the time in the world available Melvin, but be warned that I can and will eat you in 4 hours, 30 minutes, 19 seconds."

So I thought, hard. Everyone pays a price for this, and I had either had the best or worst luck, depending on how you looked at it. The chance to bring an actual ruler of hell itself into the fight...for our side. In all our studies we had determined only 4 summoners for the allies had managed to summon anything stronger than a count of hell.

Gerald Cross, a world war 2 former marine and summoner during the subsequent conflicts, had summoned Thrak, a baron of the 6th circle of hell. He managed to keep France from getting overrun largely on his own during the 50's till of course, his untimely death.

The other was the current commander of the Summoner Corps, 4 star general Xander Stone; he and his summon Thrall are living legends...mainly due to the fact that unlike most people nowadays, he was a lifer to the corps. The other two were classified.

Could I stand being 28 and known as something embarrassing in order to bring such an ace to our side? The circle ensured his honesty; he could not lie.

Now I'm not really a risk taker by nature...I didn't think. But the other concern was failure. Once started you had one chance at a demon; no other would answer your call. Common courtesy among demons, so to speak. However that meant if I turned him down I was going to the front sans any protection; just some scatter-shot learning and a runed weapon against thousands or more demons.

As desperate as the demon was not to be in the circle come morning, I was just as desperate. I was steady however. I'd always prided myself on my ability to compartmentalize emotion; it led to a killer poker face.

The last consideration was...Grex was being reasonable. The costs of what demons charged for their services were cataloged as a matter of course; sort of a demonic price guide. Grex's prices were a bit on the high side, but then he was a valuable commodity, and he knew it.

"3 hours 39 minutes 22 seconds, mortal."

I grinned. I was damned if I did, and damned if I didn't, just like everyone doing this before me.

"I'll do it."

He grinned back.

"In the interest of clarity again, I am charging you your first name and my aforementioned fee for my services and the magic of the ruler of the ninth circle of hell."

I considered...since his aforementioned fee had a number on it, a cap...he couldn't take all my years. I could stand being 28 and retiring before 40.

"I accept."

His grin broadened alarmingly and his aura or whatever it was got worse in an instant. Then he flowed over the circle as if it didn't exist and smothered me.

(tbc)

I was floating on cloud nine. City's sweet sixteen had just ended, her parents had gone to bed...and the guest room was at the other end of the house. She was wearing a pink chiffon dress that made her look younger, vulnerable, and I had on my one tuxedo. Both families had gone all out to celebrate.

But of course we had our own ideas on how to celebrate.

"I'm ready for my real gift now Mel..."

She whispered in a breathy whisper, shucking off her dress in a move she must have practiced, for maximum speed and effect. Not to be outdone, my Tux flew in all directions. She smirked at my noticeable underwear tent as I gawked like a rube at a fair before her revealed majesty.

"And here I was worried about your size...."

"My dear Felicity, you wound me! I come from a long line of 3 legged men."

I jumped her, gently tackling her to the bed. I did not want to hurt her tonight of all nights, but I couldn't wait any longer. She giggled as I took her underwear off, her small hands sliding my boxers off. I leaned into her, enjoying her warmth, nuzzling her neck and running my hands across her smooth hard chest....

Wait a minute. Hold the phone.

I ran my hands across the form I was lying on again. I had no tension in my muscles, lying completely on top of this person, my chest squished against theirs. My hands roved across firm abs, and toned muscular pecs...

Something was very wrong here. Opening my eyes revealed a pitch black room.

I shifted a little, it took more effort than I was used to, and some of the warmth went away. I mourned it's passing briefly; I was very cold. Then the answer came. My chest...was squished against someone else's.

My chest should not squish. As I shifted again, it occurred to me, my right leg was wrapped around the other persons' left...and shifting that leg brought
to mind a series of sensations I should be having...but didn't. Meanwhile my chest continued to squish.

"Whatthefuck?!?"

My voice was several octaves higher. One hand snaked to my crotch to find only air and smooth silk; reaching a bit further found a cleft I could feel through the cloth, a faint press brought the faintest hint of moisture from within and a rather pleasant sensation. My other hand had found the source a warm soft cantaloupe attached to my chest also sheathed in silk, with a hard, erect and large nipple.

Arms snaked around me, once more burying me in the foreign chest with a silent squish.

"Good morning master. You were having pleasant dreams I see."

I knew that voice.

"Grex, what the hell?!?"

I tried to push up, but I could only squirm. I could almost see his grin in the dark. Unsufferable bastard.

"How do you feel master? "

"Pretty confused. Why am I female?"

"Because you bargained poorly master."

"Damn you let me up! You will give me a straight answer!"

His hands immediately let go and I sprang up and away, making one full step before getting dizzy and beginning to fall. Somehow he caught me before I hit the ground.

"I protect you from all hurts possible, as ordered. You are chilled, I warm you. You fall, I catch you. Our bargain holds master, there is no reason for distress."

Before I knew it I was on the bed again.

"I told you When you summoned me. 'I bow to no man'. I also stated clearly that the standard price was years off your life. I in no way stated it was my actual price."

I stared at him aghast. How could I have missed that?!? With one glossed over phrase which I took to be a boast...I had completely ruined what little bit of my old life I could have gone back to. There was nothing for me now.

"Now for the other part of my price my dear master... I name thee Maeve."

I found myself laying down, head on my pillow, mind swimming. My thoughts had scattered like so many startled birds, my train of thought derailed. Everything came back into focus for me to find Grex hovering above me, watching me with something that could be mistaken with concern.

My first real thought was to wonder where his wings had gone. He saw my eyes start to track him and smiled down at me.

I must have been incoherent for some time; there was some light in the room now, revealing that there was something wrong with my eyes. They were perceiving colors differently, though I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Slowly my master, much has changed for you. Small steps."

I could do this. I had to do this. It was forward or die, and had been since the selection. I took a few deep breaths...getting angry. These stupid huge appendages glued to me! They shifted in uncomfortable ways, with every breath. A thought surfaced.

"what time is it?"

"It is 5:43 a.m. master, roughly."

I got up, taking more care this time. Everything kept shifting and moving differently, it was frustrating. I felt like a child learning to walk.

"More hip movement, master."

"...What?"

"Your center of gravity is different, your weight redistributed. You need to swing your hips more in order to walk properly as a female."

I glared at him for a bit, then tried again.

"Much better; Soon it'll be second nature."

I headed to the bathroom, grabbing one of my robes on the way.

"How do you feel, master?"

"Other than the obvious, my back aches."

"I see, that should pass. Your musculature is still not fully formed as yet."

"that why it's taking such effort to move?"

Sitting down to pee was going to get old. The seat was cold!

"Very likely."

Still feeling moisture I used toilet paper to wipe it away. Yep, very annoying.

"So when should that pass?"

"By the end of the day."

I stood looking in the mirror. It wasn't full length, but it was good enough. I'd guess I lost about 4 inches in height. now standing around 5ft 7in. My hair was a wild pure snow white mane that fell in thick waves past my shoulders, my skin was purest alabaster. Bright red eyes were set in a heart shaped face sporting delicate features that brought my mother to mind. My nose had a slight upturn that hers did not.

My new breasts were simply enormous, and my hips were wide enough to land a helicopter on. I had been dressed in a sky blue nightie or something; all silk and lace.

My robe...wouldn't fit. I simply could not get it over my huge melons, it was some synthetic cloth that wouldn't stretch, and the robe wasn't large enough to accommodate my new curves.

"You're going to have to help me Grex."

"What is the problem?"

He approached as I came out of the bathroom.

"You'll either have to make me smaller or make the robe bigger. Only clothes I have that I have a chance of fitting in, and time is wasting."

"Somewhere you need to be master?"

"Ready to receive visitors in under 10 minutes or we both may well die, yes."

He raised an eyebrow. OK it wasn't quite a lie, but he didn't need to know that!

"Hold your robe up to yourself."

I did so...and he did something, the robe started melding to me, bleeding color. As I watched it formed into a dress around me, some sort of blood red goth style affair, trimmed heavily in black. I raised my eyebrows when the fingerless gloves and boots simply bled into existence. I looked under the dress on a hunch, and saw the black mesh stockings as well.

"Useful trick, but your style sucks."

"You don't like what I offer, do it yourself; you have the power. Ah, that reminds me!"

He approached me again and I backed away.

"What are you plotting? stay back!"

"Calmly master, I must do this to protect you. You compelled me to see to your welfare, remember?"

He grabbed me gently and pulled something out of his suit pocket.

"What are those?"

"Charms of protection and power seals."

He cupped my hand and I felt a tug at my ear; a painful pinch.

"Ouch, jerk! What are you doing!"

"They are earrings master. A tiny sting and they are inserted. The pain will fade, and you will be protected; from enemy attacks, and from your own new found power destroying you before I can train you."

Ignoring my protests he held me and stuck me five more times. I wobbled to the bathroom after he let me go. Standing in front of the mirror I saw six new holes; 3 per ear...one each in my lobes, and 2 near the top of each ear. What caused those holes were small silver rings, with some sort of engraving on them. The holes had already gone pleasantly numb. Leaning closer to see the runes I got dizzy again and almost fell.

Which meant Grex caught me again.

"You tell me again, speaking nothing but the truth; What are these for?"

"2 of them are charms of protection, designed to protect the bearer from physical and magical harm. Both will make you severely resistant to damage of any kind. The other 4 are to prevent your own powers as a lord of hell from running out of control and burning you to ash."

"They make me feel even weaker."

"I know. That too will pass."

Grex hovered as I walked slowly into the kitchen, the pain from my ears and oddly enough my back fading in between steps. I grabbed one of the green teas I had bought what seemed a lifetime ago when a knock sounded at the door.

"Melvin? You survive?"

I took a long pull from the tea.

"Isn't that your door master?"

"Answer it, it's Karen but she's looking for someone else. Must be at the wrong door or something."

He grinned at me, showing his teeth this time.

"No my master, You have forgotten your old name. You must make the effort to remember, at least for some time to come."

Oh, shit, he was right. That might mean I was declared late. He opened the door before I could yell at him.

"...Melvin?"

She was looking at Grex as she said it, she spared me a quick glance. Grex gave her another one of his toothy grins as I walked slowly up.

"It's Maeve now. Good morning."

She looked between the two of us a few times...then she started to laugh.

"Every class has at least one; I never expected you to be the one to trade their masculinity though! you just didn't seem the type." She exclaimed, wiping her eyes.

"Damn it, it's not like that!Shut the door at least."

She did, getting serious.

"Alright, so this is you're demon. what happened? You shouldn't be able to open the door with a demon summoned in here right now; he shouldn't have been able to open it at all."

"I can open it easily madame, however walking through the threshold might be a fun challenge." Grex opined.

I squirmed under her 'hairy eyeball' stare.

"I'm not compromised, as far as I can tell. As for why he is able to, I don't know. He's been here since 1am. I've been um...indisposed for almost that long."

She took her phone out.

"Sir, we have a situation. Could you please come to room number 66, and keep your line open but speaker off."

"OK, go over the terms of your bargain, verbatim."

I told her everything the demon had said, and my responses, including my thoughts as we sat down. I heard some of the other summoners moving around outside. I rounded that out by telling her everything I remembered since then. She lost her cool to laughing fits more than once.

"So the gist of it is...you got a very good bargain, but got duped in that you didn't know exactly what the price was."

"Not sure it was worth the price; there isn't anything for me now. None of my friends or family will ever know who I am, or believe it if I told them."

"don't be too sure about that. At any rate for now the thing to worry about is who is actually wearing the pants in this arrangement."

She snorted laughter again, and nearly collapsed looking at my face.

"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't resist. So Maeve, is it now? You're going to have to work on that face of yours again, it's showing every emotion like an open book. Could be a liability."

I kept my hands from going to my face in an attempt to slap it into proper submission...barely.

Without preamble the door burst open and The old man himself, who I hadn't seen since the day after my arrival strode through with his demon, thrall. Immediately the tension in the room went up several notches as Grex and thrall caught sight of each other. I attempted to rise quickly.

"Sir!"

A wave of dizziness hit me just as he said: "At ease soldier."

I collapsed gratefully back into my comfy chair while he crossed the room.

"I heard it all soldier, and I must say I'm disappointed in you; we taught you better than that. You were fooled by an elementary trick, a wordplay of kindergarten levels! Why, what would..."

Grex interrupted.

"Excuse me worm...But I think I can explain this little misunderstanding."

He nodded at thrall; thrall nodded back and he continued.

"My name is Grex...yes, that Grex. Maeve had no chance to succeed in uncovering my ruse; thanks to an earlier contract, I was assured a moment of blindness when dealing with her. Part of an earlier contract price was that moment of blindness, a sort of critical lack of perception. Of course, you of all people know this. Hello again."

And he waved. The general paled a bit.

"What? What does he mean, how can that be done?"

"He means your momma sold you out, boy. You're not the first Numens Grex here dug his claws into."

"Can that even work? I mean I thought the bargain had to be between the actual parties?"

"It can if they are blood. Grex here bargained for one moment of weakness in you, the first born's life. Your momma granted it because she was young, headstrong, and knew that it offered a kind of protection; Until Grex came for his moment, you were demon free. No demon would touch another demon's property."

It began to make sense....when everyone thought I was demon marked...I really had been all along. If I hadn't already been sitting, I would have fallen. My own mother.

"You're momma bargained to exist boy...she got cheated badly. She was amazing in her way, but you...knowing what she'd done to you broke her. You however...you got fair value, better than you should have under the circumstances. I am sorry boy, I just didn't do my job well enough; had I checked the personnel reports, I could have stopped this."

Karen looked as shocked as I felt. The general himself looked every year of a hundred, apologizing to me. She muttered:

"All this time and I never knew."

A small knock sounded on the half open door, and Alice Crenshaw stepped in. Alice was a summoner attached to the psych wing of the corps; she had a small imp summons with a unique trick...it could discern truth between lies, and force others to tell the truth...or lie if Alice wanted. Her ability was too useful to risk her on the front lines. The imp caught sight of Thrall and Grex and cringed, walking inside as if it feared a whipping.

"you called for me sir?"

The general recovered in an instant, looking much younger and more vigorous instantly before turning to Alice.

"Yes alice, time to play truth or dare. That one,' He stabbed a finger at Grex. 'is your target."

"Yes sir."

I opened my mouth.

"No soldier, let her come into this unbiased."

"Alright demon, do you have a master?"

"I do, human."

"Who is it?"

"Maeve Numens, the summoner in that chair."

"When did you meet her?"

"Last night."

"Is there anything in your bargain that allows you to control her or influence her mind?"

He stared hard at the imp, who bucked up and looked back in pretty obvious defiance.

"I may of course reason with her. I cannot control her actions or thought except where her life or welfare are in danger; this is subject to interpretation by both her and myself. Should she overrule my judgement, I must abide by it. I am a part of her life now, and my mark is upon her, much as your lives are marked."

I thought about that....I hadn't seen any mark; every summoner had one, a glyph that looked like a tattoo. They formed on a variety of spots, but when I had seen myself in the mirror there wasn't a single blemish on my skin; not even old scars. The mental mark...the malaise that Karen had mentioned yesterday...didn't feel corrupting or overwhelming at all. It felt...soothing.

Well that's a disturbing revelation.

She turned to me.

"Are you being controlled in any way?"

The feeling of being forced to tell the truth was odd, I felt a sort of pulling in my mind. It was brief however, as I had no hesitation.

"No ma'am."

She did outrank me after all, and was here in an official capacity.

She looked at her imp, and her imp nodded to her.

"I think that covers your questions Sir, unless you have more?"

"No thank you Lieutenant, That covers my most of my concerns. You may go.

I tensed again as she departed.

"Most, sir?"

"Hold still soldier."

He grabbed my head and turned, staring at my ears. He tsked, put on his glasses, and looked again,twisting my head to and fro as if I were a doll he was trying to break. Grex took a step before Thrall somehow appeared in front of him. they began staring each other down as the general kept looking, oblivious.

"The earrings check out, all six of them. No hidden nasties."

He looked down at me and smiled.

"Welcome to the fold lieutenant. you're out of uniform; I suggest you correct that ASAP."

He clapped thrall on the shoulder as he let me go, and they left without fanfare.

"Well you heard the General!" Karen finally roused herself, holding out a black robe I hadn't seen her carrying.

"Um, there was a problem with that, and unless this robe is different somehow I think it'll share the issue."

She looked me up and down. then giggled.

"Yeah I can see that, you're huge! The old you was a bit of a beanpole."

"...Thanks."

"Oh don't get all huffy about it, it's a compliment! You know how many women would sell their souls to a demon to get those hooters? I'm all kinds of jealous."

"You can have them."

"No she can't,' Grex interrupted with a glare. ' but she can feel free to tell me all about these silly monkeys who would sell their souls for teats."

"No thanks!' Karen replied cheerily 'and how are you still here? you've been constantly summoned for hours. The drain should be enormous."

She jumped into my personal space, staring at me from about 3 inches away.

"You feel OK?"

"I feel fine actually. Better now than when I woke up, and feeling better by the moment."

"My master is not built as weakly as you." Grex opined as we left the relative safety of my rooms.

Karen sniffed and whirled away, a bundle of energy I could only admire; Nothing was a problem to her for long.

"Come come, to the store! There are things you will need, and you have the day off!"

She Danced around me, clearly impatient with my slow pace.

"Calm down, it'll still be there."

"Wow...dat ass. Where have you been hiding baby? I haven't seen you around."

Justin. Was he hitting on Karen? No she was too far ahead by now. I turned around, to find that Justin's roving eyes were glued directly to MY backside!

"Oh my, I'd have definitely remembered seeing you before; What's your name baby, you a new recruit? I just passed my Ritual, I could teach you how."

How could he be so stupid? there are no new recruits after a school year. It's run bi-yearly, with any leftovers from the school year being recruited in the spring.

"Justin...you're an idiot. Go away."

"Hey, that's no way to be! come on...!"

Then Grex stopped shadowing me and stepped up behind him.

"Were I you I'd listen to her, worm."

Justin turned to a full view of Grex's teeth.

He turned some interesting shades and backed away.

"Sure, no problem man...You have fun."

"Nice, Grex."

"Thank you, master."

Karen had come back.

"So what happened here, slowpoke?"

"Just Justin staring at my butt."

"Heh, awkward."

She started pulling me along, sorely testing my balance.

"Karen...."

"Yes?"

"How bad is it?"

She stopped and pulled me in a corner.

"you look great. Excepting the red eyes and white hair, you're supermodel material. Your butt isn't too big, you're hips aren't too wide, and that rack of yours will be the envy of every woman who hasn't had surgery; in short you're about as close to perfect as a human can be. You were sculpted to be pleasing to the eye, that much is obvious."

"Thank you." Grex interjected.

"Thanks. Don't know what came over me, I just felt so self conscious all of a sudden."

"Noticing the stares huh?"

"Yeah, was beginning to think something was wrong with me...that I was freakish somehow."

Hey, if you have to be female, better to be an attractive one, right?

"No problem, it happens to us all. You're definitely not freakish, even though those red eyes make you look demonic."

"Yeah, will that be a problem?"

I asked as she started pulling me along again.

"Not really. You know of the robe rule?"

"You mean the regulation that states for benefit of the public all summoners with an 'altered' appearance must appear in the robes befitting their rank at all times?"

"That's the one. The inside secret is a bit different. Summoners many times wear normal clothes, and live normal lives when off duty; at least here. The difference is if you show strange oddities due to your bargain, you're not allowed. It's robes, all the time. you're right on the edge. You can pass as simply one of those unusual humans that crops up every now and again. I'll have to ask the colonel...or the general. He likes you, you know."

"He does?"

"Sure, he didn't bust you for being out of uniform!"

"You seriously think he would? I mean extenuating circumstances, right?"

"Nah hes a real martinet when stateside. You'd have been busted. He absolutely likes you. well finally here! Let's go, let's go! Oh and dismiss Grex...he's not welcome in here unless you need him, remember? Besides you need some down time, you're really starting to worry me."

"Alright, alright. Grex go home. I'll call if I need you."

"Certainly master. See you soon."

And with a puff of acrid smoke he was gone. He was a demon, and screwed me over horribly....

So why did I feel a sense of loss when he left?

"come on!"

"Wait Karen, My balance is crap! seriously, I can hardly walk, quit pulling!"

Despite my protests she pulled me in the women's section and straight to the underwear.

"First stop!"

She went to a desk near the fitting rooms and grabbed a measuring tape.

"We have prepared for this; as I said before, always one per class."

"How many this class?"

"Not so sure actually, at least one more...you'll likely meet her later, she was checked out before you. Just as pissed as you are actually, despite the fact I think she secretly wanted it. Not sure why."

"Never can tell about people I guess."

She dragged me into a fitting room and unzipped my dress.

"Is this really necessary?"

"Yes, trust me, you want bras to fit correctly."

"so what did that other summoner you were mentioning get a hold of?"

I asked, trying to think happy thoughts while she applied the tape to my person. She wrapped it around my chest three times, then my waist, then my
hips, all while I contemplated murdering Nazis. Too bad there weren't any more.

She got a rare type of demon called a Vrock...a type of flying demon that's not quite a male harpy. OK! I think you're right!"

"Right about?"

She poked me in the chest...hard.

"These are entirely too big. 36D. You literally have the holy grail of figures for a woman. 36, 24, 36."

"Tell me about it,' I hefted them. 'they feel like they weigh 20 pounds each."

She stared carefully at them as I let them drop.

"No, more like 10 pounds each. Entirely too perky for breasts that big. Sigh, not fair at all. You, stay here. Right here. That's an order, I'll be back."

She opened the door and walked off muttering, leaving me exposed, as it were. I quickly reclosed the door, and leaned back against the wall to wait.

And I waited...and waited...and waited.

If I could have zipped myself up I'd be hunting her down by now.

"And back!"

"Got enough of the store's stock?"

She had to have about 20 bras alone, had a few different sets of fatigues, socks, and a couple packs of panties. Oh joy.

"Got to try on at least this many...don't want those beasts of yours hurting after a few hours, do you?"

"Um, no, having them pull like this is bad enough."

She made me try them all on; even the ones I thought fit fine. After each one, she gave me a contemplative poke or two, or grabbed the torture device and 'adjusted' it in such a way that the straps or cups dug into sensitive flesh. Two different packs of panties were apparently rejected once the bras were finally settled on.

After that the fatigues were a relief. I simply stripped and tried on the pants, immediately discarding two that weren't quite big enough to accommodate my hips, and one pair that was too big in the waist. The T- shirts and jackets fit fine.

"Not a big selection since we're military...you get desert or olive drab."

"I'm fine with either, can we just get out of here?"

I asked with maybe a hint of begging as I folded up that silly dress, now once again attired befitting a human in the 21st century.

"I'd suggest desert, goes better with your new colors...but olive drab is more popular in most of the places you're stationed...Wait here a bit more."

"Fine, whatever."

I spent my time looking at the different styles of military belts. there were more than I thought there would be. I grabbed two just in case I needed them later...I could do that much.

"OK, back and all set!"

I turned to see Karen with six sets of fatigues, 3 of the standard olive drab, and 3 in desert camo. she also had even more bras, and packs of 'sports bras', socks, and boots.

"Now follow me! We need a few more things!"

I groaned.

*********************************************************************

(tbc)

On my way back from the department store, my arms filled to muscular protest with clothes and various items like 'better' shampoo, hair conditioner, hair detangler (I mean, seriously, wtf? You spray crap on hair so it won't tangle?) and a box of something my mind was avoiding naming for my own mental health, Karen turned pensive and serious.

"Got a surprise for you."

"A good one I hope, not sure I'm up for another."

"Yep; your transfer went out the moment you passed inspection today; you are now officially a noob of the Anti-Demon Task force. You'll have to come back here every other weekend to continue your training, including our version of ROTC courses...sort of a delayed basic for you. And likely the other weekends will be the ADTF version of SWAT training, so you'll be really busy...."

"Karen; where am I being transferred."

"Your home town. We lost one of our demon hunters two days ago, and we didn't know any of what we learned today. So...I kind of put in transfer papers with the colonel's permission; We were both very sure you'd pass with no problems."

"It's OK, I can handle it. I mean, I don't have to deal with anyone there I don't want to, right?"

She offered a small, sickly smile.

"Right. And I'll be there! It's my rotation to help them again after all."

"they that short handed?"

"Well attrition happens, and we usually don't get many people; most go to the front. Truth told, we'd be driving back already if not for this morning. We think your demon is plotting something, though that is pretty much natural for them."

"So do I, you get no arguments there. It was quite the relief to hear him forced to admit he couldn't control me."

"For all of us. If he's telling the truth, he's quite the weapon; we could use him."

my angry reply was interrupted.

"Well well well, if it isn't Melvina! How's it going, little girl? Did you go to buy dollies?"

Justin. Again.

I turned to see him lurking behind the doorway we had just entered through in his new black robe, obviously laying in wait. Disgust painted his features with a broad brush.

"you sick little...."

And then a large fist came from nowhere as I blinked, slamming into Justin's jaw with a loud crack.

"Lieutenant Bell, you will not. EVER. say anything derogatory about the cost another Summoner paid to tame a demon in the ritual. Am I clear, 'Stumpy'?"

The speaker revealed itself as Terrance Jones, also robed and with his cowl up so that he seemed a part of the shadows he had stepped from. Justin shook his head clear as I zero'd in on something.

"Stumpy? that's a new one."

Justin went beet red, fury rolling off him in waves.

"Get him to tell you, if he will. It's his new squad nick name...the tradition is to pick something fitting. Since this morning, 'Stumpy' fits him."

"I don't get it, he's not short..."

"Squad leader Jones, you hit me. I'll see you court martialed for that!"

"Try it lieutenant Bell, and we will see what the colonel says when I tell him why. Think you'll get out unscathed when I tell him you're harassing a fellow officer over her price? Captain, what are the rules about discrimination again?"

Karen spoke up loud and clear, eyes hard as flinty jade.

"The rules are none will be tolerated, for any reason. you're dismissed Lieutenant Bell...leave before it's sergeant Bell."

He threw a sloppy salute and left without another word. For my part as he turned to me I saluted Terrance, now my superior officer.

"sir!"

"Oh stop that, we both know you should have my job. I came by after being informed of your hasty transfer...I was told the captain had you outside for some reason...."

A quick glance at the shopping bags, at Karen, and he gave a shudder. A sentiment I heartily agreed with.

"Anyway I just wanted you to know, you're still a member of my squad unless formally reassigned; we will be doing basic here, I've been informed you'll be joining us when possible. So come to me if you need anything...Snow White."

I raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"your squad nickname; I just decided. You'll be Snow White." I sighed.

"Well I'm certainly white enough; guessing no one has given you yours yet?"

I could feel his grin through the cowl.

"No, no one has dared."

"Well I dare...Clay."

"Clay?"

"Yep, Cassius Clay...he was pretty good with his fists too."

"A moniker I could learn to live up to I guess. You win."

Karen cleared her throat.

"Guess I'm on a time table; see you later sir."

"Yes...later soldier."

Karen glanced at me as she led us away.

"We are indeed on a rather rigid time table; got to get you settled in by tonight. Guess maybe I should scrounge up seven dwarfs?"

"Can it, captain. You'll have to do."

"I'm as tall as you are."

"perhaps, but you have a most excellent dwarven beard."

She punched me in the arm as I smiled. Point to me.

*****************************************************************

Packing up actually took a bit longer than I expected, mainly because Karen insisted on giving the place a thorough cleaning and resetting the floor. She told me I'd understand when I had to move with no prior notice a few more times. Pointing out that I already had been forced to move with no notice twice didn't seem to impress her.

We left the place redolent of bleach and cleanser, and now had a total of six full boxes of crap that I'd somehow collected over the months, if you included the food I'd got from the fridge and cupboards. No way to carry it all in one trip...and I did not want to make multiple trips.

"Captain, I really don't think I want to make 3 or 4 trips carrying this crap. I mean 2 boxes full of hardbound books!"

"I agree, so what are you asking me?"

"Could you look the other way a minute while I bend a rule?"

"Um, which one?"

"Well I suddenly feel my life is being threatened. Grex, veni huc!"

A swirl of smoke and Grex was there, on one knee before me. A choking noise alerted me to the fact that Karen's mouth was open.

"...What?"

"You just summoned your demon without any blood, or an athame! you didn't use his mark or anything!"

Oh, right. In order to summon I was supposed to use a ritual dagger to pierce my mark and bleed a bit while calling on Grex. But I didn't have one.

"...I'm sorry?"

"How did you do that?"

"I just knew I could. I knew if I called he would answer."

"Quite so master; I am your servant, I now live to serve."

Karen's jaw hit the floor (metaphorically).

"but, you...and he...."

"don't worry so much about it Karen. It's a plus."

As she nodded, eyes glazed, I turned to Grex.

"Now servant, you have a very important task to perform."

"Yes master? Who do I kill in your glorious name?"

"Back pain Grex, back pain. Carry those boxes and follow us."

He looked at the boxes, and looked at me. And looked at the boxes, and looked back at me.

"Master, that's simply cruel. I approve."

"Glad you do...now chop chop, we're wasting time."

He held out his hand and traced a rune in the air which shrank the boxes just as Karen was beginning to collect herself, picking them all up and placing them in his coat pocket as Karen's eyes widened again.

"Spacial magics? You have access to those?"

"In a limited fashion yes."

"and you answered me without being forced..."

"No, I answered for my master; you simply heard it. She needs to know what I am capable of."

"right right, this is all fascinating, but we have a long drive ahead of us. So let's go!"

I tugged Karen out of the room and left the key in the lock, lugging her down the hall while Grex followed behind us.

It was good to have him back. Comforting.

*************************************************************************************

The ride back home was uneventful, each of us rather lost in our own worlds. Grex stuck around to watch for ambushes, so Thor didn't need to be summoned; just as well, I don't think they would have gotten along...though I was tempted to ask Thor what he knew of Grex. That would have to be done when Grex wasn't listening though.

It was just under two hours later, nearing 3pm when we pulled into the parking lot of the building laughingly nick named 'The Warlock historia' by the high school kids in my home town. Sort of the almost witty thing high school kids think of often.

The building in question was a simple eight story apartment building, the oldest in the city at one hundred and forty years. The actual name was 'The Wampler'...named after Efram Wampler, the man who designed and made the place. It was luxury apartment living back in the day, modeled after the large deluxe places in Chicago and New York.

I'd only been in it once, following my father as a child. I no longer remember exactly why we went here. But I still remember the building clearly; brass fixtures, genuine oak trim and accents stained a dark brown, and statues of copper, bronze and stone everywhere the eye could gaze. Truth was bit different than memory however.

The wood accents and molding were still there, as were the brass fixtures. The glass air tubes meant to carry mail to all the apartments were even still there, I could see them going up as I crossed the lobby behind Karen. There was even an old style elevator, the kind with the cage door and lever, that belhops used to be hired for. There was an abundance of plant life throughout, and the fountain complete with cherubs still merrily spitting away, was the obvious centerpiece.

Looking with an adult's eye however revealed this grand lady's glory to be well past its' prime. The brass was tarnished, with only a few bright patches to show any effort at all had been made in it's care, the glass of the tubes was cracked, the elevator was out of order, the wood had been splintered in more than a few spots due to who knows what, and the fountain ran sluggishly and showed signs of leakage.

But the worst was the elevator was currently out of order. We reached the front desk as I took it all in, and stopped in front of a man I judged to be in his 40's, with no hair on his head, eyebrows that I might have sworn were caterpillars crawling across his face, and a large build just beginning to run totally towards fat. He seemed to be one of those genuinely jolly types however, smiling broadly as he spotted us.

"Ahh Karen, welcome back, and this is our new recruit ehh?"

"I'm Maeve Numens, nice to meet you."

"Brock Bowie, no relation to David. How was your trip?"

"Uneventful,' Karen responded. 'so where do we put our noob?"

"Well there are a few spots open...."

"You will place my master in your largest, best maintained accommodations."

"Oh I will, demon? And who might you be?"

"His name is Grex, just ignore him."

He didn't. He instead walked right up to Grex and looked him over.

"Your summon is a lord?" He finally concluded.

"Yes, a duke."

"Makes sense, lords are all pretty much high maintenance. I bet he feels that if he has to server you, we should all treat you as royalty?"

Grex nodded while my eyes widened. This wasn't exactly something I had counted on, and I could see the repercussions of such a mind set from here. I'd hate to have the entire building against me.

"Maybe, but..."

He turned to me with a smile.

"No worries, we have just the place for you. Eighth floor though. Room number 806; Sorry about the elevator, it's being worked on as we speak."

I hung my head.

"No problem sir. I'll leave you to it."

Karen grabbed my arm, whispering.

"Come on, it's not that bad, the eight floor has the nicest biggest apartments in the place, it's pretty much standard policy to put those with powerful demons up there. The general himself keeps one of the suites here, room 802."

"Where do you stay while here?"

"Room 714. And don't worry about the elevator, the staff here aren't military, but they are quiet stable and do their jobs well. My bet is it'll be repaired tomorrow."

"But for now, stairs. No big, I can do stairs."

"Fair warning, we have furniture move up here and put together; the last tenant took theirs with them."

"Well since Grex wanted us in the largest apartment in the building...he can do all the heavy lifting; right Grex?"

His smile was predatory and not at all abashed.

"As you command, my master."

"Anyway,' continued Karen with one of her trademark eye rolls, 'There is a definite hierarchy among summoners. Those with strong demons are usually near or at the top of it. Some of those in this building are a bit prickly about such things, so be careful. Little sabotages aren't above our kind, no matter how dedicated we are."

"Good to know, can I opt out of playing that game?"

"Nope; you're right in your suspicion, you're already playing it. However, Brock wasn't setting you up so much as trying to keep the peace. He and his staff are civilian contractors put in a very difficult position by the government. The things he has seen...would probably even give me pause."

"How so? thought we weren't supposed to show off in front of civilians?"

"Most of the summoners in the city...are housed here. Only ones with special dispensation from the top brass in Washington get out of living arrangements like this one. Where is the one place you normally feel free to let your hair down?"

"Home, of course, I see what you're driving at."

With all the summoners here, laughing, relaxing, clowning around, settling petty disputes with each other in petty ways...being human in all it's glory, it wouldn't be odd to see civilians throughout the building getting caught in the cross fire.

"All that said of course, there has never been a demon attack, demon let loose, or terrorist attack on this building or anyone in it, and the summoner community as a whole are quite proud of that."

"Wow...not even a demented summoner?"

"Not even that; most of them just simply leave and go nuts somewhere else. Same with Halo; they won't dare attack us head on. Though that could be because this town is strictly small potatoes."

"I'll take what I can get."

We started up the steps. The strangely deserted steps.

"Place seems almost empty. The lobby at least had a few people."

"Those were mostly our plain clothes guards. Military always watches. But yeah, kinda quiet for a Friday, even if most of us would still be at work. I don't know."

We passed a few people on the stairs;a man, then two women, then two more men. They waved, we waved. Only one of the men wore a robe, the rest were in plain clothes and chatting amiable with each other; even the man that was alone. We marched on and they didn't even glance at me twice...though I felt their eyes on me the moment I passed them. Hopefully my imagination. I didn't show any of the signs of being new blood, I didn't think. Grex had kept the boxes small and in his pocket.

"Karen, does everyone know each other here?"

"Yeah we pretty much all do. Only a few hundred of us ever here, though we have some people who roam alot, like me."

"Good to know. So they did know that something was up."

"Yep! We all do, every time. After all, you're replacing someone. Everyone knows when we're short...and then we see a new face. Obvious conclusion is obvious."

That's kind of terrible in it's way. New face means someone you know, and possibly cared for, just died.

We made it upstairs without incident, and soon found ourselves walking down a hallway with peeling, yellowed wallpaper and brass light fixtures throwing small puddles of light in the gloom. The door to my new home was old, dried, and felt brittle. The key took a few tries for the lock to disengage, and the door swung open with a creak to reveal a hallway.

The hallway had a short entryway, was narrow, and the kitchen to the left, through an open threshold. The living room was empty, large, and the carpet a grungy grey that I wasn't sure was it's natural color. Beyond that was another room, in much the same state. The door to the left of this room had the bathroom, an immaculately white tiled affair with an honest to god claw footed bathtub and more brass.

To round out the place were two bedrooms, both large and of course empty. Every room save the bathroom had a skylight, and the den (?) and bedrooms had large windows. The entire place was a bit chilly and absolutely redolent of cigarette smoke.

Grex summed it all up in one sentence.

"This will not do."

"Well we're stuck here because of your words Grex, so you might as well deal."

"Not what I meant my master. You are uncomfortable here."

The suave look he shot me bothered me. It was almost like he...cared whether I was comfortable? What game was he playing?

He opened the window in the den and looked outwards. Then he stood there, hands out, as if beseeching something. It took me some time to notice, but I stared agape as the little granules of black started to swirl out of the carpet, walls, and ceiling and gather around his hands. In less than 5 minutes there was a cloud of collected dirt and grime so thick even pigpen from peanuts would be amazed.

Then it got even thicker.

The air was clear and smelled of the end of summer, the carpets were a rich cream color, and the other surfaces all sparkled by the time he chucked the warped twin balls of pure black corruption out of the window. He nodded in satisfaction while I gathered myself.

"Neat trick."

"Thank you. I trust the air is now more to your liking?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Um, you didn't hit anyone with that mess you tossed outside, did you?"

"Only the Trash receptacle placed under this very domicile."

I looked, spotting the blackened dumpster easily. I made a show of clapping my hands.

"Well that was easy. So what do we do about furniture?"

"The standard stuff is all waiting in boxes downstairs, in the basement. It should have your name on it. I had the outlet store deliver them anyway. Bed, chairs, tables, couches, desk, television, stereo, computer...."

"That sounds like entirely too much walking back and forth."

"I'll handle it master. It will only take me one trip. You don't need to trouble yourself."

"But won't you need help putting it all together? I mean it's supposed to all be in pieces."

"I can read the instructions. I'm not stupid master."

I looked at Karen and shrugged.

"No hurting anyone, in any way, for any reason. Just get the furniture, and bring it back here, and put it together. Don't cause any trouble."

He bowed and left. Karen looked uneasy.

"Relax Karen, he can't do anything. My orders are absolute on that score."

"You're right, and it's not like hes the only demon left with the run of the place while their summoner sits at ease. So, there is this killer coffee shop in the lobby; want to go taste their house blend?"

"Sure, beats staring at the walls."

***************************************************************

The coffee was better than expected, and the mood was light as we once again traveled up the stairs. I was a bit concerned, having lost track of time and spent over an hour just chatting about what I could expect as a new member of the summoners corps in general, and the ADTF specifically. Many Horror stories of hazing and practical jokes, as well as lighter anecdotes crossed Karen's lips. She had seen almost everything it seemed.

I tried my door and it was locked. So I pulled my key out and opened it.

"Didn't expect you to lock the door Grex, afraid of something?"

Getting my first good at the front room I gaped.

While the lighting was still bright, somehow it no longer seemed enough. The couch was black, large, and overstuffed, The table was also black, and ornately carved. With skulls across the legs and images of various demons interacting on its surface. There were pictures on the wall, of distant crags and rather tortured looking landscapes. The television looked normal, a large lcd display hung upon the wall. The entertainment center under it however, was black and carved with murals of some kind.

I breezed through the den to see mostly empty dark maple shelves with elegant scroll-work and a black glass desk, seemingly held up by dragons or something similar.

I found Grex in my bedroom, putting the finishing touches on a four post? canopied? bed. humanoid birdlike demons, carved so well they seemed alive, formed the posts, with their wings curling around the bed to form the canopy, draped in dark purple silk. The vanity looked like it was formed wholesale from dead, brackish vines holding a polished steel mirror, and the walk in closet seemed to be hollowed out ogres with handles one of their hands, opening away from each other to reveal my clothes.

"Welcome back master."

My eye twitched. I could feel it, and it had never done that before. I turned to Karen.

"I don't suppose...."

"No, none of this is standard, we normally get the cheap IKEA stuff, like you find anywhere."

I turned to Grex. He raised an eyebrow.

"Really master, you're unhappy? You are so hard to please. Here I am, slaving away, putting your furniture together in the best possible way, and you don't like it? I'm saddened."

"So what happened to the furniture I sent you to get?"

"This is it. You did not specify how I had to construct it, just that I had to construct it. You really should be more clear."

"Undo this."

"I cannot. To construct furniture again in a different fashion would require more raw materials."

Karen shook her head. Dammit.

Grex walked up as I looked around.

"Relax master, every piece is crafted well, and is designed for your best comfort. I take my job seriously. Try the bed for an example."

I looked at him, dubious...then sat down on the bed. It was actually as advertised. I went fully horizontal; I could lose myself in this.

"Ha, guessing by the look of bliss, I'm guessing Grex wasn't lying?"

"Yeah this is nice. Try it."

She did, and shook her head.

"Not my type of mattress. If this thing has a sleep number, it's not mine. It's kind of close, certainly comfy; but not my style."

I got back up regretfully.

"Well can't sleep yet anyway, got too much to learn."

"And I have to get back to apartment...I still need to clean it after three months."

"Alright, so tomorrow? I assume you're taking me to where I need to go?"

"Sure, I can...We are both headed there. It's just the main station; that's where all SWAT and ADTF agents start out."

She left and I turned to Grex, who was waiting expectantly.

"OK let's get started."

****************************************************

(tbc)

The alarm was almost pleasant to wake up to; some classical song that was rather dark sounding, but soothing. I idly wondered what radio station it was tuned to. I did not want to leave the bed however; It was just so comfortable. The late night lessons were tedious but necessary. I already felt under trained for what I was being asked to do. I'd learned two useful tricks last night; hopefully I wouldn't need to use them.

Grex was where ever his home was of course...didn't want to give the powers that be more cause to worry. Which meant that getting caffeine was my job. I set my new tea kettle on and made up a mug, pouring in a spoon of sugar and a tea bag before cracking the text I was studying the day before.

After tea and a few pages, I showered and put one of the brand new sports bras on, as well as underwear. Olive drab fatigues went over those, and when I wanted the robes would go over the fatigues.

Simple.

A few sprays of that silly detangler crap, and I brushed my hair out, leaving it loose. That done I checked the seals that kept the robes lightweight, armored, free from snagging on things if you moved quickly, as well as cool. All the seals were perfect, including the temperature regulator, so I slipped it on and made more tea. Wouldn't do to get heat exhaustion the first day.

The cowl worked too, shadowing my face as I tried it, but I didn't like the look...my red eyes seemed to glow slightly from the inside once my face was shadowed.

I left it down. If called on it, I'd put it back up, but only if called on it.

The expected knock sounded, and I let Karen in.

"Good morning, how do you feel? Sleep well?"

How did she bounce off the walls like that this early?

"I'm fine and slept great. Tea?"

"Um, sure!"

I poured for her as she perused my book.

"Good one, the basics. You'd be surprised how many try to run before they can really walk."

"I've found that the fundamentals of any profession are the most used skills."

"Basic banishment is going to be something you use nearly every week."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well it's kind of given you don't kill another summoners demon...but pranks are common, and small banishment rituals tend to disrupt those. Keeps us all in practice for the real deal."

"makes sense I suppose."

I checked the clock. It was 8:15.

"I guess we should get going?"

"yeah probably."

She led the way out, hood down. She also didn't tell me I needed mine down. Excellent.

She led the way to the elevator, which now worked and we rode it. It clattered a bit as it descended, and rattled around. Karen didn't seem too concerned about it so I relaxed.

Once at the hum-vee she turned and yelled: "Catch!"

I caught the keys and raised an eyebrow.

"You should get used to driving one of these; you'll likely end up doing it sooner or later. Most of us get a company car assigned to us. While on duty you'll probably end up driving one of these."

"Alright. Can't be any worse than any other SUV."

I carefully backed out and drove...I didn't want my first day to start with an accident. I was kind of lucky in that other drivers seemed to want to keep their distance, so i had plenty of room.

"See? Easy. Other motorists react like we have the plague, so we can basically do anything we want, and they just move. One of the perks of the job."

Perks are where you find them I guess...being ostracized might indeed be a plus though. The station was right in the center of town, in the old city. Which of course meant it wasn't really that far from my new apartment; only maybe a 20 minute walk. Which turned out to be 10 minutes by car, as finding a place to park took a few minutes.

Karen once again led me with a cry of:

"Come on, slowpoke!"

I followed at a more sedate pace, taking in everything as nonchalantly as I could.

Not that I was at all intimidated or nervous; nope, not at all.

"Come on!"

Karen came back and started dragging me again.

"What's the rush?"

"We might miss the donuts!"

I felt my eyes roll. Was she seriously worried about donuts?!? We walked into the old dilapidated police station past the ancient globe lights flanking the sidewalk. Into the dingy...lobby? Not sure what you called it. Waiting room? Past the desk sergeant and up the stairs to the fifth floor. The ancient glass paneled door declared this to be the fifth floor, or 'Homicide, SWAT, and ADTF.'

Karen pushed through with a wild yell.

"Hey everyone, I'm back! Miss me?"

General yells of assent hit my ears as I looked around, spotting all sorts of large gruff ex-military types. the kind they make marine posters out of, complete with scars and massive guns. I don't think I saw anyone,in either a SWAT or ADTF uniform, that was less than 6 feet tall or 200 pounds. They seemed to be clustered around an ancient, yellowed and peppered dart board, taking turns. At least, those that weren't eating donuts.

Karen snagged a bear claw while passing the table where the box sat, still dragging me along.

"So this is our new blood?"

Just like that I was surrounded by new faces, all staring directly at me.

"Hmm, she looks kind of green around the gills. Sure she can handle us?"

This from a gentleman with an honest to god eye patch, right hand smoothing back his light brown hair and left holding a dart. His uniform did absolutely nothing to hide the terrific shape he was in, from biceps to abs to calves, all lean muscle. He sort of reminded me of a glance of a panther I'd seen in a zoo once. He had the same look of moving while standing still.

"Stuff it Pearce. Anyway this is the new recruit, Maeve Numens. Highest marks this year in both criminal justice, criminal behavior, and hunter/seeker tactics...and all ours."

I took my cue.

"Hello, nice to meet you all."

The captain, a man who at 6 foot 5 or so, and 280 if he was an ounce, reminded me of a grizzled mma fighter I'd seen in action once (Seriously, where do they dig up these specimens?) walked into my personal space. Must be where Karen gets it. He made a show before inspecting me while I gave him a what I hoped came across as a challenging stare.

The he abruptly grinned, and seemingly transformed himself into the large bluff uncle everyone seems to have.

"Hi there! Any relation at all to our narcotics Numens? The detective that works a few floors down?"

I thought quickly...do I want to dodge this or face it head on?

"He's my father, sir. You know him?"

Hell with it; nothing was ever gained by hiding. I looked up again to see him nodding.

"Yes I do, we work with him sometimes when he needs SWAT support for a raid. He's well thought of here."

"So you do SWAT missions while not on call for ADTF?"

"Yep, that's right. WE all do. You won't of course, but we eat up too much of the law enforcement budget not to get used for pretty much anything the
chief wants while not on duty. The way it works is, there is always a team on call, with another team on standby doing other operations. We all do each
other's jobs here. One week we are standard SWAT, next week we are ADTF. We wouldn't even do that if we didnt need to for the quick response."

"So what do I do?"

"Mostly sit around on government dole and look busy. Sometimes we get cases involving demons, or crimes with the possibility of magic involved, and then you work. we've had two incidents involving demons in the last three months, and one case where a hitman was somehow summoning demons to kill his victims."

"I knew of one of those. I'm rather surprised that there is so much."

"I know what you mean, when I first got back I didn't think I'd see another demon again; not around here. But even in the low incident places, there seems to be a surprising amount. You will earn your pay."

"But first...." A voice popped up from the crowd.

"Oh yes, first....we determine whether you're any good at all. To the practice range!"

I was gently ushered down through the building by a crowd of laughing, chatting cops, all ignoring my gently worded protests. Into the dank moldy basement we went, where I was shown into the standard police range, all concrete with paper targets on those little lines...and guns, guns, guns.

Now, summoners aren't taught firearms till after their ritual. The reason that everyone knows but no one says is simple. Teaching a guy you're potentially condemning to death and madness how to kill you, and giving him access to the means, is generally seen as a bad idea. Most summoners are never taught guns, but rather swords and knives, as guns don't actually hurt demons.

Seems you cant put runes on bullets; they disintegrate when the bullets are fired, breaking the integrity. A large reason why guns are ineffective, and summoners are needed in the first place. But guns still had a use in society and even in battles with demons, so they still existed.

But more to the immediate point, I was being set up to fail as some sort of hazing.

what they didn't seem to fully realize though, was that I was the child of an ex-marine and veteran cop.

I was handed earplugs and protective glasses as I was led to the furthest range, and a 1911 was pressed into my hands. I checked it in complete silence; loaded, safety on. The range was empty save for all the SWAT/ADTF staring intently at me. I adjusted my grip to avoid slide bite, thumbed the safety, and took a standard weaver stance in a heartbeat and emptied the clip.

I made sure the gun was safe while the captain thumbed the button to bring the target up, and waited. half my shots were in the head, the other half
around center mass. I frowned a bit. Normally I'm much better, but apparently my new form threw me off more than I anticipated.

"Well, not bad at all. You can shoot motionless targets well enough."

"you know what this means cap?"

"I sure do Gary...it's morning exercise time! Everyone outside!"

I was again gently herded as Karen shook her head, back upstairs and out the front door; where everyone started to jog along the sidewalk around the building.

"This really necessary?" I asked Karen as she stopped just outside, resignation clear on her face.

"If you don't do it, they will think of worse. They are all ex-military, unflappable. They don't intimidate easily."

I sighed, and sprinted a bit to catch up.

**********************************************************

It took twenty laps around city block before they stopped trying to run me into the ground. My new body was much softer than my old one, but I still managed to keep it together for the run...barely. Sigh, all that work staying in shape wasted.

Pearce walked back to where I was hunched over and panting.

"Not bad kid; most summoners can't do that run out of basic."

"I...made a point of...running with the troops. As much as possible...anyway." I panted, walking slowly back into the cop shop. Once inside, the SWAT and ADTF closed ranks again. I looked around at them, anger starting to boil.

"So there's more?"

"Nope, not really.' replied the captain. "Just had to see what we get to work with."

"What exactly do you mean?" I asked as I was escorted up the stairs.

The captain still looked around a bit before replying, unused stairs or not.

"simple, it's no real secret in this department that what the summoners academies turn out are for the most part half trained kids barely able to spell police work, much less do it, and soft as warm butter. We usually have to train most on the job, and we wanted to see how bad you were. You'll be pleased to know we all decided we likely won't need to babysit you as much as our last new guy."

Gary snorted. "That guy was a real piece of work."

"Right, couldn't find his ass with both hands. So anyway, now only two things remain. The first is your demon, but since you won't have your dagger yet, we won't be able to see him..."

I interrupted as Karen face palmed.

"Actually if you want, I can summon him anytime."

"Really? well this I have to see!"

We reached the squad room and the captain turned to me expectantly. I cleared a space among the assembly crowding me.

"Grex, veni huc!"

The expected tear in the floor opened up, and Grex poured through it, solidifying to the words;

"You called, my master?"

I looked to see many jaws being picked up off the floor. It was rather satisfying.

"Well. So you can just summon him without blood or his name. Useful trick, might be something the next class could bargain for Karen."

"Already considering it captain, our little snow white here has turned the summoning community on it's ear a bit."

If glares could melt people where they stood, Karen would surely be dead. If these cops picked up on that stupid moniker....

"Snow white?"

"The last step, I remember. A nick name? That's her squad name. Got to go report to the chief before he bursts a blood vessel! Have fun!"

My worst fears realized...I knew how cops could get with names, that's why my dad was to this day called 'Narc Numens' by the lowest beat cop to the chief himself. I had been hoping to leave that moniker behind. I tuned back into the present, where general acclimation's of assent over the stupid name were being muttered.

"I don't suppose you all could forget you heard that, could you?"

Shark grins, all tooth, met my gaze.

"Of course not. So captain, what's Karen's name?"

"Oh you don't know? She's Kare bear, Cause she's the resident head shrinker for us."

Kare....bear? Oh how priceless.

"So! Snow, one last thing to do."

Damn it.

"And what's that captain?"

"Party of course! Wheel it out Cords!"

out came a large wheeled cart with a 3 layer cake...devils food of course, along with various soft drinks. No drinking while on duty of course. This mobile snack bar was wheeled out by a man with an average build, dark shaggy hair with some stubble and a ruggedly handsome face. while he was as cut as the others, he wasn't as overtly muscled as many; thick glasses gave him a bit of a nerd air.

Wait, did I just think he was handsome? No, I'm quite sure I did not. Nothing of the sort, not from me.

"Cords here doesn't take an active role much; hes our resident tech head and communications expert. He usually runs strategy from his cave back there."

Well every operation had to have its' brains. Cords served me a large piece of cake, allowing every one else to get their own. Apparently I was a guest of honor or something.

"Don't worry,' he said with a blush; 'we ordered it from the bakery down the street."

"That is very reassuring; it's hard to imagine a bunch of macho cops baking a proper devil's food."

Grex perked up a little at the cake's name as laughs at my horrid joke broke out. I mean, both I and my dad knew how to cook...mom didn't always cook...edible things.

"So I noticed it's just Karen and I today..and she's pretty much here to make sure I don't screw up. How many summoners does the department employ?"

Cords answered as the captain's face was stuffed with cake.

"there are usually three on duty at any given time, today, it's you and Karen. Tonight it'll be Reggie and Al. the department normally employs around twenty, though we are down a few at the moment. Standard shifts are nine to five, three to four days a week, depending on how unlucky you are."

"Can't do five?"

"Five days a week with the potential of a demon summoned for hours at a time was deemed unconstitutional; sort of the same thing as having kids work fourteen hour days. It tended to make summoners....unstable."

"OK, got you. Still that is more summoners then I thought were stationed here."

The captain chimed in.

"We get that a lot. Most people don't see summoners, they go about their lives without ever coming into contact with them or their targets...and we like it that way."

I nodded affirmation to that sentiment.

"All that being said,' Pearce chimed in; 'most of the time you'll sit here on your ass reading news or the like and eating donuts. Unless the captain
takes the day to train you in ADTF tactics. How to support us in the field and the like."

"And I assume that is on the agenda?"

I looked around as I cut another small piece of cake...it was quite good. Faces hardened momentarily as I handed it and a plastic fork to Grex, but nothing was said. He took a speculative bite as the captain recovered himself and spoke up.

"Tomorrow, a hand picked squad will be training in standard urban anti-demon tactics. You'll be joining them."

Grex spoke up.

"Master, you were lied to."

The faces of my new co-workers hardened further as Grex called them out.

"Oh, how so Grex?"

"This isn't devil's food at all. It is simple chocolate."

The faces relaxed as I laughed.

"That's why you were curious? That is simply what we call it. you guys should forgive Grex for that one at least, he's kind of an idiot...an idiot who is on our side for now."

I stressed the last words, my own voice gaining steel. they had the good grace to look sheepish. I knew it; they weren't afraid of demons, or summoners, having worked with both extensively...but working with demons extensively bred hatred. I ignored the righteous indignation painting his features, cute as the look was.

Why should a murderer of their friends get away with it, and indeed, have cake, while said friends were cold in the the ground?

The answer was of course, that while I lived, said murderer was on our side. Come to think of it, I had no idea what part Grex has played so far in the war...I should ask. When I had time.

My musing was interrupted by a voice that I had hoped not to hear this soon.

"Excuse me for interrupting captain, I was told my child had officially joined the fold?"

My father was staring at Grex as if he'd seen him before. Which I realized, he must have.

"Ahh Numens, indeed she has. Cake?"

"Hi dad. Sorry captain, cake will have to wait."

I grabbed my dad's arm before he could do anything but gape at me and dragged him to a quiet corner of the room.

"First off, it's Maeve now...I won't respond to that other name I had. I can't. Second off, you and mom have some explaining to do."

He looked me over and his normally hard facade softened.

"You look like you'd be your mother's younger sister. Grex demanded the same price?"

The world swam around me.

"...what?"

"Grex was your mother's summon. He demanded her gender as part of his price for service. Your mom thought it was only for the ten year term of service, but it was permanent."

Sigh. That explained much. My mother had been born male, as I had. It might even explain her madness. But it wasn't quite correct. I knew enough about Grex to know that.

"No dad...mom didn't sell her gender on purpose; I didn't either. Grex likely tricked us both, in the same way. I sold my first name and I thought years of my life. Mom sold..me."

"What do you mean?"

"Grex can't lie to me dad. I bargained well, all things considered. He told me mom bargained for a sort of mental back door in her firstborn; a momentary lapse of judgement that I'm even now paying for. He told me that without that, I wouldn't have fallen for this."

I gestured down at myself, scorn flowing naturally now that I wasn't trying to hide it. His shock completely shattered what was left of the hard bitten facade he normally sported.

I wasn't proud of doing that to him.

I helped him to a chair as he stumbled.

"you're absolutely sure of this?"

"Positive. Grex is one hundred percent mine, has to follow any order I give him, for as long as I require it. I order him to tell the truth, he has no choice but comply or breach contract."

"And a demon would rather be slain than breach.' He nodded, running his fingers through his hair, 'OK, I trust you."

"It explains much from my point of view. I think that price was what drove her insane, finally."

He nodded.

"Perhaps...I met her when she served her first tour; Poland. she was so strong, confident...cold. she didn't break till almost after her 10, when you were born...and she warmed up. I remember her looking at Grex, who was watching you...he looked so hungry...."

I shook him out of it.

"Dad? Dad! My problem now. I can handle Grex, you taught me well."

He swept me up in a large warm hug which I awkwardly returned.

"I know. you're my child, you can handle that thing. Just remember, I'm here for you."

There were tears in his voice, but none on his face. I crossed the room, grabbed a piece of cake, and took it back to him.

"Here. This is supposed to be a party."

He took a bite and got up.

"You know, you should see her."

"Mom? I had intended to...but it's likely to get messy."

"I know; here."

He handed me a set of keys. The keys to my car that I'd only owned for a day before being forced to leave it three months before.

"I drove it in today; but I can get a ride. It's your car after all. Welcome to the force."

He turned and walked out, cake forgotten in his hand.

"Thanks dad."

So he didn't really know. If he had he'd have told me. Which meant he was lied to, as I was. Grex handed me a soda while I sat there, thinking.

(tbc)

The next morning I got ready and drove myself over without Karen; she had begged off claiming something to do well before I was due in.

Which was fine, I was a big bo...err girl.

Another night spent working on all the crap I had to know, hours of reading followed by more hours of practical exercises of Grex's invention, and I was still a bit tired after sleeping. But...not as much as I'd thought. Today I was supposed to go out of town, down route 4 to the ironically named Maple road.

That was the location of the ADTF training grounds, where I would be officially trained in certain police techniques that
were a mix of military counter terrorist techniques, summoner techniques, and SWAT.

The car was much less conspicuous in it's way than the hum-vee was; with my cowl down, I was not the social pariah on the road I had been yesterday. My car however garnered quite a bit of attention since it was older than dirt. That new attention from traffic almost caused me to be late, as I got stuck behind this semi that just wouldn't get out of the way.

I pulled onto the street at 7:56, noting the 3 late model white vans in front of the 20 foot concrete wall doing its best to hide mock up buildings just beyond.

"Good morning rookie."

"Good morning captain."

He opened the giant padlocks (there were three) holding the gate shut while the vans were restarted. I drove through first as he swung the gates wide, followed by the vans. There was a small parking area where I stopped, and the vans bracketed me. The captain walked in and then shut the gate.

"So captain, what's on tap for today?"

"Oh the typical obstacle courses and urban warfare training; also hostage rescue and other such things. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine."

His shark like grin was less than reassuring. The others were even worse.

Then the crate at the back of one of the vans was unloaded, and the paint ball guns came out. I suppose I really shouldn't have been shocked.

Then guns in question looked real enough, like standard issue 9 millimeter Beretta, but the small paint ball reservoir on the top gave them away. The captain handed me one he's just finished loading and pointed down range.

"Go ahead, 10 steps in, and I'll go start it. No live fire of any kind and no Grex, got it? We can do all that later. this is just a gauge of ability at the moment, nothing more."

With a wave, he walked to the building abutting the wall, I could see a sort of crow's nest on it.

"Don't worry about it. You'll do fine."

One of the few female members, a blonde maybe an inch shorter than I was and a bit more petite stated with a friendly pat on the back. It took a bit of recall to remember her name, she had been at the party. I nodded.

"Thanks Sarah. I'll try not to shoot anyone."

She called out as she hit the steps;

"Exactly, save that for later."

A buzzer sounded and wooden pop up bad guys started appearing down the street, in windows, behind doors, etc. I hit them all, and even managed to shoot the terrorist holding the hostage at the end. Typical urban warfare set up...until the flying, screaming cut outs started shrieking past.

Oh right, cut out demons. With paint filled claws.

There were a total of 5 of those, which I managed to shoot, though the last two I had to dodge by hitting the dirt. Why they'd have me shoot those I didn't know. the real thing wouldn't go down to bullets.

The intercom crackle made me jump.

"Again, from the top."

Of course the targets were randomized, so I was left guessing (and dodging) again.

After a few more times of this, The captain had mercy on me, and called me to the start where the troops were waiting.

"Not too shabby. Take five and rest. We move on to group tactics after."

He walked around me as I grabbed water from a convenient cooler.

"No paint, pay up Roddy."

A young man with vaguely Latino (South American? Mexican?) features lacking some of the muscle and scars of the rest snorted, and slapped a twenty in the captains hand; I caught a few more such exchanges.

"This is pretty heartwarming. Can I bet in these pools or not?"

"Nah you can't, you're the mark after all."

Roddy replied, running a hand through his dark brown hair in a classic sheepish gesture of evasion.

"Well, to reintroduce you; these 8 here are going to be the people you work with the most; ADTF team 3; First off you know Pearce from yesterday, he's the team leader. Conner's,' he pointed to Sarah; 'is the tactical for the team, Roddy here is the first break in specialist..."

They took turns stepping forward, making it easy on me.

The ones I didn't know from yesterday (I can only assume they weren't on duty) were:

Andrew 'judge' Sills, a sniper that stood at my height with warm green eyes set in an expressive face, a police ball cap
covering the sparse black hair on his head. He gave a polite nod as he stepped back.

Frank 'aims' Anders, the other sniper, who stood a good six feet, wore a cowboy hat over blond hair, and whose own eyes were a dead polar opposite to sills.

Collin 'culling' List, a second son of polish immigrants unless I missed my guess, who stood a hair under Anders own six feet but was very stocky. the sword he wore even to this exercise proclaimed him a close combat specialist; the runes on it told me he was one of the few that failed the ritual. His blue eyes were cold and his manner serious.

May 'west' Johnson, an auburn haired woman that stood a few inches shorter than me, yet I was sure weighed more...and all of it muscle. She looked like she could give List a run for his money, but had a sparkle in her light brown eyes, and an easy laugh.

and lastly, a man that could give the captain a run for his money; Darren 'Dolph' Zeph, a Russian born immigrant who sported long blond hair and blue eyes, and stood around 6 feet 6; he and the captain looked to be struck from the same mold, even down to the facial scars, which were close to identical.

His stance and movement gave lie to his ready smile; he moved like a predator...like he was the most dangerous thing in any room.

OK, so I might feel a bit intimidated. Maybe.

"Hi everyone. So what's the plan?"

"Oh that's simple.' the captain responded. 'It's my team versus your team. Urban warfare scenarios for the next 4 hours."

The grins were back. Pearce took pity on my confusion.

"He means, it's paintball, all day newbie."

Oh of course, and since I was new, I'd be the primary target for the other team. Just perfect. Sarah sidled close.

"Don't worry, it's legitimate training, despite how it sounds. You get basic training on what will be expected of you, working with us, and we get training on protecting you against threats while you do your job."

I nodded.

"OK, let's get started."

***********************************************

I was trying to keep my dignity; I'd been run into the ground from eight till three; after the first test my new team and I had practiced SWAT entry, hostage situations, random demon attacks (where I would attempt to 'banish cut out demons that moved while under fire, and my team covered me), possession cases, and basically any other scenario that evil man in charge of my life decided to set up.

I was covered in paint.

Red paint for small arms fire, yellow and green for demon strikes, and blue for being possessed. Red made up most of the hits, though I had a bit of yellow and green. Not so much blue at least.

And of course these sadistic types insisted we finish our shift, so I had to march into headquarters like this, amidst grinning freshly dressed colleagues. They all just happened to have clean uniforms in their vans....purely coincidence.

"Come on rookie, showers are this way."

I followed Sarah to the women's locker room without hesitation...after all, I've heard they can smell fear. We were alone inside it turned out, and the place was pretty run down; it had that institutional look, as if the place were a school. It was clean at least.

"Here.' Sarah handed me shampoo, conditioner, and a towel. 'Do you mind your clothes being wet? The paint is water soluble, but if we let it set it'll take forever to get out."

"Well, I wouldn't care, but we don't need to worry about my clothes."

I picked a stall and got started, letting the water soothe stressed muscles.I'd had a brainstorm of sorts after the walk
through the halls filled with snickering cops...pity it hadn't been before.

"Why is that?"

"Grex. I know you guys all planned this to haze, but Grex is apparently hell's own tailor. Pretty sure I can get him to clean my clothes if I want."

"Really? How fast? Seems wasteful."

I turned, scrubbing at some paint that had run down my shirt collar and dried. She didn't seem the least annoyed that I was in here I noticed. Then again, she could probably kick my ass if I tried anything.

Not that I wanted to; and that was a bit disturbing.

"Not sure how fast, but I'll bet on instantaneous."

"Hmm, you're on. I'll guard the door, you summon him now, let's find out."

"Rather wait till I'm showered first."

She had the good grace to look abashed.

"Oh, right, my bad."

"Why does it matter if he can clean my clothes instantly?"

"Never seen a demon with that kind of power to spare, honestly. Best we get here are demons like Karen's, and hers can't really do anything but throw lightning and fly."

Of course the flying was magical, I mean otherwise his wingspan would be what? Twenty five feet or more?

"right. Well the morning of the ritual, Grex did something similar, so no reason why he can't now I'd think."

Shower complete, I stepped out with the towel around me and called;

"Grex, veni huc!"

It took a moment for me to catch Sarah's eyes, widened. Arms enveloped me from behind as Grex leaned in.

"Aww, for me my master? You shouldn't have."

"Hands off grabby. Got a job for you."

He stepped away as I turned.

"Let me guess. You in a state of undress, surrounded by police, in a quaint public hygiene room...another fashion disaster?"

"Indeed, I need you to remove the paint stains in my clothes."

He sighed.

"This is just like the boxes my master; You don't summon me all day, then you do just to have me wash your clothes. I am
wounded."

"Bull crap. But if you must know, I was training today. That didn't include you, but you get to play tomorrow, I'm told."

"Yay." he deadpanned.

I handed him the clothes, noticing he was still getting an eyeful. He hadn't so much as glanced at Sarah the entire time. Sarah of course was watching the exchange with no small amount of fascination etched on her face. I also noticed something else.

"Why are your wings out?"

"I was traveling of course, and flying is the quickest way from one place to another."

"Can you teach me how to fly? Like Karen does?"

"no, you are not yet ready...my way is slightly different than Karen's companion, and involves a bit more."

Companion, huh?

"Alright."

He handed me my clothes, free of any paint stains. He left the dye in, I'd almost expected he'd remove that too.

"Turn around Grex, and no peeking."

"Of course my master."

I watched him as I put my clothes back on. Sarah was watching the door. I dressed in a hurry.

"OK thank you Grex, enjoy your appointment."

"So soon my master? Now I truly am hurt."

"Later Grex, go home."

He disappeared without another word. One would almost think he WAS hurt....

"Why send him home so soon?"

"Would you want to explain what two women are doing in the women's locker room with a male demon?"

"...Good point. Very good point. We will never speak of this again."

I nodded as we stepped out, taking the stairs to rejoin the squad in silence.

"By the way,' Sarah spoke up as we reached the doors on the 5th floor. 'I owe you a coke, you won."

I enjoyed the looks of shock as I walked in as pristine as I had left for work this morning. Guessing they thought I'd
wear paint the rest of the day. Karen was in, talking to the captain, no doubt about my performance. She caught a glimpse and turned.

"Sorry, should have warned you about the...paintball?"

She got a good eyeful, as shocked as the rest. I couldn't contain my grin.

"you mean the paintball games cops are fond of playing? Had no idea such fun could be had on the clock!"

Her responding grin was brilliant.

"I agree! Too bad I'm stuck doing paperwork all day. Which reminds me, you have some to fill out at your desk, Don't keep
me waiting for it."

"Um, I have a desk?"

She gave the captain a light punch in the arm.

"You're supposed to be showing her these things!"

Sarah pointed.

"Your desk is over there, with the rookie manuals on it. Third one from the wall on the left."

"thanks."

I took a seat at it, looking over the paperwork...dental benefits, 401k, tax forms? Seriously, tax forms for summoners?

"So, did you pack spare clothes or something?"

Pearce had snuck up on me in my moment of distraction.

"No, I had my demon do my laundry; he's quick and thorough."

"Your demon cleans your clothes?"

"Yes."

I really didn't understand why they all looked so shocked. I mean, he was my demon wasn't he? He had to do what I told him.

I started filling out all the crap Karen had left on my desk, not really paying too much attention to the comings and goings of my fellow officers. I was almost done, having had to remember my summoner code number and my social security number for the fourth time, when a can of coke being tapped next to my in-box caught my attention. I looked up to see Sarah.

"Enough of that rookie, it's quitting time for us."

A quick glance at the clock showed it was 5pm, and the next shift was beginning to trickle in.

"don't have to tell me twice. This stuff is stupid, pretty sure the government knows all this already."

"Par for the course according to Karen, she says she gets swamped in personnel reports and police brutality complaints, not to mention damage claims."

"She's welcome to it, better her than me."

In passing I brushed past a fellow summoner, this one with their cowl up.

"Good afternoon, new blood."

He stopped and his eyes followed me as I passed.

"Good afternoon sir. sorry about bumping into you."

He dropped his cowl, allowing me to see the amused expression on his dark face framed by curly brown hair. He looked to be of mixed African descent, judging by his wide nose and complexion.

"What, no paint? Did the captain slack today?"

"Not at all sir, I simply have a demon to do my laundry. My name is Maeve, might I ask yours?"

"Call me charlie. And you're Snow. Pleased to meet you."

He held out a hand. Damn, I really hated that nickname. Made me sound pure or something. I shook hands briefly, offering my polite 'I'm just humoring you' smile.

"Well pleased to meet you, but I need to get out of this mad house before Karen forces me to finish all that dreaded paperwork."

"Then by all means, run! I'll tell her I never saw you. shoo, shoo!"

His gestures accompanied his easy laugh as I made my escape, Sarah right behind me. Pearce stopped me at the doors.

"same time, same place as this morning. Don't be late."

"Got it boss. I'll be there."

I made my way out and into the parking lot without further incident. I decided on fast food, and made the turn to head to the Burger Barn...It was open again, and I had a strong desire for a burger and fries. It wasn't on my way, but I didn't really have anywhere else to be.

I decided to go inside rather than use the drive in when I saw the person working the window. It was Randolf.

What the hell?

Randolf was the son of a rich lawyer, who cleaned up all his messes. What was he doing in a burger barn uniform, complete with paper hat? Hmm, how to handle this.

Well I'm off the clock, and not required to wear the robes...I do have my fatigues on underneath, complete with patches.
I quickly shucked the thing and walked in, trying my best to appear nonchalant. I received a few second glances as I strode up to the counter, but nothing serious. No dirty looks or hateful glances.

"Good afternoon ma'am, can I help you?"

Randolf himself, still bearing the headset microphone those who took the take out orders wore, stood at counter 1. There were no other people up front, but plenty of good natured laughter and hijinks in the back...was that Marci, skating along the tile floor on an empty box? I shook my head clear and made a show of looking at his name tag.

"Yes Randy, I'd like a BB deluxe with bacon, no cheese, and a fry basket please, to go."

"Yes ma'am, that will be eight dollars, 47 cents with tax."

I handed him my shiny new card to swipe, focusing more on the back than him. I didn't like to take chances with food
preparation...too many incidents involving the very person in front of me and various bodily fluids in school cafeterias.

"So, haven't seen you working here before; you new?"

"Yes ma'am, relatively. I started just under a month ago."

"I see, haven't been off base for a few months, just got back into town. I had the worst burger craving hit just a few minutes ago."

Was he blushing?

Oh, his eyes weren't even close to my face.

"Good afternoon lieutenant."

"Good afternoon sir."

I half turned, the stirrings of rage tempered somewhat when I spotted the manager standing in front of his office, giving me a warm smile.

He was a man in his early 50's, about 5ft 7 with just the faintest traces of grey in his thick black hair. He could weigh as much as 250 lbs, the very definition of portly without being...rotund. If he wanted he would make a mean Santa Claus, and had always been nice to the kids of the neighborhood. He also had a tattoo from his time in the navy; I wasn't too sure what it meant, but I knew now that it was some kind of unit ink.

I still had an eye on my food being prepared, and he noticed but didn't call attention to it.

"So what brings you into the big city Lieutenant?"

"Training with the ADTF sir, the usual."

"What kind of training?"

he inquired with a faint stirring of interest.

"Mostly basic small arms training and urban warfare sir."

ADTF and SWAT routinely trained with the military, and vice versa. My presence as a simple soldier training in urban warfare shouldn't be questioned. A throat cleared behind me and I turned, finding Randy (snicker) waiting with my bag of food.

"All done ma'am, sorry for the wait."

"Thank you Randy, see you later sir."

"See you later lieutenant, the military is always welcome at my establishment. Have a nice day."

I waved, feeling eyes follow me to my car. Traffic was lighter on these back streets, but it was still just after six when I pulled into my building.

Dragging my tired self upstairs while sneaking fries earned me quite a few dirty looks.

I'm normally nice enough I think, but they can damn well get their own fries.

Aside from those looks though I was unmolested till I put key to lock, juggling my bag.

"Hi!"

"Karen sheesh, I could have dropped my food. Didn't know you were coming by or I'd have bought you some."

"Oh that's OK, I ate at the office...so finish that paperwork?"

"It's on my desk..and um mostly done."

"Tomorrow morning I'll see it then, right?"

She joined me inside, not even asking...not that I minded.

"Unless those jokers we work with steal it or something, yes. Tea?"

"Sure, I'd love some."

I turned back from the stove to find her hand in my bag, fries hanging out of her mouth.

"Woman, I will break you."

She caught the smile I threw and choked her ill gotten gains down.

"Fry fiend?"

"My favorite food. And the ones the Burger Barn make are amazing."

"How is that place? Demon went through it right?"

"Yeah just one casualty, no other permanent damage. My guess is they reopened inside a week. Saw one
of my old school mates working there."

"A friend?"

"No, just someone I knew."

I sighed and sat down on my extremely plush couch, coke in hand and bag on the coffee table. Karen wasted no
time settling next to me, remote in her hands.

"Grex, veni huc!"

This time he appeared in front of me all at once, wings folded primly at his back...and possibly smaller than normal.

"You called mistress?"

"Yep sure did; time for magic lessons and crime dramas, not necessarily in that order. Karen channel 48 please."

"A and E? Not big brother?"

"Big brother? Ewww....so Grex, how do you manage the laundry trick?"

With a guarded look at Karen that neither of us missed, he started explaining while I ate and watched the latest on
the black dahlia murder.

(tbc)

The sun was jellifying my eyes. It was coming through my eastern window, and hitting my comfy bed, and slamming me right
in the eyes. With a groan, I got up and dealt with the call of nature that suddenly came from nowhere.

With clean hands and eyes still filled with spots, I was halfway through my living room when I realized Karen was still here, sacked out on my couch. The coffee pot had already brewed it's morning ambrosia and read 7:22.

Oh shit. I was late. I was so late! What happened to my alarm clock?!?

"Karen wake up! We're late!"

I snagged my travel mug of coffee and returned to the shower. When late, multitasking is essential. Soaping with one hand and drinking with the other, I was surprised when Karen just walked in like she owned the place.

I was glad I'd pulled the curtain, though the sound and mental image of her peeing just beyond it did wonders for my wakefulness.

"We need to be out of here in 15 minutes, and you'll need to speed to be on time."

"I know, what happened to my alarm? I'm sure it was set."

"Um, I'm afraid I heard it and turned it off. If you're late, blame me and I'll back you. See you later, going to my apartment to get ready."

Was a good thing she left, I wasn't about to get out with her here. Now that she had though, I raced through my apartment to my bedroom, since I'd forgotten my clothes. At least the fatigues were easy to match. I grabbed my coffee cup again while brushing my hair. A quick refill and a package of pop tarts later and I was out the door with a few minutes to spare, shrugging my robe on.

I think I made it to my car before 7:40, and no horsepower will be spared. traffic wasn't all that light, but the good news was the cop shop stickers left on the car prevented me from getting stopped by the black and white that observed me going a good 15 over the limit, weaving in and out of traffic.

He probably thinks I'm my dad; the car is pretty distinctive.

I pulled up to the gate right at 8am, to find it open and Pearce waiting. I rolled down my window as I passed.

"Sorry sir, I overslept a bit."

"No problem, you're right on time. Now in another minute you'd be running laps before we start."

I parked quickly.

"Keys."

"What? why?"

"Can't park that classic here. It'll be going outside with the vans, don't want it taking a stray shot. I'll play the valet, you can't keep your team waiting. Building 3."

"Yes, sir."

I held onto the keys for a moment despite his tugs, till he looked me in the eye.

"Not a scratch sir."

"Not a single one."

I went to the building as ordered, fighting the urge to watch as he drove out in the precious. I found Sarah, Culling and Roddy waiting on me.

"For today we have Judge on overwatch; today we work on entry and pacification with your demon."

"Alright, Grex, veni huc!"

This time I spotted him immediately as he materialized behind Sarah, arms spread wide.

"Don't you even buster, that's a good way to get filled with lead."

He stopped reaching for her and bowed low as the rest of the team turned.

"but my master, I merely wish to greet your co-workers properly."

"Lead, Grex, I can see it in your future."

"So to what do I owe the pleasure of your company master? More boxes to move?"

Sarah looked lost.

"Boxes?"

"Oh he's still sulking about the time I made him move my stuff from the base to my apartment a few days ago. No Grex, today is team training day. You get to play cops and demons with us. Only this time, you're the cop."

"Oh drat, I do so love playing the other side. Oh well, I've done this before. So what has changed in the last ten years?"

Roddy spoke up.

"Procedurally more than a few things; mainly in how we enter. We use explosive strips, special shotgun rounds, and rams now, rather than demonic magic. Takes less time and isn't as easy to sense or spot."

"Sounds positively boring."

"Then prepare to be bored right along with the rest of us. You let any paint touch me today and you will be...punished."

Culling's loud whisper of "that's hot." brought the heat to my face. I had to remember to watch what I said around cops, or SWAT types at least. At least Grex took the threat seriously.

"As you will, my master."

Pearce strode in, having obviously heard the last words.

"Right, so you are team 2, you'll be against aims west Dolph, and me. And of course, the mystery guest. Basics are same as
yesterday, team 1 are the bad guys. We win, demons eat the world, got it? Don't screw it up new girl, loser buys lunch for the winner."

I attempted to project more confidence than I felt; I mean sure I had some quickly learned tricks, but these people were combat vets.

"Yes sir."

"We start in 5, then the sweep begins."

"Roger that sir."

Sarah waited till he left and keyed her headset.

"Judge you there?"

"Yep, all set and in position."

"Good we go hostile in 5, anyone not wearing a red armband is kos, got it?"

"Got it. Judge out."

I put on the armband Sarah handed me. She appeared to think a bit, then handed one to grex as well. He followed my example
without comment.

"So um, how good is Judge?"

"He's one of the best, but so is Aims. Most likely they will end up sniping at each other all day rather than giving us any
meaningful help."

Culling clapped me on the shoulder.

"Keep your eyes peeled rookie, it'll be very confusing out there very soon. Keep your head."

I swallowed, nodding.

"Calmly my master, I won't let anything happen to you."

I had another concern though.

"Grex, nothing lethal and no massive damage... to buildings or people; this is just an exercise."

"Time, let's go. Roddy, you're point with me, standard two two formation, with Culling and Snow in the rear."

They left, Sarah breaking left along our building and Roddy breaking right to the one across the street. They both had their weapons, paintball guns looking much like sub machine guns out and pointed slightly down. their heads seemed to swivel at high speeds at they took the street in.

following Culling's lead, I took my place to the right side of the door, ready to follow Roddy's path as they neared the entrances of the next street over.

"Go."

The whispered order came just as team 1 reached the entrances in question, swinging their weapons to cover those streets.
Having no gun, I felt distinctly under dressed. But Grex was my weapon, and the idea was to learn to use him. As soon as I reached Roddy's back I tapped it, letting him know I was in position just in case my almost stealthy footsteps hadn't clued him in.

He nodded to Sarah, who had Culling behind her and the dance started again.

As I settled back to watch paint splattered next to my head...onto Grex, who stepped in and blocked the shot. Since demons don't die to bullets, this was perfectly legal and didn't tag him out. I did expect a little more reaction, but he didn't even cry out.

I on the other hand, scrambled for cover, needing to take it at the far wall. My team didn't even know I'd been attacked, they were still moving. I hadn't been graced with a headset, so I settled for the next best thing...two sharp claps. Sure it gave away our position, but our position was known anyway.

Sarah was waving at me to come up, Culling was already halfway to the other side. Gathering myself I moved running very low with Grex beside me. We formed up into a diamond as soon as I arrived, and I turned to watch my given direction.

"Aim is pinned down at bell tower one, which means they have to be a street over, and are likely digging in. So, I say we need to go before they manage to. Roddy and I will be point; Snow, can you provide some cover?"

I turned to my trusty weapon.

"Grex can you provide cover?"

"Certainly my master."

A dense yellow glowing fog rolled through the streets in an instant, almost prompting me to give away our position. what was odd was I could sort of see through it.

"Too much!"

Sarah whispered, holding the classic blind pose, an arm in front of her. The others looked nervous too.

"we're good, they aren't moving. I can see through it. Grex can too I'm sure."

She paused.

"Can you lead us through it into the grocery?"

I looked, there was in fact a building not to far from us with a sign crudely spray painted "grocery store."

"Sure, Grex take the rear, Sarah hold on to me."

I led them in single file and we managed to make it under cover in between the old shelves before the fog blew away, almost
as quickly as it came. My silent inquiry was met with a whisper:

"there is another demon present, my master. Not as strong as I, but skilled."

"you earn your keep today; same rules apply however, nothing permanent."

He had the good grace to look insulted.

"Of course not. Besides, it's a friend of ours."

"Oh, who?"

Sarah broke in.

"Nevermind that, we need to make it to the back door before they rotate their box. Let's go."

She broke for the next building over, a garage, with Roddy following, both looking in their predetermined directions. As we got ready to follow, lightning flashed through the door, routing itself past us and into the metal shelving.

"Karen, huh?"

Grex grinned, pointing upwards to a small robed form as it flew past a good 20 feet up.

"Well you can fly, go neutralize her, I'll keep an eye out for Thor."

I ran after Culling, who had wasted no time.

I prepped my first trick.

I was almost to the dubious safety of the far wall when Thor flew by, lightning spurting from his hands. Easy enough to
dodge when you could weaken time's hold around yourself. Thor was little more than a fly suspended in amber as I took aim for my next trick, flicking a series of paint balls at him while moving to the side.

Time's flow was quickly restored and he jetted past at a reasonable speed, a dismissal glyph painted on his side as his own attack missed me in my new position next to the wall by a relative mile. My gaped like landed fish, especially when Grex landed with a struggling Karen.

"Um, don't we need to get to cover? Like now, before we're all shot?"

I suited action to words, going into the garage first as Grex followed while tying Karen up. where he got the cords from I
don't know, nor want to know.

"Karen?"

"grawwwwwrrrr, FEAR ME MORTAL, YOU FACE JARAXXUS, EREDAR LORD OF THE BURNING LEGION!"

Oh by all that's holy, shes a WoW player. I tapped her on the nose.

"You're caught, be quiet like a good bad guy."

"OK! So, when do I get my phone call?"

"When I mirandize you. Sarah any ideas?"

"Well they know we're here, but we basically win from here; Thor is 'banished' If I saw what I think I saw, Karen is here, which means Grex can simply walk up and paint them. I doubt they can smoke us out before then, so it's looking like our win."

**************************************************************************************************

That's how the day went, we had lunch on site, and kept facing each other in the mock up town. Without the element of
surprise, and with Karen no longer taking me lightly, we only managed to break even at three apiece. the second match all was going well until I stepped on a circle buried under the dirt street that stopped all movement from both myself and Grex, and I won the third by helping take control in the firefight that broke out.

After that it was all a blur of play, counter play, and gunfire.

Karen had more paint on her than I did though...a definite plus. We were wrapping up, packing things away to carry out to the vans when she finally asked the questions I was dreading.

"So how do you do that dodging thing, and the paintball thing with no gun?"

"Well like your powers mimicking Thor's, mine mimic Grex's. you remember the explanations for what he does right? He's been
tutoring me in how he does it."

Vague shock radiated from Karen, though her face betrayed none of it.

"You mean you can manipulate time and space too?"

"Not much, but a bit. what I was doing was I was dilating time around me, speeding myself up. then I was flicking paint balls at that increased speed, which meant that when they left my area of influence, they kept the inertia and speed, making them like bullets."

She whistled.

"Neat trick."

"Well the best part is I'm working on being able to pair it with runes; if I get it right any demon I hit will be banished in one shot. Like this morning I really wouldn't have been able to be banish Thor, I can't hold the dilation field long enough."

"You might be able to later; I mean you literally just became a summoner last week. your skill set is impressive, I don't
think we will need to bother holding your hand much."

"I think you just underestimated me."

Finally making it past the gate I stopped, noticing something very different.

My car.

My car had been a restored powder blue 1966 Chrysler Newport, and only barely resembled the car in front of me now. This
car was a glossy white, with purple accents and black trim. Everything that could be was chromed, the exhaust was under the
doors, and there was a hole in the hood where I could just see my engine peeking out.

The entire thing was painted with scenes from Disney's Snow White. Even the cut out for the engine was the doorway to the dwarves' home.

The team had stopped, watching me. I could hear a few snickers throughout the small crowd.

"Pearce."

"Yes Snow?"

"I think I'll murder you. Slowly."

He took a step back, paling.

"Hey hey hey, there are no scratches on it! It's perfect."

And just like that my rage ceased, cut off as if it had never been. I put my face in my hands to hide the smile.

"Just...why? Why would you butcher my car? And how? How could you manage this in 8 hours? The paint even looks dry!"

"Well as for the why, when you drive your own vehicle as one of us, it needs work done to it. There are no summoners allowed to drive standard cars. So you take a vehicle like this and you convert it; armor in the side panels, bulletproof glass, a few wards woven in...you make it a tank. With this thing, we didn't need to do much. As for how, well I know a guy, who knows a guy."

I couldn't help myself; during his explanation I had crossed the distance and ran my hand along the tank in question. The paint was dry, and had been done by a real artist; Snow white and her dwarves looked to be pulled right from the movie. The wicked witch on the trunk, apple out and offered to any tailgater, was a nice touch.

The seats were white, and real leather. Even the dashboard had been changed; it was chromed everywhere and a tachometer was added. The wheels were wider than standard and sported non standard rims. There was a retro bubble light on the dash from the 50's, and a new police radio and mini computer bolted in.

"But why the paint job?"

"Why not the paint job? By the way, no refunds."

He handed me the keys and the official police work order. I ignored the laughter as I scanned it...it was legitimate, signed by the captain. The receipt detailing the work was from a well known hot rod garage at the other end of town.

"You do realize I'm still going to get you all for this, right?"

The laughter stopped, but the smiles remained, matching my own. Good one, you assholes, I'll remember.

"Allow me, my master."

The smiles began to drop.

"I got it, Grex. I'll get this cop humor thing yet."

The car started right up, and purred...before it was a nice tame purr, now it was the contented sound of a big cat, wild and dangerous. Grex was next to me, not bothering to use the door. I peeled out, spraying mud on those few near me.

"By the way, I'm Snow White, doesn't that make you all the seven dwarves?"

The looks of dismay in the rear view mirror were priceless.

"So Grex, what was actually used on this thing?"

He knew exactly what I meant.

"Well, wards to make it more resilient to damage, to resist spells of all kinds, and tracking wards. Seems to be fairly
standard."

"Any holes? Anything we can improve?"

"Of course, with a little training and effort, we can improve this machine of yours."

So in other words, an experienced summoner did this. One other than Karen who knew a fair amount.

"So where are they? I can't see them. I can sort of feel them, but it's fuzzy."

"There are 4 engraved on the floor, under the carpeting...there are more in each door, one under the hood, one under the trunk hatch, and one directly over us hidden by the cloth here."

"Pretty thorough indeed."

"Always room for improvement my master...I'd suggest demonic repulsion as a start."

"Demonic...repulsion? never heard of that, what's it do?"

"Repels demons of course...none would be able to approach your transport save myself. It's rather costly in terms of power, so I'm not surprised it wasn't done."

"Really? Interesting."

I waited until the silence became uncomfortable.

"I'm wondering if I should have revealed my new tricks this early; might have been a better idea just to accept my pasting."

"Nonsense master, they would only attempt to 'train you' until you achieved parity."

Easy now, act nonchalant.

"It seems a bit fast to me."

"Master?"

"It seems like I'm improving much faster than I should. Doing these things, dodging spells, casting my own, working with armed people...just seems like I'm picking it up far too quickly."

"You are, you have only our pact to blame. However, you always had the ability to learn this quickly, I merely brought it out. It seems that Maeve Numens is a genius in all things summoner related."

Nothing I could really say to that. The rest of the trip was in relative silence.

I pulled into the police lot and shut my car off, shaking my head again as I got out and closed the door. No way was I going to be able to hide on the road now. The vans pulled in next to me and Pearce jumped out.

"Hey, forgot to tell you, tomorrow is your day off. Enjoy. If you want, I can clock you out a bit early."

"Um, sure, OK. Thanks."

I got back in, Grex following suit (and using the door this time, I noted).

"Well that was weird. Screw it, I want fries again."

"Might I try some master?"

My gimlet stare could detect no deception, only honest joy at the prospect of eating greasy food.

"Sure, I'll get you some too."

(tbc)

I woke up, a dream involving temporal physics problems marching on their merry way to eat me still fresh in my head. A day off. It was 8am, I had spent the entire waking night before with Grex on the couch, going over the basics of time dilation. the aura I could generate with a thought and mere flexing of mental muscle could speed time around me up, or slow it down. With more time and practice, the aura would likely expand. but if I tried anything truly weird with time, like going back or forward in it, or reversing it, I'd likely destroy the universe...provided I ever developed the sheer amount of power needed for such a thing.

Good to know.

That lecture was delivered in what was almost a monotone, as if Grex could care less whether all existence ended. Maybe that was true. when I asked him if he could do any of that, he replied no, he lacked the power to punch the needed wormhole in space and time. then he rattled off equations which lost me in seconds. I had him to thank for the nightmare. Speaking of which....

Did I remember to dismiss him?

"Grex?"

I pulled myself from the siren's song of my bed, finding out I was dressed only in my underwear. As I pulled my robe on I heard a noise from the kitchen.

"Grex is that you?"

"Of course it is master, who else would it be?"

Well I had to admit a prowler or burglar was unlikely.

"So you've been here all night?"

"Yes; a bit colder than I'm used to, but a pleasant night over all."

"Did you behave?"

"Of course my master, you would be most cross if I...took initiative."

"That I would. So what did you do?"

"Watched television of course. The discovery channel is most intriguing. I took the liberty of pouring myself some of your coffee; you don't mind do you?"

"Not at all. What was on? You don't need sleep?"

"A documentary on hyenas master. As for sleep I need some, but far less than humans do."

I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a cup. Nothing seemed out of place.

"You really did nothing weird? No killing all humans or anything like that? Tell the truth."

He sighed.

"Master I did nothing harmful to humans the entire night. I watched the discovery channel."

"Alright."

I do wish I could believe him without ordering him to tell the truth; it always felt as if I was wrestling a live alligator. Or at least, that's how I imagined it. I sipped coffee and thought. Grex sipped coffee and watched me, somehow managing to fall short of an intense and uncomfortable gaze.

"Something is bothering me, and I want you to explain it."

"Anything my master."

"What is this entire 'hell hierarchy'? the levels of hell and all that?"

He actually managed to look uneasy. I took that as a sign that I was on the right track.

"That will take some time to explain."

"It's our day off. We've got time."

I rummaged around, finding some generic Raisin bran, settling back as I poured the milk into it. I started munching while he collected his thoughts.

"Alright my master, it's like this. there are ten of what Dante called circles, or levels in hell. Dante however got a few details wrong. He isn't really to blame, the demon he sold his soul to lied to him. I can't offer you all the details obviously, we just don't have enough time to go over everything. But here is how it works.

The circles are actually numbered in opposite fashion from what Dante was told. Circle 9 is the first circle you approach as you enter the gate...a portal downwards, which can sometimes just appear as an actual gate. In that circle, is both limbo and purgatory. As such it is one of the largest circles in hell."

I couldn't hold my peace.

"But isn't limbo like a form of heaven? And doesn't purgatory allow for the cleansing of the soul's debt?"

"Correct on both counts according to what mortals know master, but not completely. Limbo is a deficient heaven, where those who are damned to go are in pleasant fields, rolling hills, and well constructed homes and hamlets. And every waking moment they exist there, they are made aware that it could be so much more...if they accepted God. They are burdened with that decision constantly."

He grinned, a humorless and unsettling showing of teeth.

"They are the rebels of creation, following our own glorious example. those in purgatory, have accepted god's will, and yet sinned. It should be noted that in neither realm were grievous sins committed; those individuals are invariably placed lower. But the thief stealing to feed his family and those humans who murder to save other mortals are an example of what ends up in this realm. It should also be noted that neither of these realms have a large population compared to the others.

Until recently, I was the regent of that circle, the supreme ruler of it. I stepped down to attend you. I served in the name of a demoness known as 'the lady of lost hope'. Our power is...low compared to demons of the other realms. By title I was one of Lucifer's elite...but by power, the real test of rank the lords of the 9th circle are considered the weakest. A good count from the first circle could well best me, as could the other higher ranking dukes of hell."

Well that was interesting. I got the runt of the litter.

"However,' he continued. 'we are in a unique position. The lady of lost hope is more powerful on earth than in hell; on earth she may well be almost as strong as Lucifer himself, due to the nature of her power, which as you know, is space and time manipulation. Not very powerful in hell, where time is dilated as a matter of course in order to punish those deemed wicked, but very powerful on earth, where she can rule both time and space with ease. this fundamental nature in her power of course, bleeds down to all her servants, great and small."

Mind blown.

"So wait, there actually is a God? Holy host? Angels we have heard on high?"

"Of course my master, I wouldn't be speaking of such if there wasn't."

"So where is he? Where are his angels? Humanity is getting pasted, what's he doing?"

Grex spread his hands.

"I've no idea my master, I have not seen the being nor any of his angels since mortals made their first reed huts."

Curious choice of words there.

"I'll be asking more about that later; circles in hell for now. So why were you needed as regent? Where has your duchess been?"

"She is a prophesied demon of great power; she has not yet been born. I was chosen by Lucifer himself to rule the 9th circle till she should arrive, then pave the way for her."

"So demons are still being born?"

"Not often. In fact a new demon hasn't been born for some time."

"Alright, getting sidetracked here. 8th Circle?"

"Ahh, the 8th. Home of Lilith and her brood, the succubi."

He waggled his eyebrows, and I rolled my eyes.

"Deep and abiding passions hold sway there, lust is the watchword. The adulterers, the pedophiles, the sexual deviants...this is their new home."

I couldn't stop the shudder.

"And what is the power dominant there?"

"charms of course, and illusions. Anything to enhance lust or fool a victim into letting their passions get the better of them. Succubi aren't really known for their natural combat capability, though some can surprise you."

"Seems simple enough...hey wait, does this mean all the circles have a predominant demon type?"

"Mostly. There are demons that are chosen by the ruler of that circle, and while various other demons living there may be stronger, screwing with one of the chosen staff is taking your existence into your hands."

"Does the 9th circle have one? you didn't mention any."

"Yes we do, Eriynes...they look like winged humans, have a not totally warranted reputation as eaters of human flesh, and are moderately proficient in all forms of human style combat."

Hmmm...so he was a male Eriynes then. Had to be.

"How good are they really? honest assessment here."

He frowned then grimaced.

"They are about as good individually as a succubus is. The succubus has stronger charms, but their magic and combat capability is about equal."

"So they are the weakest demons in hell?"

"They are among the weakest demons in hell, yes. They can grow to be quite strong, but that is usually through learning. they are the chosen of the lady of lost hope, and as such you can summon them without a lengthy ritual or need of true names."

"Wait I can?"

"Of course, you have the power of a ruler of the 9th circle, as you requested. Such summonings are part of that power."

"That means you can do it too, right?"

I watched his response carefully. He looked pretty offended, wings rustling behind him.

"Of course it does. It is the play of infants for us."

I stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"No need for that now, later. I have more questions. You can have more coffee if you want."

"Thank you master."

He poured himself another cup and took a moment, composing himself to continue.

"So anything else interesting about the 8th circle?"

"Not that I can think of off hand. So, moving on?"

I nodded.

"Alright, 7th circle. The 7th circle is the home of the gluttons; your habitual eaters being the least of those. Drug addicts, drunks, your obsessive hoarders, etc. The realm is the home of the demon dogs and lemores, with Beelzebub presiding. It's a real pest hole, always raining, cold, and filthy."

Charming.

"The 6th circle is filled with the greedy; those who hoard and chase money or other expensive possessions they don't need. Everyone there has a blast trying to defend each others 'fortunes' from each other, it's hilarious. The circle is mainly the home of the Glazu and Vrock, who do a decent job of making that place torment for it's denizens. Mammon rules there."

"The 5th circle is filled with the wrathful; those who commit sin in needless rage. The marshland fed by the river Styx, which forms a natural moat around Hell's only city Niffleheim. Asmodeus is it's duke, and he uses various other demons to administer his realm, most of those able to survive the effect of the waters in some way."

I had to ask.

"Do demons get affected by the waters?"

"Not those that are strong enough. Yes, before you ask, I qualify."

I smiled, getting another cup of coffee for myself.

"Of course you do."

"So, 4th circle. Your standard flaming hell for heretics. this level is Ruled by Leviathan and administered by the various
Baal'Rog and Cacodemons. Leviathan also guards the gate to Nifflehiem, much as Cerberus guards the gate to hell."

I nodded. No real questions there. So far Dante was being turned on it's ear. Well, maybe one.

"What's a Cacodemon?"

"Your average horned wingless demon, human sized, you've seen examples in older literature, if nowhere else."

"So like a bigger form of imp?"

Not all imps had wings after all. He nodded.

"Now, 3rd circle. This one is rather complex to explain. It's a desert, much hotter than your Sahara. In it are the scrub brush and various rotted fruits which nourish the roaming Wyverns of the area. These are the suicides and those that are violent against their own, like your average gang member or violent thief. It is of course, administered by Wyverns and Belphegor."

"Sloth?"

"The very same."

"How does that even work?"

"Tell me, have you ever known a violent criminal to bother using their mind? Or try hard to make money that isn't on the backs of others? A dumb thug is as slothful as it gets."

Something seemed wrong with that to me, but I wasn't sure what.

"Good point, I guess. So, next."

"Well not done yet; Syz, your lake of blood and fire is also here, where a few of your war criminals reside. Attila the hun, a few roman generals, some Italians...."

"Hitler?"

"Oh no, Hitler warrants special attention."

His cold smile made me shudder.

"Sorry master, I did not mean to frighten you."

"I wasn't frightened, just...an involuntary reaction."

He smiled, more warmly this time. It seemed to hold a hint of mockery, though to me or himself I wasn't sure.

"Sure it was. Alright, moving on. Next circle, circle number 2. False witness, or fraud. Sorcerers, astrologers, false prophets, The realm is ruled by Shait'an and administered mainly by Minotaur, cacodemons and the occasional Baal'rog. This place is also the home of those who used their positions to sell redemption for favors or goods. Quite a few popes burning there. Those that steal through fraud can also be found here."

He looked up and I nodded; I had no real questions about that one yet.

"And finally, circle 1: Pride. This is the home of Lucifer himself, administered by any demons strong enough to rise through the ranks. From the lowest Eriyne, to the highest Baal'rog. This circle is a place of beyond freezing cold, a place of the worst extremes."

I interrupted.

"So is Lucifer really a big winged 3 headed demon in the center, screaming and chewing on Judas?"

His eyes positively sparkled with held mirth.

"Of course not, while that part of Dante is true enough...that Lucifer is a statue, much like the one mentioned in "the wizard of Oz". A fine joke."

"Um, sure, I guess. So what does Lucifer really look like?"

"Whatever he wants."

Well that was specific.

"At any rate, Hitler is here...he supplanted Judas by betraying all humanity. His fate is most unpleasant, as befitting his station."

"How can you even punish the bastard enough?"

I know he caught my mutterings, but he said nothing in response, waiting patiently.

"Well, that is quite the lesson. More coffee?"

"Yes please."

"I noticed you didn't really say much about the dominant power or ability of each realm after circle 8."

He paused, coffee almost to his lips.

"that is due to their nature. Most of those powers follow the sin of the realm itself. For example, those of wrath are capable of a berserk fury which can be amazingly destructive, in many cases being able to fight long after their death. At least until those enemies in front of them are defeated."

Hmm, so how does time manipulation fit with my circle? More time for them to be punished? Never mind, not that important right now.

"So...why are you demons destroying all humanity? I mean, why do it at all? You're stronger than we are, not like we are a threat to you."

He turned grim and drained his coffee.

"Hate of course. Soul deep and unbridled hatred."

"Why hate us? I mean, we couldn't really do anything to you at the time you rebelled; we as a people likely didn't even know God or the Devil existed at the time."

"You didn't. But who said we hated you? Of course we hate you, but that is merely a shadow of the hatred we hold for our father."

I was sure my jaw was slack for a good minute.

"You mean to tell me you are involved in killing all humanity over daddy issues?"

"Humans caused the Fall. Half hairless apes that we were supposed to serve as if they were father himself. After serving God for millennium, protecting and administering all creation without question, we were to be thrown from our place at the side of God by a lower form of existence. the very idea was laughable."

"So you rebelled."

He took a deep breath, wings fluttering in obvious agitation.

"We were to be placed in a subservient role to a lizard-monkey with delusions of grandeur. What would you do in our place? Father refused to explain himself, only demanding obedience. what would you do?"

I thought about it while he put me on the spot, taking note of his curiously intense but unreadable expression.

"Honestly, I don't know, and it doesn't matter. Just seems like a weird reason, after all. I thought angels trusted God."

His sudden viscous smirk surprised me...I was getting more emotion from him today than I'd seen since we met.

"Angels do. Demons don't."

"I see."

"At any rate, that is your primer on the true geography of hell. Any other questions?"

"Yes, one. Niffleheim, you weren't too clear on where it was."

"Ahh, well you see the marshy areas the River Styx feed into split around Niffleheim, which is a truly large city. London, New York, Tokyo...really do not compare in size. That is where Lucifer resides, and where the primary administration of damnation takes place. It isn't in any one one circle, but it has levels of its own that reach all the lower circles. The rest is standard topography for earth, plains, hills, mountains in our case."

"OK, got it. We're done for now, but I'm going to have more questions later. You can stick around here, but I'm going to be reading. No tricks or anything if you do stay."

"I'll stay master; after all, I can protect you more effectively if I remain close."

"Alright."

I looked at the clock; it was 10am...I could have sworn it was much later. Grabbing my latest magic primer I tried to dive into it. Some time later, as I was rereading a page for the 4th time, I realized I wasn't taking my mind off of anything.

Today was the day. I wouldn't simmer anymore, instead I'd confront mom today. She was currently at her shrinks unless she'd changed her schedule. But she would be home by 3pm. If she wasn't I'd simply wait for her. Grex raised an eyebrow as I started to pace; he had apparently decided to 'correct' a few of the books on demonic theory I'd taken with me.

He was crossing things out with a red sharpie then writing in the margins. Good thing those books were reprints.

"What's the matter, my master?"

"Nothing at all, just felt the urge to move a bit."

I settled back in and managed to actually focus on the book this time. The book was explaining the link between blood and summons. Seems that blood had aspects of 4 of the elements of existence, according to the book. Earth (iron) air (oxygen and other gases)water (water) and will (living matter). Only one missing was fire. this meant that when you wanted to quickly summon a demon bound to you, bloodletting was the best option, as it called on four of five elements.

Of course you could also just tattoo a circle on yourself somewhere and use that. most people used bloodletting right on their marks, to ensure a problem free summon. the blood provides the power and elemental link, and the mark or tattoo ensures you get the right demon in your long distance call.

Seemed odd to me, since I could reach Grex any time. I mean I knew that was unusual, but I knew I had no mark anywhere. I didn't need to use blood. I didn't need a circle.

"Hey Grex?"

He looked up, still crossing out a section with squeaky strokes from the marker.

"Yes my master?"

"Why am I able to summon you with no athame, tattoo or blood?"

Wordlessly he unbuttoned his dress shirt and pulled it down. On his left pectoral was what appeared to all intent, as a tattoo. It depicted an angelic silhouette with skeletons bowed around her in worship. It was a mark.

"Ahh the confusion you show feeds me. It is simple my master. I am the one marked...when you wished for the power of a lord of hell, you received them. Do you think that those who rule hell do not have the power to summon those who serve them at will? They can. And since I agreed to serve you, you may summon me any time you wish. You may also summon any demons that work for me, assuming you know their names."

I sat back down, feeling as if my legs had been cut out from under me.

"So that mark...."

"Is your mark, yes. All demons from the 9th circle have it now, somewhere on their person. They are yours to command."

"Does anyone else know that lords of hell can do that? Other humans?"

"Not that I am aware of, though a few of the higher placed summoners might. Like your general, who commands a count of the first circle. After all counts can command lesser servitors."

I had to think about that a moment. I did not want the other summoners to know how easy it would be for me to suddenly increase the demon population.

"Servitors? You mean lesser demons that aren't under their direct control?"

"Yes, as in lesser servants of their boss. They can also command lesser demons of other lords, provided they have no orders from their ranking demon...much like a captain from another squad can give you orders to follow."

I see. And that meant he could do it, and I could too. Two Epiphanies hit at once.

"Oh been meaning to ask. Why were you and the generals summon looking at each other like two pissed tomcats?"

"You refer to the bad blood between Gradnez and I? It is simple. I am a duke regent of the 9th circle, he is a count of the 1rst. I technically outrank him, but our level of power is...similar. He feels as if I am inferior."

I snorted.

"And of course he is the inferior one."

"Of course master, as you say."

"Another question. you have a list of servitors?"

He smiled, a warm genuine thing.

"I have a few in mind if you want to increase your repertoire. It is a short list at the moment, as a certain amount of trust is involved. Would you mind a slight delay while I finish my corrections?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

I made more coffee, and filled my cup. Noon now, lunchtime. But I wasn't hungry. I thought about giving some coffee to Grex, still curled up in the large comfy chair as he doodled all over my book. But, he's supposed to serve me. He can get his own!

"You should eat something master."

"Not hungry at the moment; if you want more coffee you can serve yourself."

"Thank you master, I enjoy your coffee."

I went back to reading.

"It's just coffee Grex, not like anyone can screw it up."

"Even so, I enjoy it. Here you are."

He pressed a sticky note in my hands. There were two words on it, obviously names: Abnex and Sarex.

"those two are a good start."

"Relatives of yours?"

"Of a sort my master, they are both minor lords of the 9th circle whose judgement I trust, and serve me faithfully. They should serve you with equal vigor."

"Especially when you tell them to, right?"

"As you say. All you need do is call them as you do me, and they will come."

He started in on another book, sipping coffee and marking away. I delved deeper into summoning theory, now that I'd refreshed the basics I'd been wondering about. The circles for different demons were different, that's interesting. Means I can cold summon a Baal'rog or minotaur just by using slightly different geometry.

Then I looked up and noticed that it was nearly 2:30. I set the book down gently and went to get ready.

"Something wrong my master? You seem...tense."

"Just got somewhere to be Grex. Get ready, you're coming along."

(tbc)

Once dressed in my wonderful fatigues, Grex and I hit the lobby. The usual scene, unobtrusive guards, summoners racing to and fro, the manager behind his desk. I pulled out my new standard issue phone and dialed my dad's cell.

"Numens."

"Hi dad. I just thought you'd like to know I'm headed home to see mom. See you when you get off work, OK?"

"Maeve...."

I hung up. I did say I'd let him know, I didn't say I'd wait on him...and I needed at least some time alone with my loving mother to get the proper answers.

I drove carefully, obeying all traffic laws and taking the utmost care. I reached my old home right at 3pm. Mom's car was in the drive. Obeying military doctrine I parked right behind her; her only escape from me was now on foot.

The engine as still warm; she had just arrived home.

I checked once before I knocked; Grex was right behind me, a looming yet comfortable presence.

The door opened on the second knock, and my anger throbbed. There she was, right in front of me. Taller than I was now, still the same auburn haired playboy bunny centerfold she was months ago. A relief of sorts. I struggled to say something but her guileless eyes stared directly into my soul, so I had to settle.

"Hello, mother."

My words finished what looking behind me started, her guileless eyes wide she stumbled back into the house and fell against something with a thump and a crash. I entered to find her bent over the oak coffee table, the vase which was normally filled with carnations (and which I knew to be quite expensive) shattered. Mom was currently crab walking her way through the mess, uncaring of the cuts she was opening on her hands.

"Hello, Samuel."

Wait, what? Samuel? Grex was staring at mom with an almost tender expression, leaving me no doubt to whom he was referring. Oh of course, mom's name hadn't been bartered, so she'd simply changed it. she stared between Grex and I, back and forth several times so fast I feared for whiplash. I tried to see to her, but she kept crawling away from me.

Then so fast I barely saw her move she lunged, tackling me and wrapping arms around me hard enough to make my ribs creak. We both plowed into the wall and slid down it.

"Oh Melvin I'msosorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry...!"

"Mom! Mom stop. Stop. Tell me why you sold me out mom."

She looked up into my eyes, her own brimming with tears. I felt like I'd just kicked a puppy, but I hardened my own heart. Then her own mood changed and I could see the adult come out again, frost overtaking her expression like a slow moving wave.

"I'll tell you everything. Come on lets go into the kitchen. I'll make tea."

So now it was more waiting. Mom stared at me, eyes watering but gaze unexpectedly piercing as we waited on the water to heat. She turned to Grex.

"She's a bit...lush, isn't she?"

"Your genetics Samuel, I'm not to blame at all."

"Mom, why? Just start with that."

"Melvin, I...."

Grex interrupted.

"Maeve now, that prior name no longer belongs to her."

Her tears started falling. My hands twitched to comfort her, but I resisted.

"...I see. Maeve, I was a boy. I was raised to be a man all my life. I won't say your grandparents were completely sexist, but they did have some old fashioned ideas about what men and women were to do. I was a jock; I lettered in football and hunted on weekends. I graduated with honors and more than a few women sought me out for companionship. I was an outgoing alpha male.

Then came the selection, which of course ended in my being chosen, along with a friend of mine. I attended basic, which I don't believe has changed much. is it still basically a prison sentence?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice. She sighed and continued.

"So I attended basic, and all was pretty much going as expected; I was on my way to become squad leader, regardless of whatever I summoned. I can only guess it was similar for you. At any rate, summoning night I hit what I thought was the jackpot."

She nodded to Grex, and he nodded gravely back.

"Grex popped out like a demented jack in a box, and told me he'd bow to no man, nor serve any human. I replied that he'd serve this human and like it. And we bartered. I could tell almost immediately that he wanted to serve me almost as badly as I wanted him to, for some reason. I bargained for a measure of his power and his service... and his price at first was years from my
life. I was such a selfish bastard back then."

She looked to me, searching for something, but I was playing poker with the best of them. Her face fell and she sighed deeply, seeming to age 20 years in a second.

"We renegotiated. I kept my price, and gained some nice time dilation powers. Made me a wargod on the battlefield. Grex... well he got the backdoor to you. The ability to answer your summoning first, should you summon. The ability to tweak your understanding of his price... and my silence about it. A full window of opportunity to you."

She poured the tea then, with slow deliberate movements. Serving me before speaking up again.

"You have to understand honey, I was a guy. A boorish bastard who wasn't even thinking of having kids, or what could happen if I did. My survival through the night wasn't a guarantee, let alone any other day. I knew I was going directly to the next phase of basic and into battle. France was getting hammered and while we were holding them back, as always more summoners were needed."

She drained her own tea in one gulp as if it were liquor, and made another.

"I never wanted nor expected to have children. Then Grex pulled his little trick, because I was stupid enough to leave it open, and I wanted kids even less. I was still a guy in my head after all. I also thought the transformation would wear off at the end of my service. How could I explain to a child that I was his mommy with a penis? But Grex was as good as his word, watching my back even when I didn't order him too, or couldn't spot the danger fast enough. He saved my life on his own initiative four times in the first tour alone.

I was given a brief leave, and while on it my first squad, being led by my friend who'd graduated with me, was wiped out. I was sent to another that lost their summoner, and met your father. He was just a grunt, not even an nco... wet behind the ears. I hated him from the start, he was always insisting in being chivalrous. Then I grew to know him, and hated him even more. He
was everything I wasn't. honest, forthright, honorable to a fault.

And he loved me from the first somehow, even while I was spiraling out of control and becoming an even meaner bitch than before. He never raised his voice to me and never tried to argue, no matter how much of an ass I was. I tried to get him killed at first. I sent him on so many scouting missions...."

"Mom? Focus please."

I'd interrupted a bit more harshly than I'd intended, and the tears started again.

"Sorry honey. So a second tour, then a third. I came back home with your father attached to me like a puppy. Served six years with distinction, all the while keeping Grex on this plane so often. the strain was...immense. Back stateside I was diagnosed by the head shrinkers with mania and psychosis, still in it's infant stages. I started seeing things that... well they were there,
but no one else could see them."

She still did of course, but I didn't want to interrupt and tell her so.

"So I was ordered off the lines so that I didn't lose it and kill an army. Transferred here where they could watch me, and attached to the police to root out demonic presences state side and train new summoners. Your father was assigned to the police here, his own request. Even after my war was over he followed me.

But then a chance question led to my first true breakdown. Grex told me I was never going to get my old body back; that I was female for life. At the end of the screaming and knives your father was there. This was what he had been waiting for all along, I knew that. But it just didn't seem to matter. He was everything I never was, and everything I'd never be again, and he was
there for me. Just always there, no matter what."

She took a deep breath and drained her tea again while I sipped mine. what do you know, she WAS spiking it with something. I didn't even see her do it.

"We were married a day after the asylum let me out. You were born 10 months later. I didn't mean for it to happen. It just did. I knew, even as my mind was slipping. I knew he would come for you. He made every excuse to be around you, watching you. I would order him away, only to find him back through some loophole, watching you in your crib. knowing what he was going to do to you... Well it finished the job.

I managed to make it to my 10 year term, but you know how I am now. I'm broken. I tried to maintain my distance, but you were such a little darling. You were so gentle and serious, and the more I came to love you, the worse the pressure became. when the time was up and I lost my power, Grex, and even the ability to research ways to help you. Well, that was the final straw."

To my memory my mother was always loving, if completely crazy and prone to fits of screaming. Not to mention the suicide attempts. But she was always kind and patient with me, always ready with a smile. How could I reconcile that with this portrait of a cold woman that never wanted me?

She saw none of this, beginning to lose the battle in the war she was always having with herself.

"But now, look at you! you're so beautiful, you make a wonderful daughter. With Grex by your side none will be able to kill you. And such pretty wings...."

Her face locked in awe, she shambled over to me, reaching behind me for something only she could see.

"Mother! Focus, please."

She hugged me tightly yet again.

"Maeve, my wonderful daughter, please don't hate me. Please, anything but that. I love you, please don't..."

"Mother! I...have to go."

My throat locked up as I peeled her off, rushing to the door. Grex right behind me I threw it open and ran out, my mother's incoherent screams beginning to sound. Dad stood in front of me on the walk, his car next to mine with the engine still ticking. He must have dropped everything to have gotten here so quickly. I found my voice, after a fashion.

"Sorry dad. I needed to know."

He nodded and walked past me into the house, to do what he did best.

"Grex do you know how to drive?"

"I do Mistress."

I threw him the keys.

"Make yourself useful then."

I got in the passenger seat and pulled out my phone. Karen answered on the first ring.

"What's up Snow?"

"Are you free Kare?"

"Sure, what's up?"

I had to take a breath.

"Look, I can't say right now, just please meet me at my place with booze."

"How much booze?"

"As much as you can get there. I'll explain when I can."

I hung up and focused on breathing. The great shuddering breaths convinced me that maybe I wasn't handling this as well as I thought. Grex drove in silence, with the same efficiency and care he gave everything else.

"So what can you tell me that mom couldn't? I know you tinkered more."

"Of course I did my mistress. I could not leave your future to chance. I drew your father and mother together, and set up the right mood to ensure your birth. Your mother's insanity is however, hers alone. Your father is every bit as you see him. I did not alter either personality. I did ensure your father survived your mother's early wrath."

I suspected, but even with suspicions I couldn't help but stare.

"Why? Why go through all this trouble to screw around with humanity?"

"Are you asking me why demons are currently plaguing humanity mistress?"

"Yes I am, and you'll tell me the truth."

"Easily. Freedom."

"Freedom?!?"

"Yes, freedom. Give me liberty or give me all of creation burning down around me, to paraphrase one of the monkeys you look up to. We rebelled and were imprisoned, remember? God wanted us to kill his chosen, he set them up so beautifully for us. Humans have no defense but what father gave you. When you summon us, you circumvent that protection... and our prison. Sure father
couldn't intervene himself or send his angels. kind of makes me wonder why he doesn't. Perhaps he'd spout more nonsense about that free will he says you have."

"wait, you mean you can't choose?"

"Of course we can't, we are subject to his will. He gave the greatest gift possible in all of creation to unwashed monkeys, while ignoring all his own faithful. Those who had served for millennium."

"But you rebelled. Doesn't that mean you can do what you want now?"

"No, there are still limits. We are still bound by his law. Lucifer himself is the only one that was powerful enough to bring us some measure of freedom. A freedom that is by no means complete."

"Hmm, learn something new every day. So what does killing all of humanity have to do with you earning your freedom?"

"I never claimed it did."

Right, of course. Though I wouldn't be forgetting this conversation, I knew I didn't want to pursue that particular avenue of discussion at the moment. My mind was thus freed from any more distraction, and homed in again on earlier events.

A mistake of course.

"Mistress, we are here."

I came out of my reverie to find the car parked in my parking space, the engine off, and Grex gazing at me with some small measure of concern.

"Sorry."

I got out and walked with Grex hovering over me like the proverbial mother hen. I was able to wave and nod to the people I recognized, and even give a pleasant hello or two. I often surprise myself. I made it all the way up to my apartment.

"Alright Grex, go home."

"but mistress, I..."

"Now, Grex. Go back to hell."

He bowed and left. I opened my door to find Karen already inside, puttering around in the kitchen.

"Pretty sure I locked up, you break and enter?"

She looked up and sucked in air like a jet intake.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"Oh, Grex is a bastard that manipulated my life and my mother is a bitch that never wanted me. How was your day?"

She was across the room so fast I thought she'd figured out my time dilation secret, and leading me to the couch. I slumped down on it and shattered like glass. She held me for what seemed like hours while I cried, with an almost fabled patience. Finally I could cry no more, and she moved.

"Here."

I took the offered drink, a Margarita. I downed half of it and started telling her what I'd learned today in between great shuddering breaths, pausing whenever the ocean of despair threatened to drag me under again. I was nursing my third Margarita when I finally finished.

"Wow Maeve, your mom is all kinds of screwed up. But you have to admit it's about what you expected, I can see that much on your face."

"Yeah it is, it's just that suspecting it is one thing. Hearing it out loud is much worse. So very hard to reconcile my loving but slightly wacky and very crazy mom with the cold heartless bitch I glimpsed today. I can deal with it. Sorry for falling apart there."

"Don't be, you were due. Call me any time. So, I recommend lots of movies. Many many happy movies tonight, with wonderful happy endings. Let's see what your netflix service has for zombie movies...."

Wait what? Zombie movies are happy movies?

"So what are you going to do about Grex?"

"What can I do? He's already done the damage. At least I know for sure he has no further loopholes to exploit. He's out of the ones mom gave him, and he doesn't have any I gave him."

"That you know of."

"That I know of. Of course I meant loopholes given on purpose. I can't fix the past, and he can't either. Even if we could, I wouldn't know how. Make my mom less of a bitch? How?"

Karen found some random third rate zombie movie she liked the look of and turned it on. I could tell the credits would be the best part of it.

"I was more referring to limiting ways he could pull crap like that in the future. you have the power to do that, to make sure he can't screw with any future generations like this."

Oh crap, I did, didn't I?

"Good idea, I'll see about it tomorrow. He can rot tonight."

"Agreed. Popcorn?"

"Sure."

(tbc)

That thrice damned alarm again. Every time I slap it off the nightstand into the wall it breaks, but then is fine and back in position the moment my back is turned. It was infuriating. Today was back to the grind. I would be on call, but not active duty. Karen cleared it after last night.

I completely understood why. I was still a mess.

So no training today, even though later on I would be expected to be at the base for tomorrow. I knew Karen would be by soon so I snagged some coffee and started toast. Toast is essential to a good day.

"Grex, Veni huc!"

He appeared in the chair in front of me. He actually looked contrite.

"You called mistress?"

"Grex you are never to pull the crap you pulled on my family to anyone else. Got it?"

"I...understand mistress. I will not manipulate such situations again... unless you order it of course."

Well I never would, so that works.

"Good. You may have some coffee, but save some for Karen."

"Thank you mistress."

The book reading and coffee sipping calmed me a bit, esoteric elements theory taking some of the sting out. At least till I read far enough.

"Who the hell could believe this crap?!? The four elements making up matter themselves? The body being made up of the right elements mixed? This book is garbage!"

I caught Grex's glance at the cover.

"You're correct, it was written well before human understanding of such concepts of cells and atoms existed, and is therefore incomplete. It does however still serve as a viable method to learning spells based on nature, for those that can fathom such."

He actually just said it. While I was still pissed at him.

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"Not at all. I am merely saying that it is a simplistic approach to creating spells dealing with nature. Obviously with the advancements in mankind's understanding that approach is dated. You don't need it in any case."

"I don't? Why...."

Karen chose that moment to interrupt, her yell of 'hi!' probably woke everyone on the floor. She didn't bother with knocking, or a key. By the way she all but teleported to my side, she was also a fan of blitzkrieg.

"How are you this morning?"

The chipper tone belied the concern in her eyes. I replied in like tone.

"I'm fine, I make it a point to only shatter once a day. Grex and I have just finished 'the talk', where he agrees to be less of a scumbag because I order it."

Karen spared a glance at Grex, who remained impassive.

"Good talk."

"I liked it."

She poured herself some coffee and sat.

"So what are you planning to do today? We will need to have you at the base by tomorrow for training, but that leaves some time."

"Not a clue."

"Then let's wake up a bit then go have some fun."

Fun huh?

"Alright I'll bite, what do summoners do for fun?"

"A little of this, a little of that. We'll think of something. For starters lets just get some breakfast in us and then drive around like we have somewhere to be. Then we can simply do whatever strikes us."

"Alright. Grex, cook us breakfast. I want eggs sausage and toast...and no surprises of any kind."

"As you wish mistress."

Karen's thumbs up wasn't exactly a surprise. I swear she thinks with her stomach.

"That's telling him. Last summoner that didn't make sure ended up with some questionable meat on his menu... it was a bad day."

The silence as we were eating quickly became a bit awkward. I didn't mind that much though.

"So um, looks like element magic."

Karen seemed to though.

"Yeah, that book is a load of crap. Flies full in the face of science."

"Um, isn't what we do flying in the face of science?"

"Possibly, do we know enough to be sure?"

"Ummm, we do?"

"Maybe we do, maybe we don't. Not willing to give up on magic being explainable by science just yet."

The bemusement chased the confusion from her face.

"Good luck with that."

"Meh. Everyone needs a hobby. So you about ready?"

"Let me finish my coffee."

"Alright, be right back."

Ok, so I was a bit neurotic. Wasn't going to eat breakfast without brushing my teeth after. Dressing was probably a good idea too. Some fatigues later and it was time to go.

"Ok let's roll."

"Alright, your car."

"Fine."

It took me a few steps before I realized we were short one.

"Grex get out here, you're coming."

"Of course mistress."

He came out and locked up... and had a travel mug in his hand.

"Seriously?"

"What mistress? I like your coffee. Seems a shame to waste any."

"Whatever."

At least driving was relaxing. Not as relaxing knowing a demon was in the seat behind me, and Karen singing along to pop tunes she inflicted my radio with wasn't helping. No idea who it was, but they were annoying.

"Onward! Take a left here."

I dealt with the instructions, mainly through deep breaths and counting. Then I realized where she was telling me to go.

"The mall? Really? Haven't we...."

"No! No, there is no such thing as too much shopping. You need real clothes rather than just fatigues. Besides there are other things to do at the mall."

"Like what?"

"Like movies, and the food court, and book stores, and...."

"Alright, alright, I get it."

I parked out in the parking lot boonies as is my usual wont, hiking past the tumbleweeds. Karen looked more than a little put out, but I found it hard to care. The crazy grin as she started by dragging me into shops however was something I cared about. I was rather forced to.

Petty revenge apparently involves make up counters.

I put my foot down in time to catch the early matinee, late '60s spaghetti summoner movies I wanted to laugh through. They were every bit as lol worthy as anticipated. Karen was her usual loud self and even Grex chuckled a few times. The only minor hitch was I had to pay to get him in... after all he was passing as human.

I never liked these movies much as a child; my mom used to call them trash, and I figured she of all people would know. Dad watched a few of the more notable ones, but I didn't want to know. Catching up now only seemed fitting. And of course, the very activity that was supposed to get me thinking of something else brought me back to my parents.

Sometimes I was a genius. Yul Brenner made an excellent summoner though. All dark and evil seeming. How they managed to get that one guy look like such a realistic demon though, I'll never know. It went well beyond rubber or latex.

Very much the opposite of say, godzilla.

Nevertheless what little we could watch of it (all day matinee, and we had to leave after 3 movies in) did it's job. We were both laughing so hard that the ushers were all set to ask us to leave...then they really saw us. They just quietly walked back out. We got the message though and stifled ourselves till we made it out of the theatre.

"Can you believe that guy? He's all having that touching dying scene with demons all around him and they don't just rip his head off once! Such bullcrap."

I shook my head as Karen skipped ahead of me; that statement had drawn a few stares from pissed off movie-goers.

"well that's hollywood for you. Didn't want to show the real blood and guts back in those days."

My reply of course, drew more stares, this time from people actually looking at us and taking in my fatigues... and my hair. While the lighting was a bit low to see my eyes, white hair was usually a sign of someone surviving an incident of great stress. Car wrecks, drowning, combat, and most importantly demon attack... all these things had been known to turn human hair white.
I was encouraging people to make that assumption. My playful mood wasn't really logical and acting like a grizzled veteran wasn't really charitable of me... but I didn't give a damn.

"Ugh, I'm already sick of packing."

I got in my car and Karen followed with a shrug.

"You'll get used to it."

"I really hope not, but you're probably right."

"The best way to do it is to have 3 or 4 different bags, all for different places. Like a duffel full of fatigues and stuff for the base, and extra robes and such for the station, and regular clothes for just whatever. Then you put them all in your car and vary between them."

"Sounds like too much work; laundry day would suck."

Karen nodded.

"It does, especially when you forget a bag. But usually the benefits outweigh the stinky risks."

"I'll think about it."

Of course to truly have such bags work for me I'd have to have multiples of everything; toothbrushes, shampoo, etcetera. A bit expensive but it might work. And of course Grex could do my laundry. Why? Because it's Grex. Right now any dirty job I could come up with was too good for him.

The drive seemed to fly by yet drag at the same time. I was getting that a lot lately. I wanted to believe that it was related to my new powers, but knew it wasn't.

"you're too quiet."

"Sorry Karen, nothing really to say."

"No worries. Well we're here, time to split up."

I'd almost forgotten that she had to report in too.

"OK then, your car this time. Not taking mine out into that desert den of thieves and cutthroats."

"Ha! sure. You know where I'm parked. You'll likely get done before me; just be patient ok?"

"Sure."

I wanted to make Grex pack for me; but I knew I couldn't really trust him to. knowing my luck my fatigues would end up the newest goth fashion. So I did the next best thing, as soon as I got my door open.

"Grex, make me some green tea; the correct way, none of the instant."

He bowed and smirked, the bastard.

"Of course mistress."

I took cleansing breaths as I packed. And of course I packed according to my list, so I wouldn't forget anything. then I double checked it; after all, I had time.

"Mistress, tea is ready."

"Put it in the thermos Grex. Any book you'd recommend I take?"

"I recommend you finish the Agrippa. It may help you."

"Yeah how so?" I threw the bag his way and picked up the offending piece of nonsense.

"Because it has good rituals for elemental protection, mainly. A good look at page 379 will show you a way to mitigate the lightning that Karen's lackey is always throwing around."

"Are there really that many demons that use lightning?"

His response was tol hold up a hand of flickering, arcs of blue. I sighed.

"Of course, everybody and their brother uses lightning. How could I be so dense?"

"Well mistress, it's not quite that bad. Far more use fire. but lightning can be very destructive. Most of us of the 9th circle know at least a little of that element."

"OK. Suppose I'll learn. Come on Grex, you get the bag."

I sipped tea while walking down, with Grex deferentially behind. Reaching the parking lot I leaned up against Karen's Hum-vee. And sipped, and waited. And sipped, and waited. What the hell did she have to pack anyway? It was a military base, and her bag was supposedly already in the back! I checked, there were two bags.

So I sipped a bit more, and waited. Grex was playing some sort of cat's cradle with strings of fire, and I watched idly. I probably should put a stop to it... but screw it. It was more entertaining than staring at the parking lot. I kind of expected it to garner more of an audience, but it didn't.

"Ok, ready to go? Oh...huh. Neat trick Grex."

"Thank you Karen. Your sense of timing leaves much to be desired, as usual."

Holy crap. She had two suitcases. Two! What the hell, was she moving in?

"Staying a month or something?"

"Nah, just the two days, or I'd be having you drive your own car. Just got some extra stuff I need to hand the general."

"So one is full of work? Does that mean you need to handcuff it to yourself?"

She unlocked the car and climbed in. I followed, belting up.

"Nah, that kind of thing went out of vogue in the 70's, when people starting just cutting the hands off."

Ouch.

"That would have to suck. Anyone you know?"

"Hah, no. Just read the old records when you get to the base, the Russians weren't always nice, even when they were our
allies."

I caught myself gaping and closed my mouth.

"You mean the Russians did that to us?"

"It happened a few times. I think they are more circumspect now, and a bit less bloodthirsty. Could have to do with their country suffering regular invasions now. That seems to clear up any anti-American shenanigans or cold war type bullshit right off."

I sipped a bit.

"Yeah I can see how having your country get owned by demons would make for a bit of mellowing towards your fellow humans. So how bad is Russia anyway? The newscasts are kind of sketchy."

"Always are anymore; we learned the value of generalities a good 20 years ago."

I assume she meant the army there.

"So?"

"Same as everywhere else really. Slowly losing ground. They haven't suffered a full invasion yet, France is taking most of the brunt there. But still, regular incursions of demons numbering in the hundreds enter the country each year, and we have a large presence there working with local troops in order to keep the territory from going up in flames. At least none of the major cities have fallen yet."

"That's an achievement."

She shook her head as we hit the road out of town.

"Yes and no. The cities don't fall because the russians just throw people at the demons until they go down; that is no way to win a war. That's not even a very good way to buy time. They even train prisoners and send them out; it's said that thievery and assault are death sentences for that very reason. Murderers are just driven to the frontier by truck and marched out with a blade. I've seen it. The demons wait for the soldiers to leave then jump the prisoners. The field is littered with thousands of runed daggers that the soldiers don't dare try to recollect."

OK, that was shudder worthy.

"I almost think I'd rather be posted in France."

"Can't really say which one is worse to be honest; they both have their good points. Russia is only subject to incursion, not demonic occupation. France is... well France is a hell of sorts. At least occupied France is."

Grex decided to add his two cents.

"I've been to france. It wasn't that bad. Now Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia... those places remind one of home."

"Thanks Grex, for that lovely commentary. Now please be silent for a bit unless my life is in danger, OK?"

He nodded, unperturbed. Karen shot me a glance in between watching the road.

"Still pissed huh?"

"Perhaps a bit. So, you were saying?"

"Yeah was just going to get to the countries Grex mentioned. Not a single person has made it to Germany in recent years, though some have tried; so we don't know what's going on there. Poland is pretty much gone; the land is diseased somehow and the people are dead. Czechoslovakia, Bosnia, a few other small countries between the old fronts of the war are then same way, but a little less far along. The rumor is that if the land goes to ruin for another 10 to 20 years, we won't ever be able to recover it - it'll be worse than the sahara or gobi for all intents and purposes."

"So where will I get sent when they decide to ship me out, do you think?"

"I think you know it's France for you. The language of love, hot guys, and fine wines all the way. Just my guess though, pretty sure that you won't get sent anywhere else. Knowing the french, they will ask for you by name as soon as they know you're active."

I tore myself from idle speculation about why the road with no lights along it was so bright to me while Karen was squinting.

"Why would they do that?"

"It's a family thing Snow, your mom and dad are well known there. But I wouldn't worry about it now, you likely won't have to do your tour for a year; the ADTF is already raving about you. It shouldn't take too long to entrench you here, provided you want that to happen."

"I don't really have an opinion; I go where I'm sent."

I caught Karen giving me another one of her sideways glances.

"Then you'll likely be staying here for at least six months. The general has you fast tracked; all the best instructers, latest knowledge, and best equipment. You'll be better than he is, if he has anything to say about it. That or you'll crack."

"I won't crack. I'll simply tell my on staff shrink to get the general to lighten up if it becomes a problem."

"Hah! I'll do my best to keep the heat down to a low simmer. Say... what are you drinking?"

"Green tea. I think Grex spiked it with lime though. Want some?"

"Sure."

An easy companionable silence settled over the car; just miles of hypnotizing road and no speech as we passed the thermos between us. By the time we reached the base it was empty. And of course, I didn't know about Karen, but I had to pee like a racehorse. I managed to make it to the base by telling myself if I went in the desert a snake would bite me. It would be silly
to survive all I had so far and die of snake bite.

Karen of course answered my question as she handed our credentials over to the gaurd.

"Hurry up damn it, I have to pee! Stupid tea."

The gaurd smirked and I could feel Grex's amusement just rolling off him in waves from the backseat. He probably planned it or spiked it somehow, the bastard. The guard made an exaggerated show of checking our photos and comparing them to us.

"Here you are ma'am."

Karen took the cards and shot past the guard; he jumped back just in time. Her reckless driving was impressive in a way; she took chances worse than a high school student in a mustang, yet didn't hit anything or anyone. The haphazard parking job was almost a work of art in and of itself, and right in front of the tower no less.

"Come on, come on!"

Karen was out the door and running.

"What about your bags?"

"I'll grab them later! Come on!"

I rolled my eyes,hiked up my robe, and followed.

"Grex, grab my bags and take them to the room I first summoned you in. I'll join you later."

"Yes mistress."

Karen was obviously a bit out of shape; I caught her easily. After a week of running with the ADTF, I was pretty much used to how this body worked. At least for running and shooting; I was pretty sure my hand to hand sucked. Or sucked again, as it were. After a smirk of my own, I passed her just long enough to enter first. She brushed past me and into the first stall as I
stopped. I won't just sit down on any public toilet.

"You know, that stall could be all gross."

"Don't care, got to pee!"

Odd, they were all clean. Like, very clean. Or maybe not so odd, this is a military post. I'm sure cleaning the bathrooms was a standard punishment for screw ups. I finished just slightly before Karen. She came out as I was washing up.

"Wow, I had more tea than you; what were you doing in there, swimming?"

"Ha Ha, you may have had more tea than I did, but I had more whiskey than you."

"You drank?"

Her eyes got shifty.

"Um... I might have. Not while driving, but I might have snuck a few earlier when you weren't looking. That and when you were driving."

Ugh.

"Whatever, just don't do it on the job OK? And if you're going to let me know, I'll drive."

"But I didn't do it while driving, I know my limits."

"I'm sure you do, but that is the same thing drunk drivers say all the time. I'ts a peeve of mine, I'd rather just drive than
worry about it."

She looked like she was a puppy and I'd just kicked her... really, it was a bit disconcerting. Then she ruined it.

"Alright, alright mom. Will do."

I punched her in the arm, and she led the way out laughing.

"Come on, let's go get checked in so we aren't considered AWOL."

"You think they'll tow your car? I do."

"Nah, they know it's mine, they will leave it where it is for at least an hour. THEN they'll tow it."

I sighed.

"You have kind of a lackluster reputation, don't you?"

"Maybe; but it doesn't matter. Come on!"

She dragged me along back to the middle of the tower, where the administrative section was. There were a dozen clerks, all with large desks - not a single one had a line. Karen walked up to the first one with me in tow, and slapped her card down with a bang. The bored looking man with circles under his eyes looked up briefly.

"Oh it's you, alright, the infamous Kare bear and... who are you?"

"Maeve Numens."

I showed my card.

"Right, Kare bear and miss Numens, reporting for duty. Have fun you guys."

He wrote a note on a sticky pad. I swear....

"Come on, all done. Let's go to the officers' club and see who else is here!"

And again I was dragged away.

"Wait, Karen our cards!"

"Don't worry, don't worry. We can get them later. Let's go see who's here!"

"No need to drag me, I can walk. Sheesh."

"Yes but dragging you ensures you don't walk away. Come on!"

Damn, she knows me well. She didn't let go of my arm until we were actually going inside; I'd never been here before. The place was on the south side, the very right of the tower itself, and had it's own door for those that didn't want to walk through the tower proper.

This was a segregated place; the regular military also had an officers' club on base, but the higher ups wanted to avoid... complications that could be caused if we mingled. And fights. Summoners versus non summoner fights were very rare,but not unheard of. Usually the end results of sucha fight was a death, and training someone to have them die in a barfight was expensive and wasteful.

The place seemed like a typical dingy bar; plenty of smoke in the air, music from the old beaten up jukebox in the corner, and a double line of pool tables. It was nearly packed of course, and that was where all similarities ended. The smoke was redolent of sulfur; speaking to the sudden comings and goings of demons within it's confines. The music was oddly enough, classical; Vivaldi if I wasn't mistaken. And absolutely everyone here was in a robe.

I spotted a few familiar faces among the throng; Justin Bell was playing pool with a woman I didn't recognize. She had a few years on him and I tentatively pegged her as an instructor here... she just didn't look tough enough to be a soldier. At a table near the jukebox and in a position to watch both doors my C.O. Terrence Jones was playing cards. I also recognized
Robert Hood, Sal Lockland, Missy Berret, and Han Chi at the table - they were all from my summoner class and were housed some doors down from myself a week ago.

So they were potentially my squad mates. Terrence being there made it almost a given; he wasn't known for being extroverted. Karen grabbed my hand again and dragged me over. She then drew me up in front of Terrence, who had caught on and was watching us with bemusement. I rolled my eyes and he stifled a laugh. I knew what Karen wanted.

"Maeve Numens reporting for duty, sir."

I snapped as smart and precise a salute as I could. He returned a lazier one.

"At ease Leutinant Snow, please pull up a chair. Now you're all in trouble, our class star is here; try to get perfect scores
now."

I felt my eyebrows lifting at this grandiose anouncement.

"Whatever Leutinant Clay, think I'll just sit over here."

I took a seat opposite him, well away from shenanigan distance, and next to Missy.

"Karen, since you dragged me here, get me a drink? Something cold, wet and beer like?"

"Sure, be right back."

At least on base, the deal was that if you were old enough to summon demons from hell and kill in the name of the United States of America, then you were old enough to drink, period. Hmm, they were playing poker and it looked like Robert was winning. Clay spoke up.

"Since you haven't been formally introduced, I'll go ahead and do it. From the left we have Robert 'Sneaky' hood, Sal 'Grit' Lockland, Missy 'Queenie' Berret, Han 'Hancho' Chi; Everyone, that there is Snow white."

We all said hello to each other in a muted sort of sound cluster that no one really paid attention to.

"So who is sitting out?" I asked.

Clay responded with a grin.

"Hancho there, we cleaned him out earlier. You're welcome to wait and play when one of us bows out, usually we do a poker game or two every friday night."

"I'll just watch for now, you lot scare me."

Clay got the joke, judging by his smirk; the others looked lost.

"Alright Grit, deal... It's your turn, and the night isn't getting any younger."

(tbc)

Five am. 0500 in military speak. Also known in military speak as revielle. We had five minutes from the obnoxious sound of the horn to get dressed and outside on the parade ground.

Of course it took two minutes at a dead run just to make it out of the tower.

I had a bit of a secret weapon. Well two of them really. I was always an early riser, and Grex. A simple order to Grex last night, and he was popping into existence in the bunk beside me with a whispered:

"Time to wake up, my mistress."

Right at 4:45, in plenty of time for me to get dressed quietly and without hurry. So when the horn went off and everyone else was scrambling, I was already halfway down the hall. Grex was once again in his home dimension; it wouldn't do to anger the officers - yet.

I stood at our squads spot on the grounds, and the line formed next to me; straight, disciplined, and right on time. In desert fatigues with full packs... and of course our robes. I was in my best attention stance because of one thing.

The grizzled looking major that was staring directly at me, and that had beaten me here. His head swiveled back and forth and he puffed smoke from a noxious cigar like a chimney. He waited until the squad had fallen in line before he spoke, deceptively soft.

"So how did our squad princess beat a bunch of my week hard trained scrubs?"

Then the yelling started.

"HOW DID OUR PAMPERED PRINCESS HERE BEAT ALL OF YOU OUT HERE?!? AM I RAISING A DAY CARE?!? DID I INTERRUPT NAPPY TIME?!?"

It rapidly went downhill from there.

"PRINCESS COME HERE! THE REST OF YOU DROP AND GIVE ME 50!"

I was at his side before Clay had finished dropping; dad didn't raise a fool. An idle thought... Clay was very fast at dropping to the ground for push ups. Pretty surprising for a large man.

"So...Snow is it?"

I sighed but nodded. He was back to being quiet, something I wanted to encourage.

"How did you beat them out here? I know it wasn't by any alarm clock; I routinely confiscate them all."

Wow, that's pretty sadistic. Hmm, better be very careful here.

"Sir, my summon sir! I left an order with him to wake me before revielle sir!"

He gave me a gimlet stare.

"WELL OUTFUCKINGSTANDING! That's cheating leutinant, I approve! If you have the advantage, use it! One problem there though... you are not to summon your demon here unless your life is in danger or you are ordered by a superior. Was that the case last night?"

"Sir, yes sir, I was ordered by my superior officer to summon my demon last night sir!"

"And will your superior confirm this?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Where is your blade leutinant?"

Oh, crap, my summoning blade, Karen never gave it to me! I completely forgot, and I bet she did too.

"Sir, I summon without it sir."

"Really? Well if we don't just have a God damned prodigy on our hands! Well, there is only one thing left to do then."

He got louder again.

"TIME FOR THAT MORNING RUN SCRUBS! I WANT YOU ALL RUNNING TILL I GET TIRED! NOW NOW NOW, MOVE IT MOVE IT MOVE IT!"

I moved it, falling in right behind everyone else.

Miles and hours later, the sun had rose and hell had truly begun. I was still going; oddly enough everyone else was doing all right too. Well mostly. I guess having an extra 5 days with a major who had the soul of a drill sargeant running you into the ground paid off.

Perhaps he thought the ADTF didn't have one? That they were soft?

But then again, maybe it was due to the desert; running around in this dry heat without the robes' wards active, with what felt like a hundred pounds on your back would tire anyone... I think. I wasn't the first to start fading, but I was among them. And that of course was what the good major was waiting for.

"COME ON PRINCESS, MOVE IT! DID YOU BREAK A NAIL? IS THAT WHY YOU'RE SO SLOW?!?"

After the first tirade I tuned him out and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. The major, whose name I had not gotten but whom I began to think of as major pain, ordered a stop at 15 miles.

"Weaklings, every year seems worst than the last. Well, drink up, rest up, cause it's a long hike back. If you get bitten by a snake don't expect to be carried! You better be able to crawl your ass back to base in time with the rest of us!"

The meaning was clear; check for snakes.

It wasn't 15 minutes later till we were moving again; this time a march at a walk, back to the base. Back through the oppressive heat, without a single snake. I was not alone in dropping once we made it back to the grounds, just before dusk. The major wasn't amused, but let us rest - at least for five minutes.

"Alright, now up my lovely weaklings! Time for hand to hand drills!"

He couldn't be serious.

"THAT MEANS YOU PRINCESS! UP UP UP! FALL IN, YOU'RE FIRST!"

Damn, he WAS serious. I raised myself to my feet carefully, shucking the pack that seemed to weigh more than I did helped. I shuffled into the dimly painted circle I hadn't realized was there before. the major was inside it, and no one else had been called. He smirked. So it was to be him, of course. I took my stance, the one showed me by my father.

Not five seconds later I was eating dirt. I did at least get one good shot in, I was certain. A stiff knuckle blow in between the third and fourth ribs on the left side. I wanted his solar plexus, but had to take what I could get. I stared up at the major, whose face betrayed a small measure of interest.

"So, a little training huh? Take Karate as a child? Get a few months of lessons before you got bored?"

"No sir. I learned from my father. Special forces."

The rise to my feet was a painful one; he had kicked out my left leg just before he nailed me in the jaw. I took stance again, resolving to pay more attention. Not five seconds later I was once again tasting dirt, as well as blood. I'd gotten a good flying knee in at least, looking up I could see his split lip bleeding.

"Krav maga huh? Not bad, but only really good if the opponent doesn't know what's coming. Out of the circle. Clay, GET IN HERE!"

The secret message was of course this: you had to be able to march all day and fight at the end of it, and I, your instructor, can. So respect me, and respect the people who wear the uniform. A message I recieved loud and clear. I hope I could make him understand that I understood, otherwise he might do all this again. Heck I don't even think he needed to in the
first place, I'm not the type to offer false courtesy.

Maybe he didn't know that? Or maybe he didn't care. Or maybe the message wasn't really meant for me. Ugh, I could drive myself crazy thinking about this.

Apparently hand to hand was everyone getting a shot at the major. After he dominated us all (some, like me, two or three times) we all had to fall in and he dismissed us. Clay immediately broke ranks my way.

"Sorry sir, don't know what I did...."

Save it Snow, it's Clay. And that's what I walked over here for; it's not your fault at all, the Major is just an asshole. He has to be, he only has us for three months. He just worked us a bit harder today cause he has you for less, and wanted to take your measure."

"Well he has done that."

"You didn't disappoint; you kept up."

"I wouldn't have if not for my exhaustive ADTF training... as well as all the running I did before the ritual. But just a week and I'm not really suitable for the desert anymore. Just two hours away the heat is far less oppressive."

"I know, I'm jealous. So how is working with the cops?"

"It's different. Did you know there is a definate demon presence in the continent? It's not just demons being summoned by disgruntled jerks. Somehow they are crossing the oceans."

His thoughtful expression made him look mildly constipated.

"Hmm, that is not common knowledge."

"Not exactly a secret either, just not yelled around by the powers that be. Those same powers want me to work on how they are doing it, so we can plug the hole or holes."

"Good, someone has to keep the home front safe."

Just like that. No recrimination, no anger. Just acceptance that I was doing something important here, while he would be sent to the front and most likely die.

Kind of a load off my shoulders, really.

"Come on, you look like you need to sleep a week."

"I probably do. Between here and the police training, I don't get much. Or maybe it just feels that way."

"Probably a little of both."

"We're done for the day though, right?"

He nodded.

"Right. But I know what you're thinking. you're thinking about sleeping early. It's a bad idea; you'll wake up early, then be tired all day tomorrow."

I thought about it.

"Probably. What do you suggest?"

"Cards."

Of course, He wanted my money.

"I don't know, maybe I'll just watch."

"Bah, where is the fun in that?"

"In me keeping my money of course."

"Pfft, we play for quarters, you can't possibly lose that much."

"We shall see."

We limped into the hole of ill repute I'd been led to last night, and to the same table. I plopped myself down in a chair.

"Want something to drink?"

I gave him the hairy eyeball.

"Lots and lots of water, sir."

I knew I should be the one grabbing his drink, but was too tired to care. He wanted to get ours, I wouldn't stop him.

"Well well well, the soft albino can march after all! Good to know."

I opened a bleary eye and took in the near immaculate form of Missy 'queenie' Berret, setting herself demurely into a chair.

"All lies and viscious slander. I'm too tired to defend myself from rabid mice."

"Good thing there are no mice in the tower then."

A voice right behind me, and I didn't care. Sal 'Grit' Lockland appeared over my shoulder and added:

"Sheesh, you've looked better. Weren't you the one that used to run in the desert with the grunts?"

"Don't remind me. No idea what I was thinking."

"I know what you were thinking, it was a good thought."

Yeah, get in shape with the grunts, have an easier time when it came my turn. Too bad Grex ruined my plan there. I had almost no endurance at all anymore. Clay came back, with blessed water in hand. I almost didn't mind when he made a large production out of handing me the glass.

"There you go my lady. Hey Grit, deal us in."

"We're missing one."

"doesn't matter, someone will show and take the hand. Deal it up."

He answered with a snappy, exaggerated salute.

"Yes sir, bossman."

He dealt, showing that he'd done this sort of thing before. He caught me looking.

"Dealt as a pro in vegas for awhile."

I nodded and Clay chimed in.

"Yep, that's some good bottom dealing. So good we can't catch him at it."

"Speak for yourself."

Robert 'Sneaky' Hood stated firmly, pouring himself into the last chair. I gave an inward sigh of relief as I drained my glass;
at least I wouldn't have to play. I had no head for poker.

"Going to get another; anyone want anything?"

I listened to the chorus of no's. If you're going to plan a drink run, and you're lazy, do it as everyone else is showing up. They usually have fresh drinks then and will remember you offered. Makes you 'the nice person'. Then of course they will offer later, as it is their turn.

Sometimes the best evil master plans are small ones.

I weaved my tired way through the dance floor, rightly empty due to the strains of Chopin currently playing. The US summoner forces, such as they were, did not know the minuet or the waltz. The bar tender was a crusty old bald guy going to fat. He waddled up.

"What can I get ya, greenie?"

I didn't object to the term; I was green after all. Oh my, there on the board of drink specials was something I had a weakness for.

"A Cider please, not hard."

"Gotcha, comin' right up!"

He took down an honest to gosh pewter tankard and held it under the bar, handing it to me with a care that belied his demeanor. I put it under my nose and took a whiff. Genuine fresh apple cider. How? Why? I decided details didn't matter and paid the man. Of course when I got back, the smile I could feel leading the way, my seat next to Queenie was taken. And of course it was
taken by Justin. Or stumpy. Not to be deterred, I grabbed another loose chair and sat next to Clay, who stared at my tankard with raw curiousity.

"Ale?"

I shook my head.

"Cider. Just plain, if fresh apple cider."

His interest gave way to boredom fairly fast.

"Wow, living dangerously there Snow."

"I know, I'm going to join a biker gang next, and tour the country."

Justin was whispering words to Queenie; sweet nothings perhaps. she did not seem amused.

"Ha, you'd make a good 'old lady'."

Queenie hissed something justin's way. No one else seemed to notice, so I didn't either.

"Not likely. So who's winning?"

There were a few more quarters in front of Clay than anyone else.

"I won the first hand, just that fast. I think Grit is slipping."

I sneaked a peek. He had 2 pair, aces and tens. Not a terrible hand, I suppose. It was in fact a winning hand. He raked in his quarters while I sipped, beginning to feel a bit better. Not quite as wet noodle-y.

Clay also won the next four hands in a row too, with 4 of a kind, a flush, another pair, and he bluffed successfully with a pizmo straight (a proverbial hand so bad it couldn't make a foot). Grit took notice.

"Damn Clay, you never win this much, and to bluff me? Can I borrow her?"

Huh? He saw my look and clarified.

"I'm saying you're good luck Snow. Come sit by me for a bit, and we can prove it."

Shrugging I made to get up when clay grabbed my arm with a wide grin.

"She stays right here. She knows who holds the power of latrine duty."

I wisely sat back down.

"Sorry Grit, you'll have to suffer through it. Maybe it's just Clay's night?"

He shook his head.

"Maybe, but I don't think so. Fine, Clay your deal."

By the time I finished my first cider, Clay had won several more hands. Any hand he didn't have the cards for, he bluffed with the best of them. Anytime they got annoyed enough to call the bluff, he'd have the cards. It was easily the most conspicuos luck I'd ever seen. Queenie was getting the worst of it, I think good old stumpy was distracting her. Everyone else was also running low or out, and Sneaky was moving as if to stand. That of course was my cue.

"Going again, what can I get everyone?"

It didn't take too long for me to feel like a waitress must. Half these people would be alchoholic before they left the base. Not that most summoners might not be already. Hmm, I'd have to look into that. Drug and alchohol abuse among summoners. I took the tankard back and carted the drinks, luckily enough mainly beers of various makers. I passed them out, and noticed Clay frowning.

"Alright guys, I've been up long enough. Going to go crawl in a corner and die for a few hours now. See you all at 5."

"Hey wait, you can't go yet! I was winning!"

I sighed.

"Clay, surely you don't believe all that luck bunk?"

Grit chimed in oh so helpfully.

"When you were getting drinks he lost. Badly."

"Sounds like the streak is over then. Good night all."

I left, casually avoiding the hurt puppy dog eyes Clay was hitting me with. I was proud, I only weaved like a drunken sailor once on the way back to my room. A glint hanging off the doorknob caught my eye, and I slowed down. Perhaps I was too cautious, but I'd heard all the stories.

It was a knife, hanging off my doorknob from a string of all things. It looked familiar... then I recognized it. I bought it here last week, a top of the line survival knife. Large, sawbacked, with folded damascus steel. I had been afraid to look at the price tag at the time, but had forgotten all about it when it hadn't turned up during my packing efforts. Now runes chased themselves all along its length, ending with the name Grex on the left side... and on the right was another name. My own.

Most unusual for a ritual dagger, in choice and make. I read the note, almost hearing Karen's all too chipper voice spouting the words at high volume.

"Bet you thought we had forgotten, right? Nope, most summoners get them in their first week. We decided you could wait cause you didn't need it. I thought you'd like the idea of one that had more than the standard uses. Enjoy, Karen."

I checked it, all the survival equipment (the matches, fishing line, and other misc crap) was all there. Good deal. Opening the door I kicked it shut, dragging myself to the bed was a real chore but I managed. Then I collapsed.

************************************************************************
Somehow that damned alarm had made itself here.

"Grex! Grex, what the hell!?!"

"It was the easiest way to wake you up. Good morning mistress, you're looking well."

"OK, great, I'm up, send the damn thing home already."

Silence returned, and I grabbed the steaming mug Grex handed me with a distinct lack of grace or enthusiasm. Then I remembered.

"Oh, crap! what time is it?!?"

"4:45AM, as you requested of course. Well, 4:46 now."

"Ugh, I didn't even shower! I'm going to be so late!"

"My suggestion is to shower quickly mistress."

My summon, so very helpful. I suited action to his words though, and in record time (seven minutes) I was washed and dressed.

"Grex, dry my hair."

He got a gleam in hie eye.

"Gently! Gently Grex."

The look died, replaced by a grudging respect.

"Yes mistress."

A dry but gentle heat wafted over me, and when it was done my hair was no longer dripping. With a gentle tug, it further resolved itself into a long braid.

"Thank you Grex, you can.... "

He had my new knife in his hands.

"A beautiful blade, if a little plain. Very servicable. I had almost thought they had forgotten you."

"Go home Grex."

"Yes mistress."

The knife somehow strapped itself onto my belt as he vanished into motes of darkness. Huh, he knows some handy stuff. But I didn't have time to ponder it. I heard the door slam behind me as I raced down the hall, oddly enough, in the middle of a pack this time. We all made a line about the same time, though I still took the far left. The major was waiting, of course.

"Well well well, not first this time, are we princess?"

I chose to think of it as a serious question; the major didn't look like he had a rhetorical bone in his body.

"Sir, no sir!"

"Well alright weaklings, we do something a bit different today. Summon your demons."

Daggers flashed, chants were made, almost drowning out my latin even to my ears.

"Grex, veni huc!"

I blinked and he was in line next to me, wearing desert fatigues and a full military pack. Satan only knows where he got all that. I could feel the major's piggy eyes narrowing in the darkness.

"Well well well, got ourselves a soldier! Kind of makes the rest of you lot look even more weak. Alright you lot, let's go, run time!"

At least the squads bleeding stopped quickly enough, the wounds sealing before they did more than stain. We ran, our demons beside us. The only conclusion I could reach was that this was supposed to tire us out faster somehow. Five miles in and looking around, it seemed to be working.

At least on everyone else.

I knew I was a bit different, even for a summoner. Everyone kept telling me from the time I first summoned Grex how hard it was to maintain a summons in the field for long periods; even the strongest summoners couldn't keep their demons with them all the time. However watching my squad, whom as a group yesterday was outpacing me with relative ease, wilt now like a hand
picked batch of daisies in the desert heat really brought that fact home.

Grex kept pace easily, but all around me were signs of heavy fatigue; sunken eyes, labored breathing, hunched shoulders, terse words. This was definately supposed to be endurance training of a sort. Grex's eyes met mine, an eyebrow raised in the way he knew kind of pissed me off. I shrugged. The run continued.

We continued until, after a bit more than an hour in Hancho dropped. just dropped, right in our dubious trail, and no amount of high volume screaming by our friendly major could get him up.

"ALRIGHT THEN WEAKLING, DISMISS YOUR DEMON! The rest of you take 5!"

Grex walked nonchalantly through the ranks, speaking randomly to whoever would listen.

"I say, good run. Anyone want some water? Water? Anyone?"

He held up his canteen. there were no takers. The major was still trying to get a rather shriveled looking Hancho up, and Grex squatted beside them, handing Hancho the canteen, with a manner suddenly much more serious.

"drink, flesh bag."

I decided I'd better step in.

"What's in the canteen Grex?"

"Water, my mistress."

"May I have some?"

He handed the refreshment over without any hesitation, eyes guileless.

"Of course my mistress."

I drank, the cold liquid cascading down my throat like a blessed tide. Much to my chagrin I was unable to stifle the noise of contentment made. I handed the canteen to Hancho.

"It'll help, it's just water. He isn't able to lie to me, and he can't allow me to come to harm, so it's safe. Suspiciously cold and tasty, but safe."

As Hancho was drank, bewilderment on his face, I turned back to Grex.

"Your good deed of the day?"

He scoffed.

"Hardly, do you have any idea what this sun is doing to you? I simply don't desire to cart you back to your quaint quarters after you suffer heatstroke. Or anyone else for that matter; humans are so fragile."

Hah. He knew me too well.

A few minutes later, Hancho looked well enough to run again. dismissing his demon had obviously helped. The good major screamed some more, and we all turned around and started back. I was getting worryingly used to tuning out the good major already.

The others still looked like something a wild dog had found and chewed on.

Our run cut short, the sun wasn't even at it's zenith before we got back. The gate gaurds gave us sympathetic looks after the major passed. Stumpy (heh heh heh) dropped as soon as we hit the practice yard, leaving his succubus summon standing over him with her disgust plainly evident.

"Leautinant Bell, dismiss your demon!"

He complied with some choice words that niether I nor the major could truly hear, then struggled up.

"No Leautinant Bell, you and Hancho sit over there. Right at the edge there. The rest of you, hand to hand time! Princess and the queen right here, boxer and the cowboy here...."

I tuned him out again, moving where indicated to face Queenie. Grex looked on with interest, Queenie's demon (a runty looking Baal Rog) seemed not to care; instead he only had eyes for Grex. Interesting. Queenie was a bit smaller than I was, with mud hair framing a face that might be classified as 'handsome' but I'd hesitate to call beautiful, and a rather compact body with plain curves. the only reason she stood out in a crowd was her regal, haughty air.

"So, got much experience at this?"

She looked the brawler type.

"A little; you?"

"Just my dad's training. Let's try not to maim each other?"

"Sure - other than that no promises though.

That grin of hers did not bode well for me.

(tbc)

That damned alarm again; this time I took no chances, zapping it with a lightning bolt. It left a scorch mark on my nightstand, but that was a small price to pay. Yesterday after hours of hand to hand instruction and spars with our demons still out, we worked on power theory; that is, the little powers our demonic contracts granted us. some were small but useful boons like Sneaky's ability to sense movement, which made hiding from him difficult.

Some were closer to me; mystical powerhouses usually with a theme. But we all had one thing in common. The major worked us all till we dropped from complete exhaustion, one by one. Being the last to fall hadn't seemed to help his disposition towards me any. And then of course, I had to work the next day. So I would normally have to drive home after all this. Karen got me somewhat mobile and drove me home.

I'd never bad mouth her driving practices again. Well... much.

Grex had of course, hovered. the major wanted me to dismiss him. I had to tell the good major that simple physical exhaustion was the culprit of my collapse, not the spiritual maliase the others suffered from. That with a little rest from his grueling regimen I'd be fine. Karen forced me to. Then she bailed herself out of the hole by explaining I needed to leave in order to make sure I'd be on time for my duties tomorrow.

The major made her promise that next week he'd have till 6pm to work with me on sunday, since I didn't drop for the same reasons the others did. All in all I think I got screwed pretty badly in that exchange. Not that I ever really expected to win. At least I got some good shots on my fellow squadmates yesterday, to try and even out the beating they gave me.

The insidious smell of fresh coffee tickled my nostrils; was that chocolate mocha? No, I must resist the evils of wakefullness! I shall sleep the week, that will show them! The entire week in my comfy bed!

"Mistress, not that I mind sharing your bed, but shouldn't you be getting ready for work?"

And just like that I was across the room, the entire moment ruined. Grex was in fact, laying down on top of the blankets on the other side of the bed. He likely had been the entire night. My memory when half asleep is something I really need to work on.

"Fine, go make breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, and the sausage I bought last week, with no ingrediants I might classify as strange."

I watched him work his way through that, searching for a loophole. I could feel the wheels turning in his head.

"Of course my mistress. You're getting better."

"I've always learned quickly."

Since staying in bed was out, I took my time in the shower, letting the hot water ease sore and battered muscles. Soon enough even that comfort was cut short with a polite knock on the door.

"Mistress, Karen has arrived."

"Then make her some too, if she hasn't eaten. Get my coffee ready, I'll be right out."

Probably twenty minutes later I'd suited action to words; I had more desert to wash off than I'd thought. I'd likely have to replace the sheets.

"It's cold now."

"It's fine Grex, I don't mind it cold."

He sat next to the fridge, a coffee cup in hand. He hadn't asked, but I didn't care much. Karen sat beside him, an empty plate in front of her, nursing her own coffee. She was also staring at my plate with puppy dog eyes. I sat down and started in, cautiously at first.

"Wow, not bad. Tolerable even."

"Thank you."

"So Grex, where did you learn to cook like this?"

"The internet of course, your mother never let me prepare food for her. I must say the network is a wonderful creation; all the knowledge of the monkeys at one's fingertips."

I nodded.

"Well my mother never had the safegaurds over your conduct that I do."

"True. Still next time, you should let me use the more esoteric ingrediants found in those recipes. I'm afraid the pancakes could be considered bland."

I nodded again, conceding the point.

"Make a list of ingrediants you'd like to use and we will see. I'm just trying to stop you from using yak liver or powdered human hearts or whatever."

He bowed.

"Of course my mistress, I will obey. To be truthful this morning I would have used oregano and pecans."

"That sounds... odd."

Karen pointed to her watch.

"Right, got to go. You're dismissed Grex."

"I exist to obey."

He vanished in a heat haze shimmer. Of course there was no heat.

Karen led the way out.

"Come on, let's go! We'll be late!"

"Like you care."

She stopped.

"True, but I know you do, so come on!"

I hurried after her.

"Shows what you know, I was all ready to sleep the week a few hours ago."

"Good thing you left orders for Grex to get you up on time then."

"Meh. At least the cops wouldn't declare me AWOL. They might send a team to pick me up, but they wouldn't shoot first and ask questions about why I was sleeping later."

"True enough. Then again they might break in and take embarassing photographs, like last time."

"Wait, last time? What last time?"

"Never you mind, before your time. just get in the car."

Hmm, a possibility of embarassing photos of Karen? Count me in.

"Got yourself a book?"

My hands were of course, empty.

"Of course I don't; why?"

"Well after the first week with the ADTF, it's a week of learning by doing; you're on call today. Which could mean a lot of sitting behind your desk reading; here we don't get many calls. The idea is to learn in true apprentice fashion from your seniors on the force; the reality is more boring. But from here on out the war games are a scheduled thing, usually the end of the month."

I sat back, words could not convey the depth of my relief, but I blurted some anyway.

"Oh thank God."

Karen smirked at me.

"Don't worry, if you want I can always ask the Captain to do more; he gets bored easily and is always looking for an excuse to play."

"Don't you dare! I'll get all I can handle next weekend."

"Well that's true, you do have one of the toughest majors we have training you."

"I understood the point of the training, all endurance and knowing your limits, but sheesh it hurt. I'm used to hurting, but no lie and I'm not ashamed in the least to say it, that was the worst I have ever had it. Having to run forever then having someone kick your butt at the end of it is pretty diabolical."

She gave me a pointed look, something unreadable hidden in her eyes.

"Silly suburbanite; it can always get worse."

I spluttered; she actually thought I was soft or something! Maybe her own childhood was worse than mine, but offhand I doubted it. Sure my family took good care of me, in it's own distant crazy way, but I was hardly coddled. But rather than make matters worse I quieted; the rest of the ride was spent in silence. We got out with plenty of time, and seperated.

"Thanks for the ride."

Karen did not reply. Well fine, she can be insulted. People everywhere have it rough, and have had it rough since forever. I snagged some coffee and a donut (no one told me I couldn't) from the desk sargeant's desk and rode the elevator up. I ceased muttering uncomplementary things when I noticed I wasn't alone. Conners was in a corner, eyeing me askance. She noticed my attention. She smirked.

"Rough weekend?"

"Yeah, sorry, I'm not crazy. Well, crazier."

"Good to know, but you're a Numens, your family doesn't break. Well, much."

Skepticism was the watch word here.

"Oh? Is my family famous or something?"

I registered total disbelief in her.

"You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?"

She gave a little chuckle.

"You should ask your family, it's amazing they haven't told you. I don't know the details, but apparently the Numens family is one of the major summoner families recognized by the U.S. Almost a form of royalty, or as close as we get. Friends in high places, that's your family. Might be why you're here, instead of at the base preparing to get shipped out."

"Well, I won't deny that. The General told me himself he feels... responsible for a part of my condition."

"Oh? Which part, the summoner part? Cause I'm pretty sure even he can't pull those types of strings."

I felt my face heat.

"No no no, I'm not implying that he would break the law! Just, the demon I got stuck with. It's a family one, apparently. The same one my mom summoned."

Yeah, that sounded believable.

"Not trustworthy?"

Oops. Hmm, how to answer this one.

"No less so than any other, just very powerful, and very pricey."

The light dawned across her face. Most summoners were... hesitant on talking about their price to non-summoners. Hesitant to the point of cutting out their own tongues before doing so. My own situation was a pretty good example of why. Such things were need to know, among the corps itself. Sure, some people in the ADTF undoubtedly knew, but I wasn't in a hurry to blab to anyone who didn't.

"Look it's fine, you didn't offend me or anything; it's just a touchy subject."

"Sure, my bad. So, did you bring a book?"

"No, but I can borrow one if I need to, I think."

"Better hope so, books are at a premium up here some days."

I decided to strike first.

"So what kind of books do you read?"

She shook her head with a grin.

"The kind you don't. Sorry, don't have a spare today."

Drat. She ran off with a little wave as I destroyed my donut in an orgy of powder and crumbs. It's ok, I wouldn't get bored. I'm sure there was much I could do. The coffee was terrible, but I drained it in between the elevator and my new desk. With any luck the coffee on this floor wouldn't suck. The captain waved me over as he saw me, and I altered course.

"Before you do anything else, 3 laps around the block."

Sigh. I started back down.

"And keep the robe on!"

I waved to show I heard. Oh well, at least it's not full blown war games. I breezed airily through the station, not deigning to notice the stares or in some isolated cases, the muted laughter. Call me captain oblivious. I took my time with the run, enjoying
the air; This day was numbered as one of the last of the pure fall days. leaves drifting gently down on stray currents, seeming to be ablaze in the sun, a smell of slumbering greenery in the air. People crossing the sidewalk to avoid me in droves.

It didn't take as long as I thought it would. The most trouble I had was fighting the urge to pull out a scythe somehow, so I could act the part of death running down the street. Somehow I did not think that'd look good in my file. Perhaps summoning had done something to my mind after all? Or perhaps I shouldn't say such things, to myself most of all. Questioning every decision could only lead to tragedy... or public nudity. Something like that.

Of course by the time I got back I didn't care about anything but breathing the sweet air; I wasn't tired exactly, but even for a runner a mile caused one to blow for a bit. I walked back into the gloom ridden building, acting the part of the unconcerned badass. I'm probably not fooling anyone though.

I strode up the stairs and to my desk, noticing that for the first time, another summoner was a desk away, sharing my shift. Or was I sharing theirs? This one had their hood up, even here. Of course that could only mean one thing.

"Morning."

A male voice answered me, as I expected.

"Good morning."

Then he turned to a book. What looked to be one of those cookie cutter murder mystery books. Wow, one would think he'd gotten his fill of such things. I turned to my own book, 'Police procedures, a field manual.' I'd barely read past the first page - proper handcuffing procedure - when I was interrupted.

"Yo, rookie. The boss wants to see you."

I looked up and into Karen's smiling face. Apparently she didn't hold a grudge. she turned to the guy next to me.

"Clarence, can you handle all this traffic by yourself for a bit?"

The newly dubbed Clarence made a show of looking left, then right, through the squad room at the bored looking cops and silent phones.

"I think I'll manage."

"Alright, come on Snow. Time to go see the boss."

The boss, it turned out, was in the building. Sitting in a plush chair next to the chief of police. No pressure, right? He was middle aged and balding, not very well built (an oddity among summoners) and had watery blue eyes. As in, constantly tearing up... Maybe a price thing?

"So you're the new blood."

"Good morning Sir."

"Sit down, sit down."

I sat.

"So how are you adjusting?"

I waited a heatbeat, but nothing more was added. Right to the point, this guy was.

"I think I'm adjusting well sir; it's hard to say with so few examples of stable summoners and police around me."

He blinked, water dripping on his ledger, then laughed a bit shrilly. the poor chief looked like he was eating lemons when I wasn't looking.

"Ha that's true enough. How do you define normal, and all that."

Well he wasn't making a good case for us, that was for sure. he put some glasses on, which made him look as if he was looking at me from the other side of an aquarium. Then he stared at me, saying nothing. For several minutes. It was hard to tell, but I was certain there was more to his look then casual insanity.

"Well I'm glad we had this talk. You may go back to your duties now, Karen will see you out."

...OK. whatever just happened I was sure I missed most of it. Of course they already knew all about me from reading my file; what you see is what you get with me. But the entire point of that visit was for him to stare at me with those glasses on. My hand on her arm stopped Karen from going back inside.

"Karen, does he stare at all new summoners with those glasses?"

She nodded, not looking at all surprised.

"Yes, they help him see things about people. Most interviews go just like that one, except about half don't pick up on the real reason he does them. Those people just think he's crazy. I got to go back inside, they are expecting me."

But no one who reaches that rank is just mindlessly crazy. I was beginning to catch on; or at least I hoped I was. My desk was right where I left it, but that summoner I didn't know was gone. I took a better look around and noticed half the team I trained with was missing. Judge was in earshot though, and doing nothing.

"What's up Judge, where is everybody?"

He looked up from his book, a western, and smirked.

"What's the matter Snow? Miss us all when we're gone?"

hmm, loaded question that. Best to sit the fence.

"Maybe, but truth told I was wondering what happened to the summoner that was sitting here; I wanted to talk to him. To soak up his wisdom so to speak."

"Ahh, you mean Turner. well they went out to patrol. See normally one team patrols around while the other sits around trying to look busy. That way if we get a call, a team is already mobilized to take it."

I knew that. I did!

"Ahh, so you mean they drive around trying to look busy instead of sitting here trying to look busy."

That coaxed a laugh from him. It was a course, gritty, but infectious sound.

"Yeah pretty much."

"So we do...." I invited him to finish for me; he wasted no time.

"Whatever we can do to keep occupied until we're called to back up SWAT or stop a demon."

"Got it; back to police procedures then."

He rolled his eyes.

"Good luck with that; that book is a text that redefined 'dry reading'."

It didn't take long. By the time I got to the many different kinds of robbery (and numbers for each) I was ready to scream, throw the book, and break something. Seriously, just call it robbery or armed robbery! The procedures are the same for whether you see a weapon or not! You draw your own gun to be safe and clear the house/area! Good grief!

Double good grief, the book has me Charlie Browning in my head! I threw it. It sailed quite well over the assorted desks and cubicles to the other side of the squad room where it rebounded off the wall.

"Told ya."

"Yes you did, thank you Judge."

Ugh, I still needed to get through it, but maybe in small doses. I decided I needed to move a little... while avoiding the captain of course. Moving didn't mean I wanted to run or do push ups for an hour. Then I spotted Cords. He was heading back into the communications room with a vending machine iced coffee. Then he pulled the privacy blinds closed. Then the lights went out. Hmmm....

I walked over and carefully tried the knob; it turned fully and with ease, to my relief without a single sound. Cords had his back to me, watching something on one of three computer screens. The first screen had some statistics open, the second appeared to have a monitoring program plugged into 911 or something, and the third had... cars? What the hell?

I smelled blood.

Reaching out carefully and watching him, I snagged his iced coffee; it was unopened. The screen where three british guys were racing cars against planes somehow held his full attention. Waiting for just the right moment, I popped the top of the can and took a drink.

He went from 0 to full blind stumbling panic, then back down to 'omg I wasn't caught, I'm still employed.' in about 2.5 seconds. The iced coffee was pretty good.

"So, does the captain know you do this?"

He nodded; as calm as he was now, it seemed the truth.

"Um, was that my iced coffee?"

"Why yes, it was your iced coffee."

I took another drink as he winced. Then he reached out and paused whatever he was watching, and walked out of the room without so much as a look back. While he was gone, of course I stole his comfy looking computer chair. He came back with another iced coffee and pulled another less comfortable looking chair up, then hit the play button.

"So what is this?"

"Top Gear."

"What's Top Gear?"

"You've never seen Top Gear?"

He seemed appalled, as if he'd just found out I murdered puppies in my spare time.

"Top Gear is a british show, where three british morons do stupid things with and to cars."

I watched. They currently had three cars being chased by planes around a track in a laser tag battle. Which of course they were losing. It really was funny, because they either believed, or were acting like they believed, they could win somehow. After that episode, Cords played another where the three were in africa, in 'estate cars' which were apparently station wagons, trying to find the source of the river Nile. I couldn't help myself... when I got to the point where they were stealing car parts off each other (hoods, doors, back windows) I laughed, loudly.

Oops.

Cords was grinning openly at me now. I drained the rest of the coffee to cover my lapse in doom and gloom etiquette.

"You have a really great laugh; like bells ringing."

Talk about awkward.

"Um, thanks. So, they've never come across a demon yet?"

He shook his head in answer as May reached their dubiously dubbed "source of the Nile" first.

"They have, but they are british; stiff upper lip and all that bullcrap. It doesn't hurt that they have their own in house summoners, and the british government won't let them go anywhere really dangerous, like most of France."

"Well that's something at least."

"There was talk a year or two back of them making an expedition into Germany to find the elusive Volkswagon that the they used to make, but nothing ever came of the talk. Instead they substituted one that was found in Poland. The Germans used to make some great cars; they did everything but strap dynamite to that Volkswagon and it survived. Oh hey it's lunch time; you want anything?"

I considered for a second. Time had really flown. I felt kind of guilty, but no calls for us had come in.

"A toasted sub and another coffee?"

He smiled; it was a warm thing.

"Sure, I'll be right back."

I rose and stretched. Comfortable or not, staying hours in a chair was a bad idea. Judge was still outside, but he was no longer alone; Conners and the Captain were there talking over a shared pizza.

"Captain, Conners, hello."

"Ahh, Snow. Good afternoon - Judge told me you joined Cords in geek central. How goes the police band?"

"Quiet sir. Very quiet."

I gently pulled him aside to whisper into his cauliflower ear.

"Do you know what Cords does in there sir? I mean, is it alright?"

He responded in a normal tone of voice.

"You mean do I know that he watches internet streams and dvds of television shows? Sure I do; as long as he's using that program of his to monitor emergency services whatever else he does is fine. We aren't like normal cops Snow. Sure we can do the normal cop things if we want, but we don't need to and the chief hates it when we try. The only reason we all aren't in there now watching along with him is his choice of show sucks. If you can stand it, more power to you... just don't forget to watch those other screens, and since Cords is getting lunch someone should be in there. Go. Shoo."

He actually shoo'd me. So I went back in. This seemed so messed up; I couldn't help but feel that getting paid to watch television was very wrong. Soon enough Cords came back with two subs in bags, some apple chips and two more coffees. I suffered yet another attack of conscience.

"Hey, welcome back. I have a minor confession to make."

Cords adopted a thinking pose briefly, his hand holding up his chin.

"You told the captain what we were doing."

"Yeah, I wasn't trying to get anyone in trouble, but it just seemed so weird to get paid for doing nothing. Kind of like a dereliction of duty. "

"And what did he say?"

"He told me to get back inside here and watch the screens."

He barked a surprising laugh.

"Of course, I was gone."

He glanced over.

"Well you lucked out; no calls. Otherwise the captain would be chewing you out, cause you left the place unmanned."

He handed me my sandwich; a black forest ham and swiss with a few extras, toasted of course.

"Most days that's what this job is; nothing. They don't dare send us on normal police work and risk needing us for a demon. So we're always on call. One team is always just sitting around... until it isn't and you wish you were. You'll see what I mean eventually. We earn the right to be lazy most of our professional lives around here. so just sit back..."

He tipped my chair back.

" ... and watch the show."

He clicked the play button and leaned back with a smirk, ignoring my best raised eyebrow trick.

And that's how the day went. shortly before 4 the other squad came back, and May joined us in watching "Top Gear" for the final hour. Karen was in a much more cheerful mood now, or so it seemed, so I spent the drive regaling her with tales of British car idiots. Once she was safely parked however, she hurried off with a muttered:

"Got to go, meeting an old friend in the coffee shop!"

I got the distinct feeling I was not invited. Upstairs I couldn't stop the sigh of relief; all day and only a bit of light PT. I felt downright sinful about it.

"Grex, veni huc!"

He materialized on my couch in a bathrobe and with an unlit pipe in his mouth.

"Ahh Mistress, an uneventful day I take it?"

"Pretty much, I thought we could do some training since I'm not dead tired."

"But you remain drop dead gorgeous; would you like me to make you dinner? I was considering roast beef and baked potatoes, with perhaps some steamed asparagus? All made according to your tastes, not mine of course."

"Sure; just remember our talk about ingredients."

"Only standard ingredients and spices considered edible by the majority of the North American palette, I promise on our contract. No powdered frog testicles or long pig."

Powdered frog testicles? What the crap? He got busy as I threw off my robe with a sigh. Soon enough there were pans rattling and smells of a rather heavenly bent - or not. I surfed through the channels for BBC America and found it; and lo and behold "Top Gear" was on.

"So what did my mistress do today?"

"She sat on her butt and watched this. Today was a lazy day."

He glanced towards the television as he brought my coffee.

"And what is this?"

"This is "Top Gear", a show made by british loons who do weird things to cars. It's pretty funny."

"You weren't doing police things?"

"Well I read a little of that stupid procedure book before it tried it's best to put me to sleep. But evidently most of my days will be boring, not that I mind. Even on days when the ADTF supports SWAT I likely won't be deployed. So I'll likely just spend my days pining away with Cords, watching TV shows."

" ...Cords? That mewling pipsqueek that smells of dust and oil?"

Holy crap. Holy crap, holy crap!

"Grex are you jealous?"

If he wasn't, he was all but glowing with some other dark emotion; his face was calm however.

"You should be careful mistress; he is unworthy of you. Do not hesitate to call for me should I be needed."

" ...Right. I don't think it'll be a problem. But burning my dinner might be a problem."

And just like that he was off like a shot, to the kitchen so fast he blurred. Still, Grex jealous of Cords? Just for hanging out with me?

(tbc)

I sighed, stretching in bed. The game of zap the alarm (only to have it put itself back together in what I was sure was Grex's doing) was on hold today; the alarm itself silent. I was allowed a blissful day of sleeping in. No work, no training, just a peaceful Monday off. My first in about six months.

I intended to sit at home in sweat pants, eating things that were bad for me and watching television till I puked. I was through only a few of my books though, and since they were required reading it annoyed me, like an itch I couldn't reach. But no, I'd decided last night, none of that. It's celebration time today.

And I will most definitely not think about the events of the weekend. Apparently I could be more than a little bitchy when bleeding from my crotch. The feeling as if I would burst, and the general ache didn't help matters. And Karen... holy crap I wanted to kill her. She was far too chipper to deal with.

There was a vase in the center of my kitchen table with a black rose resting inside it; it had a rather cloying flowery scent mixed with earth that I could smell immediately upon entering. The coffee was made the way I like it, and there were waffles smothered in butter beside them. Rather large ones, that filled two plates.

So obviously Grex had done this, but how? I distinctly remember sending him back at the end of festivities yesterday.

"Grex, veni huc!"

a sudden but tender hug from behind, a hot breath in my ear, and whispered words. I was used to it by now, sad what one could get used to. And how fast one could get used to it.

"You rang, my mistress?"

"Explain this now Grex." my wave encompassed the kitchen.

"Well the kitchen is made of...."

"You know what I mean! You were sent back home, what are you doing making breakfast?!?"

"I think you're harboring a misconception my mistress. I did not make your breakfast. Though it looks positively delicious. You should not let it go to waste."

I wasn't buying it.

"Alright, if you didn't, who did?"

"I've no idea, do you wish me to find out?"

"Yes, but first, check it for poisons or toxins of any kind and inform me if there are such."

I wasn't going to let it go to waste if I could avoid it, after all, it's my lazy day. Cooking breakfast was for non lazy people. I watched and waited as he took small samples of the food and drink.

"All clear master, not even a hint of the more esoteric things that only affect... other physiologies. It is as I feared; quite tasty."

I snorted.

"Worried your position in the kitchen will be usurped?"

He responded quite seriously, the smile pleasant expression sliding from his face and showing the real concern beneath.

"Yes. It could be part of a plot to drive a wedge between us and poison you later, when I might not be in position to save you."

"You worry too much. No one is going to be able to poison me through all the security here, unless it's one of yours."

He did not respond, only looked at me. Alright, so maybe it was possible that some demons wanted me dead, but why? They shouldn't even know I exist.

"Come on, most demons don't know I exist, and those that do have no real reason to wish me harm."

"You're a uniquely powerful summoner, like your mother. Reason enough for most."

I sipped my coffee and sat down before the bountiful repast.

"Kind of sad that your kind need so little reason to kill. But for now, you say it's safe, so I'm eating."

"Kind of sad my mistress? When I see peace in the middle east I'll concede my kind is more quick to kill than yours. Until then, we learn from the masters."

I'd be righteously indignant if he wasn't so right. Even with demons eating both factions, the muslim extremists and everyone else were killing, raping, and cooking each other like Christmas hams just like they always did. I don't even think they noticed the demons in their midst. I took a forkful of waffle.

"Well we aren't all like that."

"Not at all,' he replied seriously, 'some of humanity is worse."

Hold the phone; worse than the chuckleheads in the Mideast?

"Who the hell could be worse than the middle easterners? No wait, never mind, I don't want to know."

Some things I just should not know, otherwise I might end up as jaded as Grex was.

He nodded, a sage look that a cult guru would envy on his face.

"Finally, you show wisdom, my mistress. Or perhaps you show the tendency of humanity to ignore the problems they cause each other."

"Give me a break; like I can change the hearts and minds of morons, dealing with your kind is easier in that respect."

Maybe he meant Africa? It was full of dictators and terrorists too.

"Yes, no one human can make a difference in how humans with 'beliefs' behave, I've heard as much before."

He still had that look... was he mocking me? The stormy stir of cold rage began to turn in my chest. I paused, another forkful of waffle left temporarily homeless.

"Those problems are too much for any one person to fix; even summoners have been trying to fix those problems, using magic. They have so far resisted all attempts; any people who are sure about what life is or should be, are always that much harder to convince when they go off the rails. Are you mocking me, Grex?"

He turned from his coffee a moment, and looked at me - really looked, with a piercing gaze I could feel run through me like an electric current. What he saw seemed to surprise him.

"Not at all, my mistress. Just the human condition. If you like, we can try to solve them ourselves."

I narrowed my eyes at the now familiar Cheshire grin, but allowed him to steer the conversation.

"I doubt I'd have any more success than any of the previous attempts; perhaps after I re-trap or kill all the demons on earth, and end the war."

If anything, his grin grew wider. At least he just focused on his own breakfast, though you'd think the grin would interfere in drinking things. Smug bastard. I finished, put the dishes in the sink, and went back into the bedroom to change. But on second thought, I was already in comfy silk jammies, so why bother? Television time. It was still early morning, so it was either sitcoms, soaps, or animal planet.

Animal planet wins.

Grex settling down next to me was a non factor, he took one look and was quiet. I had almost managed to drift off again when I heard a knock at my door.

"Grex, go get that."

His look of 'what do I look like, a door man?' won no points with me.

Of course it was Karen, who had managed to clean herself up and was staring down at me with sharp disapproval. She was in a skirt. God help us all, she was in a magenta top and a gray knee length skirt. She was wearing makeup just a mere shade over tasteful. She looked as if she had a date. I looked around; the apocalypse was coming early, and I wanted to be ready for it.

"Come on, it's your first official day as a real live summoner! We should do something!"

She was not at all phased by the finger I threw her.

"Technically yesterday was my first official day; today is a day off. A rare and much loved day off in which to veg. I'm planted here."

She grabbed the hand I saluted her with and started trying to pull me up, Grex just watched, the traitor.

"Oh come on, almost every day off you've ever had you've spent here! You're turning lazy in your old age."

"Yes, I spent my days off here, reading. Reading extremely boring, dry books all about my job."

"All the more reason for you to get out. Come on, we're going somewhere."

I wavered a bit. Perhaps I was getting a bit lazy. It was kind of sort of almost spring, after all.

"Where are we going?"

She did not gloat over my tacit surrender, instead shoving me into my bedroom.

"I don't know yet. Now get dressed!"

So, typical Karen, no plan at all. Well if she had no plan, I had no zeal. I wouldn't go for sweats exactly, but the black track suit with silver stripes I had might as well have been. I pulled the tags off (brand new, it had sat in my closet for 6 months, back to that first fateful mall trip when I thought perhaps I might need to continue my running on my own time, oh how silly I was.) and threw it on, jacket and all. For all that it was supposed to be spring, it was still cold out there more often than not, at least in the mornings. Karen had not had her robe on, so I left mine off. she looked dressed to score, and I wasn't about to play the social killjoy to her butterfly.

The fact that she rolled her eyes when I came out and swallowed a few choice words might have had something to do with it too. Grex's sigh was kind of a surprise though. I quirked an eyebrow at him; he hadn't minded the pajamas, so what was his problem now? Questions were interrupted by hurricane Karen though.

"alright, you're ready, that all you want? Then let's go!"

She grabbed my hand and dragged me out my door with surprising strength; if my purse hadn't been near the door (where I always hang it up to keep it out of the way and so I don't forget where it is) I'd have had to leave it behind. Grex followed, again quietly. I began to suspect something more was up. Perhaps I was as had earlier been accused, naturally suspicious.

I preferred to think of it as being careful.

Down the hall, down the elevator (where the muzak had at some point been replaced by death metal; I don't think anyone noticed when that happened, I certainly didn't. I couldn't even identify the band, but they sure had... passion. Out of the elevator, and into the coffee shop at the other end of the lobby, where Karen ordered three caramel machiatos. Assuming she wasn't going to drink all those herself, I didn't order.

I was correct, she handed one to me, then one to Grex. Then we were led to the corner booth (I swear the place was made with 6 corners, on purpose, so that more summoners could feel more comfortable. A pretty canny piece of marketing by the owner; I had to applaud.

"So... I'm driving, of course. You have anywhere you want to go?"

"Can't really think of anywhere, unless the grocery store; getting kind of low on certain things again, since someone keeps eating breakfast with me."

She whistled tunelessly a couple seconds, as if to protest her innocence.

"Boring. I veto that proposal outright; guess we'll just have to find something to do, or some trouble to get into."

"Bah, we get enough trouble as it is; can't we avoid it for the day?"

Karen stood in a rush, knocking her chair over with a clatter. Oh hell, here it comes.

"Absolutely not! We are going to go out, find some trouble, join in, get drunk, and get laid! Maybe not all in that order."

I was already shaking my head mid rant. Now I wished I had my cloak, I'd put the hood up to hide my burning face.

"Not drinking, and absolutely not to... that other thing."

She reached over, draping herself over me while Grex righted the fallen chair with a wry grin. That traitor!

"Aww come on, all work and no play makes Jane a dull girl. Not even interested to find out how it all works? Or maybe it's all about the right guy, miss I-hang-out-with-cords-everyday-while-I-should-be-working."

I threw her off, back into her own now properly upright chair.

"Sit down and drink your coffee. You have no idea what you're talking about. It's just less boring watching streams than reading at my desk."

She took a sip, shooting me a sly look over the rim of the cup.

"Sure, Sure."

"It's true! We haven't even had a call in months! The only two calls taken since I started, were taken by that other guy."

That one summoner who kept his hood up had been polite but distant since that first day, and had avoided me whenever possible, was even spookier than Karen on a sugar high. Of course, he just acted different; Charlie was much much more scary in practice... I think; I hadn't ever seen Jub (his nick name, though I never called him that) in action. His voice seemed to echo from somewhere else though, and I wasn't too sure I wanted to find out where. Karen leered; actually leered at me, never a good sign.

"Oh don't worry Snow, we'll pop that cherry soon enough."

Ugh, I knew it, now we were at bad double entrendres.

"I should slap you for that on principle alone."

She finally sat back, looking contrite.

"OK fair enough. But you really should just go ahead and live a little. It's been six months, and you haven't done anything at all for yourself."

I knew what she meant. My transfer to the front was on hold, but not on hold forever. I had six more months to live, and then I'd be shipped into hell on earth. Powerful or not, it wasn't likely I'd come back - so I'd better start living now, while I had the chance. That was the first time she'd been so clear on it; she must be feeling some sort of pressure I didn't or something.

Sigh. I knew I'd be regretting this.

"Alright, alright. We can drive around and look for something fun to do; if we don't find anything, we are not ending up at some bar filled with scruffy old men and unwashed bikers."

"Deal.' She drained her cup in a hurry and stood again, latching onto my arm. 'Come on, let's go now!"

"Karen, darn it, I haven't even had a sip yet!"

She laughed, dragging me; how could someone smaller than me be so strong?

"You're too slow Snow, come on! Time's a wastin.'"

I was somewhat consoled by Grex following silently, one coffee per hand. I did so love my coffee, the cure to all ills mental or otherwise. Once at Karen's Hum-v she all but threw me inside and ran around at full tilt to the driver's side door, careening off the fender along the way in a rather painful looking manner without so much as a wince. I belted in with another long suffering sigh as Grex got in... by simply materializing himself in the back seat in a sitting position. I'd long since gotten used to his antics too.

Soon enough my coffee was passed back to me, and Karen was breaking the parking lot's speeding laws. Then the street speeding laws. Then the ones regarding coming to a complete stop. I could take no more.

"Karen, calm down, you're going to get us in an accident."

Meaning she'd mow over some poor Prius with this tank, and kill everyone inside. Thankfully she took my meaning without taking offense, and slowed down. If anything though, her grin ate up more of her face. I was starting to suspect someone had slipped her something last night or this morning.

We were driving for an hour, with Karen getting more frustrated as she failed to find something interesting to go to. In a fit of frustrated inspiration she decided to hit the highway. Soon enough she started grinning again, a twinkle in her eye that I didn't like.

"OK, what?"

"Nothing, just found something. You didn't see the sign?"

I didn't.

"What sign?"

"perfect."

I rolled my eyes again. Whatever, guess I'd find out soon enough. I hoped I wouldn't need beer to get through it. Or something stronger. Grex gave my shoulder a quick but gentle squeeze as if to say 'it won't be that bad.' I knew without asking he wouldn't tell me what the sign said unless I ordered him to. I had absolutely no doubt the bastard saw it, he never seemed to miss anything. I suspected I wouldn't either, soon. After all, wasn't predicting the future a form of time dilation involving the senses? He had to be doing it somehow, and I refused to accept that I couldn't.

No doubt he'd tell me that little trick too, if I ordered him to. I kept my silence. It irked me, I hated surprises, but I hated feeling stupid more. I would figure it out, then I'd rub his nose in it.

Soon enough I saw the answer to the other little question, as Karen pulled into a state park. Not a big well known one, not around here. No, this was the "Plain of fire" state park, and apparently they were hosting a civil war re-enactment. I believe my jaw scraped the road as we drove past the posted sign, and I could see Karen's grin hit incandescent levels out of the corner of my eye. I was so going to need liquor for this.

Now, I have nothing against re-enactors, if that is the way someone chooses to spend their time, there are worse hobbies than dressing up, acting like your great-great-great (and more greats in some cases) granddad and shooting blanks at one another. A form of acting if ever I saw one, even if it never moved past the level of movie extra. But two glaring facts immediately jumped right out at me.

One was that we were perhaps several hundred miles away from any actual battle location, since we were in Arizona. Arizona wasn't even a state during the civil war, with no battles fought here. And if there was one thing I knew about re-enactors, they preferred to stage their little plays at the actual sites of battle. The second thing I knew, is that Plain of fire national park was in the desert, and it was stupid hot pretty much all the time, even in spring. At least they had some large pavilions for shade.

I wanted to make my way straight into the beer tent to start the festivities, but Karen's was pulling me again almost before I got out of the car. I really thought the bruises she had from bouncing off the solid vehicle like a pinball must be large and painful, but I couldn't spot so much as a wince or a limp.

"Not going to lecture me about having Grex around?"

She shook her head, keeping that vise like hand locked on mine.

"Nope, you're a big girl now, officially a summoner and everything. No probation's, no more plebe status. No one is going to tell you how to manage yourself in the field, provided you keep proving you can do the job your way. Just don't leave him out for too long and go mental on us! Not that I'm sure you can...."

The pavilion she was pulling me to was the first; absolutely filled with people, half of which were in woolen uniforms. In the desert. In the hot desert, in spring. My own estimation of their intelligence lowered, as my estimation of their will rose. They were gleefully chatting up the days of yore; of the days of wooden canteens and single shoot rifles using percussion caps. I happened to overhear the question on mine and probably everyone else's mind; those uniforms really weren't as hot as we all thought cause apparently a person sweated in them, and the cloth held the water.

I smelled a bit of bullcrap; but maybe they believed it.

After an hour of listening to the various sweaty people in handlebar mustaches and crazy beards chat about their gear and how hard it was to march. And some battle called Kennesaw bluff, where the western armies of the day, north and south strove to hold and take the high ground respectively. The north won that little fracas, battle at the time favoring the defender. It also had nothing on the sheer number of troops involved in later battles. Karen did all the talking on our end, asking all the usual obvious questions and making faces at the hardtack.

Apparently, there was a sort of line around that we had to follow... or go out in the sun and move around the sea of people. And since in the sun I burned like a vampire and I hadn't thought to bring sunscreen, it was slow going. In spite of all that I couldn't find myself hating the place. There was something earnest and wholesome here, beyond the obvious lies, deceits and jingoism, but I couldn't tell from where; only that it existed. As if it had a palpable presence all it's own.

I finally managed to wear Karen down, and we made our way to the beer tent; though that might have had something more to do with the fact that it was now midday and the re-enactors had left their respective places with their period gear in order to prepare for the event. If it could be called such. The sun was a physical presence today, beating directly upon the heads of the unprepared, which made the slightly cool summer Shandy a blessing. Lemonade and a dark beer, who knew they'd go together so well?

Technically we should have been carded, and I at least refused any liquor at the tent. But the bartender took one glance at the three of us, and simply took our money. I guess the attitude from the base involving adult beverages was shared. Or perhaps he was a vet, and knew summoners when he saw them. There did seem to be a good number of vets here, judging by the ink. Not surprising really, we were near a base.

Kind of disappointing in a way, how all wars but ours would have it's re-enactors. There would never be anyone wanting to relive demon attacks or battles. If we won, we'd never want to revisit the horrors of the past for fear of unsealing the horrors again. If we lost, well, there wouldn't be anyone to re-enact anything. The public would also like nothing more than to pretend none of this was ever happening. If humanity survived this entire chapter of history would likely be scrubbed with bleach. The cities would be buried instead of rebuilt; the countless dead
entombed within.

I did wonder though: what would happen to all those who fought in the war, demon touched and summoners alike, if It was ever won? Humans didn't really have a good history involving such things. I could easily see us winning the war, only to have some bureaucrat decide to gas us all to make sure the human race remained pure or to prevent another such war, or whatever bullcrap reason dreamed up and given. The fact is, keeping the knowledge alive wasn't a risk, it was the only way to prevent such carnage from happening again. If the knowledge of how to summon and
destroy demons was mainstream, it would be much harder to kill humanity as a whole, since any random idiot trying to summon demons to destroy the world this time would be identified and stopped in short order. Drive it all back underground however, and all bets were off.

I tried to tune out my dark thoughts and focus on the now, or better yet think of nothing. (how does one think of nothing? Isn't nothing always something if you think about it?) Karen said I would worry myself into an early grave by thinking too much; that the key to being a living summoner and a dead one was in reacting as opposed to thinking. I'm not sure I believed that, it seemed too much like her excuse for slacking off.

The crack of the gun powder (very much the real deal, not the modern powder formulas of today) was charming in a way; and the very fake deaths were hilarious after their own fashion, the listless pratfalls and gasped moans comedic yet somehow therapeutic. It was somewhat easier to turn off my stupid overworked brain for a few and just watch, chuckling at what were probably inappropriate times. I was never called on it however, some of the people I had pegged as vets were laughing right along, even as other vets on the field seemed to try to vy for the most hammed up death sequence.

I'm pretty sure the steady flow of beer helped too. Even the few people stricken with very real heat prostration or stroke seemed funny for some reason, bearing their condition with a smile and being tended to be the stretcher bearers as 'wounded'. The real work was done by nearby EMT's on standby of course.

And so it was with some surprise when I looked from the field in a sort of daze to find a pleasant afternoon spent, and Grex's feathery touch gently helping me to my feet. I looked back at the table to find an entire brewery of empty bottles laid before us, and quirked an eyebrow at a grinning Karen. Where had all that come from? I was pretty sure I'd only had three the entire time. I tried to look imperious as I swayed to my feet.

"You are a bad influence, Karen."

I did not slur my words at all. Much. She mock bowed but put on a false show of hurt.

"Moi? Not at all, these are all from our many admirers today. I merely moved a few bottles around while you were watching the show."

I looked around, really looked around. There were guys studiously not looking in our direction, sitting all around us. Most seemed to be studiously not looking at me, specifically. Now I was much more comfortable in my own skin than I was three months ago, but this sort of behavior still made me uncomfortable. Mainly because of the major disconnect I felt between then and now. Six months ago I'd have been the one trying to get the hot woman's attention but would never have approached someone so... aloof, instead just hoping she'd make the first move. Now
though it was all too easy to forget that, and classify such guys with the label they deserved, even if I would have shot them down without a second thought. They were chickenshit, every one of them. Too afraid or put off to even come up to me and strike up an innocuous conversation.

That conflict of thought worried me more than anything else.

As I carefully picked my way through the human mine field, I fuzzily pondered this. Was I becoming the type of woman that I hated? Cold, aloof, and angry for no real reason at all? I stayed silent till Grex helped me into the car.

"Karen, how many did you have?"

"Just the one at the start, I remembered our deal. No drinking allowed if I'm driving, our you'll shove large things where they don't belong."

"Good."

I would do it, too. But I had another question.

"Karen, do I strike you as... unapproachable?"

She did an almost comical double take while starting the car, and glanced my way while checking our rear for pedestrians.

"Well once someone gets past the obvious hurdles for a summoner, no. You do seem to have this power ju ju thing going on... almost like an aura of control, or command, or something. But no you're pretty down to earth. Just need to smile more, thaw out a little, and you'd be perfect. What brought this on?"

She made a good pun on my nickname, and didn't seem to realize it. she did seem to realize what I had been driving at though.

"Oh wait, you mean today? That's what this was about? No hon, today was all because you forgot one important detail; Grex. He was out all day, a feat no other summoner can achieve I might add, and in his human guise. Conveniently at your beck and call, he warded off all those who might have otherwise approached you simply by being there, as a guy. It was pretty obvious to everyone else you two were together, and he also has that type of aura thing going on. I'm actually a little jealous, you still had guys buying for you."

Oh. Oh, I'm an idiot. A total and complete idiot. social interaction 101, you don't hit on another guy's girl. Unless you're a total jerk and he's away doing something else, at the very least.

"So it was less me, and more just Grex being there?"

I should have sent him home. A quick glance proved that he was smirking that Cheshire grin of his. He'd known all along, and had enjoyed playing bouncer for me. He didn't want me to talk to anyone else but him, I could see it. Well I had a way to teach him manners. Or not to grin at me that way while I was drunk. One of the two.

"Grex when we get home, you're doing laundry. Don't screw it up."

He hated doing menial tasks like laundry or dishes. He hated the way bleach affected his hands. So, a fitting punishment! turning from his false contrition, I admitted:

"Well that's a load off at least; I was afraid I was too freakish to approach or something."

"From that lot? Nah, most are vets or families of vets, they don't discriminate on the little things, like skin hair or eyes. Now from the bible belt Midwest types, it might be a whole different ball game. I remember this one summoner, name of hentai, he had um... well he had facial tentacles, and he... "

I tuned her out. Seriously, I did not want to know all about the sexual exploits of a guy who had tentacles on his face. Though according to Karen, he was quite the crowd pleaser. who died outside the Ardenne, three years ago. Way to bring down the buzz there, Miss psychologist. I often wondered if her ability to say exactly the wrong thing at the right time was a condition of her training, or her own unique price quirk. Or at least that's what I thought it was; a side effect of having her emotions all but completely stolen. In other words, she pulled some truly
outlandish acts and behaved in an over the top manner - simply to be able to feel anything at all. How that translated to her glomping onto me for the last three months I did not yet understand.

Unless of course her assignment to watch me wasn't over yet. For my own protection of course, should I ask... carefully Maeve, tread oh so carefully here. For the path ahead is made of broken glass and salt. I doubted it was coincidence that one of two people with demons considered as strong or nearly as strong as my own was assigned to watch me. Most summoners did not have their own personal mentor/psychologist assigned to them; there simply weren't enough warm bodies for that. Which made me special. And worse, made me special right from the start, somehow. I
wanted to, but I could no longer deny the doubt. Trust was a commodity precious to summoners, I understood what dad meant when he said that, now.

I had to fight not falling asleep during the ride home, even after Karen took a glance at her watch and starting driving even more reckless that usual, muttering curses all the way. I wanted to as until what the hurry was, but I really didn't feel like caring. I hadn't been this drunk since... well, since ever, and all I wanted to do was just wallow in the mood until blissful ignorance washed over me like a tide.

Alas it was not to be. I came fully awake again as Grex helped me from the car, or at least more fully awake. The parking garage was empty. Not fully empty of course, the cars were still there. all of them. Every single parking space I could see had summoner transportation in it. Which was more than just a little unusual. It was kind of more like disturbing, in an alarm bells air raid sirens duck and cover kind of way. The limo parked illegally next to the fire hydrant was also a kind of red flag.

All of a sudden everything today made an awful sort of sense. I turned to Karen, who was walking rapidly to the lobby doors in a sudden hurry.

"Karen, what's going on?"

"Um, well, you know summoners. Any excuse for a party. You being official and all, well that's reason enough."

I did indeed know summoners; eat drink and be merry, and all that. Sigh. And going into the lobby it was clear to see no expense or pain was spared. Bunting was hanging from the ceiling, honest to God white and black bunting draped like spiderwebs in every conceivable direction. Odd lights, possibly black lights, also lined the corners, ceiling and floor. They weren't on yet. There was a DJ booth set near the bar, complete with a very nervous looking DJ. The entire place kind of looked like I'd imagine a class reunion to look like, all cheap plastic tablecloths and punch bowls filled with questionable liquids. And of course the entire place was packed with every single summoner living in the entire apartment complex, and more than a few that weren't. Which begged a question. So I turned to Karen, now grinning at me over the truly massive roar of the crowd.

Yelling over the shouts of: "Congrats on surviving rookie!" and "Speech!" I asked;

"If they are all here, who's minding the store?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Al's on shift, and Charlie is on call. We have it covered, quit worrying! Don't make me try to loosen you up again. I don't think I can get you drunker than you already are."

"Yeah that trick won't work twice, so good luck."

"Let's discuss it... over a nice stiff drink."

She started off to the bar as lights cut out, and what were indeed black lights cut on. The captain of all people, wheeled out a giant white cake with the words 'One of us' written in dark frosting. The kind strippers popped out of. I had a second to really hope it wasn't, and then the cheesy music started. One look at the sea of grinning faces, the light reflecting eerily off the assembled show of teeth, and I had my answer. Oh God.

It was worse than I feared - far far worse. My butt found a chair under me just as the imp popped from the cake, all spavined boney limbs and leather hide, in a fire engine red string bikini, pointed teeth also showing the light as it sang. In time but way out of key, some John Denver song. It wasn't the song playing of course, but that did not stop it as it sashayed over to me. Then it twerked, in front of my face, boney ass mere inches from my nose.

Karen returned just in time; I didn't even look at the shot glass she handed me, I just knocked it back. Summoners and their sense of humor; I really hoped I never got like that. I'm sure the look on my face is priceless though. The imp, job completed, vanished, leaving the bikini behind. I could breathe again. I wanted to say something, but didn't trust myself. I could hear them all laughing and congratulating themselves on a prank well pulled though. they were like demented children. Karen handed me another, and it promptly followed the first.

Then a real cake was wheeled out, and the festivities commenced, with the very green faced DJ taking requests. Sunshine and lollipops was the first hit, followed by over the rainbow. I was handed the first piece, again devil's food. The normal lights came back up, and the mingling commenced. I did my best to be social and gracious, at least until my fingers started to tingle.

It just so happened that Cords was near when I started to slide off the chair. Grex steadied me as he gave me a gimlet stare.

"Well it looks like Karen outdid herself. You're pretty lit."

"You should see the other guy."

I replied. I was sure that's what I said, but Cords looked as if he hadn't heard me. I might be more sure of what I said, but my lips were numb.

"Alright, this party can do without the guest of honor for now. Grex can you take her upstairs?"

"Of course."

I was whisked up, floating towards the elevators. Behind me Cords was making apologies for me. Another blink and I was in my bedroom. Cords and Grex both looked down from above as I floated on a cloud, both with near identical amusement and concern warring on their faces. Cords broke the silence first.

"You OK, Snow?"

"Um, yeah I'm OK... sort of numb and the room is spinning, but I feel fine."

That seemed to nudge concern over the edge for both. They shared a look in unison, in perfect sync. A little creepy, truth told.

"Ok, roll over. You can't sleep in your back tonight. Grex, are you going to be able to watch her tonight?"

"Of course I am. Don't be presumptuous, meat bag."

Bullcrap.

"Not if I send you home, you can't."

"Not tonight my mistress. If I leave you, your health could be endangered. So tonight, despite any orders you make, I stay with you."

"Oh pish tosh, I haven't drunk that much."

"You plainly have."

Cords broke it up, which was good, since sitting up now made my eyes cross.

"Um, I know this isn't the best time, but I wanted to ask you something today, and this has been the first chance I've had, so I'll just go for it. I have two tickets to the museum, the 'Evil in art' exhibit is tomorrow. Want to go after our shift?"

Wait, what? Did he just ask me out? Was I really drunk after all? So drunk I was hearing things? Grex's almost palpable aura of anger convinced me otherwise. So I could get social with a guy after all. They just had to be someone I had something in common with. Despite the way he was currently staring Grex down. Cords felt safe. Unassuming, retiring... as if I could simply tell him to go away at any time, and he would. No questions asked.

And I was interested in that exhibit. I had been waiting for it to travel to our little armpit of the world for months. Somehow Cords had guessed, or known.

"Um, sure. Think I'm going to pass out now."

With those final words, I simply floated away.

(tbc)

There was vomit on my floor. I could see it there. And of course I knew it was mine; I could taste it. At least I had managed to miss my sheets. The glass of water on the bedside didn't last ten seconds. Whatever possessed me to drink like that, on a night when I had work in the morning?

Oh, right. Twerking Imp. Good god, I needed brain bleach. I wonder if there was a spell for it. There had to be. Still spent, I flopped back on the bed and waiting for the pressure and pain in my head to go away. There wasn't any vomit on the bed or in my hair, so I wasn't going to move. Moving was for suckers.

"Mistress. It's time for you to get up. You have work today, do you not?"

"No Grex, I don't. Work is for people who are alive, and I am most definitely dead."

He entered the room and came over, bearing a glass filled with some dark liquid. He skirted the vomit and sat, holding it out.

"What is that?"

"Pomegranate juice. Good for re-hydrating after a long night drinking things that are bad for you, so I'm told."

Well he couldn't lie to me. I downed it, only spilling a little, then flopped back again.

"None of that now, you must get up mistress. You have work. Karen asked me to inform you that you were the only summoner on duty for the morning shift, and therefore could not call in sick."

Summoners were cruel. Cruel, mean horrifyingly vile people.They had obviously planned this, and should therefore have all manner of unpleasant things happen to them.

"Grex, how are you on hexes?"

He smirked in response as he took the glass, helping me up. He had no trouble at all following my thoughts.

"Very fluent my mistress. But I doubt I'd be able to hex any of the Summoners responsible; they are too well protected here. Perhaps if you could convince them to move out first...."

I shut the bathroom door right on his patented Cheshire grin; bereft his steadying presence I stumbled twice getting into the shower.

"Never mind, I'll think of something."

Getting revenge was a good a dream, while the hot water beat something suspiciously like energy into my muscles, and wakefulness past my scalp. My headache eased a bit, down past the levels where I wished for a hole in my head to let the pain out. I stepped out and still dripping, dry swallowed some aspirin. Getting past the nasty aftertaste, I waited for a moment to see if they would come back up - I never was all that good at dry swallowing pills. Only after my stomach settled did I then dare to turn off the shower and towel off.

Clothes were waiting outside the door; I'd forgotten to take any with me. Comfortable broken in fatigues and some of my best fitting underwear. Grex was nowhere to be seen, but I heard sounds in the kitchen one might associate with cooking. I muttered a thanks which I'm sure he somehow heard, and quickly gathered them up and shut the door.

Five minutes later I was all dressed and into the kitchen, heading straight for my spot and the coffee cup set before it. It was full, and full of my best coffee, and imported brand that was very mellow. Grex was going all out. The Belgian waffles smothered in strawberries and jam bore that out a moment later. It was almost as if he were apologizing for something.

I ate and drank in silence, giving the aspirin time to work. The clock in the kitchen still stated I had a good 20 minutes before I needed to care about leaving, which meant my alarm clock had to have been reset to go off at an earlier time. Maybe that was the issue? After all, I didn't give him permission to reset my alarm, so maybe he was apologizing for that? But it an seemed awfully petty reason. Hell, who knew how demons thought?

"Grex."

"Yes mistress?"

"Clean up the floor in the bedroom, then dismiss yourself. If I need your help I'll call you."

He bowed deeply.

"Yes mistress."

Something told me Karen was sleeping it off, so I didn't bother waiting. I just grabbed my purse and left.

I still hated my purse. I missed pockets, and kept forgetting the cursed thing, even months later. I threw my robe on on the way out the door. I was tempted to make as much noise as possible, in a petty attempt at some revenge, but chances were the other Summoners had not gotten as sauced as I had. After all, a pretty massive effort had been made; the stuff I had downed last night was in all probability not legal in the slightest - too much alcohol content.

As I suspected however, many of the cars in the parking garage were present; I predicted much of the magically oriented staff of the city were sidelined, at least till late morning. I didn't blame them at all, though I'm sure if the general knew heads would roll on general principles.

The drive in was easy though a bit slow, there were all kinds of wary traffic. There were no snarls for once, and all the Summoner reserved parking spots were empty, so I had my pick. A difference of maybe 50 feet, but I'll take what I could get. Cord's car, an older model Ford focus (oddly enough, I figured him for more of a car buff) was in the lot. I was glad for that, he at least would make the day less boring. Everyone else got to join raids or do other grunt work when the department wasn't busy, but the Summoners had to stay on call, and couldn't join any raids or busts unless there was a clear supernatural cause for it. So most of the time, It was just me, the other Summoners, (who were still a bit intimidating, despite being nothing but nice to me) and Cords.

Had he really asked me out last night? Had I really accepted? I felt pretty conflicted about that, if I were remembering the events correctly. On the one hand, I'd just been asked out by a guy, and had accepted. On the other hand, I was never going to be a guy again myself, and living in the past was a sure way to never really be happy. And on the other (yes the third) hand, I'd never gone on a date as the girl before, and had precious little date experience as a guy, so I was the metaphorical bundle of nerves. I could only hope I didn't screw it up too badly.

Could women even screw up dates? my admittedly limited experience as a guy seemed to suggest that all they needed to do was show up, and the guy would be ecstatic. Perhaps my own personal bar had been set too low? Or perhaps I shouldn't even bother thinking about it so I didn't drive myself into a panic attack and run screaming from the office? I caught myself nodding along with that thought as I reached the ADTF floor. It seemed like a decent idea, much like the idea to stop talking to myself when other people were present was. Conners was already looking at me askance.

At least, reviewing the last few moments, I was positive the only thing I'd actually said aloud was about panic attacks. So she didn't know about the whole date thing. If she had, I was certain she'd make all kinds of bad jokes about it. Not to mention the gossip....

Summoners talking to themselves randomly about panic attacks hardly warranted a mention on the local grapevine however. It was more the ones that didn't appear to be insane that were noteworthy. In this case, that was a blessing. The desks were mostly empty, however a few members of my team (squad B, team 3, the team I trained with the most) were present. Namely Connors and Judge. Connors sat down and pulled out some magazine involving European cops or something. And Judge had his rifle disassembled and was cleaning it.

Which of course left the communications room, and Cords. Throwing my purse at my desk and hitting it more or less dead center, I strode directly to it and opened the door. Fresh cappuccino, a few chocolate bars, and a bottle of aspirin sat in front of my usual seat, and "Top Gear" was already on. Cords was in his accustomed seat, just starting to lean back with a mountain dew in hand.

"I don't need the aspirin, but thank you. The rest shall be gratefully consumed."

"You're just in time, the bumbling trio are going to look for cheap 70's sports cars to race."

I closed the door and gratefully sank into my seat.

"Money is on Hammond."

"Heh, you always pick Hammond, and he always loses."

"Meh, I like to back the underdog."

I only had half my attention on the show of course. Did Cords look different today? His hair was neatly combed back, his uniform pressed with nary a crease or stain, and he seemed a little more at ease, somehow. The uniform had to be new, it was actually showing the smooth play of the muscle underneath, just a little. Was he really that buff all this time? I mean compared to the ones who hit the weights he wasn't much, but he was in definite shape.

Ugh, stop thinking about such things, you'll drive yourself crazy. Think zen. What is, is, what shall be, shall be, what was, is past. And right now, what is, is poorly maintained 70's Italian sports cars. That episode ended with little fanfare and much car breakage, and I drained my cappuccino as the metaphorical channel was then changed to crime documentaries. Some show on forensics, and how D.N.A. solved the crime... there are so many of those shows put out now that it's almost impossible to keep them all straight.

We were halfway through the first episode involving the new (maybe twenty years ago) process of of PCR testing when Cords sat bolt upright in his chair, almost pitching himself on the floor. I had just enough time start up myself when he hit the panic button, starting the floor alarm and emergency dialing the cell phones of those of us on duty.

"Got a call, it's priority, go go go!"

I turned my phone's shrilling off as I careened off the door, running flat out with Judge right behind me. Oh god, my first call and I was first responder; I hoped against hope it was a false alarm or prank. Even if that meant an arrest either way (we took our supernatural invasion call seriously) it'd be better than a demon running around loose, with only me to stop it.

Or Second (our second Summoner named Charlie, therefore Second was his nickname); but Second would be minutes away, and would likely only get a shot at the demon if I died. Not the most appealing option.

I made it to the armored truck just behind Connors, and we weren't last. All the running had paid off so far. Pearce and West filed into the assigned armored truck last. The truck rather than canvasing hum-vees meant that we already knew where the demon was and at least soft containment was in place. So command wanted a team on site at full strength ASAP. Squad A would be en route in the second one from their on call locations, but assembling them could take another 30 minutes.

The apparently another 11 minutes and 17 seconds; which was how long it took us to reach the location in question; which turned out to be a four block area in the middle of downtown. Fortunately it wasn't the lunch rush yet. No telling how much mayhem blocking off four square blocks off in the middle of downtown will cause if we didn't get this handled before then.

No pressure; none at all.

We all piled out, looking vaguely cop like (the others had taken the time in the back of the bouncy vehicle to clean up as best they could so a presentable image could be maintained. The captain tended to pass lectures on how we weren't maintaining a professional image on down, like a boulder rolling downhill). I didn't have to worry as much, after all, Summoners were supposed to be crazy. One I knew of one town over wore pink robes as part of his pact... and liked it. So a quick tug of the hood to bring it over my head and covering my face, and I was in uniform.

Pearce dragged me in front of the blue in charge, a rather tired looking sergeant; The rest of the team followed suit.

"SITREP?"

The sergeant managed to pull off a look saying 'why not just speak english?' before responding.

"exactly 10:12 dispatch received a call regarding a strange flying figure circling in this area, which vanished shortly thereafter. A quick check of our logged calls and notices revealed no military or ADTF resource use orders in the area. A mobilization of the ADTF to search the area and remove the threat, if there is in fact a threat was then issued. No we don't know where it is, though one of our snipers claimed to have seen it. The description he gave was of a large flying imp, man-sized and with an extremely long tail."

I decided to try and act like I was competent.

"The position it was last seen by your officer?"

He pointed left, above an office building that looked so new it seemed to sparkle in the sunlight.

"Flying above that building; Rodriguez saw it as he was setting up, but decided not to risk a shot. Saw it float over the edge as if it were landing there. Hasn't seen any hint of it since, and none of the others stationed on the roofs have seen anything."

Which of course meant nothing; invisibility was a thing. Pearce motioned us into a huddle, which I'm sure looked ludicrous.

"Alright here is the deal; standard canvas, teams of two. Snow and Grex, Dolph and I, Connors and Roddy, and Judge on over watch. Anyone sees anything, you call Snow; No heroics. Judge, you get to shoot only if it's to cover someone. Clear?"

WE all spoke our assent.

"Alright, Snow you're going to check last know position, Dolph and I got left bracket, Connors, Roddy, you got right bracket. Be careful, and let's go."

The other teams moved quickly, out and back under cover in less than two seconds. The idea was to use the buddy system to delay any demon they found, and watch each others' backs until I arrived. I was the artillery; the direct engage was my responsibility. Provided there was anything here, of course.

There was though. I could smell it, a very faint trace of something like death and mold. I couldn't quite pinpoint it, but I knew it was there. I also knew it wasn't really a scent, or the other people present would have been commenting on it; scents like that were usually a dead giveaway. Which meant that either my senses were better than everyone else's here, I was especially tuned to the supernatural to the extent that I could pick the smell out over anything else, or the scent was actually a psychic miasma of the type most demons left behind, and my brain was interpreting it as a smell. It was not the first option, and the second was doubtful, not that it mattered either way.

"Grex, Veni huc!"

My shadow reached up and hugged me from behind this time as Grex formed from it. Well at least I'd finally caught him in the act this time; now I knew how he was doing it. A good thing to note for later.

"You rang, my mistress?"

"Yeah, we got a call. Time to track down a rogue demon and destroy it."

I got whiplash, he turned serious so fast. And he immediately turned and looked directly behind him and up... where the demon was last seen. Curious.

"What is it?"

I just had to ask as I motioned him over.

"There is a demon present, and it is in that direction."

"Take me up to the top of that building. It was last seen there."

I hit the walkie feature on my phone.

"Captain, Grex has given confirmation of a demon's presence. I'm going now to investigate."

"Roger that. I'll see about getting our backup to get the lead out."

I turned back to Grex.

"Fly me there."

He picked me up bridal style as if I were glass, and popped his wings. We were airborne in a rush which intensified the odd smell briefly.

"So do you smell that?"

"You'll have to be more specific mistress. I can smell many things."

"I think I'm smelling the demon, or traces of it. It smells like a mix of old socks and roadkill."

He spared me a glance.

"Well, you're not wrong. Your... terminology is most descriptive."

"So I am detecting the demon? Why haven't I ever been able to before?"

He spared me another glance as we neared the building's roof. I really wished he'd keep his eyes front. I didn't want to end up slammed into an air conditioner unit or something.

"While the ability is one some of us demons have, it's not an 'exact science'. I'd theorize that you haven't been tense or anxious since you summoned me the first time."

I stared at him. He spared me yet a third glance as we touched down, and I was pretty sure I was choking him.

"Well, unduly so. As a result of demons, specifically. Possibly."

I let go of him and he in return let go of me; I made a show of brushing myself off. Then stared straight into his rueful face.

"You really have absolutely no idea, do you?"

"Not as such, no. This is new ground for all of us. While plenty of people have wished for the power of a demon, not many have wished for the power of a specific demon, or even demon royalty."

I cast around with my new shnoze power.

"But it HAS happened before?"

"Yes, at least twice to my knowledge."

The demon wasn't anywhere in sight, and the scent seemed to lead to the other side; it was hard to tell with all the crap placed on the roof. I started picking my way through cautiously, Grex beside me.

"And what happened to those people?"

"Well the first was some silly sultan of some silly desert country that no longer even exists as a memory. He thought to take the power of Dra'ruk, A lesser duke of the 5th circle who doubled as a minor god of gluttony... and ate himself to death, because while Dra'ruk gave him his power, he did not give him the immunities that were necessary to use it."

I thought for a minute. Why didn't Grex do that to me? It would have been a perfect con; or maybe he did, and he's been forced to keep me alive due to the other half of the contract made? Could one even do one part without the other, the way I worded things? I wasn't sure, but I thought I was safe, at least contractually. Being up here on a roof with a rogue demon slinking around while I was giving away my position by yakking like a moron wasn't exactly the safest thing to do. But I couldn't stop the words, it was like a disease or something.

"And the other one you know of?"

"Wished for the power of Lucifer himself, and promptly exploded, soul and all. Not the way to avoid paying a demon I would choose."

I shuddered. To have your soul shred itself like a tissue couldn't be pleasant.

"Mistress, I don't believe he is on this roof any longer; I cannot sense him near."

That way of sensing would be so much better than mine; smelling something that all but raped your nose, and only got worse the fresher it got, seemed pretty inconvenient at the moment. The trail led us completely to the other side.

"I'm pretty sure he flew off the roof and down, here. Probably before the other snipers were in position.' I keyed my phone again. 'Team, be advised the demon is no longer on the roof, he must have high tailed it out of sight before SWAT was in position. I'm following the trail as we speak. General south-southwest heading."

"Roger that, radio silence."

Which meant shut up until you find something, then scream your head off.

"Grex, time to fly again."

He was just as gentle this time, hoisting me up so fast I had a touch of vertigo. I held a finger to my lips, then directed him with pressure on the back of his neck, where I'm not ashamed to think (good luck to anyone, getting me to admit it) my hands were locked in a death grip. He caught on quickly, though the trail wasn't much of anything, just the same scent leading straight down to an alley.

"Connors, Snow! Sighting east of my position, West of first sighting, range 300 meters and moving away fast."

So more or less straight ahead of us, at the other end of the alley? Thankfully well away from my team with luck. Grex heard and flapped for some speed.

"Judge, Snow. sighting, flying target, past the barricade. Speed I make to be sixty miles per hour, straight west as an arrow flies."

"Faster Grex."

I almost tore his head off when he responded, though he didn't react at all.

"Pearce, Judge. You got a shot?"

"That's a negatory. ducked down and out of sight."

So no chance to slow it down. Crafty thing. Though what it was doing flying around in broad daylight was something I really wanted to know. Obviously not one of the ones weak to sunlight.

"Can you fly that fast?"

He nodded and increased the pace, causing my hood to fly back, and my hair to start stinging my face. Made me glad I didn't own a convertible.

"Pearce, Snow. ETA on team A is 15. Orders are to find the target, track the target, only engage to avoid civilian casualties."

"Snow, Pearce. Understood."

I kind of understood why the orders were given; with a blatant speedster like this one, and traffic due to start... the demon overrunning the barricade was the worst thing that could happen. I had no support at all; should I manage to corner the demon, it would be me and Grex versus
him.

But I was starting to get more annoyed and angry than scared. I'd trained for this, I wasn't incompetent, and I was getting sick of the inference from everyone that I couldn't manage one demon alone. Even if the demon was strong enough or odd enough to run around in daylight.

Once out of the alley Grex climbed, the G's pressing me back into him as he clawed for height. He didn't seem inconvenienced at all though, climbing about as rapidly as a hawk after a dive, so I focused on the scent, and leading him. We hit the barricade a moment later, flying over at light pole height as the cops manning it ducked and swore at us.

My relief was total when I noted there were no casualties; evidently the demon was more focused on getting away than damage. Likewise the streets beyond the barricade were mostly clear, and I saw no blood or obvious dismemberment. The smell was getting worse, and appeared to be leading in a ruler-straight line. I wasn't quite sure how the smell could get worse... but it was.

The trail led to a darkened parking garage. Not just a little dark. But an hour before midday, it was pitch black. Luckily enough one of the abilities I've always had (not one that just popped up randomly, like this smell thing) was the change to my eyes; I could see quite well in the dark, though I was limited to black and white. The little ambient lighting from the sun reaching through the few open spaces in the walls. Every single fluorescent light in the garage was broken, by the looks of it. This was worth checking.

"Snow, Pearce. Trail leads to a darkened parking garage eight blocks from the barricade. I'm going to canvas."

As soon as the phone clicked off I turned to Grex, who was also not encumbered in the slightest by the darkness.

"Roger that Snow, be advised that Judge has the garage in sight, and will keep the bird's eye out for our bogey."

"Understood."

Grex took the lead as we stalked along. I felt kind of ridiculous hunching low and sprinting from car to car, working my way up... but ridiculous beat taking a fire spell to the face. At the third floor, I started catching that scent again, even stronger than before. Suppressing my gag reflex was a battle... but I won. We made no sound I could hear in the darkness, our footing sure.

Did the strength of the scent correlate with the strength of the demon? I really hoped not. Cause the stench was horrible. Why did Grex not smell? Even if this power had just started up, Grex would stink too, right? But he didn't. I'd have to ask.

At the fourth floor, I started hearing voices, and saw a bit of light. Flickering quavery light, as if from a candle or something similar. We crept closer and I saw it was actually a torch, held by a skinny, pimply kid in a raged robe that looked as if a blind person had sewn it... while asleep. The torch also illuminated the crude circle crudely etched and then inked into the floor (I hope that was animal blood). The various knickknacks scattered around like so much trash hinted at a slow but less than standard summoning; I couldn't see any of the standard sacrifices or contractual soul guards we used.

A closer look revealed the pimply kid was looking gaunt, almost cadaverous. As if he were half desiccated corpse... which might be very close to the truth. Without our protections regarding summoning, the demon was a terrible drain on a person's life. There was a very real reason why only certain people were allowed (or taken and forced) to summon, after all. Not just anyone could handle the strain, or the entire draft would be meaningless. Proving my mental point, he started monologing, raising a bottle of pills.

"Finally, I can cure mom! And I didn't have to pay a cent! Damn doctors, blood suckers all of them! With Firriz at my side finally someone will be able to make them pay!"

His wild gesticulations finally showed the demon, a desiccated thing with a huge wingspan, wedging itself into a dark corner. I couldn't be sure, but I thought I saw the thing's eyes roll. It was most definitely an imp, though perhaps an unusually powerful one. To all appearances it was not detecting us. It wasn't panicking after all. A look at Grex, and a nod.

He jumped, and so did I, slowing the time around the kid to insane levels and turning just in time to eat a flash-bang in the face. Or something as close to it as made no difference. The scent briefly hit completely overwhelming levels, and something heavy hit me, driving me to the cold concrete. I struggled, trying to slow time around whoever it was, when my vision abruptly returned.

Grex was the one that had tackled me. And that of course, was why my time dilation powers weren't working; he was counteracting them. A quick glance at the kid showed him still mostly frozen, but the demon was gone.

"The demon had some sort of sense deadening power.' Grex whispered into my ear. 'I had to protect you. Thank you for not stabbing me with your athame."

I nodded my assent and gestured him off; we needed to catch the imp. It was loose now, the 'Summoner' had not given it orders, but it still ran. That smacked of freedom, which meant it was even more dangerous now. Why hadn't I thought to use my athame? It was a freaking combat knife for craps sake!

The imp was headed to the roof, no doubt to take off. I wasn't sure that it was faster than Grex, but it was pretty fast. I didn't want to risk it, but apparently the thing was just as fast running as flying.

Damn it!

"Get the hell back here you stupid stinking imp!"

The words left my mouth before I could shut it or call them back. Grex somehow found time to lift an eyebrow at me while we ran at our top speed. I'm sure I was blushing, and his smile was insufferable.

But I was strangely vindicated by what happened next.

The imp came back. We heard it before we saw it, shuffling, groaning, and spouting words in different languages that I was sure were curses. What the literal crap? I mean... dafuq?

Then the imp hove itself into view, running at me full tilt and with it's claws outstretched and a snarl on it's face. Grex placed himself between us in a flash, ready to fight, but I had another idea.

"Stop!"

The imp stomped, clearly angry now, if the way it was chewing it's own lips to shreds was any indication. It seems I had the power to compel this demon somehow. I hadn't even used the thing's name to compel it. I wonder how far I could press?

"Go back home to hell, imp, and do not come here again unless called."

Very much against it's will the words ground themselves out of the ruin of it's mouth:

"Yes my lord. Understood my lord."

And it winked out from one blink and the next, as if it had never been.

Grex was staring at me, for once clearly surprised.

"Hey don't look at me, I don't know. Though apparently I can command more demons than just those that bear my mark."

"Apparently so, my mistress. It is gone, yes back to hell. As bloodless an end to this encounter as could be achieved."

I snorted.

"You don't have to sound so disappointed. Come on, let's go secure our prisoner.There will be plenty of time for you to tell me how I just did what I just did later."

A set of manacled metal gloves without segments (so the fingers couldn't move) a nice silk gag, and a set of leg manacles and I was ready to drop the field; which was just as well, because the effort of keeping it up was something I was starting to feel. He immediately dropped as soon as I let go, looked up, and glared at me.

I'd been glared at by the best lately; his was nothing. Though I did wince a bit when his left eye started bleeding, the blood pouring from a rent in the eye itself. Seems the decay was already into the more permanent stages. Not that he had a chance of living either way; once he started the ritual, his fate, life and soul, was sealed. I felt a twinge of pity for the boy when I picked up the bottle and read it.

"Whatever you wanted this medication for, you were scammed but good kid. This is Digitalis. It's pure, and a poison in these amounts. Even using this to treat a heart condition would be extremely dangerous. Let me guess, you asked for a cure to a medical condition as part of your contract?"

His eyes narrowed, and he nodded.

"Well you got well and truly screwed kid. Sure this will cure any medical condition; death always does."

His eyes widened, and he started crying bloody tears, fighting back sniffles.

"Watch him Grex."

I walked a good distance away so I wouldn't have to hear him. The road to hell indeed, he's given up his soul willingly, and his life less so, all to almost kill his mother (by the looks of things) with a prank cure.

"Snow, Pearce. Situation resolved; demon banished, summoner caught. Location is the parking garage. No on site casualties. Please advise."

"Pearce, Snow. Secure and contain. Team ETA is 10. Should give you plenty of time to explain why Summoner Snow went in alone, without backup, and against orders?

urk.

(tbc)

The unwritten handbook of life states: “when in doubt, and called by others who have authority on a questionable situation, obfuscate.”

In other words; lie, lie, lie.

I had several minutes to create a believable lie, and my mind was racing. When lying, the simplest one is often the best. Simple lies made it hard for anyone to gainsay you, and hard for you to forget what you said later.

So when Pearce finally walked up, lagging a bit behind the rest of the team (busy securing the site in between shooting me concerned looks) I discarded the first five ideas I'd had and said the first thing that surfaced, right as he opened his mouth.

“A human was in danger.”

He closed his mouth, looked around, then opened it again.

“And where is this citizen somehow missed in the sweep?”

I pointed to the summoner. He stared at me.

“So you risked yourself, and the operation, in order to save the life of the summoner? Is that what I'm hearing here?”

I nodded.

“He is still a citizen, isn't he? Didn't you say to avoid citizen casualties? Well he still counts, summoner or not, right?”

Wow, that stare was pretty good. I felt lower than pond scum when he stared at me like that. He'd make a fine mother or something.

“No, the summoner does not count; for future reference, if the situation arises again, you keep yourself safe, and let the summoner die.”

I nodded, trying to look contrite. I don't think he was buying it, but the excuse would fly in our world, where our kind were notoriously twitchy, and he knew that. At least, he knew that judging by his sigh.

“Look on the bright side! Now we have a moron to question about how he managed to get a hold of summoning rituals. He had to get them from somewhere, and now we can track them down before he dies!”

Sarah walked up.

“Or after. Snow's right boss, she did good. Maybe we can plug this leak we have, before it becomes a flood. This way we can make sure the demon doesn't devour the soul before we ask the questions.”

The point was conceded.

“I know, just, try not to make a habit of it. I really hate replacing you people, and so far you're the most sane I've seen, even fresh out of the program.”

Is he kidding?

“Are you shrooming? I've seen an imp twerk in a bikini; no way in hell I'm sane.”

No way anyone could be, after that. I stand 100% behind that reality. Pearce paled. Sarah paled. Cords, who had been easing closer while checking something or other with a strange device, paled.

“Dear god, they do it to themselves.”

I knew just what to say to put the fear of God into them all.

“Ask the captain, he was there.”

I only thought they had paled before; I was fairly sure all the blood they possessed was in their shoes now. Sarah was actually swaying on her feet.

“Hey calm down, sheesh; you guys act like you had seen it first hand or something; relax.”

Cords was first to speak, voice an octave higher than normal.

“Sorry, that is... just not a pleasant image.”

“Tell me about it. So um, do we need to stick around? We already have copies of the circle and samples of all the fluids. Anything else we need in order to be proper police persons?”

I had sketched the circles to compare them to the ones I knew later; and Cords had taken photos with a massive camera. The fluid samples I'd taken and tagged, using small vials most summoners carried. Usually though crime scene investigations were not our forte. I was just curious.

“No, we're good. You can do what you want, we're just securing the scene till SWAT and CSI get here.”

“I can do what I want?”

“Well, summoners frequently do. Most of them wander off after the excitement is over; not entirely sane, remember?”

Nice, it seems being crazy had it's advantages.

“I suddenly feel the urge to run around screaming... in the direction of that coffee shop we saw on the way in. Any objections?”

I was in awe when he waved me away with shooing motions. The power summoners possessed, just to get out of work. With my team as willing accomplices. This was... crazy. Left unspoken was the trust; they trusted me not to flake out if I sensed another demon, and were giving me a pass.

Or they were testing me. I had a feeling the tests never stopped. Either way, I wasn't going to object. But I was going to stay close.

The coffee shop was closed of course, the people that had been evacuated only now being allowed back in. For some reason, this annoyed me. For some reason, it took actual effort to suppress the annoyance. I wanted to just break in and take the coffee, and leave the money on the table. Entitlement, after a fashion. I might have even done it for one white hot moment, except I realized while I fought the feeling that I had no money. Just my standard debit card.

Was this what all summoners felt? This sense of entitlement? I'd just saved your lives from a demon, you owe me a coffee? It felt right, the emotion... But I knew it wasn't. Oh, in a way it was; I'd been forced into this job by the population at large, and it was their fault for all that had happened to me, whether I never met the vast majority of them or not.

I was destined to die horribly and have my soul sucked from my still new form with some sort of demented straw of the damned, but it wasn't everyone else's fault. It was just fate. Well that and my mom. At least I could tell her what a bitch she was when we burned together.

Even if I became as successful as her in the business, and demons at large hated us both equally, surely they wouldn't pass up that chance to spit in her face by plunking me down right beside her as a constant reminder of who she was, and had been.

And now I was back to fighting that sense of entitlement again. I'd have to speak to someone about it. Karen? She was our psych, but that idea was cringe worthy. Who else could I trust to keep it kind of quiet though? That raised another issue.

The military and police were all of my world now. Somehow it had just happened. I hung out with either the task force, some few hardy regular cops that weren't repulsed by me, or my squad. My father, just a little. He was still angry about what I'd done to mom, and that I wouldn't apologize for it, even though he understood. I had become isolated in the last six months, to a rather frightening degree.

There was little trace of the person I was anymore.

I had done a few discrete checks; most of my friends were out of town at college, or already part of the work force. Precious few of any of our class had stayed here, something I understood. Except for the base, there were no true careers around this area. Aside from the military, there was no future here.

The only ones left were former annoyances. I couldn't even call them enemies, they lacked the hatred and ability to qualify as such. They were beneath me now. Those and people from my peers I'd never really known... also beneath me. I no longer had anything in common with anyone normal anymore.

Even the normal beat cops were a little too world weary to be considered normal; and they wouldn't hang out with a crazy robe wearing white haired girl in any case. Hell, more than a few of them ran. I could almost hear their mental screams sometimes.

How long could I withstand it? The ostracism, the casual hanging out with those (and only with those) who were clearly insane before I cracked completely too? How long had the rest made it? Had they ever been sane at all?

Had I ever been sane at all?

Being sane was a state of mind, which eased the facilitation of certain members of the human race with each other. Looking back on it, there was a very good chance that I had never been sane from the start. Or maybe it was the worlds fault.

Or maybe I was just thinking way too much.

An almost marching cadence of footwear to pavement and a hum that rapidly grew to a dull roar alerted me; there was a veritable throng of people headed my way, chatting at each other without a care. At every business some would break off from the human wave, and enter. There was no sign of a police escort, and yet the mob was orderly and composed. Or as orderly and composed as a mob could get.

These people had just experienced a demon attack, thinning their number. From what I understood, several pharmacists from the corner chain drug store, along with a few patrons. I couldn't see it from here, but I was willing to bet that the place was still cordoned off, the crime scene investigators gathering whatever evidence they could.

I'd also guess the bodies were still being carted off. This casual dismissal of death seemed both brave in it's way and a full on denial of the facts of life. It smacked of complete disrespect in a way. Or maybe it was just me. Could it just be me?

“Um, excuse me?”

I looked up to see the herd passing, a few of it's members standing in front of me. The one who had spoken was a mousey little brown haired thing sporting glasses I couldn't properly see through. She was cute, in that nerdy way young women with glasses can be.

Behind her was an older, tall and gaunt man with sporting a mournful expression and many lines on his face. Behind him was a blond guy with surfer good looks, bouncing on his heels. He seemed very far from his natural home.

All three wore matching uniforms, with their names and the name “The Grind” on them. The brunette was Patricia, the lurch wannabe was Abe, and the beach bum was Darren. Patricia was the one standing in front of me, mouth open, and key in hand. I realized belatedly I was leaning against the door. The door to the coffee shop she wanted to open. I stepped aside in a hurry.

“I'm sorry.”

She seemed startled. Was it that odd to apologize for standing in the way of someone trying to work? Were people in this town that rude? Or was it just summoners? Or was it just the reputation of summoners? It could also be the fact that a rogue summoner had just killed a few people, but the licensed ones shouldn't be tarnished due to that, should it? I mean after all, I'd just stopped the demon. I'd done it quickly professionally (at least as far as anyone knew).

Patricia unlocked the door and hurried inside, followed by Abe and after a short delay Darren; Mr. California living was trying to check me out through the robes and hood while standing in the doorway. He finally gave it up just slightly after it was obvious and hurried inside himself.

Patricia was already behind the counter and clicking buttons on the register; Abe was just crossing the divider and the beach bum almost blocked my view of the establishment... and the establishment's view of me. But Patricia looked up and spotted me. And then she gave another start, more violent than the one outside.

“I'd like a caramel machiato, please.”

She actually stuttered while Abe started one of the machines. Darren started wiping down tables, trying to pierce the veil (or robe) again.

“R-r-right, coming right up!”

They took their time, working in silence. Patricia fumbled more than once while ringing me up, but Abe was rock solid behind the machines. Soon enough the drink was served up, and it was... heaven. Pure heaven in a coffee cup. Well worth the tip I'd just signed off on. Literally the best I'd had.

“Thank you Abe, that was the best caramel machiato I've ever had.”

My thanks seemed to stiffen up Patricia's spine.

“Um, excuse me... are you the summoner that stopped the demon?”

I nodded.

“yes I am.”

I prepared to hear the worst, or just to be dismissed. Patricia had a pleasant suprise for me.

“Um, thank you. For stopping it, I mean.”

“Sure, just doing my job.”

I waved, and was almost grinning when Darren ruined it, sort of.

“Damn, she's hot!”

Apparently he'd finally been able to catch that elusive glimpse. He was brave in his own way; most people wouldn't try. I couldn't be happy I had just been complimented... could I? Should I? Damn it. Another blow to the person I was, while the person I am was happy I was attractive enough to turn heads.

I knew I wouldn't be happy until I had adjusted, and I knew all the time training had hindered that process, but this was getting awkward. No more second guessing; it wasn't healthy. My early new years resolution.

My phone chirped.

“Yes?”

“It's Pearce. Where are you, Snow?”

“In front of the coffee shop down the street from the garage, near the corner of Piedmont.”

“Right, stay there, our ride is picking you up.”

“Understood.”

I didn't have to wait long, even with the resumption of traffic and it's snarls, very few people stayed in front of an ADTF transport. Traffic on my side flowed away from the garage, but that was no problem fro Judge. He just stopped in the middle of the road. Not a single car horn sounded. I stepped out into traffic and again, nothing.

I looked carefully both ways, and walked nonchalantly across the street, past the stopped cars. Normally I'd have insisted he just swing by, get the team, and get me on the way back when it wouldn't break the law. But he was already here and stopped, and already causing the disruption. Best to minimize it. Even the cars in the lane nearest me wouldn't move until I was safely out of sight.

Judge was going to hear it though. Stepping to the back, I found that Cords was there with a hand, which I took... mostly because mounting little steps in robes could be time consuming and balance challenging. Stepping on the hem of a robe sucked, it wouldn't tear or give... which meant you could end up on your butt.

“What the heck, Judge? You couldn't just get the team first and swing around? Pretty sure that what you just did was illegal.”

“Following orders Snow, and I quote: 'go get little Snow first; she's all grown up now, but it's still a dangerous world out there.' Not sure why you were a priority myself, but I do my job. I don't like the idea of being homeless in the desert.”

I scoffed at that idea. I was pretty sure Sarah would never let him stay on the streets. Of course, I wasn't sure he knew that, but the torch carried was probably big enough to light up an opera hall or a theater.

“Whatever. I'll just bug Pearce.”

“No no, Snow, those orders didn't come from Pearce. They came from the Captain.”

“The captain is here? I thought this was just a squad operation?”

Cords interrupted.

“No he's not here, but he was monitoring the chatter. He called me, I called Pearce, Pearce called you and then Judge.”

Wow, that seemed... terribly inefficient.

“That seems like a huge waste of time.”

Judge felt obligated to answer the question laced into my tone.

“Proper channels, Snow. Still a rookie I see. Got to go through proper channels because it could be a demon mimicking our voice on the walkie or the phone. If I call you directly, and say the captain told me to pick you up, then you should be cautious. Pearce is your boss in the field. No one else.”

Cords interrupted again.

“And when you get enough experience, Pearce won't be your boss anymore, you'll be making decisions alongside him. Then you'll answer only to the Captain.”

I shook my head.

“Well that day is a long way off.”

“Just don't get impatient, you'll get there. You have the talent. After all, the demon today didn't even lay a finger on you, did he?”

Was he trying to butter me up for tonight or something? It was kind of sweet, in a way, praising my skills as a demon touched 'killer'. I was happy no one other than Grex and myself knew the truth; I wasn't sure it mattered how I did the job, but letting a demon go back to it's realm after it had killed a dozen or so people likely wouldn't sit well with the brass.

Even if I had made sure it couldn't come back unless summoned by one of us.

The chain of command tidbit rang true in a way; while it wasn't official, only the stupidest of ADTF members ignored the advice or orders of their summoner on scene. The only reason I was taking orders at all in fact was because of my rookie status.

I didn't want to discuss it anymore; we were at the entrance to the parking garage, and my team was waiting. Cords was monitoring comms again, so I opened the door for them, and they piled in. I had to ask the million dollar question.

“Well, anything unusual?”

Head shakes all around. Pearce clarified.

“Nah, standard stuff. Just had to wait for the crime scene people before we could scrub the place. Clean up was pretty easy for a standard site, the concrete patched fine and the blessings were quick. Father Arnold does good work.”

Father Arnold was our foremost resident catholic priests; he knew all the rituals to stave off possession and demonic attack, as well as the proper rituals to cleanse sites of demonic influence after we had done our job. Did it work? No. But it did help the populace feel better about going back into places that used to be frequented by demons.

At least Father Arnold and a few others we called we actual accredited priests. There were actually scammers out there that just recited mumbo jumbo and collected a fee. People truly were amazing sometimes. The fact that we even had to call priests in after taking care of a demon, even though they were powerless to stop demons, spoke volumes about faith and delusion.

“You alright Snow?”

Pearce, breaking me from my musing.

“Yes, I'm fine. Just heavy thoughts, you know?”

“Yeah I do. Your first demon is always the worst. It's one thing to train for it, it's another to have the demon right in front of you and know that this time isn't an exercise. Off the record you did well though, the demon didn't even touch you. If you don't mind my asking, what exactly were you thinking of?”

I knew a trap when I saw it, but I'd have to be blind to miss this one.

“Just how if Father Arnold could do his job properly, we wouldn't have to.”

Sarah and Pearce both winced. There were no atheists in foxholes.

“Sorry.”

He waved me off.

“No need to apologize; you're right. It's a placebo for the masses. I think God is out there, he just doesn't like us very much at the moment.”

“Moot point either way; if he's not going to help, we need to help ourselves.”

And Sarah had just encapsulated the entire summoner creed in a sentence. I'd been fed that line for months, well years. Perhaps even my entire life. I even believed it.

“So, any other thoughts? How did you take care of the demon, anyway?”

Urk.

“Time dilated it, then banished it.”

I could all but see the disapproval in the air like a hatred heat haze as that question crackled in the air.

“Not killed?”

“I wasn't sure I could hold it in place long enough to destroy it, and banishment seemed a more secure option than just hitting it while it tore apart the summoner. It was after all, what I'd trained for. I wanted to save him and see where he got the information he used. Some of it looks like what we use.”

Glad I didn't tell him how it really happened. He'd likely be even more pissed.

“Whatever; not like it matters, the hordes of Hell are far more numerous than we are anyway. It's just the unofficial stance of this department that demons be destroyed whenever it's feasible. Something to remember for next time; just don't risk yourself or the team for it.”

“Duly noted.”

The rest of the drive was finished in silence, though not a heavy or angry one. Instead it was more a sense of contentment, of a job well done. For that I was grateful. In truth there wasn't a department or military squad that didn't have that unwritten rule. Whittling down the numbers of your enemies was always a sound and prudent policy.

I just hadn't wanted to kill. I'd have to get over that, as well as make sure no one ever found out about my momentary lapse. I wasn't too sure what the fallout would be if someone learned it, but I knew it wouldn't be good for me.

I looked up as we drove inside the police parking garage. I really needed to stop zoning off; even here, surrounded by my team, I wasn't truly safe. No summoner was. Pearce, already up, opened the door and jumped out.

“Alright, home again home again, deedely do.”

Well that was odd. Especially from Pearce.

“Alright Snow, now the fun begins. The after action report and briefing.”

I groaned, That report was 4 pages long! There was even a spot on it that asked what you had for lunch that day! Why did the brass even need to know that? At least it was all computerized. I'd really hate to have to type such a thing by typewriter or write it by hand.

I'd have to ask my dad. Whenever we started talking again, that is. He wasn't exactly a fan of mine for how I left mom that day. Or for my continued refusal to speak to her.

Once on our floor, I made a beeline for my desk and went right to it, firing up that 10 year old dinosaur they saddled me with. The form was on the desktop, placed and titled prominently so that even a complete computer illiterate could find it.

“Hey Snow, how'd it go?”

Charlie, the other summoner on shift. He would have been on standby. He showed no evidence of being annoyed at having sat in a hot transport only to turn around and come back, like I would have.

“Imp, a strong one with flight and claws. Tricked some poor shmuck into summoning it somehow. Can't talk, typing.”

There was something he saw in my eyes he didn't like.

“Ummm, right. I'll leave you to it and ask later.”

“Thanks.”

The report only took a good twenty minutes. Most of that was trying to describe the scene in the parking garage. I mean I couldn't just say 'heartbreaking' and leave it at that, could I? I couldn't say heartbreaking at all in fact, so I settled on a description of the surroundings.

I also had to make up the fight I'd lied about; I said the summoner had discovered he had been duped, and attacked the demon out of spite, and the demon had been able to retaliate. A side effect of being improperly bound. All bunk of course, but they couldn't disprove it. I hoped. I recognized the circle used, and it was a pretty lax one, easily used for all kinds of summons and full of all kinds of loopholes when improperly etched.

Freshly copied report in hand, I went in search of the boss. I found him talking to the chief. Of course I couldn't walk in on that, so I waited. I did not have to wait long; he strode from the room in his usual larger than life manner some five minutes later.

“Captain.”

“Yes, Snow?”

I help up my report.

“Right, that goes to me. You could leave it on my desk next time.”

“What about the after action briefing?”

“Postponed pending our investigation. The prisoner is catatonic, and the evidence recovered is kind of suspect, so we're still sorting that out.”

Uh oh.

“You didn't notice anything unusual, did you?”

“No sir. At least, I don't think so.”

He muttered, shaking his head.

“Of course not, this was your first demon after all, you wouldn't have a frame of reference for such things.”

He muttered a bit more that I didn't catch before speaking up again.

“Alright, make more copies of your report and circulate it through the office. One per desk; we need to make sure everyone gets the word on what happened.”

I all but saluted from his tone alone.

“Yes, sir. The others too?”

It might help to have the other points of view. He bobbed his head before striding off. A bit abrupt of him.

I returned and made my copies. Distributing them, I saved Cords's for last. I knew I'd be seeing him tonight, and I really wanted to be a bundle of nerves about that, but I needed a place to relax now, someplace with a friendlier than just work acquaintance face, and his office would do in a pinch. At least wondering what had raised the Captain's suspicions made me view the date with more perspective.

Ugh, wait a minute. I'm going about this all wrong. Time to find the Captain, again.

I found him this time getting a coke from the machine a floor down.

“Captain.”

“Yes?”

“You said something was unusual about the call today; I've tried but I can't place what's wrong. At the risk of sounding stupid, what did I miss?”

“Come this way.”

He led me into a nice handy out of the way alcove in the hall.

“I know what you're thinking. No one here is questioning your performance. The demon is gone, the civilian summoner was caught, lives were saved. You did good, and are not in any kind of trouble. You didn't miss anything, you simply don't have enough experience yet. The fact is the circle used is an old one. Very old, but you see them all the time... at the front.”

I pondered that.

“Which front?”

“Eastern.”

So, Nazi, and not Russian. What was an old Nazi summoning circle doing here?

“Yeah, you see the problem now. Furthermore, it fell out of use because it was Swiss cheese, as circles go.”

“I thought it looked familiar, but couldn't place it. So it was one we used at one time, but fell out of favor?”

“Possibly, more your field than mine. But you see that exact circle scrawled all over the remains of the Germany, if you can make it that far.”

Wait, that was odd.

“Down to the line?”

“Yep, exactly, you're getting it now. Makes the living dead man you brought in even more important than he otherwise would be.”

He slapped me a comrade like slap on the back which had me windmilling for balance.
“You do good work Snow, don't stress so much... you'll turn your hair white.”

He set off on his next destination with a wave. Grinning bastard. Oh well, it was infectious. I'd been too paranoid, perhaps. For some reason thinking everyone was out to persecute me in various ways, over my choices or set me up for my mistakes.

Or maybe it wasn't really paranoia. Maybe they were out to get me.

Why did I feel that way? Like a soldier behind enemy lines? The feeling had only been getting worse lately, and as far as I could tell, there was no call for it. Summoners were in fact, subject to some forms of betrayal (or at least I considered them betrayal) but it seemed to early for the powers that be to decide I was a danger to humankind, or something similar.

That was a bridge I could only cross once I actually came to it. The feeling of hidden depths, and monstrous undercurrents was another impression that was only getting stronger. Politics was a shark infested ocean, and I was a mere guppy here. The more immediate fears I had were eased however, so it was time to return to my earlier mission; delivering my report to everyone.

It was time to hand this silly report to Cords and then veg in his office to some silly show.

I arrived and immediately knew something was wrong. The lights did not work; only a single candle illuminated the darkness. That candle was on top of a cupcake; chocolate with strawberry icing unless I missed my guess. “Whose line is it anyway” was showing on Cords's main computer screen, and he was nowhere to be found.

I took the hint however and sat, placing my report in his much abused paperwork inbox. Honestly it looked like there were reports from a year ago in there. At least it wasn't as bad as his outbox.

I'd just settled in and began to laugh crazily – the props section always got me – when the door opened. A hand holding a large Mountain Dew snaked it's way past my head, and set it's cargo down next to the cupcake.

“Sorry, you're a bit early, and I got caught talking about comm protocols with some of the 911 responders. Seems one of them has some ideas on how to make our panic button system faster.”

“No problem;' I pointed a the cupcake. 'What's the occasion?”

“Coming back alive from a demon hunt. That and cupcakes always go better with this show. If it was Top Gear, I'd have pretzels.”

Um... OK, Whatever. He saw my look.

“I'm just kidding. I just felt you'd need it. If you don't want it, it's fine.”

“No, I do, was just a bit curious is all.”

The cupcake was good mix of flavors, and with the candle stuck in it blown out, we were mostly in the dark. I didn't mind, my eyes could see in it just fine. I don't think Cords minded either; the way he stared at the screen with fixed determination was kind of endearing.

Before I knew it, our shift was over. Kind of ironic that with my power over time, time had somehow gotten away from me. I don't think I'd ever get over the irony of that one, no matter how many times it happened. Cords shut down the computer he used to entertain us. I knew he didn't like the next shift guy (a guy with the nickname Cable, oddly enough) messing with it so he pulled the power supply out of it. Every night. And like most nights, I watched him do it this time.

“So um, how do you want to do this?”

I considered for a moment.

“Well the tickets are for the private viewing for 7 tonight, right?”

He nodded.

“Isn't the guy supposed to pick the girl up?”

“Yeah, he is, but could we skip that part? To be honest, where you live kind of makes me nervous.”

Darn.

“Yes we can; where do you want to meet up? The museum?”

“Let's try meeting up here, then I'll drive you to the museum, and drive you back here.”

That seemed convoluted and wasteful as heck, but whatever.

“Sure, that's fine. See you around 6:30 then?”

Why did he look so nervous? Hadn't we been hanging out for months?

“I'll be here.”

I finished off the drink and walked out, throwing the can away with practiced aim on my way out the door. I wasn't going to leave a mess around.

Of course I'd gotten no farther than my car before Karen caught up.

“Get in, Get in, I'll meet you at your place, we need to hurry!”

And before I could respond to that she was gone. Seriously, I was beginning to think she had time warping powers of her own. She was that fast; like a chipmunk on speed. I wondered what her issue was; did she want to discuss the demon attack, or something else? What was the rush?

The drive home was therapeutic; traffic was terrible of course, but people had long since started recognizing the car. No one really wanted to get in the way of Snow White. I wasn't nearly as recognizable, but having the car linked to any summoner meant I could park it in the worst neighborhood in town with the keys in it, and it's still be there when I got back. It also meant my back bumper stayed clear of other vehicles seeking to merge with it.

Of course, Karen was at my door, hopping from foot to foot like... well a demented chipmunk on speed. I needed to come up with some new material; even my own head was getting bored with my lines.

“What are you doing?!? Come on, we need to hurry, if we don't you'll be late!”

Wait, was this about the date?

Karen had evidently lost patience at one point; she already had my lock picked. I knew this because she dragged me through my own door while I was fumbling with my keys.

“Come on, we need to get you cleaned up first, we don't have much time.”

“Karen, stop pulling already! What's the rush, I have an hour.”

“You spent all day running around in a dirty parking garage in sweaty robes fighting demons. Now strip and get showered while I pick something out.”

She switched from pulling to shoving. I still couldn't understand how someone smaller than me could be stronger. Maybe I just didn't have enough rage.

“That's a gross exaggeration, and you know it.”

“Go get clean.”

I had my own bathroom door slammed in my face.

With a shrug I did as ordered, trying not to think of how Karen was even now going through my closets, no doubt trying to find the most embarrassing thing she could to wrap me in.

It seemed like no sooner than I stepped into the shower, than whirlwind Karen was through the door yelling at me to get out. The door I was sure I locked before I got in. Glad I wasn't really dirty.

“Come on, hurry up! We need to get your hair dried, make up done, and dressed in 40 minutes! Sigh, never enough time.”

She started dragging me again, snagging some towels on the way out. At least she let me wrap a towel around myself. She didn't let go until I was safely plunked down in one of my kitchen chairs, a large mirror I didn't possess in front of me. She handed me a hair dryer, and then picked one up herself.

Two hair dryers.

That was all I saw for a bit; Karen was trying to strangle me with the towels she grabbed. Either that, or trying to give me the biggest towel noogie she could. It really could go either way.

It seemed to take forever before she was satisfied, and let up. My glare didn't seem to phase her at all. I obviously needed more practice. I tried to grab my brush, and she smacked my hand.

“I think the simple approach is best here. We'll go for a nice loose cascading waterfall effect. Shouldn't need much. Trying to put all that up or braid it would just take too long.”

What? Cascading waterfall? All she was doing was brushing it out. The same thing I did everyday. Only she was counting brush strokes. I thanked whatever powers that were responsible (probably Grex) that my hair was hard to tangle; at the rate she was going a tangle would yank my scalp off.

Then out came the make up; I had hidden the large kit well in the back of my closet under my shoes, but Karen had found the thing.

“Shouldn't I get dressed first?”

She gave me her best 'are you stupid?' look.

“And chance getting make up all over your dress? I think not.”

Wait a minute, dress?

“What dress?”

“The LBD we got you months ago; this is a black tie affair. We don't get many of those here, I'm kind of jealous. A mecca for arts and learning we are not. Cords probably had to pull a string or two among what passes for the cities' rich and obnoxious.”

“Oh? Cords is connected?”

“No, not that I'm aware of. But how else would he get tickets?”

Sigh.

“Pay for them?”

She actually stopped for a moment, shocked.

“But those tickets are like a whole twenty bucks! It says “invitation only” right on the invitations! The mayor will be there!”

I rolled my eyes as hard as I could. She didn't notice, but started pulling out the crap I almost never used.

“You know I hate you right? You don't even really need concealer or foundation.”

That said she proceeded to apply it anyway.

“You know I can do this, right?”

I received another 'don't be stupid' look for my trouble.

“Keep your hands away from your face, and the makeup.”

She started playing with highlighter and a contouring brush. I couldn't see how it looked exactly, she was blocking the mirror.

“Hmm, I think blush might be a bad idea, you're too vampire like. It'll be noticeable.”

Was she kidding?

“All of this will; it feels like you shoved my face in mud or something.”

She gave me a dirty look, then pointedly applied some blush. When she pulled out the eye shadow and liner, I decided being still and thinking nothing would be a good idea. At least, as rushed as she was, she took great care moving that pencil around my eyes.

A quick touch of the mascara brush and I was done. Without a word, Karen finally moved out of the way.

I'd been expecting a dark brown face with visible powder, and a black goth eye job. Perhaps a raccoon look. What I saw was my face, perhaps just a shade darker, but with my eyes popping from it. My cheekbones showed their edge, and my cupid's bow looked different somehow. Karen broke my vision again before I could decide whether I liked the effect or not, this time to apply a dark glossy lipstick.

“I wish we could do something about your earrings. A good trade out to something different might do you a world of good.”

“I'm not risking it; are we done?”

She grabbed my hands, then my feet.

“Hmm, looks like the nail polish is holding up. Yeah we're done. Time for the dress. Oh and, use the lingerie I set out. Go! Shoo, shoo.”

The nerve, to make shooing motions at me, as if she weren't the one wasting all my time.

The lingerie was the small slinky sheer black stuff with lace. The dress was black, little, and would barely hide the bra. At least lengthwise it would be to mid thigh, so I could sit down without flashing people. If I was careful. The fishnet tights were also sheer. I knew when she picked this out months ago I would eventually get blackmailed or bullied into wearing it. I had just been hoping to be a nice flabby 80 at the time.

I was likely to turn heads worse than my mom in this.

“Come on, get out here, there's no more time!”

The door was all but kicked in, and Karen was well inside my personal space, staring at me.

“Good, you didn't smudge anything. Now let's go, shoes and purse are by the door, get out, you've less than 20 minutes to make it!”

I swear, she spritzed the air with perfume as I went by; I didn't recognize it, but it was a light airy sort of spicy scent that nonetheless clung to me... She would definitely pay for that.

Less than 20 minutes to make a thirty minute drive. This would not end well. Time to cheat, perhaps. The shoes were those stupid three inch heels I had had to practice walking in for hours to make sure I didn't break a leg in them. The purse was a small black one inset with sequins that matched the whole thing. So tonight I was half knockout, half mortician. I still didn't understand the point of putting fragile (and easily ripped off) lines of cheap sequins on a small cloth purse. Perhaps it was to charge more? This thing hadn't been cheap.

I wasn't about to kill myself trying to run in heels, and I was sure Karen would know somehow if I ran in my tights and got them dirty... so it was cheat time.

A little focus, a little drawn will, and as soon as I was out of the apartment (shoes on, and checking to make sure the stuff I needed was in the purse) I dilated time. With time slowed to a mere fraction of what it normally was, I was free to walk carefully down the stairs and to my car. It took 3 seconds.

Now came the tricky part. I couldn't just walk to the cop shop, it was too far away even with time dilated. My car however, was awfully big. Could I even manage this?

Placing my had on the door, it was actually rather easy to extend my own immunity to the dilation field I was generating to the car. I barely broke a metaphorical sweat. Holding the concentration required while driving would be interesting however.

I decided to take the less traveled roads. A mostly immobile set of two cars side by side would ruin the plan after all, and I had time.

It worked; I could weave my car in and out of traffic, blow stop lights, and drive on the wrong side of the road with no consequences. It would take one of those special cameras to even catch on that something was there. If caught I'd admit to it of course; no one told me I couldn't do this. It may be common sense, but today already illustrated that summoners had wiggle room (perhaps too much) to play fast and loose with such things.

The entire drive took seven minutes. By the time I pulled up to the police garage, I was beginning to feel the burn of keeping my dilation field up. The slight headache just beginning to form was a warning of overuse. Still, I had to be careful about this.

I released the field slowly to make sure I wasn't slammed into by a driver/fellow cop not seeing me sort of appear and slamming into me. The slow dial up proved my fears groundless however, though the blue guarding the gate did a pretty comical double take when he looked up to see my car.

I flashed him my badge and put a finger in front of my lips, not quite touching. Then I hit the door signal to the arm (under my steering wheel, looking like a normal garage door opener), and drove by as he gaped. The rear view mirror saw him studiously go back to his reading material, some magazine or another that I wasn't sure I wanted to recognize.

And my assigned parking space was empty, something that wasn't always the case. Charlie liked taking it cause it was closer to the door than his; I didn't normally mind since I never came here after my shift unless dragged kicking and screaming (in fact, this was the first time) but tonight it was clear.

I had a sneaking suspicion the cop gossipy grape vine had struck again. But whatever, I'll deal with it tomorrow. I decided I'd just wait here, in my car. I could walk back out and stand on the street to make it easy for Cords, but that felt a little too much as if I were going to display myself to the world. An idea I wasn't keen on.

I wasn't left waiting long, thankfully. Jut the very moment I found a good song on the radio, lights were flashed into my eyes. I got out to find Cords just stepping out of his Ford focus. The idea that he was a gear head and liked that car amused me.

Then he stepped into his own headlights and I got a good look at him.

He was in a tuxedo, an honest to God white tuxedo with a crimson cummerbund and handkerchief folded neatly in the jacket for color. His hair was even better kept than this morning, and his shoes were so shiny I could see myself.

He cleaned up really nice.

Of course I realized while I had been checking him like a side of beef at the market, he's been doing the same when I came out of it and realized we hadn't spoken for a good thirty seconds. He flushed and spoke first.

“Wow... just, wow. You look amazing. More than amazing.”

I said what I thought as well; at least I was a bit more coherent about it. My, this garage was hot this time of year.

“You clean up well yourself.”

“So... been waiting long?”

“No, not at all. Just parked and settled in when you pulled up.”

He approached and butterflies started multiplying in my stomach. He held his hand out in a chivalrous gesture and while I probably should have been mad, I wasn't.

“Well, shall we go?”

“Yes, let's. It wouldn't do to be late.”

The art was exquisite, if dark. Seeing Bosch next to Grunewold next to Duhrer was a little jarring, but the worth it. The close company was entertaining, Cords seemed to know more about the art, especially the art dealing specifically with demons and Satan, then I had been willing to give him credit for. He always found something to comment on; the lighting, little funny stories involving a few, the issues involved in storing them... I was seeing a side of him I didn't know, and I liked it.

The rest of the company was boring to the point of inducing tears. Case in point: the mayor and his wife. Mayor Zach Bartlet and his wife Sandra were two boring old politicos, well entrenched in the local machine. He had been mayor for the last 20 years, and only a stick of dynamite could move his butt from that chair at this point.

He was an older and heavier man with a fringe of light tan hair mixed with gray that set his mostly bald pate off nicely. He was wearing a suit that looked, if anything, more expensive in cut and cloth than Cord's did. It also looked singularly out of place on him too.

His wife Sandra was an almost emaciated thing, an animate stick in an expensive burgandy dress with a crown of white hair that looked to be covered in plastic she had so much product in it. The rumor was she was the brains to the mayor's bluff demeanor and political acumen.

He was currently eyeing me like I was a hamburger or something. As rotund as he was that was a distinct possibility.

“Ahh, here she is. Hello, Mayor Bartlet, my wife Sandra. So you're the new summoner the chief has been telling me about, right? His praise hardly does your personage justice!”

I couldn't blame Sandra, if I were her I'd look a little sour now too. Though my money was still on the good mayor wanting fry me up than anything else; she had no reason to think I'd want to be the Bugatti Veyron to her Ford Taurus.

The mayor needs work on his pompous routine; who actually still uses 'personage' anymore? Though I guess it was likely better than just blurting out what he was thinking, judging by where his eyes were. I hadn't seen him look at a single painting the entire night; but then again, I hadn't really been watching him like the proverbial hawk.

“I'm Calvin Leonard and this is Maeve Numens, Anti-Demon Task Force. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Mayor.”

I wasn't going to start a scene by suggesting I could speak for myself, but I took note of that unseemly breach in decorum later. We weren't a couple (yet) and he had no reason to introduce us both. Unless he knew the mayor from an earlier meeting, but the mayor's face gave no indication of that.

Despite that, the two were soon chatting like old friends; from what I could tell, about basketball teams and stats. The mayor was a huge fan of Wilt Chamberlain, it seems. Sandra attempted to make a little small talk in my direction, eying the same assets her husband was but with for a different reason. At least I hoped it was. Her first verbal salvo showed what she thought of the night's entertainment – and showed more of her personality than she knew.

“So, are you as bored as I am?”

“Actually I'm not bored at all. I wanted to come here to see the art; I find the subject matter fascinating.”

She muttered 'of course you do' under her breath, which I caught clearly. She hadn't intended that of course, but my senses were really good. Possibly better than normal good; I had no real comparison to make there, my memory on my senses was spotty at best. I thought they might be better, but it was really hard for me to say. I continued on, letting her know I'd heard her.

“I wanted to see this exhibit when it started it's tour, before I was drafted. Renaissance painting has always been an interest of mine, and the use of chiaroscuro in paintings depicting evil is something special. The effect of such bold contrast conveys the hint of light among the dark, or dark among the light, as it were.”

It took her a second to close her mouth. She probably didn't even know what I was referring to. For all that the mayor stumped for the paintings making their way here, it wasn't too likely that he knew either. Kind of sad really, I half suspected that Sandra was the reason for all the political arm twisting to bring the exhibit here. Seems I was mistaken.

Which begged the question and raised a minor mystery; perhaps it had just been a financial decision? But this city was hardly a mecca for the arts, would the profit and tourism outweigh the costs of bringing it here? It would be close, but I felt no. Perhaps it was for political points?

Or perhaps the pressure to bring the exhibit here came from someone else?

There as the general, after all, and the wiki on him pegged him as a lover of Renaissance art. And he had much more pull than the mayor. Heck, he probably had as much as a retired president. The Europeans loved him. Something I didn't understand really, because while he was powerful, under his watch we were still losing. Maybe it was because we were losing slower?

I felt almost obligated to go and say hello; it would likely be more interesting than listening to the blather I was currently tuning out. But I was a fresh from training officer, or close enough, and that was a general. It just wasn't done. A shame really; I didn't recognize the people he was talking to, but I could bet they weren't as annoying.

“ …and so Hanzel said 'if you want to run out there and take a look, you be my guest, but I won't help clean up what's left of you.'”

Yep, pretty annoying. She was actually talking taking to the streets during the alert to try and see the demon. Apparently she has a heart condition, and was at the Pharmacy picking up her prescription. And she wanted to see the demon that slaughtered a good 20 or so people... with a heart condition.

And she had kids. Her genes were already passed on. The mind boggles.

“It was for the best that you didn't. That particular demon was a heavy combat type of imp. It was rather difficult to take down.”

I felt bad for lying... but maybe the lie would keep her from being stupid in the future. Then again, that gleam in her eye looked most unhealthy.

“Really? Did it... injure anyone from the ADTF?”

Now what the hell sort of question was that? What she was really asking was if it killed any of us.

“No, I handled it. There were no casualties of any kind on our side.”

“Oh, you were the one?”

“I was. Cal, can we move on? I want to see the Sadeler pieces in the next room. It was wonderful meeting you both.”

“Yes, it was wonderful meeting you Mr. Mayor, Mrs. mayor.”

He let himself be dragged along with a final wave and I took him about as far from the main area as I could, into a darker underused part of the museum. I really did want to see those Sadelers, but more than that I wanted to get away from all the smarm.

“So what was that, exactly? You didn't want to schmooze?”

I shook my head, but had to grin. That painting depicting a fat Satan was mildly humorous. The whimsy mixed in with the evil was very well done.

“I don't have anything in common with those people. Sandra was... well she made me want to hit her.”

“More in common than you think.”

Something he saw in the look I gave him made him backpedal fast. Which of course meant he was reading the expression right.

“No, no, not like that. I meant you're all three very charismatic. Did I mention you're beautiful when you're angry?”

“No, but that doesn't let you off the hook. You really think I'm charismatic?”

“A natural born leader, and without even trying. I for one, would follow you anywhere.”

OK I had to admit, that was kind of sweet.

“At any rate, I wasn't kidding when I said I wanted to see the entire thing. Something I can't do while hobnobbing.”

And I was a simple type, I didn't really fit in with the elites. At least, I hoped I didn't.

“Well despite the mean look the curators gave me, my uncouth self saved your plate for you when you ran off.”

What? Sure there was a buffet there with what had to be some pretty expensive finger foods, but I hadn't made a plate. I hadn't been hungry.

“I hadn't had time to hit the buffet. When did you...?”

“When Sandra was talking your ear off, the mayor and I went for a snack. I brought you back a little. Truthfully, I'm thinking of going back there and getting a takeout sack... the shrimp puffs are divine.”

The small plate he handed me was white and at least half bowl. There were no shrimp puffs in it. Instead there were some sort of berry. There were six of them, and nothing else. They looked almost like grapes.

“They are called Jabuticaba. They are rare type of fruit from South America. I had a few to try them out. They are exquisite.”

“They sound expensive.”

I tried one. It tasted like a rather tart grape... only more. Much more. It was much like eating one of those gushing candies, only it seemed to have more juice in it, and it seemed to be more refreshing. Before I knew it they were gone. Cords looked amused and handed me a napkin.

“You have berry on your lips.”

I dabbed.

“Well they taste expensive. I'll have to look for more of them or something.”

“I would guess they are quite expensive to import, judging by that spread. My guess is you won't find them at the local grocery. I'm told they make a decent wine; we might be able to find that.”

I handed the plate/bowl back to him as I asked:

“We?”

I certainly had no intention of sharing. Those berries had been amazing. He looked more amused than shocked.

“Oh come on, you can share a little!”

“Nope, you'll have to buy your own... that is if I don't get there first.”

I handed the napkin back for good measure too.

“Hows my lipstick?”

“A wonderful shade that you wear well.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“I meant, did I smudge it?”

“Oh! Hmmm....”

He looked closer.

“Nope, you're good to go back and mingle any time you want to.”

“Which will, of course, be never. Come on, one last room to see.”

He waved and headed back to the lobby.

“I'll catch up, I need to get rid of this trash... and maybe check to see if there are any more berries?”

I grinned.

“Well I won't say no.”

The last room was filled with the work of Jacopo Tintoretto. Some of the subject matter in the paintings weren't exactly pertinent, like “Leda and the Swan,” but his “The Descent into Hell” was as great a piece of art from the period as one could see. It easily rivaled the works of Michelangelo and Rapheal, at least in my opinion.

“Breathtaking, isn't it?”

I was in mid nod when I finally recognized the voice. It was my mother.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Of course she would be here, she was every bit the social butterfly Mrs Bartlet was, and this would be the perfect occasion. A look showed I was flanked; Mom on one side, Dad on the other.

“Mother. Dad.”

“Hi honey!”

Mom was entirely too chipper; either she had forgotten the entire argument we had where I pumped for the truth... or she was ignoring it. My money was on forgetting personally, but it could be either. Dan on the other hand, was more chained to earth, though he looked like he wanted to be smoking like a chimney. He did have a drink in his hand, so that was something.

“Maeve.”

My flake of a mother pointed once again to “The Descent into Hell” again, this time overbalancing and almost touching it, before dad snagged her by the back of her sparkly silver dress and again brought her upright. I wondered if her dress had been engineered for such stresses on purpose; mine would have ripped.

And worse, as crazy as she is, she looked as stunning as ever, and a small part of me hated and resented her for that. I quickly squashed that part of myself as best I could, though it left me wondering how screwed up I really was.

“You shouldn't try to touch the paintings mother.”

“Ahh, but I wasn't! I have trouble balancing sometimes. I'm kind of top heavy.”

I was pretty sure the part of my myself I'd just ground into metaphorical dust would be howling at the comment. But it got worse. Oh boy. I'd forgotten the rule... around my mother, it could always get worse. She grabbed me with a big hug, groping me right then and there.

“It seems to be something we share! How about you honey, any problems balancing?”

With Dad's help I managed to fend her off. Luckily before anyone arrived in the deserted room and spotted us.

“No Mother, no problems balancing. At least not after the first few days.”

Hey wait a minute. Her klutziness could be explained by that possibly... if she never got the idea of managing a lower center of gravity.

Or was prevented from doing so.

I would have to ask Grex later tonight. And if he had done that, maybe I could get him to undo it. But if I could should I bother? I mean it might lead to him screwing her up in some other way. Or even worse, now I needed to ask what other ways he screwed her up. It might be that he told me the truth about Mom when I asked, but did he really tell me all of it?

“Something on your mind, Maeve?”

Dad looked pretty concerned. I guess the females of our family did not have a good track record historically. And he was always good at reading me. Not that I was hard to read; according to Karen I was an open book.

“Just a few questions for a certain thing of our mutual acquaintance, when I get a chance. So, you enjoying the exhibit?”

He shrugged while Mom shook her head yes so violently that she would have fallen, save for Dad's arm around her.

“It's not really my thing, but even I can tell the paintings are well done.”

“Some of the best ever done. Straight from Italy, when Italy was the center of the western world.”

He grinned a little sourly and slugged his drink back before he gave his laconic reply.

“Yeah them and Greece. Third world countries now.”

“Yes, but they had good runs and great art while they lasted.”

I couldn't help but feel obliged to point that out. Mom nodding along enthusiastically with my point didn't help my peace of mind any.

“Alright, they were out of the Jabuticaba, but they had some Strawberries and cream so I got you those. Oh and a glass of this wonderful Merlot which I couldn't see the name of, but is probably worth more than a day's wages.”

And Cords was back, materializing at my side as if he hadn't crossed the intervening space. I was going to have to put a bell on him or something; even though the carpeting wad pretty plush. Anyone really could sneak around I guess.

Who would want to carpet up a museum anyway? I personally would want to hear potential thieves coming. The cleaning bill must be enormous. Cords sidled up to my elbow and handed me another plate/bowl, filled with Strawberries and the wine.

“Thank you.”

Uh oh. Mom was looking between us, first at Cords, then me, then cords, then me, as if watching a tennis match. I could see the ear to ear grin bloom in slow motion on her face. She was going to do something embarrassing.

“Dad, Mom, this is Cords. Cords, my Mom and Dad.”

The introduction would stall her I hope. If I was lucky she'd lose track entirely of what she was about to do.

“Pleased to meet you detective Numens, Mrs. Numens.”

Dad knew my mom like no one else. He attempted to stave off the apocalypse by striking first, as I had. He held out a hand.

“Cords, Cords... the tech and communications expert for the ADTF day shift?”

“The very same.”

They shook.

“We've met before.”

Whatever Dad was going to say next was interrupted by the embarrassment bomb. This time it was only two meaning laden words.

“Grand babies.”

Oh damn it.

Cords went white, and I'm sure I was a human tomato. I was very proud of how calm my voice was.

“Mother, it's far too early to be thinking of such things. This is the first time.”

“The first time you two have been on a date?”

I shook my head.

“The first time I've been on a date like this, ever.”

She openly gawked in what could only be a deigned manner, not that an outsider would know.

“Really? But it's been six months! That's almost a lifetime!”

I could actually understand what she meant by that. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may die.

“Well I'm a slow starter I guess... just like my Mom. Right, mother?”

A pointed glance at Dad and even she could get what I meant.

“Um, right. So I guess we have to wait.”

I nodded as graciously as I could. She was so darn trying, sometimes. Even if I wasn't still mad at her – which I was.

“Yep; at least until after my first tour.”

Mom hadn't even looked at another person in any sexual manner until she finished her first tour. Unless of course, she lied to me. Or maybe Dad hadn't been her first. Ugh, this was something no kid wanted to think about... their parent's sex lives.

Oh well, I'd seen all I wanted to here. I'd even had a snack, and good wine. While this was a nice night, I was feeling a little restless, and I was more than willing to go. A subtle hint at Cords would undoubtedly help.

“Calvin.”

“Yes, Maeve?”

“Have you seen everything you wanted? This was the last one for me.”

Alright, so I sucked at subtle.

“Yes, I've seen all the masterpieces I could ever want tonight.”

Innuendo perhaps? It sort of felt like it, though it didn't come across as smarmy or fake. His face was completely serious, and his eyes seemed to drink my form in as if it were the wine we had. His eyes didn't wander a milometer, save up and down.

It was flattering, in a way. I wondered if the Numen family tended to attract eccentric devoted personalities. Dad's eyes had never wandered either, no matter how crazy mom got. I should only be so lucky as to find the same. Though I wasn't sure I was ready to live the old adage about being attracted to one's parents.

“So I take it you're ready to go?”

“I am, if you're good to drive.”

“I only had a small glass of wine. I'm stone cold sober and very good to drive.”

He took my arm in his in genteel fashion, and led me out into the crowd again. We strode past them as a king and queen, and he held the door for me on the way out. I caught my parents watching me from the corner of my eye.

I also saw the general doing the same, in a frank manner. He wasn't even trying to hide his interest.

“OK, that was creepy.”

Cords was once again at my shoulder and we were safely through.

“What was?”

“Did you see the general?”

He shook his head.

“The old man in the uniform? You really didn't see him?”

“I had other more interesting things to look at.”

And there it was again.

“Well he agreed with you apparently; he was staring at us on the way out. The entire time out.”

“Well you are one of the Summoners under his command.”

I agreed, but disagreed.

“I'm only one of many. I wasn't even the only summoner there. Jimmy was there, and so was Silas. Heck, he knows my Mom, and she was there. Plenty of other people to express interest in.”

“Maybe, but you're the only active Numens summoner. You're family is kind of big deal.”

I didn't get that; how did everyone know the entire history of my family but me? Was there more to it? More summoners from our family that helped in the war that I don't know about?

“How so? I thought it was just me and my mother.”

“Well it's not really my place to say, but supposedly your grandma was a pretty astute Summoner as well. That's the rumor anyway. For some reason the file on your family is classified.”

Well, I was pretty sure I knew the answer for why that was. The contracts for both myself and my mother would easily be classified, just on the realization that a specific demon was stalking our family. There had to be a reason for that. Hmm, another thing to ask Grex. That list was getting quite big. Still drowning under the ocean of things I did not know, in a game when everything I didn't know could kill me.

Cord's opened his car door and helped me inside; I was rather grateful, because when sitting back at least I was as graceful as a walrus in these stupid shoes. Any more heel to them and I'd be snapping my fool neck and ending my career easily enough.

“I wish I'd have met you at your place. That way you wouldn't need to drive home, I'd just do it for you.”

“I appreciate the thought, but I'm quite capable.”

He favored me with a haughty grin.

“Yes, but it's the more genteel option.”

I thought genteel before, but he actually used the word, as if he were trying to be a gentleman. Come to think of it, for tonight at least, he had been less 'working stiff' and more high society. Not completely, but it was clear he was trying. Not really having anything to say I stayed quiet. That restlessness was growing stronger; I felt the urge to do something, anything, as long as it was active.

Traffic was light and we flowed through it easily. Before I could fully shake my distraction we were back at the police garage. Cords pulled up behind my car, and put his car in park. I think my mood was sensed, as nothing was said. Even the radio was off, leaving us in blessed silence.

Before I could really ponder what I was doing, or question it, I leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you, I had a nice time.”

He looked more dazed than that Jay guy, in that movie. Then my brain caught up, and I flung myself out of the car towards mine. I only barely made out his answer as I dove through the door of it, Heels be damned.

“Sure, no problem, anytime.”

Irrational or not, I locked my car door before I started it up. Just what had gotten into me? Why had I done that? Was it even the proper thing to do, or not?

I looked up and Cords was gone.

Without further ado I backed up and left myself. I wanted nothing more than to just turn the siren on and speed somewhere, anywhere. Maybe I could play tag with traffic. Abuse my Summoner status and penchant for being crazy, like every other Summoner did. Like I had earlier this evening, just to avoid being late for a date.

There was without any doubt, something wrong with me.

I obeyed the speed limit. Of that I am proud. I couldn't quite stop my own weaving among the traffic, just for something to do. It was activity, and I needed that. If not for the fact that I would want my car tomorrow, I'd have just jogged all the way home, dress and all. Heck, heels and all.

Pulling into the apartment lot I realized my skin felt itchy. It also felt rebellious, as if it were crawling it's way off my frame. The air was chilled, but I felt none of it. If anything, I was too warm. Could summoners get sick? More to the point, could I get sick? I was under the impression that I could not.

But I certainly seemed to be coming down with a fever; all the signs were there.

Once in the lobby I removed my shoes. The carpeting was clean enough to not worry about my stockings, and I wanted speed. I didn't even bother with the elevator, taking the stairs two at a time as much as I possibly could with the dress hampering my efforts.

By the time I reached my door my head was buzzing, and my nerves were tingling. I couldn't find the keys in my smallish purse, so I just decided to use a minor spell to open the door. My control was as bad as it had ever been... I almost blew the knob off. I didn't even bother closing it before I summoned Grex.

“Grex, veni huc!”

His embrace was actually cool against my skin. I couldn't help but ag into it.

“Mistress, you aren't well. “

“No crap. Something is wrong.”

He was both gentle and stern as he helped me through the apartment to my wonderful comfy bed.

“Yes, what did you do?”

Was he blaming me for this?

“What do you mean, what did I do? I just feel like crap.”

He glared at me. Actually glared! How dare he! This demonic scum that ruined my life, and that of my family... even sick, I could glare back.

“Yes, your power is out of control; beyond even that of the earrings to suppress. The only way that could happen is if you removed one, or used a massive amount of power, drawing enough power past the earring's abilities to suppress. Instead of a gradual increase, we have power responding to an increased potential for it's use and flooding you.”

I winced as my head seemed to fill with cotton; an unpleasant but strangely odd feeling.

“So how bad is it?”

I shifted to a more comfortable position as Grex brushed my hair from my eyes, peering into them.

“Not bad at all; it won't be fatal, and it won't hurt you at all... you just need a few hours to regain equilibrium. Oh, and another set of earrings.”

Great, more holes in my ears. With another set added, that would be 4 per ear. Eight pure silver rings total, each inscribe with glyphs meant to limit my power. I wasn't entirely sure why I needed them anymore, but that was just another question to add to the list at this point.

“So, my wonderful mistress, what did you do to ruin all my wonderful calculations regarding safe use of your abilities?”

I almost didn't feel like telling him. But maybe honesty would actually be returned this time. First time for everything.

“Used my time dilation field and extended it around my car, so I wouldn't be late.”

His eyes widened in what could only be genuine shock.

“You engaged your most powerful magicks... around the entire surface of a large sedan... and all to avoid being a few minutes LATE FOR A DATE?!?”

Sheesh he could be loud.

“Yes?”

The language he was using wasn't something known to me, but I could make reasonable guesses as to what he was saying.

“Hey, I don't want to hear it from you. I'm allowed to indulge a little, if I feel the need. It's my power, I sold my soul for it, and I'll use it how I want.”

After all, I hadn't been hurting anyone, and regardless what I used the power for, I would pay later. Whenever I died, to be precise. He ran a hand through his feathery hair, clearly exasperated.

“You know what mistress? You are absolutely correct. Forgive me for speaking out of turn. But use your power too much and you will attract the wrong type of attention. I worry for you, and you are making my job of protecting you much harder.”

How so? Were demons going to hunt me?

“Are demons going to be attracted to me now? And if so, won't that make my own job easier?”

“Yes, some demons will come hunting you... among other things. And yes, that is likely to make your own job easier, if you survive.”

Now I was curious; this was his first mention of something else. I'd seen no evidence in our lore of anything else.

“Like what other things?”

He smirked at me.

“You thought demons were the only plague to humanity? Silly mistress. Much more in heaven and earth, than in your philosophy.”

Grex was an ass. But he had been around since the beginning of... well everything, so I had to assume he knew what he was talking about. He tucked me in.

“Sleep for now, my mistress, then you may ask me all the questions you desire. Water under the bridge as you humans say, there is still plenty of time to learn everything you need to know.”

I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to learn, to know, to be doing something. Anything at all. And then suddenly I was bone weary, and wanted to sleep. I wanted to ask Grex if he had done anything to make me sleep, but the words wouldn't form. I fought it, but in vain.

I was dreaming. I had to be. I was still in my bed, but it had come with me to a rather pleasant grassy glade flanked on all sides by broken pillars. The dream was exceptionally real; I could smell wildflowers and ash carried on the breeze kissing my face and matting down the grass, and feel this maddening itch in my brain and back.

I was still in my date dress, lying atop my sheets. Grex was sitting beside me.

And true to form for super realistic dreams, I was more intelligent than normal.

“....Wuh?”

“Be at ease, my mistress. You are safe. Just lie back and relax.”

“Where are we?”

“Hell, of course. Sometimes demons dream. Sometimes they dream of what is, and what will be. Sometimes, they even dream of what should be. And you, my beloved mistress, can call to me in your dreams.”

He waved at me.

“Hello.”

Jerk.

Said jerk decided to lay hands on my fire ant bitten back, and started massaging ever so gently. Warmth flowed from his hands, and the itch lessened. It felt wonderful, and I really should have been alarmed by the ripping sounds, but I wasn't. I mean, yes dreams could be significant, but they were still dreams.

A few more moments and I felt something tear free, the itching stopped and my nerve endings lit up in bliss. The tearing hadn't concerned me, but the feel of something attached to me flopping around managed to peak my interest. It seems that in this dream, I had wings.

They were like Grex's, but not. Grex had raven wings, black as pitch. Mine were a dove gray, and salt and peppered with a stray black or milk white feather here and there. They were also wet and uncoordinated, as if I were a baby bird.

I wanted to get up, but Grex had a hand on my back, forcing my face into my soft pillows.

“Calmly. My mistress. I will take care of you.”

I was able to watch from the corner of my eye while he dragged the long fingers of his hand through my left wing. The dry air felt wonderful worked between my feathers.

“What are you doing?”

“Preening you. If I do not, your wings will irritate you, eventually.”

For long moments we worked on my left wing, then switched to my right when it dried. I tried to bask in my brain fog. Too much drink, again, I supposed. Or maybe those weird nuts were making me hallucinate. I almost fell asleep again before he was done. Can someone fall asleep in a dream?

After he had moved each individual feather, the pressure on my back disappeared, and he offered me a hand up. All bemused, I took it. Managing to keep my new appendages out of the grass and dust was easy, almost second nature. I just had to keep them flexed a certain way, like how you would flex an arm to make sure it didn't rest at your side when you ran or something.

It felt weird, but at the same time perfectly normal. A glance as Grex kept me upright revealed I was even angling my wings the way he did. The grass was like a soft carpet, and I could hear birdsong in the distance. There were no other sounds close to me but what we made.

Grex led me out of the small glade and of all places, to a winding trail leading down; the trees were larger than I expected; I was seeing the very tips of them before. Like redwoods they reached down to the depths beyond, so far I couldn't see the ground. They weren't redwoods though; they were darker colored and with strange bark.

The trail was well kept, and wove down around a spire that was too uniform to be natural, but bore no tool marks my casual inspection could uncover. The equally well kept trail wound around it like a lazy staircase, marking the spire as not much wider than the grove itself. It made no sense, much like the fact that we both had wings and yet weren't flying. I wanted to fly.

“I know what you're thinking. And you aren't ready yet. But soon, we can fly. For now we simply walk and take in the sights.”

“Where are we?”

A gentle laugh and he replied.

“Purgatory, of course. Your demesne and home away from home. How do you feel?”

I thought about that, and it seemed to take several steps.

“Powerful, but fuzzy headed. Like I had too much wine or something.”

Grex Grinned his usual grin at my discomfort.

“Drunk on power, no doubt. You pulled too much power tonight, so I am taking steps to correct the imbalance you made in yourself.”

“Dream steps?”

He nodded.

“Dream steps, among others. I swear nothing I am doing will harm you or lead to harm.”

Something about that seemed off.

“How would me being here help?”

“You have a connection to this realm, same as we all do. It is not the source of your power, at least, not completely. But if you are wounded or imbalanced, you may come here; if you are wounded, you will heal. If you are imbalanced, you will be able to release the power drawn into the realm itself. Or you will be able to draw upon the realm itself to empower you, should you need it. You simply have to be present for it, either in waking or in dreams.”

Made sense. Now that I knew, I could focus on it and feel the little droplets in the ocean of power trying to make my head explode simply drift into the environment itself. I knew somehow, that my existence was an anchor for the realm itself.

“So that's why I have wings? Here I count as a lord of Hell? The ruler of Purgatory?”

“Correct.”

So this dream had some connection with reality, or at least the version of reality I was familiar with. The real question was how much? If I could decompress here, if my power were part of the place (as it seemed), then some connection had to exist. Or maybe I was simply dreaming it all as Grex used some other method to do this. I didn't think so however; this all felt too natural, and I knew my imagination wasn't this good.

So how much of it was real?

“And the surroundings? I expected more fire and brimstone and screaming.”

He scoffed.

“Please; I know you've read the more classical sources; After all, I helped you translate them. You know as well as I do that purgatory is a home for the not quite truly damned. Those who did not have the chance to worship God through circumstance, those who are damned through the actions of others, to name only two types of groups.”

“So... Aristotle is here?”

Grex grinned and shrugged his wings; a curious gesture.

“He's around. Would you like to see him?”

I shook my head slowly, taking careful note of how badly it wanted to fly apart. That desire on it's part seemed to be lessening.

“No. I'd be tempted to punch him if I did. He always struck me as a pretentious type. Maybe later.”

“Hmmm. Perhaps another then. I'm sure we can find someone to amuse you while you recover. Or perhaps not. I feel as if a nice silent walk through the realm you now rule will be more therapeutic for you.”

I wasn't in the mood to meet some famous damned from history, even if they were a figment of my imagination. Or maybe because they may not be; at least not entirely.

“So again, no fire? No brimstone?”

“Further down. Purgatory is a home for those that are not damned, yet do not meet the requirements to go to heaven. As such, save for a few notable exceptions, it could pass for a location on Earth itself. I'd be lying to you if I said it was all sunshine and happy feelings, however. In time you will see it all.”

“So how does one rehabilitate in purgatory?”

This could be a handy thing to know for both myself and my mom later, provided I could get him to tell the truth on it. The key would be to act nonchalant about it.

“Worried about your future, are you?”

Of course he saw right through me somehow. His grin widened at whatever expression he saw on my face; I would guess at panic, but who knows? Then in his way, he cut right through it.

“Well don't. This is your future, as well as your father's. You both belong to us and only us.”

I noticed my mother wasn't in there; her betrayal was, of course, too much. She was destined to for greater and more horrific things further down. I was at least a little happy that he didn't even try to sugar coat it for me, though I would have been happier knowing no one held the lean on my mother's soul.

I'd ask him who had the lean, eventually. Once my time got short I might try and see what they wanted for it. Of course the typical answer would be more than I could pay, but while I still had access to my time powers something could be arranged.

Tinkering with time might be right up the alley of acts that get me damned worse, however; it would be just like demons to catch my soul coming or going.

The tree lined spire eventually reached the ground, and we entered a pleasant forest. There was no more grass, but instead some kind of scrub brush mixed with sticks and other miscellaneous crap; just like a real forest. The breeze could still be felt faintly, but was mixed with some sort of scent I couldn't identify, but struck me as plant-like. From the trees, perhaps?

Problem was, my feet were still bare.

Some of the crap littered around looked sharp. I gave Grex the raised eyebrow and he smirked; bits of vines or branches wove themselves into sandals right in front of me. I raised both eyebrows this time, but stepped right into them; they were surprisingly comfortable, like everything else around here. His own feet were covered by his customary gleaming black dress shoes, which oddly enough made good sound here.

“I need to learn that trick.”

“I will teach you tomorrow if you'd like.”

“I would, if I have the time; not sure I won't be busy.”

Silently he conceded the point. I had to ask.

“So, are we headed anywhere in particular?”

He shook his head.

“Just a tour. I thought we'd take a walk through the forest as far as the river Lethe, and watch the fools as they try to cross.”

Hmm, an important question sprang to mind.

“Cross away from us, or cross towards us?”

“Try to cross to us, of course. The next realm over is far less accommodating than here. It's endlessly amusing, really. Kind of like your illegal immigrants crossing the Rio-Grande from Mexico, but far worse.”

“Worse? Do any of them make it?”

He shook his head with glee as he helped me over a particularly rough patch of brush; my wings were throwing my balance off.

“Not a one. Still, it is amusing to watch them try and escape their fate.”

Whether it was the dream, or the corruption caused by summoning and hanging out with demons and using their magic, I had to admit that it did sound a little amusing to watch people who damned themselves try and escape their punishment for such. I really had become a horrible person.

We walked in a kind of silence; there was birdsong I couldn't recognize, mixed in with the inevitable crows. Things small and large stirred in the undergrowth and in the distance, but hid or fled before I could get a glimpse. Though I thought I heard a squirrel's laughing chitter.

But there wasn't another single solitary soul around. I could sense we were alone, Grex and I, through some sense or feeling that just was. Which was a little odd. Where were all the souls damned through lack of knowledge? Surely I had subjects as the de facto ruler here?

“Where is everyone?”

“Away from here. This is your forest, my mistress. None may enter it without your permission on pain of your wrath.”

“And if I don't have any wrath?”

“Then you won't have any wildlife to hunt. And that would be a shame.”

In hell, meats are not pre-processed. Good to know. Life here, or afterlife as it were, would definitely suck here. I really didn't want to think about the lack of television or internet. And yet, if that was the only thing I had to worry about, then it would be better than the alternative.

There was sun, and it was setting by the time we made it to the shore of the river. There was even a sandy beach here, with cliffs to either side; I smelled a destination plan on Grex's part here.

Perhaps the two reclining deck chairs made of vines from the forest we just left and sitting in full view of the pleasantly warm sun were a clue. Or perhaps the table with two beers, some micro brew unless I missed my guess, sitting between them. I took the right handed seat, sinking into it easily; it somehow moved to accommodate my wings and keep them from dragging in the dirt. The beer was ice cold and a type I'd only had once, on the base. It was strong and delicious, especially when chilled.

Grex's smirk was insufferable as he sat beside me and grabbed his own.

Both chairs faced the river, and I could see across it. The view would never make this property desirable. The land across from us was cracked and dusty, bleeding salt and sulfurous vapors. It looked like a desert, oddly enough, or a badlands since there was no sand. The land was overcast and somehow looked cold to me, or gave me the impression of a permanent chill. Everything about it felt somehow wrong... and yet like where we were, there was a rightness to it.

Very confusing, to say the least.

A long pull later and my beer was still full; what felt like an hour in the sun later, and it was still cold. I could like this dream land. I readjusted my wings on the slats that were gently cupping them and focused on the warmth I was getting, which was pretty much like the sun I was used to and not oppressive at all.

And then it all went... well, to itself.

I saw him for some distance; a solitary figure traversing the indistinct haze from the other side. Soon enough the figure resolved itself into a man. A very desperate man, coated in blood and nothing else. He was running, flat out and with almost no attention paid to anything in front of him, cutting his feet and occasionally face upon the jagged rocks. Instead he looked behind him often, as if he were being chased. And he probably was.

The closer he drew himself, the more I could make out. Desperation and fear seemed ingrained in his every movement and line; resignation seemed inset in his face. I could almost feel the hopelessness, even though I could feel or hear nothing from across the burbling river itself before.

And from the distance came a few more people, looking much the same as the first. Four more men, and bringing up the rear, one woman. All clothed in their own blood and nothing else, stumbling with fatigue and blind fear, constantly checking behind them.

“Ahh, I was wondering how long it would take. Sit back and watch the show, my mistress.”

The first guy hit the water and didn't even slow down. He started swimming with powerful strokes and wild abandon. Grex was grinning, especially when the man finally looked up, water washing the blood off him. Clearly showing the slowly oozing gashes across his torso and face, he finally saw us. He paused momentarily... then started jerking in the water as something started biting him.

No, not biting him; there were eel things in the water, and they were passing through him. Each time one did, the man seemed to be less. He wasn't alive after all, he was a soul... and the eel or snake things were eating him.

With a fresh burst of panic he started swimming again, the rents in his form widening. This wasn't funny. This wasn't a laughing matter at all. I felt sick. Before I realized it I was out of the chair and closing on the shore. Grex grabbed me, stopping me cold.

“Watch. You cannot help him. He has sealed his fate.”

The man had almost made it to shore when a snake eel as large as a house rose out of the water and swallowed him whole.

But what happened next was far worse.

The four men and woman pulled up, blowing hard but silent breaths as they considered the roiling, churning, eel infested waters. Then with a shared glance, a fear loaded look behind them, and no real hesitation at all, they all jumped in. From the looks of it, two of them couldn't even swim. None of them made it as close as the first guy.

I was actually standing right at the shore; my throat hoarse from the screams. I guess they didn't hear me any better than I heard them. Grex spoke, and I never wanted to punch him more than now.

“You cannot convince them not to try. No matter how you signal them to stay, if they have made it this far, they always jump in.”

“What happens to them? Do they just... stop existing?”

That same infuriating smile.

“Your concern for the damned warms my heart, mistress. No, a soul follows some of your laws of physics; it does not cease, it simply changes form. A careful look at the serpents of Lethe shall reveal the answer.”

I was rather reluctant to get close; understandably so, I thought.

“Go ahead; I've stated before the waters of the river cannot harm you. Nor can it's residents. If you wish to bathe in it, you may find the waters to your liking. Such is the power of a lord or lady of Hell.”

I didn't want to trust him, but by contract he couldn't lie to me or lead me to ruin. So it was perfectly safe. What the hell. My arm was halfway to the water when one of the serpent-eel-snakes flew from it and wrapped around my wrist. I was proud of myself; I had managed to stifle both the scream and the bladder release.

The serpent resembled a snake more than an eel. And on it's head, where a cobra's hood would be on a cobra, was a human face locked in perpetual scream, of agony or horror I couldn't tell. To be honest I didn't want to know.

“Sometimes they eat each other, and through such gain power. It also keeps their numbers from growing overmuch. The large one is actually one of the first serpents born in Lethe; there are a few others here and there. That one is named Disen, and prefers the waters around this beach. He has been here since shortly after the fall itself. Ahh, we have company.”

A large figure loomed in the distance, I could see the horns from here, though not much else. With disgust I couldn't completely hide I threw the serpent thing away from me and back into the water. This close I could feel them in there; all of them. Thousands of corrupt souls whose only desire were the life and memories they now lacked. Pure unnatural hunger.

I backed off a good ten steps. This wasn't restful anymore.

The shape resolved itself into a 20 foot minotaur... minus any skin. I could clearly see the strangely bloodless muscles play as it moved. The horns on its head were chipped and broken, like the large stone club it carried easily in one hand. Luckily for my sanity, it was at least dressed in a dirty gray loincloth. Oddly enough his voice carried clearly across the lake; the first sounds to do so.

“Did 6 stupid souls try to cross here?”

Grex grinned wider, if anything.

“Yes. You just missed the show.”

The man-beast sighed.

“Great. More souls lost; my boss is going to have my hide! Well, more of it at any rate.”

Then the thing grinned and shrugged.

“Oh well, fewer to watch, at any rate. Have a nice day, lords.”

And he turned and left.

So very lax. So very... slothful. It offended me for some reason. The very land seemed to warp under my gaze. Grex began to look nervous.

“Grex.”

“Yes, my mistress?”

“Is there any way to save souls from such a fate, or transform them back?”

He looked relieved, if anything. I wondered why briefly before I focused on his words.

“There is no way to recover them once they have been transformed. There is no way to remove the effects of the water itself upon the average soul. However, a bridge across the river serves as a successful preventative. We have two already in place for the use of our own. At least, those demons that work for you that cannot fly. All else cannot cross, by order of the big boss himself.”

So to make another bridge or open an existing bridge up would be to buck Lucifer himself. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't justify going to war over this yet; my priority was making sure all of humanity didn't end up here. These souls were already damned, and had done it to themselves; no matter how uncomfortable it made me, they were not a priority over children and other innocents who had not made the choice.

After I made sure Hell was no longer coming to Earth, then I could do something about Hell itself. No pressure, and small easily reached goals in life, and all that.

“Grex.”

“Yes, my mistress?”

“If you are ever as lax about your duties as that guy that just left... I'll make sure you look worse, if it's the last thing I do. Such sloth offends me.”

I wasn't sure why it did, but it did. I knew without a doubt that if I could I'd make good on the threat. He smirked briefly but then schooled his features to show nothing and bowed low.

“I will not. Truthfully, on my contract, I cannot. Your will is my law.”

So at least for now I was as safe in his hands as anyone could be.

“Good, this is no longer restful. Did you have something else we needed to do?”

His gaze had actual pressure for a moment; another mystery for me to file away.

“I think you are fine now; the rest at home appears to have done wonders for you.”

I checked myself. He was right, there seemed to be no imbalance at all; my head had cleared more than a little and I no longer felt like I could simply explode at any time. The internal reservoir of power I possessed did seem to be larger overall, however.

“You're going to have to show me how to check someone else too Grex; seems like a very useful power to have.”

“I'll see what I can do. It's not an ability which can be used on everyone, however. But for now, it is well past time to return. Shall we go?”

Well since the alternative was staying here forever and watching things like what I just saw....

“Yes, let's. This place is dead.”

The odd thing was the walk back to the spire was more soothing than the walk out had been; Grex hadn't been planning to trap me here for my own safety, somehow. Which meant he had in fact just been meaning this to be a restful interlude? A dream, and not a nightmare?

How much of this dream was real, and how much was an uncomfortable parallel to my own real life situation. I really needed to talk to a shrink or something. Too bad the Summoner shrink is even more crazy than I am. I could try a normal shrink, but somehow I doubted that would work out well. This dream alone and what it meant might well drive him or her nuts.

And then as if to drive everything home, like a big middle finger in the mind, I saw it.

It was a bit of the local wildlife, finally glimpsed through the mammoth trees. It was supposed to be a deer... I think. It looked like a deer; but everything about it was slightly wrong somehow. The proportions, the gait, the face... all slightly off somehow. Even the antlers seemed off, spiraling more than I remembered a deers antlers doing. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was very disturbing. I blew a breath in relief when it bounded off.

“Your deer, mistress. Very tasty.”

I keenly felt the press of time, collapsing on my growing curiosity.

“Some other time, perhaps.”

“You're right mistress, morning approaches.”

Wait, morning? I felt as if I'd been here for hours. Oh. Oh, I'm such an idiot. I have been here for hours. Grex and I both can dilate time; Grex is much better at it than I am. So it makes sense that nearly a day dreaming here was only a few hours there. So time dilation could affect dreams, or Grex could make it appear so... good to know. A power like that could be very handy; more than most would suspect I bet. Far too many people just focused on blasting things.

The walk up the spire was far more maddening than the walk down. The winds above the tree line had picked up, and threatened to smash us against the smooth rock itself, or pick us up by our folded wings and sweep us away, to our deaths. Grex stood between me and the outer edge, making sure neither fate occurred with a solicitousness that seemed out of place here.

Once again at the heights and with no headache to distract me, I looked around to enjoy the view. And there, at the end of my range, I saw it. What could only be another rock spire above the trees like the one we were on. And in the opposite direction, yet another.

I was looking at watch towers. My bed had been moved or carried or teleported onto a watch tower; one of a series. A watch tower that wasn't being used. I hadn't seen another demon either on the ground or in the air. So why did such a watch tower exist? Surely people weren't trying to escape this place for the shit-hole I saw across the river? Or even the worse places farther on?

Yet another thing to ask. But for now, I was suddenly tired. How I was tired in a dream I didn't know, but I was. Perhaps too much time in REM sleep or something. I sank into my bed with a grateful sigh, ignoring Grex's smirk. A moment of strange sensation as my new wings flopped down beside me, and I was once again in fully folded into the blessed, comforting darkness.

I woke up rested, with a clear head. I felt great except my ears were burning. A hand to each ear revealed that my earrings were hot; if they were flat I could likely fry my morning eggs on them. There also seemed to be two more than I had last night – one more per ear. If this kept up, I wouldn't have any open ear left.

At least it wasn't an infection. The bathroom mirror revealed no puss, and there wasn't any smoke. My ears didn't seem to be in any danger of frying or falling off; and my fingers didn't burn, but I needed some ice.

I went to the kitchen and grabbed some from the freezer; the sizzle as the ice melted alarmed me.

“Grex, Veni huc!”

Instead of hugging me as usual, he went straight for my ears.

“Ah. Still a touch too much power left over. Fear not my Mistress, I can assist you.”

I could feel his touch drain flows of power from me; just enough to be noticeable. The earrings cooled quickly.

“I thought our little trip into dreamland was supposed to solve that problem? Make a good breakfast now, please.”

Grex smiled as he got started. I may have felt refreshed, but Grex was hiding things, so he got to do it.

“It did; after all, the earrings didn't explode.”

They could do that?

“And the new set?”

Grex broke the eggs over the skillet like an expert; leaving no shell pieces in them which was something I couldn't do.

“Necessary, of course. Remember, I cannot do anything to hurt you: to the contrary I must help you survive to the best of my rather prodigious ability. The new jewelry is a must to protect you. Two new holes in your ears a small price to pay for continued life.”

Eggs set and seasoned, he moved on to coffee. I had to admit the point; and put like that it couldn't be a lie.

“Whatever, I'm going to take a shower.”

I was still in my dress from last night after all. It and I had to be dirty. It was halfway undone already though, so it was easy to just step out of. I had the water going and was all set to step into the shower when I noticed something.

I had wings.

Great feathery wings were etched on my back, inked in with some form of prismatic dye; it changed colors in the light somehow, from black to blue depending on how I moved and the light. They were huge; coating the entire surface with the tips reaching my upper butt. There was no way a tattoo parlor with one night could create something like this. I could also swear that I felt them there; which might explain why my back felt warm with my dress half undone.

“GREX!”

I remembered to cover up with a towel just in time.

“Yes mistress?”

Wow, was he... hesitant? From just a yell?

He didn't open the door, preferring to incorporate himself past it like a pernicious smoke.

“Is anything amiss?”

I turned, putting my back to him.

“Pray tell Grex, what exactly is on my back?”

“Ah. Those would be your wings, Mistress.”

This had to be his doing. And I didn't like where this route was taking me; as it stood I was all too likely to attract the wrong types of people, and I didn't need any extra help doing that.

“And just why do I have wings tattooed on my back Grex?”

“The same reason you have new earrings my mistress; You've been to Hell now, and Hell tends to change one. Even if you only visit in dreams.”

Must control fist of death....

“And is there any other tattoos I can look forward to getting?”

He pondered that one for a moment.

“No, my Mistress. You should be quite done on that score. Might I remind you that everything I did last night was for the sole purpose of saving your life? Please stay your admittedly wonderful murderous rage.”

I shifted a bit; I would swear that I felt something odd about my back; as if the wings were actual wings, somehow. But a quick touch to the places I could reach revealed only cool skin.

“Grex.”

“Yes Mistress?”

I couldn't tell if he was anxious I'd punish him, or hoping for it.

“Breakfast is burning. Go see to it, now.”

His eyes widened and then he was gone, without so much as a 'yes, Mistress.' A petty revenge, but good.

The shower was kind of maddening; The water was warm and soothing, but it felt weird hitting my new ink. It was hard to describe. Maybe whatever magical needle used made my skin sensitive. I had seen other summoners with various tattoos, and most of those had been magical in some way. My earlier studies seemed to indicate it could give an edge when in our line of work; spells were stored within them and used at will, instead of using lengthy incantations.

The only drawbacks seemed to be the massive amount of pain involved as rare metals and herbs were worked into the skin, and the tendency of the demons to rip such offensive body parts off. Though if you're that close to a demon that isn't yours, chances are you'd be losing something you'd rather keep anyway.

I didn't see myself going for that sort of magic in the future since was allergic to pain and could already react with that kind of speed such a technique granted... but that didn't mean what was adorning my back wasn't something similar. And done in a night, without pain no less, instead of weeks or months.

I finished up and traipsed out, getting dressed in my bedroom because I forgot to grab clothes. Demon or not, my demon or not, there was no reason to give Grex a free show. My new standard underwear, jeans, and a T-shirt with my robe over it. No one cared what summoners wore under their robes... or even looked that hard, for their own sanity. One of the summoners wore a thong, and only a thong; how he managed it I didn't know or care to know.

Breakfast was waiting for me of course, and with no hint of burns anywhere. Even the skillet was clean. He'd cheated of course.

“Grex.”

“Yes Mistress?”

Oh he was composed again. There was something he wanted to hide here.

“Is the new ink on my back magical? Like the tattoo magic Mortimer uses?”

Mortimer lived a floor down, and if he had any clean skin anywhere on his body, I hadn't seen it.

“Well in a manner of speaking.”

Oh, here we go.

“A manner of speaking? Clarify for me please.”

He didn't even hesitate. Which could mean the truth... or it could mean he's had time to get his story straight.

“They are a physical manifestation of your wings. Mistress. Not a fly spell. You need not focus in the way in which you cast spells. You simply need focus on flight, and remove an earring. The trip to Hell marks everyone in some way; and you are no exception. Your realm decided that a personage befitting your status needed wings.”

What?!? Well he couldn't have timed that reveal better; he was wearing my coffee now.

“It can do that?!?”

“The rulers of Limbo have always had wings... perhaps Limbo decided you needed to as well.”

He wasn't even perturbed by the spit take, just taking the hand towel from the fridge door and wiping it off. I had to ask; I didn't want to, but I had to ask.

“And these are actual physical wings? As in a physical manifestation, with mass and following the laws of physics?”

He refilled my coffee cup as he answered.

“Yes and no. They are part of your contract, and are real enough in Hell. On Earth they will appear as the tattoo you have seen, and will answer your call. At least, provided you at least one earring before trying; perhaps in time you will be able to ignore that limitation. When... unleashed, they are physical wings, with mass and quite fetching really. However they do not follow the laws of physics, as normally they would not be enough to support you. Rather they are an idea of flight given form.”

Well that was clear as mud. When they were there, they were physical, but manifestations of flight?

“Answer me directly Grex. Are these wings physical limbs attached to my back and inhibited by the earrings, or magical manifestations?”

“Physical limbs, of course. As I stated, Hell marks everyone, and you have most beautiful wings, as befitting your status.”

So I grew actual wings. Oh, shit. I wasn't the first summoner finding myself in this situation either; plenty of summoners found the use of demonic power mutating them. but I'd never heard or read about beneficial mutations before, and Grex had told me my wings would work. Beneficial or not, most summoners so marked ended up keeping them after their contract ended; usually until plastic surgery tried to make them normal with mixed results.

“Will they vanish when our contract ends? Am I still human?”

“Your wings will vanish once you no longer rule the 9th circle, yes. And you are as human as you ever were, my dear Mistress.”

I parsed that and breathed a sigh into my fresh coffee. At least I hadn't bothered to ask if I was normal or sane; I knew that was something I left aside a long time ago. Knowing the wings would only last ten years was a great relief though. Or until I was killed. There was that.

I had a morbid streak in the mornings, I think. I was going to have to watch that. I wanted to take out an earring, just to see them, to confirm they were there. And yet again, I didn't. If Grex had determined it was necessary, and was in fact the only choice to make regarding my survival... well he couldn't lie to me on that point. And if he thought giving me a mark like this (or limbs!) and setting me aside in that way was a better option to save my life than any alternative, I had to believe him on that point. Because marking me in that way was very dangerous... and he had to know that.

“Grex, Was I in real danger last night, and if so, was there another way to save my life last night?”

“You were in very real danger of death last night, more than you know and from more sources than you know. There was one other way, but it would have violated my contract with you.”

And there we had it.

“What danger from other sources?”

“I cannot say my Mistress, were I to tell I would be placing you in more danger.”

Probably demons then, somehow. Many of the stronger ones can hear their own names spoken, anywhere on Earth. Supposedly at least. If Grex was taking the threat seriously, then I should too.

“Your own kind?”

He nodded, sipping coffee to cover... distress?

“They would be able to feel your presence.”

The light bulb finally flickered on. Holy crap, that was why! That was why the earrings all along! Because of my contract other demons would be able to sense me without the power inhibited in some way... and the general had known. Karen probably did too. But that didn't explain everything. Grex picked up on my next question.

“Mortal shells are fragile at best, and can ill hold a font of demonic power. The more power such a shell possesses, the more imminent the explosion and greater the radius.”

Well that was... rather horrifying. So it was possible to wish for too much power, in a way. I escaped that fate because of my wording and Grex's desire to torture my mother, I was sure. I wonder how many didn't, and ended up painting the walls. Probably a significant number; and one way in which fresh summoners died has been solved to my satisfaction now. The things they don't spell out for you in boot camp.

I really wanted to let my wings out; to see if they matched the ones I'd possessed last night. I was sure they did, but I wanted to SEE that they did. Of course I couldn't, not here. Karen might walk in, or another more experienced summoner might detected the power surge somehow and want to investigate. I'm sure I gave them more than enough to start looking into last night, but no reason to try borrowing more trouble.

It had nothing to do with driving home that I was even more of a freak than before. I could only repeat to myself that at least it isn't permanent, just an extremely long time. Something about that thought bothered me, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

It didn't matter, I needed time to get used to the new reality; the new me. And that tiny part of me which I cursed, that wondered if I was still attractive as a winged freak. Humans have some very dark places in their souls.

I couldn't even distract myself with work; today was Saturday, mid-morning. I was off. And I desperately needed a change in scenery.

“Was Karen here?”

“She was. You were sleeping so I kept her out of your home.”

Odd choice of words. Was this place my home?

“You've been here all night?”

“You were in danger; your normal orders regarding me going home do not apply in those circumstances.”

So he'd stayed by my side, watching me the entire night... or watching for outside threats. Probably both, really.

“Any threats come knocking?”

“Just Karen.”

He told me that seriously, with a straight face, and he couldn't lie. What was she a threat to? She adored me... or was that an act? She did have problems with showing emotion, and got over that by appearing over the top at all times. Maybe that was her cover? Of course it was... but what was she covering for? Grex couldn't lie, which meant he considered her a threat somehow. And not only a threat, but a threat to me.

At any rate, it gave me a good opportunity to do something I had wanted to do for some time now. Since I was allowed, I was going to go out in simple plain clothes. Doing what, I didn't know. But I would find something. Most importantly I would try to make new friends. I would try to regain some perspective, which is something I felt many summoners ended up lacking in their constant desire to hang out with someone who understands them.

I was beginning to think that desire, that inability to break from one's comfort zone, was a leading cause in the insanity most summoners ended up with. Lack of perspective in life could screw all kinds of things up; current thinking had it being a factor in serial killer cases.

Made me wonder if summoners and serial killers shared more than the obvious traits. I'm sure there were studies on the subject.

“Whatever, go home Grex. If I need you, I'll call you.”

He left without a word.

I drained my coffee, grabbed my keys and wallet from my purse, and left. I made sure to lock up after me, and checked around. I wouldn't put it past Karen to leave an alarm or charm glyph outside my door in order to keep tabs on my movements. Or for her to be standing out in the hall.

I saw no evidence, which meant I was clear. While she could be waiting at the elevators or lobby, she wouldn't be using the back stairs. Or maybe I was being too paranoid in this case... but I didn't think so. Karen had been a constant companion, and I liked her, regardless of the lack of trust. She had a knack for showing up just when I was awake, or considering going anywhere. I just didn't want to deal with any of that today; I wanted to be alone.

The back stairs were good exercise at a jog. Going up them at the end of the day would be even better. My car was clear as well. I peeked; Karen was in the lobby coffee shop, staring out the window. Luckily though, not at me. I was a ghost, I drew the eye. I unlocked my car and got in quickly, before realizing she was staring at a guy; a rather handsome guy.

Good for her, it might keep her busy.

If she saw me drive off, I didn't notice. It might have been a bit obvious to her later, but there was no way Karen could catch my car now. And really, she had no one to blame for that but herself... and jerkbag cops. All the cops knew my car, but I doubted they had anything that could catch it. Especially knowing that I could use my little trick on it. I could go anywhere without any real fear of pursuit.

Now that I was safely away, hidden yet obvious in the flows of traffic, where could I go? I could go to the museum and see the paintings again, general admission this time, but that didn't really appeal for some reason. I wasn't sure how or why, but it seemed almost a betrayal of my date. Besides, it would be mostly older people there... and many of them might know of me. Not my type of crowd today.

I know what I needed. I needed an impulse buy. And luckily for me, the mall was only about five blocks away. I merged and drove carefully. My car was now idiot proof, but that didn't mean others cars were. I was still waiting for someone trying to steal it.

The punishment for that was random, and ranged from nearly lethal to absolutely hilarious.

I parked out in the boonies of the lot, both for more exercise and because I didn't want people denting their car on mine. It wasn't all that hard to explain anymore since the new laws, but that didn't mean I wanted to fill out accident reports and swap insurance for half a day.

The hot outside was just beginning to turn from cloudy to sunny; the mall interior was dark and cool. I think I preferred the outdoors, the heat felt nice.

Now that I was in the cool confines of western decadence, I had to decide what to buy. I was full up on cooking utensils and pans, had more than enough underwear and clothes (Karen had seen to that) I didn't even need any weapons, having plenty of suitable ones for my line of work. My outdoor gear was military issue, and therefore superior to anything from a sporting goods store. I didn't need books, because I still had tons I hadn't read back at home. Movies maybe? But I had a streaming service and cable....

So what form of retail therapy should I employ here? I pretty much had everything.

Hmm, there. An electronics store. Maybe there was something good in there. Couldn't hurt to look anyway. Even if it was one of those horrid big box places where the staff knew less about technology than I did, it couldn't hurt to look. I didn't need a television... maybe a computer? I'd just been using my phone to surf the web; my parents still had my old desktop in my old room. It was old but still worked... I just didn't want to get it. I may be less angry, but I still wasn't ready to deal with my mother. At least not sober; she had been at the museum last night, but I wasn't all that sure what was said anymore. The memory was fuzzy. Something about her embarrassing me.

It probably wasn't the drinking; it was probably me blocking the memory on purpose in order to save what was left of my sanity.

But back to the task; a new computer, perhaps. I wasn't much of a computer nerd, but they seemed ubiquitous anymore. A little asking around and I could even find the summoner only chat boards. Somewhere to ask other summoners from around the world anything, any time. I started in that direction, immediately aware of how the long desk full mostly young, mostly geeky looking 'technicians' in matching red vests were staring at me.

Even the lone woman there.

Maybe I should have used a disguise? I admit being whiter than your average ghost with hair to match wasn't exactly normal, but this seemed excessive. Then again, an active magical disguise would be my only option... and I didn't know how. Being able to cast that kind of magic was rare, and even worse, frowned upon. How did you explain to another summoner, who might have four arms or a face only a troll could love as a result of their pact, that you simply wanted to not be stared at? There would be no way to live such a thing down.

So like those summoners, I'd just have to get used to it.

A bit further from humanity than before, at least I could put my wings away and walk around. I wonder if they would rip my clothes? Oh I bet Grex was just waiting for the inevitable wardrobe malfunctions. It'd be just like him.

I knew the minute I stopped in front of a computer, the entire pack of vultures would be on me. They act like they work on commission or something; like used car salesmen. I wasn't a computer drafter or programmer so I didn't need the latest bright and shiny thing. A certain cute little laptop caught my eye, sold with a case and everything. A quick glance at the spec sheet proved it was adequate.

They were still watching me, so I didn't stop. On to a section I needed even less... the game system aisles. All the bright and shiny new teen and preteen toys. I felt old just looking at the eye catching packaging. Plenty of young adults played these things, right? I couldn't exactly see the allure.

Let's see, the biggest and best one was a large expensive box released just after I went into basic. And there, in front of the display model, playing some game with her tongue stuck out and making weird growling sounds, was Gloria Luxhall, in all her gothy emo glory.

I couldn't help myself. Thought of Gloria led naturally to thought and memory of 'City. City, who I'd never be able to hold again Who I'd likely never be able to even talk to again. Knowing that for months, and seeing someone who could drive it home were two separate things. What was she even doing here? She was dressed in one of the red vests, which meant she worked here. Luckily she didn't notice me, being too absorbed in... a fighting game?

Wow, that game was bloody.

“Sorry, did you want to play? I'll get off.”

Whoops, apparently all of her focus wasn't taken by the game.

“No need. Just watching. Did you just cut that guy's head off?”

She was glancing between me and the screen, getting an eyeful like everyone else.

“Yeah. Take it you don't play fighters much? They are all kinda like this.”

A stray thought, a bad thought; did she still talk to City? Bad or not it took some effort to squash.

“New to gaming more or less; never had the time for it before. Here for a little retail therapy, mainly.”

Yes thanks to Karen I knew that term. Gloria turned to look directly at me and her game character died. She didn't notice, her gaze hungry and oddly enough lingering on my breasts and... ears?

I knew the darned earrings attracted the wrong crowd!

“So you've got a lot of free time then? Gaming can be a serious time sink.”

I shook my head.

“Not really. If anything it'd be a small hobby.”

She took a guess, which was a surprisingly astute one, for all that it was low hanging fruit here.

“Military?”

I nodded.

“Guilty as charged.”

I could see the other, more loaded question in her eyes. Demon touched or summoner? Both looked... unusual at times, but one was considered still sane and one was considered a bundle of crazy as a matter of course. Of course most summoners that looked like me had to wear robes. I was a special borderline case in that regard.

“It's all in the bearing. Yeah I can see how that would crimp any gamer plans. We get plenty of that here, lots of money and almost no time. You sure you want to buy one of these?”

“Nah I'm not sure. Just wanted to avoid the sharks circling the help desk was all.”

This aisle was the first one out of sight after all.

She grinned.

“I know what you mean. They descend like wolves. It's the commission we get.”

So they did get a commission on sales!

“How much?”

“Three percent on any electronics sales over 500 bucks.”

That wasn't much, but I guess working here, it could add up. I had bought a game system earlier when moving from the barracks, but it wasn't this one. And I had never used the one I owned for games... though it made a great movie streaming device.

“So can this thing stream movies and stuff like that too?”

“Yep. It can even stream television and game streaming sites.”

Hmm, there was a market for that? I was far too sheltered I guess.

“Hmm, I'll tell you what. You've convinced me. I want you to grab one of the laptops in front, number 4121, one of these, and five games you feel no one with this system should be without. I'll be in movies when you're done.”

Even if she didn't know we were friends, I could still do her a favor. And it wasn't like I didn't have the money. I didn't even need to spend much on food unless I wanted to, and my rent was a pittance, and covered all my utilities. I was actually sort of rich, at least compared to the normal almost nineteen year old. Gloria almost jumped away from the display model as I walked off.

“I'm on it, ma'am.”

I had no sooner picked up the seasons of Top Gear out on DVD (blu-ray of course) when Gloria came back, pushing a cart. I checked, everything was in there. I even recognized the fighting game she had been playing. And what may have been the latest first person shooter I'd been seeing ads for. I threw my top gear seasons in there. She smirked at me before asking:

“Would you like anything else, Ma'am?”

How she kept this job I'll never know. Maybe she was new and management hadn't caught on yet?

“No, I think that's plenty. If I can just avoid buyer's regret this will be more than enough retail therapy.”

I followed her to the check out lane; she led the way to a closed lane, and opened it for me. Neither of us spoke while she beeped my purchases, and I handed her my debit card. She deviated when handing me my receipt though, writing something on it.

“Maybe this will help that buyer's remorse. It's my tag on the gamer network. Just type it in exactly as it appears, and when I get the email I'll add you. Then we can game.”

“Hah. Then you can kick my noob butt.”

She nodded completely without shame.

“That or we can play co-op. Really doesn't matter which to me.”

I shrugged and made a show of looking at her name tag.

“I don't mind either, Gloria, as long as I learn. My name is... well the name I go by is Snow. Pleased to meet you, and enjoy the day.”

The big box, like most of it's kind, had a back door that opened directly onto the parking lot. I waved as I pushed the cart out the door, making my escape before the small horde of males could come and carry my purchases for me. Screw that, I wasn't an invalid; let them help the old lady they were currently ignoring. I pointed her out to the one in the lead, and to his credit he veered towards her. The rest I just flat beat out of the store. I couldn't quite run, but I was close. Not even parking lot traffic slowed me down, though I did slow it down. Some of it screeched to an irritating halt.

Once clear of the more common parking spot I didn't have to worry. My car was in the same spot and still alone. The entire trip inside had taken at most, forty-five minutes. It wasn't even quite lunch time yet. There was only one conclusion to draw from that; I sucked at retail therapy.

So what to do now? Go back in and look for more impulse buys after dropping over a thousand dollars, or give it up and go somewhere else? I sure didn't want to go back home; not yet. I still wanted to be around people, normal people, at least for a little while longer. Hmmm.

If I drove across town, I could go to the good Burger barn in time for lunch, get myself something bad for me, and bask in the glory of teens that aren't summoners. Or summoners yet; whichever. They were normal for the moment. Would that liven up my day, or depress me more? Or would I over think it like a moron?

I rolled my eyes as I put my new crap in my trunk. For a moment I wished I had that lock opening remote control; the old school method was kind of annoying. At least the car itself made up for it. I drove slowly, not being in any particular hurry. I waived to the few cops I saw as I went by. They waved back without hesitation, which was something. Maybe I could hang out with the cops themselves? Would either the detectives or the uniforms accept me? I didn't want to just hang out with the ADTF, but would cops that were only one step removed from such doings, be far enough away from it?

The drive was at least soothing, and I made it to the burger barn unscathed. It was just beginning to fill up... and a familiar car was in the lot. Seriously, what was it with my class? Gloria working at best buy instead of being in the University of Pheonix, and Randolf the jerk-bag still working at Burger Barn. Maybe he was a manager by now, and that's why he stayed? I entered another cool and somewhat dark interior.

Nope, he was still a wage slave, in front of the counter. After a matter of some months; that alone was odd. So were the giggling gaggle of girls taking up three tables and staring at him. All younger than I, unless I missed my guess. I paused in the door, trying to get what they saw in him. I couldn't see it; maybe that was because I actually knew him, or at least knew more of him than they did? He was grinning and flirting and playing right along, even though at least a few of the girls had to be underage.

Disgusting.

It also didn't stop him from looking my way at the earliest opportunity. And he perked right up; I always knew that if he was here forgetting me was too much to hope for. The gaggle in the far corner also turned and stared. Looks I couldn't even begin to decipher flickered on their faces. I knew somehow that I didn't like the looks for the most part.

Which meant that this trip was a bust. The teens and their hangers-on were not happy to see me, somehow. Well most of them; the few guys around were easy to read. They were all awe and lust. A few of the women were sporting similar looks, or just simple curiosity, but they were definitely in the minority.

I stilled my features as I marched up to the counter; one part cop training and one part military training kicking in to fix my bearing. Despite breakfast, despite the early hour of the lunch, I was famished.

”I'd like a bacon cheeseburger and large fries please.”

Karen would be so jealous... she feels that constant dieting is a thing she needs. Despite the fact that I think she weighs less than I do, it's impossible to convince her she isn't fat. She needed to meet other people at least as badly as I did. I wondered if I dared convince her....

“Hello again, Lieutenant. One bacon cheeseburger and large fries coming up. Unless I missed you, you haven't been here in awhile. What are you up to this fine day?”

Oh my God... shut up. I just want a burger, not witty repartee. Wow, I just thought that and wasn't struck dead by lightning. Just another tacked on to the multitude I guess. I wonder how many of those it'd take to put me over the edge, if I wasn't already there. I wonder if I can ask Grex, he would likely know.

“Just out shopping... been busy so far and this was my first real opportunity to get out.”

Sometimes I was too darn polite for my own good.

“Well at least you got today. I thought you might have been transferred already; sometimes that happens.”

This was some pretty clumsy prying. At best a five out of ten.

“No danger of that just yet. Just a very busy several months.”

Thankfully, the food was as fast as ever. I didn't know the name of the guy who cooked back there, but I knew him by sight; he had worked here since I was a kid. He delivered it since Randolf was distracted, and the urge to jump the counter and kiss him for that speed was pretty strong. I managed to suppress it all though, and make good my escape, speaking before he could in order to avoid sticking around and dealing with more sad excuses of small talk.

“Thank you both. See you both around.”

I heard two twin intakes of breath behind me, big gulps. I didn't want to look back, but I did wonder what they had seen. Had they seen the wings or something? Randolf knew I was military, but didn't know I was a summoner; last time here I had left him with the impression I was demon-touched but regular military. Or had they both, as I suspected, been staring at my butt?

The reaction of the teen girls seemed to indicate the latter.

I took my old regular table... a small one at the corner of the building, with chairs for two people, and one I could place my back to two walls with it. And while walls wouldn't necessarily stop demons, or even high powered rifles, any perpetrator would have to see me precisely to take me out before I could respond.

And just like that, as I bit into my burger while scanning the crowd, how far normal had moved. While I had always been this paranoid before, having been raised by paranoid ex-military parents, now my fears had grounding. Specific examples and specific scenarios that could be used to kill me, and those around me.

Even those teens, many of whom were around my age, weren't pissed at me on general principles for the attention I garnered, it would be impossible to fit in with them anyway. How would I deal with talk of clothes and boy bands? I'd never liked that stuff. So this was looking like an even bigger bust than the mall.

Even taking my time and watching the crowd come and go, I finished before the giggling crowd. The barn in general filled up quickly. I ate as fast as would be considered polite, and only just. Now that I was certain this was the wrong approach, I could take a deep breath and wave, so I did on my way out. Luckily Randolf was too busy taking orders to follow me outside, like he had the first time. I carefully backed my car up and left.

So where to go now?

It was just past noon, and the day was at it's hottest. The sun's heat, which should have been enervating by now, in which I could see other people wilting before they moved into the air conditioned confines of the eatery, was inviting to me. Soothing. Perhaps I was more changed by all those desert runs and PT than I thought.

And perhaps that was the answer. I was after all primarily moving to be doing something. Where were places people gathered to do physical things? Gyms and sporting places mostly. I didn't want to be indoors today, so... bike and hiking trails, state parks, or just out in the desert. I didn't have to worry about being alone in the desert as much as the next person, but the chances I'd find any people to converse with would be slim to none.

On the other hand I did know where a small park was, and it had both hiking and biking trails. It was the same park Karen and I had gone to for that silly re-enactment. It would be perfect, being one of the few places with actual vegetation. It was also a nice drive from here, though not quite across town again.

I altered course and drove... and picked up the tail behind me.

It was a late model Challenger, in an interesting shade of lime green, with black stripes down the hood and sides. Inconspicuous, it was not. Which left out a cop. I didn't recognize it, so it wasn't another summoner's car. It could be a terrorist, or a few of them. I checked, and the car did follow me into the parking lot I veered into. I went back out into traffic and continued on. I had caught sight of the driver; and he was alone.

He was bald and looked fit, but I wasn't afraid of a lone human anymore; at least not one I could see.

At the park I pulled in at the first lot I saw with a hiking trail. I got out and waited. The charger pulled right up next to me, on the other side of my own car. So, not a professional at all then. I crossed my arms and leaned back. I didn't give the person a chance to talk.

“why are you following me?”

He pointed to my car.

“Your car. It's a nice piece of work, and I think I recognize the work. Peevil's?”

Sounded like a last name.

“Peevil? I've no idea. No one involved ever told me who exactly had done the work. They just shanghaied my car and brought it back eight hours later.”

He was staring at my car, taking in all the details. He wasn't even glancing at me after the first look. Maybe he really was interested in the car? He was as big and buff as I'd thought, dressed much like I was in jeans and a T-shirt. His face was hatchet like, with a large sharp edged nose and thin lips. He was not a handsome man. He saw the old fashioned bubble light.

“Cop? Yeah, cops all go to Peevil. He's the best in the city. Name's Mark. Pleased to meet you.”

His smile transformed him from a potential threat to a nice guy. When he held his hand out, awkwardly, across my car I caught a full view of his army tattoos. It was the same unit as the Captain. Had to be younger than him though. Wasn't an off duty cop; after months around the police force I felt I'd recognize both him and his car.

“Name's Snow. The car was a bit of a hazing.”

“Heh. Good one. I hope you got them back for this.”

He tapped my painted hood.

“Still waiting on the perfect idea, but I will.”

It's hard to find the proper balance of evil idea without actual harm involved on the victim. I hadn't had that perfect idea yet.

“Revenge is a dish best served cold, eh? I can understand that. Sorry about the following bit, but I saw you at the Burger Barn, and wanted to get a good look at this beauty. She is a piece of work.”

He took another long look at the car. I wasn't sure what to say.

“I'm not the car buff I'm afraid. My dad restored this one, before your guy Peevil got to it. It used to be just a simple powder blue without any engine modifications.”

Mark nodded.

“So, an old style police cruiser then. Your dad a cop too, or just a fan of the classics?”

What?

“He's both actually, but I'm not. What do you mean?”

I locked the car up, now satisfied that by the reverence in his face that he wouldn't try to key it the moment I left. I was also pretty sure he had me pegged as a summoner by now, and didn't seem put off by the fact.

“Simple. The Chrysler Newport was used as a police cruiser way back when, at least in some areas. It had a powerful engine and good speed for it's day.”

“Interesting. Well since you already know what I do, how about telling me what you do?”

“Oh, simple. I'm a mechanic that does custom work for cars. I used to work for Peevil; he was my boss. I recognized my co-workers work, mainly in the art...”

I finished the sentence for him.

“And you decided you wanted a better look. Well I don't mind, take your time. As for me, I'm going to do what I came for, and hike.”

He waved as I left, but didn't see my return wave. Too busy looking at the detail work. I grinned; that went better than I had expected.

I didn't bring my pedometer, so some quick work with a phone app and I'd now know how many miles I walked or ran. An hour sounded about right. I started jogging, my cares melting into the pelting steps. The path was very scenic; the trees were green and the scrub was in bloom, and the winding path would suddenly open up into magnificent red-butte vistas. It wasn't quite as good as those views off the beaten path, but it was surprisingly good. The path was busy, with more than a few tourist types and regulars, by their dress. They gawked at me as I went by of course, but I ignored it. It was well watched as well, with rangers patrolling it's length.

The phone chimed the hour before I expected; I was on my way back to my car, but still a good twenty minutes from it. I had not been so much as spoken to, let alone followed. My car was also alone and undamaged. I didn't think it could be hurt anymore.

When I got shipped overseas I really wanted to take my car with me. If I could find gas and maybe change the suspension and wheels, it could be a very pretty tank Maybe I could add a turret. Of course tanks didn't fare well traditionally in the fight against demon-kind... they couldn't hide well enough, and even an imp could cut one open, given time. At least a mundane one. Enchanted ones seemed to draw demons like moths to flame... and hundreds would die or be banished to take a single one out. Considering the number disparity of countless hordes versus a few thousand tanks at best, the armies of the world simply couldn't afford the investment. Planes weren't much better, though for some reason flying demons tended to go after those only if they were armed. Another thing to ask Grex; it hadn't been properly explained in boot camp. It was probably something obvious that everyone knew or something.

Finally, I'd at the very least wasted enough time; the sun was on it's way down. The traffic was beginning to get pretty crazy, so that blew even more time. If I were of a military bent, I would have to declare this particular mission a failure. I was of military bent after all, come to think of it; or close enough for other people to consider me so.

I pulled back into the summoner's lot, having completed my parking lot tour for the day. Karen was not in the coffee shop, thankfully enough. That would have been weird. But perhaps not entirely unexpected. The stairs were just as empty on the way up as they were on the way down this morning. But there was a new decoration on my apartment door.

An alarm rune, scribbled on a piece of lined notebook paper. As ludicrous as it looked, I could feel the slight bit of power in it. It screamed Karen. If I got close enough, it would trigger. Did I want Karen here? I did. Or rather, I didn't care anymore. I pulled the sheet of paper off my door (it had been stuck there with gum) and unlocked my door.

“Grex, veni Huc!”

He appeared on the other side of the kitchen table, even more butler-like than usual with his hands folded behind him, in the perfect spot really.

“Coffee Grex, no special additives. Karen is coming. When you're done with that, you can go outside to my car and bring the bags and boxes from it up to me.”

“As you will, my mistress.”

He got to work. As soon as he was dine starting the coffee, with perfect timing, Karen knocked on the door.

“Come in Karen.”

Grex let her in on his way out. She watched him until he was out of sight before finally asking:

“Where is he going?”

“To get my bags. I engaged in some retail therapy today.”

“Oh? We'll make a proper girl of you yet! What did you get?”

I'd have the last laugh when she heard what I got. Proper girl indeed; as if all proper girls were shopaholics or something. I guess even psychiatrists weren't immune to stereotypes.

“A new game system, laptop, and some top gear DVD's. Got tired of using my phone for internet.”

She pulled a face, then pulled another as Grex teleported noisily into the living room, sulfur smell and all.

“How very pedestrian. Can I help you set it up?”

That light in her eyes... that feverish gleam. I was suddenly sure Karen and Gloria had more in common than I first suspected. I grabbed the knife I kept around for opening boxes; I didn't want Karen to have at it with her normal messy gusto. I wanted to keep the boxes; a good box was always useful, and if you wanted to resell a thing later, having all the original packaging made it worth more. I wasn't entirely sure how or why it worked that way in this day and age, but it did.

The game system came first. I set it up easily; high def cable into the television, controllers into system, power cord, done. The first thing the game system prompted me to do when turned on was to set up my network, which was really a matter of it detecting the wireless set up throughout the building, and then picking a name. Oddly enough while Snow was open, Yellow Snow was not. As clear a statement on western gaming culture as could be made.

Gloria was already on, under her own moniker: FanGloria. Yes, a play on the rather famous magazine. It suited her. I sent her the friend's request while Karen looked on.

“Who's that?”

I plugged in the headset and activated the voice chat feature. I could already hear Gloria's voice on the other end greeting me, even with the headphones off. I covered the mic.

“An old school friend I met again. She was working in electronics store for some reason. No idea why, she should be in college right now, I think.”

“Oh, which one was it? Miss perky?”

She had to be thinking of Felicity.

“No, the goth that was her best friend.”

“Ah. You should be careful. Past lives and history for a summoner can get... tricky.”

And doubly so in your case, she meant. The wrong word in any ear, and my previous life as... that male that I could only dimly remember would come crashing back with a vengeance. What had my name been again?

Karen made a motion at me and I uncovered the microphone.

“Sorry Gloria, I'm here. I thought we could try the fighting game first, unless you'd like to try another.”

He voice crackled through loud and clear:

“Nope that's fine, though I would like to try co-op on the shooter. By the way, if you don't like any of the games, just bring them back when you can and I'll see you get a refund. Least I can do since I picked them out, and your money bought the six pack I'm drinking tonight. Shall we get started?”

I shook my head as I slotted the game. Same old Gloria.

I was getting lazy. If not for Grex, I'd be sleeping late every morning. The game of zap the alarm had changed to time dilate it, which meant it couldn't keep accurate time. With Grex sent away at night that meant that I could snatch an extra five minutes. Of course, that meant that Karen ended up waking me by pounding on my door, but who cared? With a robe on, no one saw what I wore, or how disheveled I looked. Furthermore, all any civilian saw was the robe in any case.

I worried in the back of my mind; I felt as if my humanity was slipping away, piece by piece. I had wings, for craps sake. Wings I hid and jealously guarded, but I knew they were there. Even worse, the urge to use them struck me at odd times, and was getting stronger. Socializing with regular people in the last month had only gotten harder; the only bright spot on that front was through my new gaming console.

Online, in multiplayer games, no one cared who you were; they just cared how well you could play.

There hadn't been any new demon incidents, on or off my shift. Something I was grateful for, but the monotony was killing me. At least I had more spare time now; too bad that I still didn't know what to do with myself. I was even running out of primers to read.

I didn't want to think too hard about that; when I did the amount of mystical bullcrap in my head made it swim.

This morning, however, I woke up early. It was a Friday, and I had work. The clock was somehow accurate even though I had used my power on it the night before; I knew because my own powers had either increased or gained focus, or whatever they had done. I could now accurately tell the time, even half asleep. Somehow, I could also tell where I was in regards to the world, even underground. Some sort of mystic GPS or something. It was currently 6:56:27.

I had about 15 minutes until Karen showed, wanting breakfast. I'm not sure when my kitchen became the local diner for her, but it had. I shut the alarm off and got up, resisting for once, the siren song of my bed. No matter how lazy I wanted to be, I wouldn't be able to do anything until Monday, which oddly enough, was my day off next week. I had to go from the end of my shift directly to the base for my weekend beat down.

My squad were all short timers now. Soon, they would be shipped off to wherever it was decided to send them, and then the dying would begin. Just hanging out in base getting trained, I'd already seen my fair share of flag draped caskets; many of which were actually empty, or nearly so. The coffins of summoners were always black, the ones for enlisted always brown, and both were usually latched shut with tiny intricate polished aluminum latches in order to keep anyone from accidentally opening them and getting a look at just what was left inside.

Soon enough, some of the people I've trained with, perhaps many of them, would be experiencing the same thing. That realization was just now striking home; I'd known it mentally for some time, but emotionally was something else entirely. Heavy thoughts sucked in the morning.

I showered, slowly waking up. The shower and fatigues were routine now; it was amazing what one could get used to. I finished just in time to open the door for Karen, who had her hand raised to knock. She must be feeling polite today. Well either that, or the new door wards I had placed were working, stopping her from just picking the lock and coming in. She still needed to teach me how to do that.

I worked on coffee while she closed the door.

“What, no breakfast?”

“There are waffles and pop tarts in the fridge. Help yourself.”

Karen made a show of looking around.

“What, no Grex?”

She didn't take me up on the offer; so I got my own pop tarts and threw them in the microwave. With the coffee still brewing, I abused the automatic cut off feature to pour me a cup. Karen could get her own.

“Nope. Trying to break bad habits. I'm getting too lazy, depending on Grex too much. Going to try and go cold turkey today, and see what happens.”

Karen cocked her head and stared at me in clear disbelief.

“What? I can do it.”

I could clearly hear the questioning note in her voice.

“Sure you can, Snow; sure you can.”

She poured her own cup then sat down, snagging a pop tart from my plate. I shrugged; I could always steal some donuts from the desk sergeant; he wouldn't say no. He wouldn't say anything, in fact. I wasn't even sure he used the chip in money I put into his jar. I fought down the urge to ask with every donut I snagged, so far successfully. He for sure didn't take any requests; there were no twists or bear claws in the assortments, ever.

“So, what's on tap for you today?”

“More sitting on my butt at the office. It's not my day to drive around, and Chuckles wouldn't trade.”

Chuckles was one of ours, known for his trademark laugh. It was part Hyena, part hound of Tindalos. What driving around meant most of the time, was listening to my music on my phone or stopping off at various fast food joints or parks; the team in the vans often did more lazy things than those at the office; it was a coveted position that was well fought over.

The things no one tells a newbie; I traded my first few shifts of that in order to watch streams with Cords. It was preferable; at least it was in the sunshine and fresh air. Usually when Judge drove, there was exercise, as he knew all sorts of nice out of the way spots within the city to stop and stretch one's legs.

I shouldn't be so uncharitable; hanging out with Cords was nice. He had become even more witty lately, while still not being pushy; it was pretty obvious to me now that he not only had it, he had it bad. But despite that, he was taking things slowly, which I appreciated. He must know I did, if not the full reason why. With my summoner records sealed, there was no way for him to tell; which meant that sooner or later I would need to do it.

But with luck, not today.

I finished my coffee and poured another cup; since I no longer needed to look behind me to check the time; I knew I had enough. Karen refilled her own.

“So, how are you?”

She knew; all the time around me had given her some uncanny insight into my character, which was of course the entire point. So she picked right up on my current mood. She asked right out with absolutely no tact whatsoever, so I answered the same way.

“I've been better. Sorry, just a bit of normal depression; Woke up this morning thinking about my squad.”

“Ahh, right. Want to talk about it? Here is as good as my office.”

It was true, this now qualified as my home ground, and I was more comfortable here than anywhere else, even Karen's office, which was designed from the flooring up to put people at ease.

“Maybe later. I'm fine for now; already mostly over it. Just having humanity's frail mortality shoved in my face again.”

Karen shrugged with a grin.

“You get used to it.”

She was right, as horrific as it sounded. Humanity really could get used to anything.

The rest of breakfast time, all 6 minutes, 47 seconds of it, passed without comment by either of us. As the clock (both my internal and external ones) hit 7:30, Karen stood up. I joined her and we left; I made sure to lock up. I didn't want to give anyone any extra chances. The drive over was just as quiet, at least conversationally. It was beginning to grow awkward by the time we pulled into the station. I knew something was on Karen's mind, but I had no idea what it was. She pulled in than hesitated.

“Um....”

“What is it?”

“Well, it's just... you have to go to the base for the weekend, but I don't, and I was wondering... could I borrow your key? Play that game system you bought, drink your beer, eat stuff that's bad for me, that sort of thing?”

“Can't you just buy your own?”

Karen really liked my new game system.

“Yes, but I can't buy your friends list. They like playing with me, but I wouldn't have to convince them a new account was me, and it would take forever, and....”

She was obviously overstating how hard it would be, but I didn't really care. It wasn't like this was the first or only time she had been in my apartment alone. I couldn't prove it, there was never any evidence, but I could feel it, like fingernails on the chalkboard on my mind. It was almost as if I could smell her lingering presence somehow, like a sort of psychic perfume. So what was one more time, when I knew for certain she'd be there?

“Alright, Karen. I'll hand you the key at the end of work, OK?”

She needed more friends too after all; in the last few months, the only one I'd seen her with in other than a workplace setting had been me. At first I thought she was just keeping an extra careful eye on me as part of her job, but it seemed like she really was just as friendless as I was. Karen being friendless made even less sense than me being friendless; she didn't look like a summoner without the robe, while I was either obviously a summoner or demon touched; either group found it hard to get people to stick around without screaming. Karen actually jumped for joy with a wide smile.

“Yes! I had a date to own Gloria tonight in that fighting game she likes! She's going down tonight!”

Neither one of us had managed to beat Gloria even once, and I doubted tonight would be the night.

“Good, give her one for me.”

We both walked in and promptly stole a few donuts while the desk sergeant pointedly looked the other way. They were the standard fare; simple powdered ones. Knowing Karen, she would be wearing that powder all day; I intended to be more careful. We split up at the elevator; Karen to her office and me to the den of inequity.

Where I got my first rude surprise of the day, from the Captain himself.

“Morning Snow. Chuckles is down sick, so you get to play ride along today; Karen will be our on call.”

So summoners can get sick after all? Other than me getting feverish that one night, I hadn't seen another summoner get sick, or call in sick. For my part, I was too scared too, for all that I could use the day off. So, logical question time:

“What's wrong with him?”

“Blood loss, mainly. He chopped one of his own arms off.”

….What?

“Why the hell would he do that?”

The captain shrugged, face closed off.

“You got me. No idea, but he did it. The docs managed to save the arm, though it's doubtful he'll ever get full use back. He'll get an evaluation when he recovers, but until then, you're up.”

Well that was... that was fucked up. The captain knew what I was really asking.

“Sometimes it just happens, Snow. Chuckles was a nice, likeable guy, and now he's insane. Maybe he'll come back, and maybe he won't. But for now we need to work on today. And today, you're assigned to roam.”

I went, thoughts awhirl in my mental washing machine. I felt that as batty as I was, I was stable. I'd seen Chuckles just yesterday, and he had been fine. The idea that he, that any of us, could just snap and start sawing on ourselves of all things was pretty frightening. Maybe once at the base I could look into such incidents; they had to be a matter of record on file. I did know that actual suicides were low, but self mutilation? I hadn't thought to check before.

I hit the motor pool and saw Roddy, Judge, Conners, and Culling suiting up in their full tactical gear. There was no conversation at all, so I guess they already knew about Chuckles. I checked; I did have the ear buds for my phone, in a robe pocket.

We were all set, ready to go, and piling into the Hum-v when pounding footsteps sounded loudly through the garage. I waited as desperate panting rounded the corner, one foot on the vehicle step.

The panting resolved itself into Cords, who had apparently run full tilt through the station and garage to reach us. He had a small shopping bag in hand. At least he was in good enough shape to avoid bending over and clutching his stomach, though judging from his breathing, I was now in better shape than he was.

“Great! Just in time! Here!”

And he shoved the bag into my hands.

“What's all this?”

He grinned and scratched the back of his head with his hand, what I was now beginning to recognize as a nervous gesture of his.

“It's what you would have had if you'd spent today in the office.”

What? Oh, I get it.

“So, all your drinks and snacks?”

“Yep! Every bit of it; even the jerky.”

My eyes Widened. Good brand name beef jerky was expensive; far worse than the energy drinks he favored. It made it fun to take when his back was turned; it was high stakes snackage theft. I caught sight of some knowing looks and shared grins behind me using the mirror. No doubt plans were being made to tease me mercilessly over this development. I swear, cops were like kids or something.

“Thanks, Cords. Enjoy that new show.”

Cords had recently picked up the burning desire to see every bad horror television series known to man, one after the other. I had to admit, they were pretty funny. I also had the same desire that I'm sure every one in our line of work has, when viewing them or their movie equivalent; the desire to show the people responsible what true horror was.

The latest tour de force was “The devil's daughters,” which was supposed to be a realistic take on half demons among us. Or something; I was leaning towards the or something, personally. The pilot had just aired last week to all the customary blandly positive reviews, which usually meant the show was garbage. If the show was garbage, then it was going to be good television... as in hilarious. I got in and shut the door on his grinning face with a wave before I realized there was something else in the bag.

It was a pad, and not one of the cop standard pads. This one had to be Cord's own personal pad, and there was a sticky note on it that stated 'Show starts in one hour. Stay tuned' with a smiley face. It didn't take long for the team to start in. Conners started in first; maybe it was a prerequisite of being team leader.

“Aww, that's so sweet. Young love is so beautiful.”

I was not happy about the stutter in my response. My face heated.

“Sh-shut up!”

I wasn't sure I even felt that way; the closest I had come was City, and while Cords seemed to be every bit as fun to be around, I wasn't sure he even came up to that standard yet. So far it was just boredom and lack of things to do at work when I wasn't hunting demons or training.

Wasn't it?

“Office romances always end badly. Take my word for it rookie.”

“Shut up Judge. Don't mind Judge, Snow. His last romance with the coffee maker didn't work out, and now he's hopelessly jaded. Don't worry Judge, soon you will find love again. Maybe with the espresso maker in the closet.”

“Too late.”

Oh, ewww.

“Now that's the look! That embarrassment, that pose! The sole reason to get out of bed in the morning!”

Oh come on now.

“Et tu, Culling?”

He grinned at me.

“Sure, why not? Not like we got anything better to do at the moment.”

I was momentarily distracted by the drive out into the bright sunshine. Conners was now all business, going through the radio and network checks while Judge drove. Traffic started parting before us like the customary school of fish before a shark.

“Well maybe in an hour. Got a good comedy on this thing, if Cords is to be believed.”

It seemed they were done razzing me for now, at least.

“Sounds good. You two still doing the mystery science theater 3000 thing to current horror shows?”

How did he know that? Does everyone know everything that goes on in that cop shop, or what? Did Cords tell, or were they spying? My money was on spying, as Cords seemed like a gentleman to me, but how were they doing it? Maybe I should ask.

“Yeah that's the plan. Got the new one loaded and ready to go. Something about half demons, running amok.”

“How the crap would that even work? I mean, how would you even get the average imp or demon dog to....”

No! I did not need that kind of image, especially now!

“Shut up, Culling, or I'll cull you.”

I tried to suppress my shudders. I did not succeed. Even Conners was shuddering at that one; she punched Culling in the arm, hard. That would definitely bruise, but he deserved it.

“Well, death threats against your own. Finally, you've gone from apprentice to master.”

I was glad she didn't try to mention that thing that Culling said. She sent him a warning glance as I moved the awkwardness forward.

“At any rate... the show is there, and starts in an hour. It's supposed to be some strange Illuminati crap, with demons ruling the world or something, and somehow not burning it. I think it's supposed to be some sort of desperate housewife dream or something.”

“Well first things first. We need coffee to start this shift off right.”

I couldn't agree with Roddy more. Maybe some Irish coffee, in fact. It wasn't like I had to drive, after all. It seemed like one of those days.

The coffee shop looked familiar; it was in fact the same one I had stopped in after my first successful demon hunt. I wanted to just pile out, but Conner demanded only one of us go, with a list. We needed to man the radio and other comm gear. And Culling had volunteered earlier, whether he knew it or not.

“That guy... what a pig. Some things are just too disgusting to say. Must be a guy thing.

I couldn't help but nod. Judge shrugged.

“Don't look at me. We aren't all like that; it's just Culling was dropped on his head a few too many times as a baby.”

Well I couldn't argue that possibility. Obviously something happened. After all, it was just fiction; there were no half demon Illuminati beefcakes running around. There were... incidents. Rumors, and some files of demon attacks that were restricted. But it just wasn't a polite thing to mention, ever. Even as a joke. Some female summoners could get beyond angry at any perceived innuendo.

I wasn't there yet, but then again, I hadn't been to any front yet. Perhaps I should ask Karen, but it really was a difficult subject to broach. Asking my mom would be even weirder. Maybe closer to my ship out time it wouldn't be quite so awkward.

Culling came back with our coffee, and with a couple boxed coffee cakes held against his chest like babies. He plopped one in my lap, then one in Conner's.

“An apology. I'm sorry, my mouth outpaced my brain.”

Judge looked hurt.

“Where's mine? I was pretty offended too.”

“Shut up Judge.”

Wow, shut down hard. Roddy looked like he wanted to say something, but after opening his mouth he closed it and went back to monitoring the normal cop traffic through the headset he was wearing around his neck. How he heard anything meaningful through it like that I'll never know. I took my coffee as the drink carrier made it's way around the confines of the vehicle interior.

We got rolling again, cruising slowly through the arteries of the city. I wondered how long it would take for the drinks Cords slipped me to get hot. Maybe I should suggest a mini-fridge be installed in our ADTF fleet? That should be an easy suggestion to get backing for, and I don't think vehicle drink refrigerators were that expensive; I mean every limousine had one, right?

I was worrying about my perspective a lot lately. But when placed beside the worry of my energy drinks getting hot, it was a small thing indeed, somehow. Then again, I was going about this all wrong, wasn't I? I should be thinking like a summoner. A sharpie from my robe's pocket, a quick rune traced on the bag, and anything within it was now chilled. Well at least as long as the rune was unbroken in any way; a simple fold in the bag stopped the magic from working. I carefully placed it next to me.

I'd shred the thing later, when I went to recycle it. Wouldn't do to give away secrets to the uninitiated, after all. Conners shook her head; she had been watching me.

“What?”

“Nothing. It's a good idea. Mind if I put a drink of my own in there?”

Why would I mind?

“Of course not, you all can, as long as they fit in the bag.”

Roddy reached over and slid a mountain dew into the bag, without a word and without even glancing away from his console. I wish I knew how some people did that; being able to find things unfailingly without sight would no doubt be very handy. I'd asked Karen once, and she had said it was the 'view of experience' in action, whatever that really meant. She could do it too, and that infuriated me just a little.

“Next stop, Illspew park.”

Illspew park was the park named after the summoner Illspew, a sort of hometown hero who lost his life in the battle of something or other. No one really knew anymore, but he had been a big deal in the 60's, and one of the first national heroes produced by the Spire. It was a good haunt because no one ever went there anymore, if they ever did. And no one ever went there anymore because the place was a dumb. It was literally a rotting park bench, a rusty swing set and slide, and a few hardy half dead patches of grass and scrub bush that the heat hadn't managed to kill. Even the trees had died and been cut down, years before I'd ever been here. I only knew the place had trees once because of the rotten bug infested stumps.

Even the plaque that used to list the mighty Illspew's accomplishments was missing, a recent casualty of vandals.

It was kind of sad, really. But at least it was a nice quiet spot from which to watch traffic go by. Before my own drafting, I had seen the ADTF vehicles park here, the people out and stretching their legs, but hadn't put two and two together. Now, from this end, I could recognize the value of a place like this, in a location like this. It was invaluable.

And it was about forty minutes from any cop shop, which made it a kind of central location. The uniforms knew we liked it, and sometimes stopped by for a chat. There were none here this early today, however. Right at Nine and zero seconds, we pulled into our customary parking spot and the pad in my hands crackled to life, rolling the almost emo opening credits to the show. I opened my door in hope of a breeze as everyone else gathered close, some (like Judge) without trying to look as if they were doing so.

The show was every bit at funny as expected, but it seemed more geared to desperate men than women; almost all the half demons were female, and the emphasis seemed to be on cheap bedroom shenanigans as opposed to romance, or even the world domination the ads promised. There wasn't even any demons in the cast yet, though apparently the half demons were fighting them somehow.

I'd have laughed at this before I was drafted; now it was just ridiculous, like a movie about a shark filled tornado or something.

I was not alone; Conner was howling midway through, Judge was chuckling, Culling was pouting of all things, and even Roddy was cracking smiles. I felt I summed it up best:

“People actually got paid for making that. So very, very sad.”

“Couldn't agree more Snow. You'd think they would have enough cash to put some retirees on the payroll, to tell them what demons were actually like; it's more or less standard procedure. But they obviously didn't.”

Roddy was a little offended, but Culling seemed outright angry.

“Well the half demon concept should have tipped us off. That show was a complete waste of time.”

“Now now Culling, to be fair, the half demon thing did tip us off. That's why we picked it, to see how stupid Hollywood people actually are. Turns out they are pretty stupid.”

Judge sounded pretty happy about the supposed stupidity of Hollywood people. I wonder if there was a grudge there? Maybe he was mad about the recent state of cowboy movies. And maybe I should never say that around him, or I'd find myself eating paint the next time we got together for training. Some cops had a greater advantage than others in petty revenges.

The credits over, the pad shut itself off. How Cords had timed that I don't know, but he had been texting my phone the entire time with comments about the show that left me no doubt at all that he had been watching, and watching the same scenes at exactly the same time as we were. I'd had to avoid knowing elbows to my ribs from both sides, but at least no one had interrupted the show by saying something. If I hadn't been able to hear the crappy dialogue, I'd have been angry, and Judge wasn't the only one that could play with paint if so inclined.

I was thirsty, so I finished off my coffee. There was a trash can, so I threw my empty in. Then I looked around for more empties, and threw them away too. It wouldn't do to let this Hum-V get like the other one the night shift drove after all; while it was something I could deal with, it was disgusting, and would take about a year to clean.

Conner's understood; she helped me while Judge stretched his legs.

Now if the rule of coffee stayed true to form, then we would all need a bathroom break soon. That crap would probably look funny, all of us going on a group potty break. Maybe I could recommend we hit the museum, for giggles. Or descend on some poor gas station that gets robbed a lot or something. Maybe do our part to cut down crime.

And in a twilight zone scene of instant karma, Roddy's console chirped.

“Attention unit 1. Attention unit 1. Priority demonic influence call, location highlighted on map. Please respond.”

I looked over Roddy's shoulder; sure enough, there was a spot highlighted. The corner of Chester and Palmer streets, maybe? Roddy responded.

“Roger dispatch, en route. Any further information?”

“None, unit 1. Call ceased 28 seconds ago.”

We all belted in, and Judge put his foot on the floor. I had been well drilled in standard procedure however, so it was time to go by the book.

“Grex, Veni huc!”

Standard procedure involved calling your own demon as quickly as possible, in order to watch your back and help you analyze the situation 'from an inhuman perspective'. Straight from the handbook itself. It still amazed me that there was a handbook, months after first seeing it.

And just like that, the Hum-V was even more crowded in an instant, as a pair of warm arms enveloped me. The arms materialized first this time, followed by the body off to the side. I shrugged them off to put my earpiece and throat mic on.

“You called, my mistress?”

His smile slipped in the next moment as he took in the mood.

“Demon call Grex. We're heading to it.”

The fact that the call ceased was worrying. That meant that whoever had made the call had not been told to hang up, but had stopped communicating. There was only one reason for the person to stop communicating.

A sudden urge grabbed me. Dare I do it? Should I show my power? My true power?

What had I sold my soul for, if not for this?

Without a second thought, I unlatched an earring and pulled it out, handing it to Grex. It was the lower left one, which was the most recent. It was also the one that governed my wings, which I knew immediately was a mistake. I could feel them ripple on my back, though they did not emerge.

“I'm going to do something.”

And just like that the tension ratcheted up a few more notches. Conner asked the obvious.

“Something like....”

And I answered.

“Speed up our response time. Please don't freak out. You especially Judge.”

Oddly enough, that did defuse the situation somewhat. Long sighs were had by all. Though Judge asked a surprisingly pertinent question.

“Alright, what am I looking for?”

I started flexing my power.

“Slowing down by everyone and everything else. I'm going to speed up our vehicle, and everything else will appear slowed down. Maybe even stopped. So, I take it by your responses this sort of thing has happened before?”

“Well, every summoner seems to get the idea that they are God's gift to the profession, pun intended. So every few months someone gets the urge to try something stupid or reinvent the wheel. You're at least being more smart about it than most, and using a power we've seen you use easily before. You also went so long without trying anything like this we thought you had good enough sense to be immune to the disease. But it turns out it just took you longer, and someone wins the pool.”

They had a pool for everything involving me, apparently. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. My power finished cycling, the pressure rising, I released it and everything started getting that blurry look as we sped up.

“You'll need to start dodging traffic; the other vehicles on the road will be slowing down to a near stop.”

Judge looked around wildly.

“Yeah, I'm getting that.”

Grex held me tighter as the barely road legal tank started taking evasive action.

“So, now you've got me curious. What was the last thing someone tried?”

Conner went green as she responded.

“The last thing someone tried was to set up a series of teleportation circles. His demon gave him a leg up on making those, and he also wanted to try quickening the response times we had. Problem is, for his trial run on his first hunt he went ahead of everyone else and ended up getting shredded by the demon he was hunting. We got there just in time to baggie up what was left.”

Oh ouch. Well at least I wasn't that stupid. A little comfort there.

How would you even run the math possible to teleport to a given location anyway? You would have to take in the Earth's movement, gravity on several bodies at once, wobble, dark matter... I mean, I was sure I could do it, but that would be weeks figuring out the proper formulae just to go one place.

“Well the only bad thing that could happen here is Judge could run over someone. And he shouldn't, since he actually has the time to be careful. After all, we have all the time in the world at the moment to drive carefully.”

Culling looked nervous. Conners looked nervous. Judge, well I could see the whites of his eyes, and I'm not sure what that meant, but it didn't look good.

“What exactly did you do, Snow? I've seen you speed up time before, but does it have any odd side effects or anything?”

“Well technically, I dilated time on the Hum-V and everything in it; this car and everything in it is experiencing time at a much faster rate. An hour outside is a second to us. It will improve our response time no matter what we do. And as far as I know, no side effects. It won't even cause you to age faster, as I'm currently keeping track of the rate of cell growth in all our bodies, and I'll slow it down once we're done. I don't know, I lack the terminology to appropriately explain it.”

“Wait, you can do all that? And to all of us and the Hum-V?”

I nodded. Second thoughts or not, the cat was out of the bag now.

“With my earrings off, yes, pretty easily. I mean it's a strain right now, I can't keep it up for long, but I can do it.”

In fact the drain on me felt liberating; like the opening of a long closed valve, relieving pressure. I had only removed one earring, just to see if I could still do it with most of my power bound. I could, which worried me; how much power did I have, exactly? At least I knew I couldn't keep it up for long without more than one removed now, so that was something.

Of course the five minutes and 3 seconds that I could do it would be more than enough in this case. We were at most 24 minutes from the location of the call, even dodging traffic.

It turned out to only be eighteen. Eighteen silent minutes, or eighteen seconds under dilation, with everyone plastered to a window but Grex and myself. I could almost smell the fear, and there really wasn't any need for it. At least, I hoped not. Grex didn't seem concerned anyway, which should be a good tell for my team.

“Come on guys, it's safe. Grex can't let me come to any harm, after all. Contracts?”

They actually all looked at Grex as Judge pulled into a stop. Grex only raised his eyebrows in response. He couldn't refute it after all, so he didn't try. I wasn't supposed to pop the door first so I waited. Culling was supposed to, with Conners covering, but they didn't seem in too much of a hurry to.

“Guys, we're up. Come on, I can keep this up for a bit longer to cover our entry, but that's it. We need to move!”

Improved response saves lives, after all.

“Right. Just remember, impatience kills. Ready Culling?”

I took a look out the window. Everything seemed normal. Normal for late at night, at any rate. There were no people or cars close to where we were. We should have gotten here before the uniforms, so something else had kept them away. The coordinates given by the cellphone led to... an apartment building.

Culling popped the door, Conner trained her gun on all the open space, and Roddy threw himself out, his own shotgun at the ready and to the right, aimed behind the vehicle where it would be easiest to sneak up on us. They all saw nothing of course, because nothing could get to us in the amount of time it had since we got here... unless it was a very powerful Erinyes or something similar. And if it was, it was almost a certainty that it was one of mine.

Grex stepped out as if from a carriage to a ball, offering a hand to help me down. I took it and looked around; I probably should be taking cover or drawing my athame, but instead I looked around. Nothing, though now that I was closer, there did seem to be a suspicious red stain under that bush to the front of the property....

The stain was a blood trail, which led to a rather well camouflaged body. One that was mostly intact, though shredded to ribbons by deep claw marks. The claw marks were cauterized, which tended to narrow down the perpetrator somewhat. No Erinyes or Minotaur made those. Probably a Cacodemon.

With a distracted thought I released my power, the world blurring back into it's proper speed again, slowly. I could have released it all at once, but I knew from experience how disorienting that could be, and my team was already on edge. Best not to push things. Letting it go, I felt that warming afterglow of fatigue, as if I had exercised well or run a small marathon, and tired myself a bit without exhausting myself.

But under that I could immediately feel my power, my energy, or whatever it was, coiling under that fatigue like a hungry serpent or other restless animal. Nothing a good night's rest wouldn't cure... or the removal of another earring.

Relieving some of that pressure had been amazing; what would removing all of it do? Well other than put me in some only partially explained danger. Conners was far more clinical than I was.

“Looks Like a Caco.”

“Yeah pretty much.”

I controlled my voice at least; it barely broke at all. All the training, all the pictures, even being a cop's child, could only do so much. I was fairly unshakable under most circumstances, but this... this was bad.

And the open cell phone was inside the apartment building.

“Judge, Culling, standard procedure. Roddy, Snow, you're with me.”

Conner headed off to the building, crouched low; something which seemed rather ridiculous in the bright morning sunshine. Standard procedure for Judge and Culling was to establish an overwatch, with Culling watching Judge's back while Judge scanned for our demon or it's summoner from a height. The highest building nearby appeared to be an old bookstore, but the gas station across the street held some promise as well. Wonder which one he will pick; after all, the gas station roof would be easier to get to, and the explosive potential might actually knock a demon around some if used.

It wouldn't win a fight, but it'd send up one heck of a signal, and call the summoner and more importantly, the demon of the team, back to help if they were attacked. In this case, it'd save their lives, because my time dilation trick was easier on me by a long shot, and I wasn't out of juice for it quite yet in any case.

I was quickly bracketed; Conners on my right front, Roddy on my left front, and Grex behind me. It was hard not to feel a little pampered, as crazy as the feeling felt in a situation like this.

You couldn't feel safe, even as a summoner bracketed by people, you were never safe; just in a little less danger. You were never safe, and any safety was an illusion; it was something you learned, something the military taught you... whether they wanted to or not.

Conners hit the door jamb just as Roddy hit the other side. A nod, and Roddy was through, pointing his own shotgun (and when had he replaced his sub machine gun with that, exactly? It had to have been when we were all at the Hum-v, but I'd missed it somehow.) down the suspiciously dark hallway. The darkness drinking in the almost incandescent sunlight of the morning did nothing at all to fool my eyes. I doubted Grex as fooled either, which meant we could both see the bodies.

There were four of them, all lying in pools of their own blood. My vision was keen, and I could make out far more detail than I wanted. Those same slashing wounds as before, cauterized as before, though fewer in number. As if the demon had been in a hurry, and the people in the hallway had simply been in the way.

A few slashes here, one long bone deep slash there... all the limbs were even attached. There was none of the typical enjoyment or slow torture I'd been told to expect of a demon enjoying themselves in evidence; this demon was on a mission.

“What do you see Snow?”

Right. They knew how good my eyes were, and had stopped with guns trained on the entrance. I didn't see the demon waiting, so I answered.

“Bodies. Grex, disperse that.”

I knew I could disperse the darkness. It was a fragile thing which did not belong; A muttered few words to the element of wind would easily do the trick. I didn't want anyone to know just how easy it would be for me. Even my co-workers. Especially my co-workers.

You were never safe, after all.

A few of those whispered words, and the darkness tattered and blew away, somewhat less quickly than expected, but fast enough. Odd, but not something to worry about now. The blood trail led up the stairs. Roddy took point and rushed the hall, aiming the shotgun up the stairs. Conners covered the entryway and Roddy's back. It wasn't likely as the doors to the ground floor apartments weren't broken, but any one of these apartments could be hiding the demon.

Again, properly sandwiched, I walked as calmly though the carnage as I could. The amount of blood pouring down the stairs was enough to slip on if you didn't watch your step; enough to leave me no doubt as to what I'd find at the end of it.

“We need to hurry this up.”

Conners shook her head.

“I hear you Snow, I really do, but we need to do this by the book. The demon could be waiting for us anywhere.”

I knew the reason for proper procedure.

“Or it could be upstairs, slaughtering people even now.”

“Use your head Snow, we'd be hearing that. We are the only line right now, between civvies and more bodies. If we fall here, now... there will be more. Maybe even dozens more. No, we aren't hearing anything because it's gone or doesn't want us to hear anything. We go slow.”

So we went slow, mentally cursing every creak we or muted jingle we made, guns trained ahead and behind, and so mentally on edge I could see the jagged rocks at the bottom of the precipice. The second floor was as dark as the first had been; but the hallway was far more empty. Mercifully so. Grex hugged me as he chanted his words again, anticipating my order. Under the new found sunshine, the hall was pristine.

The occupants of the third floor were not so lucky, as the massive boom and crash above us attested. I looked to Conners, but she shook her head again. We continued the slow climb, and the darkness was back in the third floor hall. The demon had to be here, or the roof; this darkness was just too fragile yet too persistent; it had to be a trait being used. If so, it was a common one; most demons were allergic to sunlight in some fashion, and the ability to conjure darkness while in our world a survival trait. Many demons developed the ability to conjure such globes, or learned spells to do it.

I hadn't heard any chanting but that of Grex, who dutifully dispelled this darkness, again without being asked. The incoming sunlight once again revealed to all what only two had seen before.

This time, it was one body. This time, the body had more in common with the one outside then the ones downstairs. Namely, it was in pieces. The blood trail led right next to it, and the still lit object beside it....

“We were lured here.”

Roddy gaped and pulled his gaze from the splintered door at the end of the hall, favoring me with a look. The trail of blood led into it, and I could smell the obvious trap... underneath the burned plastic and charred wood.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the phone. The buttons are melted. It was used to call us, but not by whoever that poor soul is.”

I couldn't even tell gender visually. Not that it mattered at the moment; it wasn't my job. The splintered door was. Was that what had made all the noise? I didn't think so. I couldn't say why, but a broken door didn't strike me as making that much noise. Conners stepped up, gun pointed down the stairs. She nodded at Roddy.

I could see the sweat pour down Roddy's cheek as he responded, stalking up to the shattered door. No fool, he attached a mirror to the end of his shotgun and used it to peer inside. When he shook his head, that was my cue.

Or rather, it was Grex's.

At my hand signal he ghosted into the room, checking it for demonic presence or trap spells. I didn't move and held my breath. Some demons would be able to sense the air currents, even if they were unable to hear it. Demons could do some weird things.

Like put holes right through walls, apparently.

The demon shouldered through the wall next to the door beside Conners, his fire kissed claws already zeroing in on her face. I was glad to see that it was indeed a cacodemon, one of the less ugly of it's species; always nice to know one's study had been rewarded. A thought and time slowed; too late to save my ears from the awful crunching crash, but in plenty of time for me to dodge the pieces of shrapnel now crossing the distance at me in slow motion. My reaction time with my power had improved, and after only using it what? Maybe ten times, tops, including training? My squad was right; I was going to be a terror on the battlefield.

I dragged a nearly frozen Conners out of the way of those lethal claws, then took my ready athame and applied it to the demons side... multiple times. After the body count this thing had accrued, I wasn't feeling too charitable.

The athame flashed, bright even in the sunlit space, as I carved a banishment into the things tough hide. When I released the time dilation, the cacodemon would either be banished outright... or die outright as the heavily enchanted dagger's wounds hit whatever vital points I had managed to strike. Since demons varied, I had no real way of knowing beforehand.

I released the field, with Conners safely out of the way, and the cacodemon whirred past, burying it's arm into the far wall with a screech. The smell of burning assailed my nostrils immediately, and the wails of the thing when it realized it had been hurt were ear splitting.

It was already beginning to fade under a most painful enforced banishment when Grex breezed passed me and finished it off, his face tight with anger. He put his hand right through the other demon's head as if it was made of tissue paper. Direct, brutal, and effective, it was nevertheless an odd choice for him to pick tactically. The visible anger was a bit odd too; maybe the one explained the other, but seeing him as anything other than calm or slightly mocking was... weird.

I reached the limit of my ability with one earring removed, and the world shuddered back into full speed. A minor miscalculation; I thought I had more time. Better to learn the true measure of my reserves now at least, after the threat was ended. Conners sort of melted into my arms as time fully re-asserted itself, with shuddering breaths.

“Thanks Snow. I owe you one.”

“Grex, what was in the other room?”

“If you mean what was unusual about the dwelling, then the corpses count, I suppose. Dead much like those in the halls.”

So this demon, what? Gets summoned, killed the guy outside, walks into the apartment, starts a quick slaughter-fest, calls us, starts in on the residents not directly in the way, gets surprised by how quick we get here, then sets a trap? What? Who summoned this demon to do this, and why? Someone with a grudge against the ADTF?

Conners was slipping into shock.

“Conners, wake up. Gun up now, think about it later. Grex, Roddy, a more thorough check of those apartments, please. Make sure there are no further traps or oddities.”

Oddities like other demons. If a random summoner had set a trap, then I wouldn't put it past them to stack the odds a bit better than this. Conners shook herself like a wet dog and resumed her vigil. Grex seemed reluctant to leave, so I pointed to my bloody athame in a clear message; I was not helpless. He went.

I was sure he wouldn't have if he knew that I was running on fumes, at least without another earring removed. He might even insist I remove it before he left. This meant that he no longer had a solid idea of how much power I had, anymore than I did... I think. I felt time being bent again, as Grex activated his own ability.

They checked quickly; far more quickly than should have been possible, while being thorough.

“It's clear.”

Conners was checking in with Judge. She saw me looking, and waved the all clear; so there was nothing going on outside. For some reason I couldn't hear what they were saying. Ah, that was why; the cord to the battery pack had been cut somehow. Shrapnel from the wall, maybe?

“Free to begin clean up; Send the uniforms to secure the scene.”

I wanted to look around for clues, but Conners grabbed me.

“Come on; Cords says another demon hit across town, and the second team is handling it. We got to go back them up. The techs can handle this.”

Two calls minutes from each other, after months of relative quiet? What the hell was going on?

I couldn't do my trick with our ride again. I just couldn't, I was too tired; when we got to where the other squad was Jeeves was going to have to be the one to back them up, because I didn't have anything left. Luckily, I wasn't asked. Judge was the last to arrive, stepping up into the driver's side and starting up.

We weaved through the police cars and clean up crews in careful silence, together but alone in our thoughts. Once through though, Judge put the hammer down.

“You alright?”

I must have zoned out a bit; Sarah – no, Conners - was looking me in the eye from a foot away, and she hadn't been there a second ago.

“Just tired. I'm an idiot who used too much juice.”

“Damn it.”

If she could pace, I knew she would be. I was the teams heavy artillery; without me, they may be able to support the other team, or even get the job done on their own, but it would be next to impossible to do it bloodlessly.

Under it all I could see the gratitude, still lurking under the surface.

“Don't worry, I have prepared for this.”

I had almost said 'Grex and I prepared for this,' but that would have been a mistake. I really WAS tired. At least, I hadn't mentioned what the plans were yet; other summoners would have a collective cow over an exhausted summoner actually summoning more demons. Which was why I wouldn't do it unless Grex wasn't enough.

I could even be worrying too much, and the first team could have handled the problem already, and everything could be fine. It was standard procedure to back one team up with the other after all, and technically we were done here. Though I really wanted to investigate myself. Being the… child of a police officer had ingrained some very bad habits in me. I was pretty sure I could stand to trust more.

Since my earpiece was out, I had to rely on the comms of my team for information… which meant I was just doing a lot of staring into tight and tense faces. Things were probably going less than well then. Weapons were being checked and reloaded, gear being checked for faults caused by our earlier encounter, and ammunition restocked.

Still, when Judge altered course in a hurry, kissing our side against some small parked car with a crunch, I felt it might be time to interrupt.

“So, um, how's it going?”

Smooth Maeve, real smooth.

Conners looked over at where I was attempting to rewire my earpiece. Without some wire cutters to clean it up and electrical tape, I was stuck using my nails (which worked suspiciously well on the soft plastic) and twisting it the ends together; if it held at all, it wouldn't hold long.

“Not well. The demon is a Sucker, and suspiciously powerful. She's currently weaving her way through the cordons after sucking enough men dry to power a hundred imps for a year. There was a circle where the call was placed, and it looked like it was for reinforcements. The team doesn't know if it was used or not, but they do know the bitch is a powerful caster; she's throwing spells like water, forcing the team to keep their heads down.”

Great. Just perfect; a succubus, strong or not, would hate me for Grex alone. I could use that, but using it while I was as tired as I am would be dangerous. And any other spell-thrower (demonic or not) was better at it than I was; I just didn't know enough yet. Even with the first squad still there and active, this would be a very hard fight.

That is, unless I used my secret weapon.

But no, I should go with backup plan B first. Backup plan C could wait until there was absolutely no other choice. Conners continued, oblivious to my turmoil. Maybe all the hard work at suppressing my tells was finally paying off.

“So we're heading to cut her off. She's running, and we're playing hammer and anvil.”

That meant we would be in action first. She was already running from the other team, so if we were lucky, Judge would get us there in time to actually set up properly before she smacked into us. It also meant less time to catch our breath, as the first team would be herding her towards us. Just as I came to that conclusion, Judge pulled off into an alley with a screech; I hate it when I'm right.

“Alright, lets go. Judge, that fire escape looks like your best bet. Snow, stay inside the truck. Whatever you're going to do, do it fast. Culling, stay with Judge. Roddy, you're with me.”

She looked at me, and I knew what she wanted. Sometimes I REALLY hated being right.

“Grex, on top of the truck. Make sure you're seen by our new target.”

The truck was the most magically armored piece of real estate around, after all, I was perfectly safe inside it, right? At least safer than being outside, mobile, and able to see what was coming at me, right?

My team bailed out to their assigned positions without a backward glance, leaving me feeling a bit betrayed. The Hum-V was probably the safest for a summoner that couldn't do much more than walk, but alone it was claustrophobic in here.

The privacy did give me all the time and space I needed to easily implement plan B at least, and I wouldn't even be called on it immediately.

Something all summoners could do, was summon more than one demon. Our familiar was the one we could summon easiest, having forged shortcuts into our contract (which made it exclusive), but theoretically a summoner could summon any number of demons. Well, provided their sanity held out, that is.

I didn't have to worry about any of that. According to Grex my contract included being able to summon any demon he used to be able to command, and the ability to do it the same way I could with him, provided I knew their names. So far, I knew the names of two. Two demons that he highly recommended as being willing to help me should I need it. And since the other part of my contract included either greatly reduced stress or none at all involved in summoning Grex, I was willing to take the chance that it included other demons as well. Even if I was wrong, then the stress involved couldn't be as bad as dealing with it as a normal summoner, as Grex wouldn't be adding to it.

I can't believe I just thought of such a thing as a 'normal' summoner. The fact that I also didn't include myself in what was normal for a summoner was probably also telling. I'd worry about it later.

“Abnex, veni huc! Sarex, Veni huc!”

Grex had been very adamant that if I summoned them at all, I was to summon them together. He painted a horrifying picture of one left alone to their own devices.

They appeared simultaneously, a boy and a girl with night black wings and matching wide grins revealing needle teeth. They had matching cruel expressions, which smoothed upon seeing me. One wore a blood-spattered and ragged yellow peasant dress with holes cut in to allow her wings freedom, and the other wore a blood-spattered dingy white shirt and black dress pants. I couldn't for the life of me tell which was supposed to be which.

I straightened up; showing weakness would be a death sentence here. I hadn't even drawn a hasty protection circle. I was counting on Grex's word alone that they would be friendly. Their grins widened as they realized who I was.

“Well, it's about time!” the girl said.

“We've been waiting for ages to meet you!” The boy said.

They crowded in and before I could move, the girl hopped up and pulled my hood down. I had my knife out ready to cut, but they stopped.

I heard a twin gasp of awe.

“…so beautiful….”

“Sorry, milady, my sister is an idiot. I'm Abnex, and she's Sarex. So, how can we humble servants help you today?”

There was nothing. I had felt the power drain, which was not insubstantial in my current condition, but the pressure that every summoner I had ever talked to had described to me? It was negligible. I could feel it, but I had just summoned two noble (after a fashion) demons at once without any sort of buffer at all, and barely felt what should have been a hand squeezing into a fist around my gray matter.

It just wasn't.

It felt as if another presence was sharing a portion of my head with me, and it wasn't a bad feeling at all. Odd yes, but not bad. It also seemed as if the twins counted as one presence; something that also struck me as a little odd. But compared to myself 'a little odd' was normal.

The twins had backed off, and were staring at me intently. Well, perhaps some name dropping would help.

“Grex suggested I call you if I needed help, and I do. How good are both of you at sorcery?”

They shared a look and Abnex spoke.

“Well, I'm better at it. What spells do you need cast?”

Sarex leaned forward eagerly and timed her interruption perfectly in that way twins had.

“Do you finally need us to help you take over the world?”

Her brother punched her without missing a beat.

“Um… no? I need help with corralling a Succubus.”

Way to go, idiot. Sound more hesitant and confused; that's a perfect way to end up dead. Grex was too far away to help me if these two decided I was a snack. I could get one with my knife if I struck fast, but the other would easily gut me. Maybe both would.

But instead of murderous, they looked disappointed. And chimed together, in perfect chorus:

“Oh, is that all?”

Somehow that made me even more uneasy.

“She's... supposed to be really good with spells?”

Abnex took charge again.

“Alright. So the plan is I go and back Grex up, right? And Sarex stays here and guards you?”

I nodded. It might already be too late, but I wasn't going to show any more weakness.

“Alright, that's how we'll play it then. Sis, behave. I mean it. Milady, by your leave.”

And he bowed low and left, not bothering with the door; just phasing through it. Sarex took advantage of the distraction and sat down next to me, uncomfortably close, in Conners chair. Her perfume was the salty copper of old blood and mixed with some kind of oil or incense I couldn't place. I blinked as her side pressed into mine, and looked over.

Her face was inches away, looking up at mine, lips parted slightly to allow her fevered pants to escape. She looked for all the world like a love struck pre-teen… with very sharp needle like teeth. I was about to edge away when she leaned into me with a contented sigh, resting her head on my breast of all things and tightening her little arms around me. She was much stronger than her frame suggested.

I rubbed her hair and she relaxed as the noise outside started. The explosions and shouting didn't seem to phase her at all. Her hair was soft and clean, with feathers worked into it… and she was snotting up my robe.

“Conners come in. Conners, come in.”

Great, my radio hadn't survived the tackle; I could feel my earpiece free of all wirey constraint.

And of course, Sarex had to make it even more awkward.

“You smell nice. What sort of perfume do you use? Do you use shampoo for your hair? How did you get your boobs so big? I want boobs this big too. Well, if I ever grow; otherwise I wouldn't be able to walk. And I'd trip and fall over all the time. Do you wear makeup?”

“Uh… sometimes?”

It was a mistake. I knew it was a mistake the moment I said it, but it was already too late to take it back.

“Oh really?!? What kinds? I like to use the old school stuff, you know, Kohl and Henna, but I've been looking at the modern stuff, you know, ground up animals and rust, and it seems to work better. But I'm really kind of jealous because besides looking paler than a bled corpse your skin is amazing! Totally flawless. The hair is a nice touch too; you could probably steal Helen of Troy's act if you wanted, even if everyone knew you were a summoner. After all, there are cults for those kinds of things, and who are we to judge, eh?”

And she planted a sharp elbow in my side in conspiratorial fashion… then went back to nuzzling me. She was still talking of course, but with her face shoved where it was, I couldn't understand a thing. It was a good thing my robes had protections, or she'd probably be biting me somewhere sensitive.

The Hum-V chose that moment to chime like a gong and rock as if it didn't weigh three tons. Sarex looked up from where she'd been drooling on my robe, seeming to look through the roof of the vehicle itself.

“That Succubus is a dumb one. Seems to think she can actually take on my Grex and my brother.”

“You can see through the car?”

She sniffed.

“Hardly, but that was an offensive spell. You don't throw around something like that while running away. Well I suppose you could, but it would be a tragic waste of power. Likely she just saw what kind of demons we were and thought she could overpower us. Succubi are arrogant like that.”

I thought it more likely the demon in question was feeling the heat from being pinched between forces, but I wasn't going to say anything. If I did she might stop talking sense and go back to drooling on me. Or maybe she would anyway, and I was just doomed. Quick, think of something!

“Either her aim was off, or she was aiming for me.”

Sarex didn't look away.

“What makes you say that?”

Grex wouldn't put himself in front of me, placing me in the line of fire, and then dodge. So she wasn't aiming at him, he would be somewhere else making a show. Your brother would likely be following Grex's lead, so the Succubus probably suspects where I am, and took a shot at me.”

Which meant Grex would do his best to destroy her utterly; something I'd dearly like to see and confirm. But looking out the windows was dangerous; as it was, the demon only suspected I was there. If I confirmed it by showing my face….

I really felt too tired to move right now, or I'd already be outside. Another blast shook the Hum-V. What was even going on out there? What was taking so long?

I was half up before I realized it. I only realized it when I was gently pushed back down.

“Don't worry about it, Milady, Grex and my bothersome brother have things under control. They won't be overcome by some silly sow of a succubus.”

Sarex was one of those word player type demons, it seemed. She was also stronger than she looked, but I was wise to that. The real issue was she seemed to have more weight backing her at the moment than it appeared, so I wasn't really going anywhere.

Seeing as I was good and stymied, I decided to get some reading in. I couldn't read work related stuff on my pad since that would be a major security breach, but regular novels and technical manuals I could do. I settled on a book I'd downloaded and hadn't really had time to read… a fantasy thing.

I'd read the first page four times when the door to the Hum-V was wrenched open.

Sarex was there in an instant, a knife almost as large as she was (or was that a short sword?) in her hand. It settled around the neck of Conners, who stared at it in slack astonishment.

“Hm, a human, or at least she appears so. One of yours, Milady?”

I nodded in a hurry.

“Yes, she's my boss.”

Behind Conners I heard Abnex; he sounded vaguely exasperated.

“See I told you, you should have let me go in first! My sister is in there, I said. She's crazy, I said….”

Sarex grinned sweetly as she put the knife… somewhere. I didn't pay too much attention where, for my own sanity. One minute it was there, the next it was gone. There was still more than a hint of menace in that smile, directed at her brother. She opened her mouth and Conners voice cut through the noise.

“Snow.”

“Yes, Conners?”

“These two with you? That one said they were, and Grex wouldn't attack him. We couldn't contact you.”

Oh, crap. This was beyond bad.

“Yes, they are with me. I summoned them as back up through a preexisting contract.”

Technically it WAS preexisting, and in their minds it would be a good excuse as to why there were no circles or blood around; I'd already done that part. After all, summoners did this sort of thing all the time. Summon a demon and set up a contract for later emergency use, then call them as you would your own. It was pretty draining, but some summoners were able to do it without going insane. A few.

“Meet Abnex, and Sarex. They came highly recommended.”

I pointed to each in turn. Behind Conners and Culling, Behind Abnex, I could see Grex holding up a small… flash card? It said:

“Abnex did not reveal himself to the mortals until after your vehicle was hit.”

It gave me enough information to lie on. Knowing that I could say I summoned both in fear of my life after the Hum-v was nailed with… whatever it was. Doing so would avoid any kind of trouble.

I shook my head at Grex, just a little wiggle but Culling picked it up and profiled around until my demon was in sight, hand not quite on his weapons. He was very jumpy. Grex's hands were empty, and he raised them along with an eyebrow. The flash card had disappeared.

“Look, I'm sorry. I should have warned you all about these two, but….”

This wasn't easy to say; I took a deep breath and plunged onward.

“I'm crazy, and paranoid. So I took the chance and summoned them. I didn't want any of us to get hurt, and backup is always good, and they were under my complete control the entire time, and….”

Conners waved me down.

“It's fine, It's fine, I get it. It's just, it would have been less of a heart attack to us all if that one hadn't just appeared out of nowhere. If not for the fact that he hit the target, we would have lit him up to.”

Without backup, they wouldn't have gotten far with that, and they knew it. It was then I noticed the demon behind them; an imp, low power, and contracted to someone… I couldn't remember the imps name, or the owners right offhand. The guy we were sent to relieve. I was too tired to deal with this, really; I could barely remember my own name by this point. I held up my earpiece and comms unit, still in two pieces.

“I probably would have done better at it, but apparently I suck at wiring.”

I didn't tell her it was broken by a demonic tackle hug. It was bad enough that by the looks on their faces, both Grex and Abnex suspected; I wouldn't be confirming to anyone.

“Noted. And I did order you to stay put and out of sight. But for next time, you're getting training on how to use the Hum-V radio.”

I had a thought, rattling around my empty head-space.

“That would be a good idea, yes. Maybe requisition a few replacements for all the Hum-V's?”

Conners shook her head.

“We used to do that, but then someone broke into one of the Hum-V's and stole a few. Used them to listen in to our orders and movements, and held an ambush for a couple summoners.”

None of the team would meet my eyes. So, it hadn't been long, and I had likely been the replacement for that summoner. A moment of respect for whoever it had been and I spoiled it with a yawn.

“Sorry! Sorry, I….”

Conners used the excuse to change the subject, raising her hands. Unnoticed by anyone else Sarex's arms tightened on me a little.

“No, it's fine, it's fine. You have three demons summoned at the same time, and you were tired before. Add in the post fight stress, and it's a wonder you're still awake. Send the minions back where they came and take a load off; first round of whatever you want is on me.”

That sounded like a good idea.

“Abnex, Sarex, vade in domum tuam.”

“Roger boss. Don't be a stranger.”

Again, they tag teamed the sentence. It was weird, I'd never actually known twins to do that before.

And of course without the support Sarex had been giving me I staggered a bit before getting back to my seat. At least I managed to wave Grex off before he went through everyone to get to me. Conners was the first one there.

“You alright, Snow?”

I gave her a thumbs up.

“Just tired. Moving seems optional right now.”

Everyone else piled in. Grex curled up beside me since he didn't have a seat. I should probably send him home too, but he really wasn't draining any power to stay. I felt more safe with him here, in any case. I leaned close to Conners, who was still eying me.

“The other team?”

“There were… casualties. No deaths.”

My next breath was sharper than I'd intended.

“Who?”

“Dolph, West, and Charlie. Charlie is expected to be fine, West is bad but expected to make a full recovery, and Dolph is critical.”

Well, shit.

“Any other demons sighted?”

In a day with two in the same hour, I wouldn't put anything past today. Conners made sure we were all strapped in.

“Only ours. You going to be alright? We still have a job to do, and a patrol to finish.”

Of course, the standby team was screwed, so right now the higher ups would be calling in off duty personnel to pick up the slack; meanwhile we were still on the clock. Whether I was up to it or not.

“Right. Can you keep me updated on how they are? Dolph and the others, I mean?”

She nodded, sinking back with a sigh in her own seat, and beginning to check her gear for the second time in a half-hour. The others followed suit, leaving Judge to drive; when Conners was done with hers, she checked his weapons too.

Kind of surprised me, actually; I didn't think Judge was the type to let someone else do that for him. But I guess since it was still in sight and he was watching in the rear-view mirror, it was fine by him.

We drove for some distance before I felt up to paying attention to my surroundings again, and by the time I recognized where we were, the Hum-V was pulling into the Hister memorial hospital. Hister was an old Senator, and the lone reason we should remember him was he secured the funding for the hospital.

The hospital itself was just run of the mill standard architecture for hospitals; at least it matched the facade and plan of all other hospitals I'd seen or been to. There weren't even any gargoyles out front or anything; no color to the place at all.

Maybe I was a bit spoiled by where I lived now. Maybe I should run down those thoughts, and cage them or something. And maybe I should wonder why we are at the nearest hospital.

Conners answered before I could ask… with a wink.

“Our patrol route just happened to take us by the hospital our team was taken to. Not our fault at all that our poor battered transport finally chose this moment to break down, right?”

“Nope, not at all!”

We all piled in the hospital, silent but obvious. People gave us a wide berth, and some ran away flat out. They had heard the sirens earlier; I would guess. Of course, the runners were the stupid ones; they could be running right into the situation they feared. The smarter thing to do would be to stay in an open area with a good field of view, and as close to us as possible. Oh well, any panic caused here was on Conners head, not mine; she had made the call.

At least I had recovered enough to walk now; I swear, I was never slowing time like that again. At least not until the next time I needed to. Definitely not for as long as I had, or as often. Enough, whatever; right now wasn't about me.

“Looking for a few police officers, just brought in.”

The nurse on duty looked just as weary as I felt, and not nearly as shocked as the would be patients around us. She just answered us with a halfhearted glare, probably because we chased a few people out of line without trying. She spent me a special glare with more heat in it.

“Fourth floor, rooms 416, 420, and 422. Please be quiet, people are resting.”

Yeah, I could feel the love.

Conners gave her a glare in return before leading us all off. While I was silent, my team was anything but, stomping around without a visible care in the world. I was a little touched by the show, and not fooled at all by the nonchalant faces. We rode the elevator up alone; listening to the muzak. Judge even tapped his foot to it; I didn't recognize it myself.

The fourth floor was full of cops. Scratch that, the fourth floor was absolutely packed full of them, leaving maybe a two feet strip in the center of the hall to navigate in. The ones on the outer edges of the people ball had assault weapons out and hard eyes, scanning the stairs, the elevators, and the windows. I was the only summoner present, which made me a little… tense? Why should I feel tense, surrounded by my peers?

Room 416 held Dolph, and he was by far the worst off. The police were being kept out of the room by a very large and very irate nurse, who looked able to throw a healthy Dolph around. I couldn't see much because if all the machines in the way. The captain wasn't here yet, which probably shouldn't have surprised me, but did. I had absolutely no doubt that he was on his way. I turned to Pearce.

“How is he?”

“Well, hes missing his spleen, some of his intestines, and they aren't sure they can save his arm. So… about that good.”

Wow. At least Pearce didn't sugar coat anything. He was still in shock it seemed, and I didn't blame him. Conners was beyond any such thing now.

“So what happened?”

Technically Pearce was Conners senior, and didn't have to answer here. He did anyway, loudly enough for all of us to hear.

“Dolph was covering Aims. They set up on a rooftop, with Aims covering Charlie as he went in. The target managed to figure out what Charlie was up to, and where Aims was. She just ran to the roof up the fire escape, and Dolph engaged while Aims repositioned.”

Which meant Aims ran like hell.

“He got a few good licks in but came up short. Charlie managed to drive her off, and we sent your team to intercept while Charlie's imp followed. I made the decision to get our wounded medical attention, so we taped them up and brought them here.”

It sounded almost as if he were rehearsing; he probably was. The captain would want to hear this, in detail.

Conners wasn't happy with the confession; it could be because of the injuries, but it was more likely because Pearce's actions left her team out to dry. And that after we had fought a demon already ourselves.

As for me, since I couldn't get any closer to Dolph, I decided to go one room down.

West didn't have any strong nurses in her room; she did have more than a few watchful cops in it, but they let me right through. The general atmosphere of the room seemed different, but I wasn't sure what it was. A few of the cops were less than composed, however, and weren't looking at West as she lay in the bed, cussing. A large cast was around her leg, still glistening a little in the bright lighting. I couldn't help myself; she seemed so… annoyed.

“What happened to you?”

She looked up, finally noticing me for the first time.

“Oh nothing, I just broke my damn leg is all.”

Wait a minute.

“You broke your leg? Not the demon?”

She sighed and shook her head, glaring at the cops backs as they started to shake.

“Yes, I broke my damn leg. I was with Charlie, opening the doors he needed to bypass in order to do his thing. We managed to sneak around and were heading up the stairs when she came down to us. Charlie and I jumped out a hall window, and while Charlie hit the dumpster at the bottom, I missed it. The target breezed right past us, and just left us there.”

Well, that was lucky, if odd. Should I just sit on my next question, or ask away? A person who wasn't worried about appearances would ask.

“What do you think the demon was after?”

West looked up and frowned.

“Us. Or at least, Charlie's demon, specifically. She had caused a mess in an office building, just enough to get a call, then waited. She didn't move until we got there, and when she did move it was straight at Charlie and me. We dove, she took a swipe at Charlie as she went by, but she didn't slow at all, just chased the imp towards Aims. Dolph held her while Aims got out, I guess. Not sure why she left, unless it was to chase the imp again.”

That… was a little disturbing. Usually, the demons who showed up had clear goals or mayhem on their mind; this one's goal seemed to be the ADTF itself. So had the one we faced directly, possibly. I hadn't given it time to bunker up, after all, but it might have if we hadn't surprised it.

But why would a demon care specifically about another demon? And an imp, no less? Imps were the weakest of demons most of the time, and couldn't offer a Succubus anything at all. Charlie's demon friend was a perfect example of the breed in fact. Even putting aside the first response of most demons when they spotted ADTF (run or attack, according to the manual), this just didn't make any sense at all.

And while I could see deferring to wiser heads than mine to solve the mystery, it was clear West was just as confused as I was. She was pretty experienced, and if she hadn't seen or heard of it before, the behavior was new.

“Well, Get better soon.”

It sounded lame to me as soon as I said it, but my people skills were never that good to begin with; we both knew it would take her months to recover from a break as bad as this one seemed to be, at least fully.

A room over Charlie lay, bandages around his chest. He was conscious and reading, take it easy with only the occasional wince as he turned a page. With his robe off he looked normal enough; just a young dark skinned man with dark hair and bad acne. There wasn't a single cop or anyone else in the room with him.

“So… how are you?”

He carefully looked over, and his face brightened.

“Perforated. The bitch slashed me good as she went by, chasing Yansen. Went through all the skin, but didn't go through anything else, so some stitches, and I get some cool scars to tell the ladies about.”

Yansen was the name of his imp, I remember now. With those kinds of injuries he was looking at weeks to heal, but that wasn't too bad.

“Good.”

“So, what brings you here? Get the bitch?”

I nodded. Now really wasn't the time to chide him for his use of language, no matter how much I wanted to. Even though he was being loud in general, no nurses came in to check.

“Yeah, we got her. I managed to pull a twofer.”

His smile was genuine, and so was the grimace after.

“Not bad for a rookie.”

“Maybe, just don't ask for the hat trick; I'm wiped, here. You look to be in pain, need some meds?”

His response angered me.

“Nah, they won't give us anything but locals if we get shredded, and I've already had that. The powers that be don't want us becoming addicts.”

“Well that's just stupid. You're in pain. Do they pull this sort of crap in the army?”

“No actually, just here. Ir's fine, I'd rather be awake and in full command of my senses anyway.”

It took me awhile to get it; this was THAT hospital. The one where the last summoner to die, died. It had to be, given the way he was looking around, taking everything in. Hm, how to fix this… I opened one of the pockets in my robe; if his was missing, then perhaps he didn't have the piece of chalk I tossed at him.

“Hey, thanks. My stuff got wrecked in the attack.”

I made good my escape before the hero worship, or awe, or whatever it was got too strong for me to handle.

“Well, got to go, stay safe.”

I waved and managed to suppress the shudder until I got outside; I wasn't sure what his eyes had been doing there, but undressing me seemed to be the least of it. Luckily no one else noticed; they were too bust staring at the Captain, who had a good head of steam, coming down the hall. The first words he said were directed at us, with an absolutely bright and sunny yet heart-stoppingly terrifying smile.

“Patrolling the hospital, right? You're done with the rounds here, now. Get going.”

We got going.

On the elevator down I realized something though; we were missing Conners.

“Where's Conners?”

Judge answered first; I guess rank had it's privileges.

“She's downstairs; she'll be waiting for us in the lobby.”

Since he seemed to be more predisposed to speak than Roddy or Culling, I asked him directly.

“That go about how you expected it to?”

“What, you mean upstairs, with the Captain? Yeah, pretty much. We technically did have a reason to patrol here, after all. We had wounded too; ours were just able to walk in.”

The elevator doors opened and as if to punctuate his words, Conners was there, sporting a few new bandages. She also had someone next to her, dressed in scrubs. She wasted no time invading my personal space and dragging me into a room.

“Whoa, lady, not that kind of girl!”

Conners looked way to amused for this. At least the door stayed open.

“Shut up and hold still.”

She pulled my robe back from my face, then my throat, then my hands.

“No aches or pains anywhere?”

“No, ma'am; I'm just tired.”

“About that; any uncomfortable sensations, like headaches or joint issues? Head wrapped in wool?”

Instantly I flashed back to my dream after my date, when I got my last earring.

“No ma'am, nothing like that.”

“Don't ma'am me, my names Judy.”

She looked up, staring into my eyes for what seemed forever. Then she shook, once, like a wet dog.

“Your check up is now complete. She's fine Conners.”

Judy all but shoved me out of the room.

“Any problems, you call me. Or better yes, call Karen or Conners, and they will call me. Enjoy your day.”

She slammed the door in my face.

Wait a minute, this sort of behavior was sort of predictable… I turned to my team, already walking out.

“Former summoner?”

Conners nodded with a grin.

“Yep, and a world class medic. She got a sort of diagnosis power from her pact. It's spotty as all hell, but when it works it does the job. It just worked, and she pronounced you fit for duty. Odd, really; it seems to work for summoners more often than normal people. But gift horses and all that.”

“So, she kept the power?”

No way would she be posted in a hospital with her contract still up.

“Yep, no one really knows why, and she isn't saying, but she kept that power, and only that power. No one knows for sure, but probably the Corps didn't really know what to do with her, so they kept her enlisted but stationed her here.”

“Well, she has crazy down. With her bedside manner, it's amazing she's still employed.”

Culling, of all people, spoke for her.

“She's good at her job. Many things can be forgiven if you are.”

Truer words.

We made it to the car and I poured myself into my seat. Any longer and I'd have probably sat down on the sidewalk. When I looked at my pad, a new show was downloaded on it. Conners looked at me with another grin. I rolled my eyes and hit play.

Turns out the next morning wasn't any better than yesterday. Oh, there were no more demon attacks yesterday, but I had been on call for the first time ever while off shift. I was beginning to get an idea of what a grind my forced job could be, even above and beyond all the training. But it wasn't my day off, and Grex was tickling my feet.

Why was Grex tickling my feet?

“Grex, what are you doing here, exactly? I didn't call for you.” I know I hadn't called for him.

“You did not, but our contract did. You were in some danger, so I came as required.”

He was still tickling my feet, so I kicked them out but missed him. At least it forced him to stop. The grin was a little much, though.

“Where's my coffee?” If he was waking me up, he better have my coffee.

“In the kitchen, of course.” Grex was a smartass.

“Grex, go make me some coffee, the way I prefer it.” He left; that should keep him from doing something weird to it. A look at the clock showed the alarm was off – and I was twenty minutes late.

Where was Karen? Normally she woke me up by now. I was going to be late for work, which given the amount of scrutiny I was currently under wouldn't be good for me. Or maybe I was just being too paranoid. I really did feel terrible, though; I needed more sleep or something.

I sped up time to shower, dress, and brush my hair; even covering the shower water it was easy. Maybe even easier than it should have been. I made it into the kitchen to find a mug waiting at my usual spot, and Grex nursing one of his own across from me.

“Alright Grex, now explain; why am I in danger?”

He grinned at me again. “Not am, were. There are multiple demons about, my master. Therefore, you are in danger, even here, no matter how slight. You were also having certain… problems with your power last night; it was fluctuating. I was therefore bound to check in, don't you agree?”

If he wasn't lying to me (and he couldn't, I had to remind myself of that) then his presence made sense, but it felt like a stretch. I couldn't call the apartment safe at all, but it was probably the safest place for a summoner in a city. I could deal with a bit of mother hen hovering; I might even make some jokes about it later; the other comment was a bit more worrying.

“Problems with my power? Like what?”

Grex tapped his ear, so I checked mine. They were clear, felt normal to me, but maybe the fact that they were missing the earrings he gave me was the problem. He wanted me to wear them at all times, even sleeping, and I'd been humoring him. I hadn't ripped an earlobe off yet, so I counted that as a win.

“I went to sleep with them, like normal. No idea where they are now.”

He nodded. “I have them; I had to take them off in order to siphon some unregulated power from you properly; I couldn't use the method I'd used before.”

Well, that was a little surprising. “Why not?”

I knew right away he was going to evade the question.

“I cannot say.” I hate being right.

Whatever. “Fine, so when can I get my earrings back? They weren't on the nightstand.”

He got up, marched the two steps required, and pulled them from his pocket. I stopped him.

“Get the peroxide; I've no idea what else has been in those pockets.”

He smirked but complied.

“Has Karen been here?”

“Not today.” Grex yelled back from the bathroom.

I really didn't have much time at all, even with all the time I'd just saved. I grabbed a granola bar and chewed mechanically while Grex put the earrings back where he'd found them.

Once he was done I grabbed my robe and threw it on, racing out the door; I could clean up later. Grex was right behind me. The apartment building was pretty empty; even more than normal for the early hour. I barely had to dodge anyone. Even the lobby and coffee shop was light on people; barely fifteen between the two.

The day was nice; bright, sunny, and balmy with just a hint of heat and a nice breeze. I kept the windows down as I drove, and Grex leaned out his window with his tongue out like a dog most of the way, to the amusement of kids and adults alike. If only they knew.

I pulled into my reserved space and took the elevator up with a good ten minutes to spare; who knew that simply speeding up a shower and getting dressed could save more time than speeding up my commute could? It was kind of unreal; I'd need to watch it, I could easily become lazy.

The office was humming with activity. Magilla, who had arms about like one would expect from the name, hair and all, was using an honest to God typewriter to type out reports. From what I could tell, he was doing it badly. It didn't look like he was getting ready to go out, so that honor was probably mine. The other members of my team were all present and accounted for. They all looked at me as I came in.

Sitting at my desk was the written order sending me out today. I was supposed to be given a day at the office after one of patrolling, especially after demonic contact, but with Charlie laid up that plan was apparently out the window.

At least it meant I wouldn't have to figure out what happened to the documents that were supposed to be in my inbox; the last time it was empty, an enterprising summoner (no one told me exactly who) had made them all paper airplanes and sailed them around the room. Repeatedly; for hours.

Coffee got plunked down onto my desk; there was Karen, coming from nowhere as usual. She even had the grace to look a little apologetic.

“Sorry, I got called in early to help shuffle staff around. Got everything handled, but you're still going out again.”

I very carefully did not think any jinxing thoughts. The coffee was delivered; I think it was from the coffee shop I'd stopped in from my first encounter. Karen's next jibe when she noticed me noticing confirmed it.

“The delivery guy volunteered to come to the station; according to the desk sergeant, he kept looking around for his 'silver haired goddess'.”

Grex stifled a laugh behind me.

I took a sip; the brew was acceptable; a bit strong for me normally, but I needed it today.

“Alright, So long as Magilla files my reports from yesterday, I'm good with going out.”

Magilla shot me the look of the betrayed as Karen agreed, and I headed back down to the garage. My team would join me soon enough. Grex followed. As for Magilla, well, I knew what he did with my glue; and he deserved the payback.

“Am I still in danger, Grex?”

His response did not surprise me. “Most certainly, my mistress.”

He was probably being overprotective. I hoped he was.

I didn't have to wait long, but long enough to realize I'd forgotten my pad today. I almost sent Grex home for it, but I knew whatever travel method he used wouldn't be instant, so my phone would have to do; something was up, and I wanted my back watched. The team filed down, all present and accounted for and uninjured. Conner slapped a new radio unit into my hand as I climbed in the transport first, Grex on my heels.

It really was new; it still had that new tech shine to it. I set it up after belting in, and we were off.

“No pad today?”

“No such luck, Culling. Forgot it at home.”

Conner grinned. “Cords is going to be crushed! I bet he had some sort of thing all set up for you.”

I think I managed to control my blush. “Well if there was something, I don't know about it. I was supposed to be pushing papers today.”

Judge grimaced. “Don't remind me; so was I, and I think I got some extra.”

Probably from West and Dolph, who weren't in any shape to do their own. Best to avoid getting closer to that. Last I heard they were fine, but I hadn't checked yet this morning.

“Well, I got to con mine off on Magilla, per Karen.”

“Serves him right for the glue thing. That was a hell of a mess to clean up.”

“Couldn't agree more Roddy.” I was, after all, right next to you cleaning.

We pulled out and into traffic and Grex handed me my coffee. I wasn't aware he'd actually had it; I realized I had left it in the parking garage. What was wrong with me today? I was never this forgetful. Had the attacks from yesterday done something to me? Or the exhaustion afterward?

Or maybe I just forgot. No sense driving myself crazy; I could ask later.

“So, any reason Grex is out?”

I thought about it; no reason they couldn't know. “Well, according to him I'm in some danger, so he's hanging out and watching my back. The contract calls for it.”

I watched them tense, and I could understand. If I was in danger, then they were too, just by being close to me. Even the various terrorist groups made little distinction between ADTF rank and file and summoners. Demons paid even less attention of course. It was probably best to clarify.

“I'm pretty sure he's just talking about the increased incidents of demons in the city, and doesn't have any concrete information.” I looked at Grex for confirmation.

He wasted no time in giving it. “Quite so. I merely feel it best to err on the side of caution.”

He smirked at the collective sighs of relief. My team knew now that Grex couldn't lie, so if said he knew nothing, he knew nothing. Didn't mean we were in the clear, but Grex had also watched me with nothing going on, so I was inclined to believe he was just being overprotective. Well, I was hoping, anyway.

We drove around for a good hour, with Judge behind the wheel. Cords sent me a few texts, which I returned. (Take a phone call in a crowded vehicle with a bunch of gossipy cops listening to half the convo? No way!) He didn't want to send me anything on the phone, he felt the screen was too small for any of that. I could see everything on it just fine, even proved it by listing off things in an image he sent (my eyesight was very good), but he was adamant.

“Trouble in paradise?”

I knew if I responded to Conner's 'subtle' jab, she'd never let it go. “No, just discussing what to check out next. I forgot my pad. He want's to watch some vampire drama or other.”

Conner rolled her eyes dramatically. “Oh yes, cause those are always fun.”

I couldn't agree more, normally. “I don't know, he says its supposed to be closer to “Nosferatu” than Ed and Bella.”

If true that would be a relief, although I wasn't sure I wanted to see bloodsucking in all it's glory. I got enough of that at work.

Judge finally pulled into the park we were at yesterday, just as Cords updated me on the condition of West, Dolph, and Charlie: they were fine, at least for various levels of fine, and healing up.

“How about you drive for a bit, Conner?”

“Sure Judge, but let's take five for now. I've got to use the little girls room something fierce.”

She hurried off while Judge and I shook our heads. As was standard procedure for us, we all got out in order to stretch our legs, so we wouldn't get in each others way. That made me last, behind a very watchful Grex.

I was out of coffee now. I threw the empty cup in a trash can and started stretching.

There were a few kids in the park today, and those kids had parents. The kids were laughing and playing around, the adults were watching us all warily. I guess they wanted to know if it was time to run. I waved at them, and one, a young mother, visibly flinched. Grex looked normal, so that left me. Unless… I looked at Grex, and he looked back. Nope, he looked normal. Unless he smiled he looked more normal than I did; so she was flinching because I waved.

Now that I was limber again, I walked over to Judge and Conner, who were in the middle of discussing routes.

“I can drive, if you want.” It was better than doing nothing.

Conner Shook her head. “Can't. It's against regs for the summoner to drive the team. One flipped out while driving a while back and took out her team by ramming a transformer.”

Well, crap. One nut-bar ruining things for the rest of us nut-bars. Who would have thought? At least now I knew why I was always seated in the back while we were moving. Easier to keep an eye on and potentially stop. Heck, there were probably orders to that effect.

When we got back in, Conner was driving. Judge was in Conner's seat, which I should have realized faced mine for a reason. Watching me; which was why Grex was watching him. Not that I had anything to hide, other than the occasional text.

So we drove around and wasted gas at the taxpayer's expense, being the professional rapid response unit, until lunch time. Lunch time found us in a drive-thru, with Sarah ordering. It was he burger barn, oddly enough, the same one that got hit what was it? A year ago? I wondered idly if it would ever stop being the burger barn that got attacked in my mind. Probably not.

“I'll take seven burger bomb specials, one grilled chicken sandwich, and a family bucket of fries to go.” It was a good thing I liked the burger bomb; she didn't even ask.

That aside she ordered too much for all of us; the burger bombs were big, and I doubted any human could eat two and live. Conner confirmed the plan for me when she just took the bags from the croggled drive-thru guy and passed them back. I wish I'd at least been told the plan was to sneak fast food into the hospital; I could help.

“So, hospital?” Judge nodded over the food; one hand slowly reaching in….

Conners called back without even looking. “Judge, keep those hands out of the fries. Culling, that goes double for you.”

Judge held his hands up in surrender while Culling glared an imaginary hole in her head. “I wasn't touching shit!”

Roddy grinned and finally broke his silence. “Yeah, but you were thinking about it. I saw you.”

I'd been a little worried about Roddy; he'd been pretty silent today. But if he could joke and smile, I guess he was fine.

“Up yours, Roddy.” I didn't have to worry about Culling at all.

We headed to the hospital, and this time the nurses and security didn't even give us a second look. Well, aside from the bags we sported; none called us on it, though. Back to team two's set of rooms, and West and Dolph's still very crowded rooms. Of course, the other cops had also brought gifts, but none so hot and greasy as ours. Dolph was first, and Culling placed it on his chest.

Dolph had to work to get it, but he did. I was worried he'd tear something he went after it so fast. Next door West had an easier time of things. I wanted to stay and talk, but there were still too many people in the room, and I hadn't dismissed Grex, so he was getting some looks. Not exactly hostile, but wary.

Conner came back out and handed me one last bag. “If you would, could you give that to Charlie?”

I took it. With my own bag (I wasn't eating in our transport, not when I knew I'd have time later) that made my hands full. I wasn't sure I liked having both hands full.

“Sure.”

Charlie's room was empty again today. He was at least conscious, reading a paper of all things, and I could tell he was listening with at least one ear to the conversations taking place next door. There weren't even flowers. I took a breath and stormed in right as he heard me.

“Real foods on!”

I set the bag on his food tray (placed in the corner near the door) and wheeled it over to him. He looked… better.

He had enough energy to raise a skeptical eyebrow in my direction anyway. “Burger Barn, really?”

I nodded. “Lunch of champions.”

He sighed. “Let me guess; Conner drove?”

Hm, evidently there was a story there. “Yes, she did. How are you?”

He replied around a mouthful of burger. Seems he didn't hate the stuff at least. “Better. I'll likely still be a few weeks recovering, but I should make a mostly full recovery.”

Better than Dolph. For all the man's forced joviality, his arm was still touch and go. Even if they saved it, he would likely lose some use of it, and if he did his career as an ADTF agent was over.

The ADTF did have a pretty fantastic benefits package, though, including the best coverage for people injured in the line of duty in the world. As good as summoner retirement, really. Charlie just waited silently; he was probably having similar thoughts himself.

Well almost silently. He wasn't shy or quiet about stuffing his face.

I followed suit but with actual manners, and slightly less mess; only so much you can do when eating a huge burger with your hands anyway. There was nothing in the room, same as yesterday, and the television was off.

“So, you looked kind of bored when I walked in, got anything to do?”

He shook his head. “Nah. West wheeled herself in here earlier and we played a card game called Uno, but nothing since. The paper is yesterday's.”

Right, I could fix that. “Alright, I'll be right back.”

The gift shop was three floors down and taking the back stairs gave me solitude along with the exercise. I was almost down to the shop when I realized I forgot to ask what type of book Charlie liked. Luckily I remembered just in time that he had some detective novels on his desk at the office, and they had looked well worn when I saw them, so the latest detective novels should do.

I grabbed the three newest and swiped my card through the reader as the clerk rang them up; she didn't even bat an eye at my presence, like the nurses. It was almost weird, after being stared at by just about everyone for so long.

I knew my memory had been right on target for the first time today when Charlie almost brightened. He perked up as much as any summoner eight years in could, that is. He immediately ditched the first two and snatched the third from my hand.

“Read the other two, but this one I hadn't had a chance to grab yet. Thanks. You should read the others if you haven't yet; they are pretty good.”

Not a single thought on whether I even liked the genre; oh well, I didn't hate it, and it felt tacky to go back downstairs and demand a refund.

“Sure.”

I was saved from further social awkwardness by the bell of sorts. “Snow, haul your heiny outside! We got to go, Roddy says the Captains on his way and we need to be gone before he gets here.”

“Coming!” I yelled back. I turned to Charlie again – taking in his room again. “If you need something or need to talk, call my cell, alright? I can't promise I'll be able to drop everything, but I'll do what I can.”

He actually looked surprised at the offer for a second, dropping his disinterested look and showing a fair amount of open pain before closing back up.

“Sure, I have the number.”

I waved, and headed down the back stairs again.

Grex didn't figure it out until I ducked into the gift shop again. I headed straight to the clerk, who thankfully wasn't bust with anyone.

“Do you take orders for flowers?” I'd seen the fresh flower bundles in the corner, some already in nice vases, all ready for some last minute well wishers on my first trip down.

“Yes?”

“Good, can you ring up three bouquets, and have them all delivered an hour from now to the three cops upstairs?”

It took her a minute to figure out what I wanted, and for her eyes to uncross; she was such a blonde.

“Um, yeah we can do that. But three cops? Aren't there only two cops?”

What. “There are three; all members of the Anti-Demon Task Force.”

Nice to know she didn't consider summoners to be cops. Her face bled color as she realized who I was talking about, and who she was talking to. So she wasn't quite as blasé as she appeared. She rang the flowers up with hands that shook. As I took my card back, Grex did something from behind me and she wobbled on her feet.

Rather than deal with it, I just left. The clerk probably wouldn't appreciate me steadying her anyway, either way I could do it, and she was in a hospital; she would be fine. I also had a ride to catch.

“Grex, what did you do just now?”

“Took a step, my mistress.”

Smart-ass. “Don't play coy with me. What did you do to make the clerk almost throw up there?”

He tried to sound offended, but I could hear the amusement underneath. “Why nothing at all, my mistress. I simply smiled at the woman to put her at ease; she seemed uneasy in your presence.”

Grex's smile wouldn't put anyone at ease. He knew that.

“Grex, don't scare the normies. Well, unless I tell you to.”

He smirked as my brain caught up with my mouth. “As you say, my mistress.”

Damn it. Retro me, Satanis, or however it's said.

Everyone was already waiting with a distinct lack of patience as I made my way out to the transport. Judge and Culling were the only ones able to get in before me because they were in the front, but they were walking in circles like everyone else. Judge was probably enjoying the freedom while he could; he disliked being cramped in a vehicle. Conner was a bit angry.

“Snow, what the hell?!? Were you taking a potty break or something?”

I shook my head as I swept past them and climbed in. “No, was arranging surprise flowers.”

Conner paused in putting her belt on. “Alright, I can deal with that. Judge, punch it!”

“Hold your horses woman, I'm not even situated yet!” Came the response that I, at least, expected.

“Well, hurry it up!” And there was the other one.

We managed to make it out and away from the hospital before seeing the Captain, heading the opposite direction from where he'd drive in from… but Conner didn't relax until we were ten streets away.

“What do you think he's going to do, come from the opposite direction in an attempt to catch us?”

She nodded, completely serious. “Yes, I wouldn't put it past him.”

Culling agreed. “He's done that sort of thing before. It's just a shame that he takes lunch the same time we're scheduled to.”

I couldn't argue that; technically there was nothing wrong with what we were doing, except it made us a tiny bit predictable in our route, and that was a big no-no. I'd had that drilled into my head for far too long now – being predictable meant being dead, and that applied even to showing up at a hospital at lunch. If we did it again, the Captain would no doubt have words for us. Several words delivered at high volume.

But no such terrible thing happened, and the cops at the hospital wouldn't tell. They wouldn't lie for us, they would just change the subject and the Captain wouldn't press. Any breach of regs that you got away with was a good one. With a shrug, I cracked open the first book; I hadn't even recognized the author. Ten minutes later I was sure why.

How could a whodunit be a bestseller if you could figure it out ten minutes in? The hint as the character was introduced made it clear he was the murderer; it was just sad. The second one was better written but just as easy to figure out. I could at least stick with it, until the transport stopped. I looked up and the rest of the team was already piling out, so I followed. Well, I had to follow Grex, who thankfully went first without being told.

Once outside it was clear that we were missing an absolutely wonderful day by being cooped up in a vehicle that was no less a contained environment that the office was as it passed. The sun was shining brightly and the temperature was perhaps a touch too far on the hot side, but the wind made up for it.
Flowers were blooming, tree leaves were rustling, and birds were chirping.

We had stopped at an old highway gas station on the outskirts of town to stretch, and the late afternoon sun was marching over the desert outskirts, which we had a nice open view of. I was glad we all wore our boots; this was prime scorpion country. I did a lap around the crumbling building, taking note of how nature was reclaiming it. It looked like another twenty years and the place would fall down by itself, no help required; the desert was sandblasting it down and the most of the roof was already gone, one wall looked spongy, and all the windows were in shards.

There were some places in Europe that probably looked the same or worse. There was also probably some deep statement to be read in this - but I was busy with a murder novel.

My phone vibrated. It was Cords, wanting my opinion on some movie I'd never even heard of as a thing to watch tomorrow. I would definitely get a day in the office tomorrow; I'd kept Grex out all day (on purpose) and while I was probably due some harsh words about overtaxing myself, the rules on avoiding overexertion were clear; if a summoner had their demon out in the line of duty a certain number of hours (in our case, it was six, or almost a full shift) they were given an equal number of downtime hours.

Of course, that was usually to avoid blinding headaches and projectile pea soup vomiting (or worse) that I didn't get, but I was cheating a little. Cheating was a time honored tradition I was still getting immersed in, but one I could take advantage of. It wasn't like I needed to lie or anything for it, after all; the devil truly was in the details.

Of course, Karma could take more than one form. There wasn't an hour left to our shift when we stopped, and the call came in on my second lap.

“Let's go Snow! Demon spotted, 43rd and Pine.”

That wasn't far from here; less than ten minutes by car. I briefly thought of slowing time and hoofing it, but decided against it. Sure it would be faster, but it would leave me without the support of my team, and even if I made it in time and didn't die, they would be less than happy with me. So instead I piled back in, my team all but shoving Grex and I out of the way, and we took off.

“So, do we know anything this time?” I asked Culling; he had been the one manning the radio, after all.

“We know it's a, quote, “Cow guy” end quote. So, a minotaur or a funky looking Bal'rog.” that was a less than promising reply; either could be a real handful in a fight, being extremely tough. A minotaur supposedly soaked less damage than a Bal'rog, though, and didn't have the power over fire.

Grex could probably take one, without us even having to get out of the transport.

Three demon attacks in two days. What was even going on?

We turned onto Pine, and the demon was waiting for us. The houses in the suburb we'd turned onto were all intact; I could see the twitching of curtains from a few of the houses from here, which made no sense at all. Everybody around should already be hoofing it out via their back doors by now. The reason they weren't in cars and racing each other, was the demon was standing on the road out, pavement cracked and bubbling from the heat of it.

It was a minotaur, eight feet tall and leaning on an ax even taller than it was with a half moon blade that was worryingly large. He (it was obviously a he, the tattered loincloth he sported as clothes didn't actually hide much, to all our chagrin) was just standing there, leaning on the ax with a bored look on his cowy face. I saw no casualties, no burning homes, not even a kicked dog, after at least twelve minutes of free reign. He shifted stance and hefted his ax as we got close.

Judge stopped a hundred feet away, with our door facing away from it. Conners very carefully opened the door, and we started to tumble out, as quietly as we could. This was a very stupid idea, we should back up, reset this encounter and try stealth, but we hadn't expected the damned thing to be waiting for us. If we tried to reset now, chances were it wouldn't let us.

But he let us deploy, at least to cover around our vehicle. I risked a glance to find him still standing there, the only difference was now his ax was on fire. He actually lifted his hooves out of the now semi-liquid patch of asphalt, shaking each off with a look of disgust before taking a step, closer to us.

Well, since we were already seen, and hadn't been attacked, it pretty much fell to me.

“Grex, let's go.”

“Right behind you, my mistress.”

We stepped out and the demon's face changed expression again… to relief? He spoke, his voice sounding more like it was mixed with a goat's than anything. I somehow managed not to laugh.

“It's about time. I've been waiting entirely too long.”

So it had been waiting for us; I had been beginning to suspect that, but it was nice to have confirmation. The bad part of that is it was actually waiting for us. That meant it would be prepared for us. I felt like I was forgetting something… oh right! Snark, I was forgetting snark.

“Come on, you couldn't have been waiting that long; not a single thing in flames or dead yet.” Good going Maeve, that was easily your best effort to date!

I needed to just stop talking during life and death situations. Even the minotaur was flabbergasted for a minute – and I could tell Grex was going to be insufferable later. Still, the demon answered as if I was serious.

“Orders, you understand how it is.”

That was actually pretty telling. A probing of our defenses, checking our response times in the city perhaps? Combined with yesterday that made some sense, but it seemed like an expensive and daring game to play. An attempt on me personally? With Grex acting the way he was, and the demons yesterday that could also be the case. The minotaur shifted again.

Oh, right, I shouldn't be playing for time for this. My team probably wouldn't directly engage, not for this. I was pretty sure they were watching my back in case of traps or more demons. Time to get this show on the road, I didn't want to be in the office after five after all.

“Grex, take him down.”

“With pleasure.” Grex actually materialized a sword as he stepped forward, obviously more than willing to go hand to hand against an over-muscled cow man that had an ax that looked capable of splitting a car in half.

Seemed like an unnecessary risk to me, but Grex seemed capable of handling it, deflecting the first stroke to the side where it bit into the road to the shaft with no resistance. I was contemplating using my time trick to slap a banishment on him, but the he burst into flame, something that would actually hurt me quite a bit if I got close.

Of course, it couldn't be that easy, and I couldn't just command him with my team present and watching. That would lead to some questions I didn't want to answer, and this wasn't exactly life or death yet. Grex was doing a fair imitation of making the demon look bad already, dancing around him and opening long wounds that might eventually prove disabling. In short, he was toying with him.

I started easing my way to an angle that wouldn't include Grex in any potential line of fire, keeping an eye out for ambushes. This seemed too easy all of a sudden, and there had been two demons loose yesterday, after all. The minotaur noticed, but couldn't really do much about it but watch; he wasn't slow, but Grex was much faster, and the strength difference that probably existed just didn't seem to be telling yet.

It felt like there should be more challenge here, but there wasn't. My athame, my combat knife, flew with its time sped up and seals active. The effect when the blade cut his skin was immediate; the minotaur vanished with a scream as the binding seals discharged. A quick glance with enhanced senses proved the demon hadn't pulled a fast one; it was really gone.

Grex confirmed it by standing straight and letting his sword disappeared back to wherever he kept it. The danger, such as it was, was passed.

Unless it was another bait. “Conner, any word of anything unusual going on? Any other attacks?”

Her response was partially a relief. “None. We are good to go. Still got some patrolling to do, but I'll call in the cops and the repair crews.”

What the heck was going on?

I woke to my alarm, my eyes bleary. As always, batting the thing across the room did nothing to it. No Grex this morning, which was probably a good thing. It was a Monday, and my day off.

There had been three more demon attacks in the week. Luckily or unluckily, I hadn't been on duty or close enough to respond to them, but there had been a few more casualties and the base was starting to take notice. The last one had been on Saturday during my training and had crippled half of two full teams before it'd been put down. We were actually getting reinforcements from other nearby cities, according to Karen.

I thought it was a bad idea, the nearer cities to us were in more danger than those farther away (assuming any demons around got away from us) and cars made the distances negligible, but I wasn't in charge. It was actually putting the lie to how well prepared we were for an invasion, in my opinion; we were just stretched too thin.

But at least today, I didn't have to worry about any of that. I didn't have to worry about anything at all, in fact. This was a mandated day off and I intended to be lazy about it and do nothing at all.

I kept getting called up on my other days off – I think the brass were experimenting with how long I could keep going. Finally Karen had put her foot down as my psychiatrist, and demanded two days... but I couldn't take time off while training so I had to suffer the weekend boot camp first.

So now I wasn't going to move... for a year. I had my laptop in my bedroom and it was connected; I could watch television through it and veg.

Sarex came through the doorway as if she belonged there, a tray of steaming coffee and covered platters of food on it.

“Good morning, Summoner Snow! I made breakfast for you, I hope you like it!”

Abnex's voice carried loudly through the apartment. “You nothing! I did it and you sat and watched!”

Who had summoned them and how had they gotten in? I certainly hadn't done it. If Grex had overstepped himself somehow....

There was a single blood red rose on the tray next to the covered main course. “Who summoned you here, and how did you get in?”

How did they get in without my knowledge, even? Not even Grex could really pull that off.

“Oh, we have our ways.”

Bullshit. “You'll have to do better than that. Tell me how you got in here, and why you came.”

I put all the force I could behind the command. It did not work as I expected: Sarex dropped to her knees while tossing the tray on the bed next to me, clapping her hands together and all but screeching out:

“Yes, my Lady, command me! I am yours, your will be done!”

I focused; I could freak out about her weird reaction later; I was in danger now. Though if I was in danger, Grex should already be here.

“Answer the question.”

She answered immediately, still on her knees (where I certainly hadn't ordered her to be) and smiling up at me beatifically. “We were summoned by a power greater than yours, with the purpose of hanging out.”

What? “Hanging out.”

“Yes.” She just kept smiling, as if that answer made sense.

“And only hanging out? No other agenda?”

“Well, getting to know you, my Lady. That is the only other agenda I am privy too.”

“Hanging out and getting to know me, and nothing else?”

She nodded.

I doubted she could lie under the influence of whatever it was I could do... but there were ways around it if so.

“You will not offer any violence of word or deed to anyone in this house unless I command otherwise, do you understand?”

For the purposes of commands or spells, an apartment was considered a house or dwelling. Grex had yet to tell my why that was, or how it mattered. Her smile slipped a little, but her reply was immediate and I felt the truth of it in my bones. “I understand, My lady.”

“Good. Now, what's in the breakfast?” I didn't let up an inch. Not one centimeter; she could still be trying to poison me.

“Instant oatmeal and fresh fruit. Toast with margarine on the second platter. Coffee from your canister in the kitchen mixed with hot water.”

I looked. Maple and brown sugar oatmeal and fresh cut strawberries greeted me. Toast was where she said it was. The coffee smelled right. “No... extras? No foreign contaminants or anything?”

“No, my Lady. Nothing that will cause you harm.” Good enough. I eased up and prepared to take a bite, but her growing look of anticipation killed the mood. I even liked maple and brown sugar – though I'd hardly consider instant a cooked meal by any stretch of the imagination. When I lowered the spoon her grin fell and lifting it made it stretch.

“Alright, why are you doing that?”

Again her reply was immediate, and this time laced with just enough confusion to make me doubt myself – which was probably the plan. “Doing what?”

I stayed calm; I was kind of proud of that. “Smiling like that when I lift the spoon. Did you do something to the spoon?”

Outrage; again the perfect amount. “What? No! I didn't touch the spoon at all. I smile at the anticipation of your enjoyment of my lovingly home-cooked meal!”

And the day took a turn for the really surreal, as a soup ladle I was sure I didn't own flew through the doorway and smacked Sarex in the head, taking her down instantly.

“YOU cooked!?! Why you little troll, you don't even know how to turn the oven on! Don't listen to her, my Lady, she is just trying to curry favor.”

That had to be Abnex. Sarex shot back, not even looking away and without losing her grin. “You didn't either! You just used that box thing with the chime!”

I was pretty sure she was talking about the microwave. It still didn't count as cooking to me. “Abnex get in here!”

He came but paused at the doorway. I could almost feel the effort it took him to resist, even though his head was turned. “Are you decent, my Lady?”

I was in my pajamas, so yes. “Sure, get in here.”

He appeared in front of me as if poured from a bottle rather than walk. “Is there anything in the food Sarex brought me that I should be aware of? Foreign contaminants, extras, curses, or anything else? Tell me truthfully.”

He knelt too under my influence, knuckling his forehead and refusing to look me in the eye. “No, my Lady. It is just human food, I assure you.”

I took a strawberry slice... and it tasted fine. Well, if by hand picked an hour ago after being kissed by the sun for a month was fine. It was amazing, so I nibbled on another while hunting my remote. Both the twins were still on their knees, waiting.

“You don't have to kneel or genuflect to me, or whatever you're doing.”

Abnex fielded that one while Sarex stayed silent – though she did turn her head enough to watch the television out of the corner of her eyes. “We know we don't.”

They still kept doing it. I thought for a moment and just gave up, changing the channel to the history channel; early morning was the only time they actually showed real history anymore, and I didn't want to miss it. I debated asking the next question. The really important one.

“What happens if I command you to tell me who sent you?”

Sarex looked away from the show long enough to answer. “Oh, we'll explode!” Her chipper voice and upbeat tone was more than a little at odds with the statement.

Walk softly, here... so very softly. “Why?”

Abnex looked up to answer. “Because the one who sent us is more powerful than you, and while he's not here he made us swear not to tell. So if you command us to tell you, and his command not to holds, we will be driven to either stay silent or explode under the force of your commands. I am sorry, my Lady, but you cannot get any answers from us; only friendly companionship.”

He had to be joking, but he didn't sound like it.

Of course, he'd already told me enough. Stronger than me meant a few mortals, and a whole lot of demons. The use of the word 'one' rather than 'he' 'she' or 'person' was also suggestive of a demon, but not a smoking gun, and I couldn't think of any demon who had a vested interest in my well-being or fostering some kind of relationship other than Grex... and if he had a problem with the former he'd already be here himself.

“Fine. Whatever. You can stay if you don't do anything stupid. I'm just going to lounge around today and be lazy. Do something to piss me off and I'll ship you back to Hell, understand?”

They both nodded. I settled back into bed and turned the television up. They sat cross-legged in the corner and watched with me. Sarex's little squeals of delight as the animals ate each other on the plains of Africa was a little disturbing, but not enough to call her on.

At some point in watching the discovery channel, I must have fallen asleep again.

My phone woke me, chiming an odd alarm I'd only heard once before, in training. The off duty alarm meaning a demon was on the loose. I looked around, groggily, to find out why my arms wouldn't move, to find that they were pinned by the twins, who had joined me in the bed and were even now looking around in confusion themselves.

It was most definitely not adorable in any way.

I freed my arm from Sarex (she was closest to my nightstand) and picked up my phone. Just as I managed that the alarm stopped, and it started ringing instead. I picked up.

“Hey Snow!”

“Hi Karen. What's going on?”

“Nothing, nothing. Just your standard run of the mill demon alert – again. Nothing for you to worry about and come in for. In fact, that's why I'm calling, to tell you your day off is still a go. So just sit back and relax, and don't worry. If you want to talk shop later I'll tell you all about it, okay?”

Well, that was more than a little off-putting. Sending some mixed signals there, Kare-bear. “Sure. Good luck.”

She hung up and I set my phone down; she had sounded a little nervous. I wonder if she was going to handle the alert herself? She had undoubtedly faced worse, no matter the demon. Well, I certainly wasn't worried for her, but maybe I could do something on my end, day off or not. After all, Grex wasn't here to stop me from questioning the twins.

“So, Abnex. Can you tell me what's going on in the city lately, with all the demons attacking?”

Abnex had no poker face at all unless he was feigning the nervousness. “Yes.”

So he could tell me but clearly wouldn't offer any information. “Then tell me, and speak truth. Why have the incidents of demon attacks and sightings gone up recently?”

Sarex answered sweetly; right, the twins tended to tag team responses. “Well, there is someone out there summoning demons to attack. There might be more than one someone, we don't know.”

Hm. “Is this the same person who summoned you to come to me today?”

Abnex and Sarex both shook their heads, but Abnex spoke the words. “No, that's a different someone. But other than that, the only thing we can tell you is the person who summoned us means you no harm at all.”

Oh, they could tell me more, but that what they already said was quite enough. A demon lord in all likelihood, or a summoner so strong they might as well be, had summoned them without a more permanent contract and told them to watch me. It almost had to be a demon lord, but which one? According to Grex they were all stronger than me – but one that wanted me protected?

“So can you tell me anything about this different someone?”

Abnex answered, formally. “We cannot. You are correct to assume we know more than we can say, but we can't help you.”

Not 'won't', but 'can't'. What was this, some kind of sick test? No, that was arrogance; I was kind of a big deal, but not that big. If anything I might be able to hold the demons off and slow their advance, in the way that the heavy hitters who came before me managed, but in the grand scheme of things I was nothing at all. It could be a test of the city's ADTF response, but if it was that it was a prelude to invasion.

Mexico wasn't that far away after all, and the base was a prime target. One good massed strike there could cripple America's war effort.

But while that seemed to make sense, it really didn't. The amount of force applied to crack the base, or even hurt it significantly should be well over what any collection of rumored rogue summoners could pull – even the rumored 4th Reich Nazi summoners rumored to be in South America. The demons themselves could probably do it, if a lord were summoning more demons in, but even with a dozen lords working nonstop such an effort would take years, and there was no way an army that size would remain undetected.

Instead, the sniping and undoubtedly dangerous single attacks stepped up; brutal and stretching us thin but ultimately not dangerous enough. Maybe the real target was in another city, one sending us reinforcements? It was possible, but reinforcements had been sent from the base and Phoenix already, and both still had more than enough to deal with a guerrilla army. The other cities were fine.

Maybe the target wasn't a big population center at all? I snagged my phone and surfed for news about small towns. The ADTF made regular patrols into low population areas, but anyone living in the boonies was always at risk; we simply didn't have enough resources or people to station full teams everywhere, America was too big. However most of the time, demons left small population centers alone; it wasn't perfect, but there were towns that had actually seen demons pass through and not lose anyone to them, while the city down the road was not so lucky.

Nothing at all, no news about demons loose in small town America, or even lone people found mauled in the countryside. Not so much as a hiker mauled by the resurgent great cats in the area; nothing at all that could even be mistaken for a demon attack.

I looked up to find Abnex staring at my phone over one shoulder, and Sarex staring at my phone from my other. I blinked.

Sarex grinned. “A little kinky for a human, My Lady, looking up such things in your off hours. I approve!”

Abnex blinked, then reached over and slapped his sister on the back of her head. “Idiot. She's clearly working in her off hours.”

Sarex rubbed the back of her head, scowling. “But why would she do a thing like that? Work sucks! Isn't this her first day off in two weeks?”

Abnex replied: “More than two weeks, actually. Maybe our Lady is a masochist?”

When Sarex exclaimed “Oooh, fun!” I decided to weigh back in myself.

“I'm not a masochist, and I'm done working on my off hours. It's just, what you're telling me makes little sense. There is nothing here for demons to be warring over.”

They shared a glance, and this time, I couldn't read their expressions. “On that, we agree. Keep at it, my Lady, and you'll figure it out.”

They looked at each other, surprised; they had both spoke, saying the same thing in chorus. Evidently, it surprised them as much as me, which meant there was only one conclusion to come to; demons were weird, even kid ones.

Whatever, I wouldn't suddenly figure out the master plan of the evil end boss this way.

I got up and the twins went flying, spilling over the side of the bed even though they hadn't been that close and there was no way I could have bumped into either; they both rolled end over end until they hit the opposite walls.

Whatever.

I walked into the living room, still not dressed, and turned on the television there. If the twins wanted to watch more discovery it was an option for them, but I was going to use my new toys that were still basically brand new; there was a new third person giant robot adventure game I wanted to try.

None of my friends were online. Not that I had many in the first place, only five, but it was a little disappointing. Of course, it was still early on a Monday, so my favorite goth nerd was probably working. The game had downloaded and patched during the night (the wonders of electronic purchasing and timed content releases) and was ready to go.

I refilled my coffee and got to work destroying enemy robot pilots for the glory of the Ktar collective; being evil and conquering all I surveyed was oddly satisfying – at least in a game.

Before long my audience started offering hints.

“No, left, left!”

“Use your jump jets and then land on them!”

“Look out! Enemy to your rear!”

“Why didn't you paint your robot pink?”

I paused and set the controller down, turning to Sarex. “Alright, first off, how do you even know what a robot is, or what I'm doing?”

“Abnex replied, of course. “We have spent some time on Earth in the recent past and have watched television before. Including cartoons and science fiction.”

“Yeah!” Sarex added. “We aren't like that old guy Grex you hang out with, we see more action.”

Well, that made sense, actually. The more powerful you were the harder it was to summon you. If you were a demon, of course. I looked up to find it was now early afternoon; almost two-o-clock, and I was hungry again. Where had the time gone?

I quit the game and stood up. The twins followed suit, showing none of the leg stiffness I would have if I'd sat on the floor like they had.

The kitchen was as clean as I left it. I was struck by a sudden suspicion.

“You two didn't do anything to the contents of my fridge, did you?”

Sarex replied, sounding indignant. “Neither of us have done anything to the contents of your refrigerator.”

“We also haven't done anything detrimental to the rest of your food stores, aside from use some of it to make breakfast. We won't harm you, my Lady.” Abnex added.

“Or if we do, it will be in a perfectly obvious way that you'll see coming!” Sarex finished, brandishing her huge scythe from nowhere.

Her grin was a little unhinged but didn't look particularly malicious. She was trying to put me at ease, and I didn't know what was worse; that I didn't feel threatened (not here, in my home, with my defenses) or that I understood demon well enough to know she wasn't threatening me.

“Thanks for that.”

Let's see, hamburger, bought a day ago, frozen french fries, my fryer and some oil, some tomatoes garlic and onion, lettuce... it was all here, and still very fresh. I normally didn't have time to cook, or even inclination, but burgers and fries was easy, and I had the time today. It shouldn't be any more stressful than my day job.

Except somehow it was.

“What are you doing now?”

“Why is it bubbling like that?”

“How do you know when it's done?”

The twins, it seems, did not cook and were full of questions. I did my best to answer them, but they had so many and almost all of them were stupid. Why wouldn't you mix the onions and garlic into the meat? It was better for the taste than just sprinkling it on top! Lettuce was on top of the tomato to contrast the tastes, and the heat and chill of the burger when it was combined. Seriously they sounded like they were four-year-olds that they couldn't possibly be.

But just as I was about to command them to just go away, go anywhere at all, just for some blessed silence – the burgers and fries were done. I set three plates, each with a burger and a handful of fries down.

The twins looked at theirs, almost as if they didn't know what to do with them. I suspected I was being played somehow. But when I picked up my burger (with both hands) they followed suit. I took a bite, and they both did too, in perfect sync. And both their faces lit up, slowly, also in perfect sync.

“This is delicious.”

“This is amazing! Roast cow never tasted so well before!”

“It's better than pork.”

They shared a look. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I was pretty sure I didn't want to ask. Then they looked at the other burgers I'd made, to finish up before the meat went bad.

“Oh, hell no. One each, and one each only, you gluttons.” Where would they even pack it, anyway? The twins were tiny.

“Aww, but they're so good!”

“Please? Or just some more of the fries?”

Well, the fries would suck if reheated. “Alright, if you want, you can have more fries.”

I felt like I was babysitting them, and not the other way around, despite what they said this morning. I washed the dishes while the twins watched - apparently this was a new thing to them too – and started up another game; this time an RPG.

I was just entering the lower level of the Carolis Castle, on the hunt for rats and slimes, when Karen opened my door. She looked like hell.

Her robe was singed and torn, she stumbled rather than walked in and sat heavily on the couch with a small poof of dust and dirt. If she noticed the twins right next to her, she didn't say anything. Not to mention the stink. She stank, and badly.

“What happened to you?”

“Demons. I hate 'em.” was her reply.

“Yes... but what happened to you?”

She sighed. “Alright fine. So I got pulled in alongside one of the teams from Phoenix since they needed a local guide and summoner. So we get a call, a demon sighting, to 118th Chester way.”

That was the end of Chester way... the old sewage treatment plant for the south side of town. A low priority target if ever I heard one, even if there were some workers there during the day.

“Alright, go on...”

“So, the target was an imp, a pretty strong one. It could hide from Thor, and it led us through the sewer plant into the storm drains.”

The storm drains here were little used; mainly there for our monsoon-like rainy season. This was a desert, after all.

“From there, the imp led us into the sewers. Actually etched arrows into the halls and everything. Taunting us. I sent Thor ahead.”

Well, the sewers explained more. “Go on.”

“Well, the imp circled around on us while Thor was away flushing him out. We had to run in to try and link up with him as I called him back.”

I didn't react to the poor word choice – it couldn't have been deliberate – but the twins snickered. She didn't act like like she heard them at all.

“I ended up falling on... things... twice. In the sewer.”

Well that would explain it. “Did you at least get the imp?”

She nodded, and her eyes focused on my television. “Is that the new Legends of Infinity?”

It didn't surprise me that she knew what it was. “Yes. Want to play?”

She grinned and held out her hand for the controller. “Sure!”

“Not so fast. Go take a shower first; you reek. Only then can you play.”

“Alright, don't mind if I do!” She got up... and headed to my bathroom.

“I meant your own shower, in your own apartment!”

She already had the shower on, and probably her clothes off. “Yeah, yeah, no time for that. There's skeletons and dark wizards to kill!”

I turned to the twins. “Is there some way you two have to take care of the mess and the smell?”

“Sure!” Sarex said, brightly. Then she whipped out her giant scythe. I just managed to get a hand on her arm.

“No! Some way that doesn't involve murder or bodily harm to anyone. Just a way to clean.”

Abnex assumed a thoughtful pose while Sarex pouted. “Well, we can actually revert the time on an object, with your permission, to a time before it was dirty... like the couch and the carpets. As for the smell, well that's easier.”

I looked at my poor couch. It would probably have to be steam cleaned or something as is, and I didn't know if you could even do that to it.

“How long would it take, and how would you do it?”

Sarex pointed to one of the circles on the walls, one that Grex had wanted me to inscribe. She still hadn't put her scythe away. “We'd use that, it's made for the purpose. Well, not exactly, but it'd work. A slight amount of power fixed on it and your couch rewinds an hour without moving anywhere or shredding space-time. Same with the carpets, it's just a matter of fine tuning. We can do it to anything in the apartment, actually, with your permission.”

“You have my permission, for the carpets and couch; nothing else.”

The last thing I needed was for Karen to be reverted to a four-year-old or something. Four-year-old Karen would suck so bad, for everyone.

“Understood.” Came the chorused reply, as Sarex re-positioned herself on the couch and Abnex took a hovering position above the carpet. The circle on the wall flared, then began glowing with a steady light, and I could see the dirt and grime being lifted off the surfaces to suspend itself in the air a moment before vanishing. Where it went, I didn't care, but it probably found itself back in the sewer – or back on Karen's clothes.

Less than a minute later both twins were panting as if they had run a marathon, but gazing at me with identical looks of... apprehension? I looked at their work; the couch and carpet looked like they had this morning. Come to think of it, this was how Grex had cleaned the apartment the first time, wasn't it? Though he had kept the dirt somehow, and made a ball of it....

“Good job, you two.”

They both beamed at me, showing their small shark teeth.

Karen came out a bit later, a towel wrapped around her, and made her way directly into my bedroom. On her way to steal clothes, no doubt.

“Abnex, could you please clean up the mess Karen left in the bathroom? Sarex, could you make a fresh pot of coffee please?”

They looked at each other, then back to me. “Could we switch jobs?” Sarex asked. “I don't know how to cook things – not really, and Abnex already worked out how to make coffee the human way.”

There was a non-human way to make coffee? “Sure, but don't destroy anything Sarex, Just clean it up. Put the dirty clothes in a trash bag or something, mop up any water, that sort of thing.”

She nodded violently as Abnex answered. “Sure, my Lady.”

They split up; Abnex was back before Karen waltzed in with her pilfered goods (a t-shirt and jeans, both of which were baggy on in all the wrong places, at least from her perspective) but Sarex was still in the bathroom. And cursing, loudly. Karen raised an eyebrow.

“So you have attendants now?”

“Someone sent them to watch over me... or to watch me. I'm not sure who or how.”

The building was supposed to be well warded after all, and it was. Even if it wasn't I'd added my own wards besides, and I was getting better. So whoever sent them knew the keys to the kingdom, or sent the twins because they knew how to disable my security or both. Given how short the list already was, I was betting both.

Karen picked up on that immediately. “Have you asked?”

I gave her The Look and she raised her hands in mock surrender. “Alright, alright, I get it. Did you ask Grex?”

“Nah, I'm giving him a day off. They can't hurt me, so I'm not too worried.” Right away I realized I'd screwed up. Karen didn't know about my ability to command other demons, no one did, and I'd just thoughtlessly blurted it out.

“Why can't they hurt you?” Karen asked, picking up on it immediately, of course.

I thought fast. “The wards I have placed on the walls and behind the artwork?”

Karen glanced at them and shrugged. “That works I guess if you aren't planning on going anywhere.”

Whew. “Well I wasn't, and I could have banished them at any time before leaving. I still can.”

Karen nodded, watching Abnex come back with coffee. She took her cup when offered (second, Abnex made a point of handing mine over first). “Still, that's really odd. Someone who isn't Grex did it?”

“Yeah. I think it might have been the General.” It wasn't a lie, he was on that short list I'd been making, and he did live right upstairs. At least when he lived off the base at all.

I took a drink of my coffee, and Karen waited just long enough for it to be obvious she was waiting for me to keel over before doing the same. I waved the go ahead at her. “I already checked, they can't do anything to harm me or anyone else unless I tell them to.”

She sipped then, gratefully, before flopping back on the couch and reaching across me. “Alright, let's see that controller. I want to kill things that don't really exist and forget.”

I let her snag it... then took a few blackmail shots with my phone as she set up her character. Sure, I missed the really juicy ones of her filthy, but chances were the team had those. What they wouldn't have was her swimming in my clothes, looking underdeveloped, and I could trade mine for the others. Maybe I'd even make it my screensaver.

But now it was time to get serious again. “So, anyone sidelined I need to know about?”

Karen waved that off, already starting the dungeon crawl. She didn't even bother to pick up quests. “Nah. Some superficial stuff, but nothing people can't walk off. You seem to get the worst of it when you go out, oddly enough.”

“Maybe some demon lord has it in for me, or something. Binding Grex did take a rather strong player off the field.” So she'd noticed too, huh? That meant the higher ups had, all the way up the chain; Karen was their mouthpiece.

“Yeah maybe, but then again, there has to be more to it. My current theory is that it has something to do with the nature of your contract. After all, you don't seem to feel the pressure of dealing with demonic forces the way the rest of us do, and maybe that scares them. Well, that combined with the power you tap into.”

We could hope. “As good a guess as any other.”

I watched and sipped as Karen fumbled around, growling and swearing occasionally at pixel skeletons and zombies. Abnex had just refilled both our cups when a phone rang. I checked to make sure; it wasn't mine. Even though the “We dun need no stinking badges” ringtone was a far cry from my own phones generic one.

With another growl, Karen dropped the controller and reached in her borrowed jeans.

“What's up chief?”

She listened carefully. Then cussed for at least half a minute. “Got to go. Somehow a demon wound up dead at the subdivision you were at a few days ago. The boss is calling be back in.”

I stood up. “I can go too....”

She actually made an X with her arms and buzzed at me. “Bzzzt! Nope, you're still off duty. Relax, we got this. I got this; at least it isn't a sewer this time.”

“You hope.” I grinned and threw a spare robe at her, readying my phone again.

“Yeah, fuck you too Snow.” she smiled, threw it over her head (giving me several good shots) and stormed out.

….What was even going on in this city?!?

“Demons hate Mondays too,” my mug proudly declared, complete with a rather basic picture of a horned demon filing paperwork in a file cabinet. Grex had gotten it for me – he told me he made it in “hell's home ec,” but it had that machined look. I wasn't sure where the money came from since I didn't pay him anything, but at least he hadn't killed anyone for it and then filled it with the blood of innocents before filling it with a reasonably good coffee and handing it over.

I had lower standards, these days.

I was at my desk, doing the filing of incident reports that the demon on my mug had only hinted at; there were far too many of them these days. Almost one per day I was on shift; the entire psych division was starting to take notice, and my basic training yesterday had been conspicuously light. The higher-ups were making it obvious they thought I was overworked. What worried me is I never felt better; aside from the annoyance of constantly taking care of demons, I felt good. Better than fine, and the opposite of what I was told I should feel, or what my co-workers already felt.

Many of my poor co-workers were on extended leave, having worked themselves right into collapse. Karen and I were left, but we had some fresh blood from Phoenix filling in the gaps.

I kind of hated them, they seemed far more soulless than the regulars. That could just be a result of being forced to move here to cover for us, or because they didn't know us.

Or it could just be because they had the personality of wet cardboard. They barely even said hello in the morning.

Of the locals, Karen, one of the Charlies, and I were it. Five summoners were out with exhaustion ( and hopefully that was all, I'd been hearing some disturbing rumors about disturbing whispers) and replaced with warm automatons.

Amazingly, the squads, including my own, was getting off relatively light. For some reason all the demons summoned went after civilians and then almost directly after any summoners in a response team; in many cases outright ignoring anyone else once the summoner was identified. So far none had died outright, which was lucky... but more than one had been injured. It was a major departure from how demons normally operated, and we already had another two teams just investigating the cause.

So far the reigning theory was that an old Nazi summoner had somehow snuck across the border, all the way to here, and decided to set up shop killing our summoners because Nazi. I wasn't sure that worked, but maybe it did. Summoners were crazy, after all, even the best of us.

There was a rather well-known military base, after all. It seemed as good a target to hit as any other if you were an insane crazy person.

What was even weirder was some demons were turning up dead, in many cases hacked into pieces and just left where they fell, by person or persons unknown. The demon would show, we would send a squad and summoner, and by the time the squad arrived the demon was already dead. In more than a few cases there wasn't even sign of a fight.

That had happened four times in the last week and a half or so. There was yet ANOTHER team of ADTF working that angle; a very nervous team, though one not as nervous as the ones being sent out to respond to calls. Those of us being sent to respond to demon calls were very nervous; it was only a matter of time before one of us got there in time.

With my power, it would probably be me. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Resigned, sure. Prepared, maybe, since there were only so many ways to cut a demon in half with a weapon (in one stroke no less) but not looking forward to it. There was already some serious rumor mongering going on behind my back, with people speculating why I was so unusual a Summoner. Some of those rumors were disgusting, and when I found out who spread them... well I wasn't sure what I'd do, but it wasn't going to be pleasant for them.

Today I was supposed to be on backup duty, with one of the exchange Summoners, a woman with the unfortunate moniker of “Harpy,” taking patrol duty today. The fact that the term was descriptive was even more unfortunate. By the end of the week, another shipment of out-of-towners was due, this time from places as far away as Boulder.

If we didn't solve this soon, the General might even roll out the new recruits and the people still in training, whether he wanted to or not; he was probably getting pressured to solve this. About the only good news was that it was stress testing our network and reactions, showing where the problems were likely to be before we got overwhelmed; having this happen in more than one city would probably have destroyed us.

Hm, another silver lining; if whoever was doing this had waited or had more help, they could have easily thrown all of the continent into chaos. This was small scale, at least relatively.

But what all this amounted to was a boring day. Cords was off today, and that meant no streams or television. Well, unless I wanted to go in the comm room and deal with the stone-faced soldier manning it; a vet freshly returned from his last tour. He stared off into space a lot, but Karen assured me he didn't have post-traumatic stress. I didn't believe her.

So, filing. The fact that the Captain had asked me to finally catch up was immaterial; I could ignore the paperwork if I wanted; especially now. But there was nothing else to do. I couldn't even go out and run, because I was still on call.

It was time to catch up on police investigative procedures.

I was halfway through the detective novel an hour later when the alarm went off. “Oh, come on!”

Sure I felt fine, but a single day without a demon sighting or call would be nice. I wasn't even embarrassed by my very loud exclamation.

The soldier, his name was Brett, stuck his head out of communications. “The response team is on it, Ma'am. But you should prepare to move, just in case.”

Just in case, my ass. Another attack was almost a given at this point. It was too early in the day; there was a pattern for this. Multiple attacks to separate us and pick us apart, followed by a more serious attack on whichever team was sent to reinforce the first team. But what else could I do? I prepared to move.

Maybe today would be different, and the attacks would stop. But if not, I was best suited to deal with it, especially out of those of us left up. If only management could be convinced I was fine, especially afterward.

I met everyone down at the transport; my squad today consisted of Judge, Conners, West, Roddy, and Aims. Two snipers were unusual, but everyone else was sick or injured by this point, so that's what I had; the teams that had been moved in from other cities were full teams since full teams were what worked best together.

It could have been worse; the Captain was slated for actual night duty.

We didn't talk, we didn't have to. We just piled in instead. “The bird people still giving you grief, Snow?”

The bird people were what Sarah called the teams from Phoenix. I guess she thought it was clever. “Not for awhile now.”

The first thing the Phoenix teams had tried to do upon showing up for work bright and early at the beginning of the week, was to give me grief for having Grex out in the squad room. Things had gotten a little ugly, at least until the Captain had stepped in. Ever since though, they had been leading the charge to get me benched, and not even solving half a dozen demon cases nearly bloodlessly (easy when you can just order them to go home) was enough to shut them up. There had even been a few half-hearted cries of 'demon' bandied my way, which was silly; I could prove I grew up human, and so could the authorities.

I didn't summon Grex in their presence anymore, and it seemed like one of them was always watching.

“That's good.” Sarah said, “We are a little understaffed to be kicking bird people ass. Not that we won't, but it'll be dicey with half of us laid up.”

It was kind of heartwarming that they would go to bat for me like that, in a high school drama way, but unnecessary. They wouldn't do anything if not provoked.

Would they? “No, that shouldn't be necessary at all. If I need to I'll ask for Summoner help; they have ways of getting even with people who piss them off.” Like strip teasing imps.

And that wasn't even the worst option I'd heard.

“Good. The last thing we need is to fight among ourselves now.” she gave me a gimlet stare. “But, if they should start up again, don't sit there and take it. Tell us, and we'll kick some ass.”

“There shouldn't be a problem.”

We all packed in and started out, heading to support the first team; if everything happened true to form then we'd get ambushed along the way. If we were extremely unlucky, while we were getting ambushed another attack would occur across town.

The news channels had been pretty brutal to our department lately, accusing us of faulty procedures and bad response time; general muck-raking, the Captain called it. He wouldn't let me talk to the press, however; he wouldn't let any summoner do that. I did have idle dreams of making the talking heads eat their words, however; they were tarnishing a department of people forced to look into the abyss every day, and by extension, the police force my Dad had served on for years.

Then again, maybe the Captain had a point.

We were all silent once Judge pulled out. On edge, tense and waiting. It was a shame, really; I could kill for an ice cream sandwich. Okay, demons not humans, but still.

Three streets away, weaving in and out of traffic, everyone thin-lipped and staring out of the windows. The fire, red and somehow dark, hit us from an elevated position in a stream.

And as shameful as it was, my first thought was relief that we wouldn't have to turn around and drive another twenty minutes to some other demon attack.

The smell of sulfur filled the air as the tearing sound of shattering cars filled my ears. The heat in the transport's cabin rose a good twenty degrees in a second, and Judge, calm as ever, just drove into something to stop us with a crunch. It made sense, we were all belted in.

“Grex, veni huc!” He was already forming, doing that reverse puddle thing he so liked to do from the floor of the cabin. I took the opportunity to speed time for myself a bit, pop my seat belt, and start tapping members of my team. “Judge, the side door blocked?”

His no was long and drawn out since I hadn't got to him, but even just hearing the 'N' was enough. I got to everyone else before he was finished with it, and tapped him; the word sped up immediately.

“Alright, here's the plan. We all go out the side door, and I'll go last; you're all sped up, so you should be through the door before whatever that is outside gets a bead on you; in case he manages I or Grex will block it. Sound good?”

Sarah really looked like she wanted to argue – but she stayed silent. I supposed I was usurping her authority just a bit, but the plan was solid, and doing things this way would actually be easier on me. Time was easier to manipulate than a full shield for me, and the side door was big enough to fit the team through in two waves; the other option would be to scatter and hope only a few of us got picked off. I wasn't really fine with that.

The door opened and I focused on slowing time for my select few even more; It took some serious effort since they weren't prepped for it, and were already moving around. We stepped out into a street that looked like an earthquake hit; (I'd never say 'scene from Hell' again to describe anything on Earth, since I'd actually visited Hell in my dreams) there were cars slammed into each other and buildings, a massive pileup that had to be twenty cars, and fire everywhere.

All of it was stopped for us, of course, though the fire might still burn us if we touched it; I hadn't fully stopped time for us and I wasn't sure how the interaction would work. I wasn't going to test it either.

The fire flowed to the transport almost lazily; it was easy to spot the roof our demon was using; an office building like many others, ten stories, the East corner near a fire escape. Sort of ironic, after a fashion. I watched the fire streak slowly over my head... and hit the inside of the transport through the door I hadn't closed. Whoops.

The slow motion explosion was a terrific sight to behold, the steam blossoming into petals of outstretched fire - but I'd left my tablet in there.

Grex was by my side, moving as fast as I was. I tapped him too. “Grex, go kill that demon.”

One of his eyebrows lifted, but his wings came out and he pushed off. Almost forgot! “And don't cause the death of any bystanders either, through action or inaction!”

I was more careful than most; I could afford to be.

Grex waved to show he understood and hit the roof just as the demon, a Baal-rog, judging by the size and the ugly, began to react to us not being where he thought we were. I stopped watching the fight that promised to be one-sided and looked for my team; I found them huddled behind cover and beginning to fan out; Judge and Aims both were already looking for lines of sight on the roof, to crossfire it.

Sarah looked over and yelled, the noise carrying over what amounted to loud white noise; all other sources of sound were slower than we were but not stopped. It was hard to tell what was what, really.

What Sarah yelled was pretty obvious, though. “Snow, move! The transport is going!”

Right, direct hit to its insides, and it had combustibles. I resisted the urge to looked back and check the progress of any explosion and settled on running. Good thing I had so much practice at it; I ducked behind a crumpled car just as it finished going up, spraying debris everywhere.

Note to self, design some wards to protect the interiors of those vehicles too. Provided I survived; that fire was hot.

I began to run out of gas, time for all of us returning for normal. I just let go and let it happen for everyone but Grex, since the rest of us were now behind cover. For some reason trying to speed up multiple people was much harder than speeding up one, or even an area, and left me panting. The stupid earrings I could feel burning away my ears didn't help.

I didn't realize my mistake until I'd already released my own time dilation; my own cover protected me nicely from the burning vehicle I'd just ran from, but did almost nothing to protect me from certain angles of the roof the demon was on. The stream of fire I had to roll away from was a big clue that I hadn't really needed.

Hm, wait, that wouldn't have hit me, at least not directly. I'd have survived with only horrible and potentially disfiguring burns. My eyes traveled up and met those of Grex, who was currently bending the arm that had been used to aim the fire at me in new and interesting directions. I gave him a thumbs up on my way to new cover.

A moment later Grex beat me to the cover I'd chosen, slamming into it back first with some snaps I didn't like the sound of. At least the rapid smothering had put the fire out. Mostly.

I ducked behind another car as Grex clambered to his feet, and opened my mouth to call the twins, my new ace in the hole. The more the merrier, as far as I was concerned. Grex, sped up or not, unholy stamina and endurance or not, was clearly already getting the worst of the exchange; there was something about that fire....

Other than it started to rain down on the street, that is. A veritable shower of flame which melted steel and pitted concrete. I focused through my jewelry, raising the shielding abilities of my robe and extending it to the street, slowing time in the area at the same time, fatigue be damned. Maybe I could give the civilians enough time to get out of their wrecked cars if I just pushed hard enough.

Even as time started to slow I saw my team with Sarah in the lead; she shot out a storefront window and dove in, the others following suit. I didn't see Judge among them.

“You fools!” a voice boomed. “I am Verborax, one of the generals of the lord of the pit himself! You stand no chance against my hellfire, granted me by Lucifer himself!”

And if anything the shower got more intense; so bad I couldn't ignore it. My team had the right idea, as much as it galled me; if I went down the demon would just continue to kill people, pretty much completely unopposed. And the intensity of his attack was such I wouldn't lay money on anyone else being able to beat him. I'd have to take a personal hand, again, which had been happening too often lately.

At least my team probably wouldn't see this.

I pulled an earring out of my ear. Instantly, the strain of trying to do too much eased, and I let my wings burst from my back. Some modification to my robes mean they didn't rip or tear when I did this, just accommodated them; the spell calculations made my head hurt, but long strips of cloth simply ceased to exist in the same timeline as my wings, so when one set existed, the other set didn't.

A quick focus of my shield and I was airborne, the fire actually pushing back against me and making flight difficult. I needed to practice this more. I needed to find a place to practice this more, without getting outed.

The demon saw me, of course. How could one miss a winged robed figure gliding through the sky directly at them? I expected more flame, but instead he grabbed Grex by the head and threw him at me.

With a wince, I dodged and let him sail past, keeping my eyes on the self-styled general. Sorry Grex, you aren't going to die from that and your sacrifice will be remembered.

Verborax himself was a large guy, red and roided. Maybe he lifted in hell? He had two large horns on either side of his head just above his ears, and jagged teeth. He stood at probably fifteen feet tall, and wisps of flame sprouted from him in random patterns, as if he made of charcoal briquettes. He was bald of course, but the waves of fire wreathing his head might well double as hair for him. And for someone wearing human form, he was somehow ugly beyond belief; I'd seen imps cuter than him.

That's probably a bad way to phrase that, even in my own head.

I drew my knife and sped up, closing in. The general couldn't quite meet me, but the flame came literally exploded forth from him in all directions, and even with time slowed almost to a crawl for me there was just no way to get close without dying. That was the feint though; he had to at the very least understand me for my real attack to work – but would it work? He was a general in hell, somewhere; no demon would claim that if it weren't true. Well not and live long, anyway. More importantly, he had the power of one, which may mean he outranks me. Only one way to find out.

I eased my power again, just enough for conversation to be understood, and put all my force, all my weight, behind my voice.

“Verborax, you're relieved. Go back to Hell, and do not come here again unless summoned.”

He understood immediately, but today was clearly not the day for all my hard work and practice mastering that trick to pay off. What he did next confused me, though.

He saluted and replied, almost conversationally in what just missed being an inside voice. “Mistress, I hear, but cannot obey; one who outranks you has commanded me. And so, we must fight. But know that I bear you no ill will.”

Then he looked down at the street and roared. “The same cannot be said of the maggots down there! Die, you scum!”

And with a whoosh, more fire. I was a bit busy trying not to get my wings burned off to do much. Grex and I had practiced fire before, but never this much of it, and never this hot. I was beginning to see why this kind of demon 'outranked' Grex. I doubted the twins would even be able to do anything here. This was looking to be more natural disaster than fight.

Which was why it was a little anti-climactic when the sword came from nowhere and split Verborax completely in half, finally coming to a stop buried in the roof to its guard.

The hilt was glowing a pure white that hurt the eyes, and the being that came hurtling out of the clouds to land with force enough to buckle the roof slightly matched that. It grasped the hilt of the sword, pulling it free, and then kicked and spat on the dissolving corpse.

“Foul beast. Did you think we would not notice your kind, even here?”

He looked up, to me, and his eyes narrowed. “And you. What are you doing? Your enemy stands before you, and you do not summon your raiment? Your sword? Why do you toy with this one? Are you somehow injured?”

His own glow diminished a bit as he sheathed his sword, a truly massive two-handed thing, and I could finally see clearly enough to make out plain plate armor of an odd style over a fit body, the blonde hair, and the two bleached white glowing wings. Wings that no demon I'd ever met had.

The angel took off, flying closer. “Answer, now. Or are you addled?”

Grex was in front of me in an instant; his arm hanging limp and blood pouring as from a river, but his voice was clear and steady.

“We need to go, Mistress. Right now.”

The angel's eyes narrowed. “I see... you're one of them. Brilliant camouflage, you had me fooled.”

My eyes were squinting before I realized what that meant, the sword just missed my nose as Grex tackled me, throwing me back out of range. So fast!

Grex didn't stop, flying up and away with powerful wing beats, fighting against my drag effortlessly. I curled my own wings up as much as I could to reduce the drag instinctively, even as I objected.

“Wait, what about...”

Even mouthing the words face into the wind, Grex heard me. His own response was easy to pick out. “They will be fine! They are not the target here, you are.”

The angel's voice was even clearer than Grex's. “To where do you run, fallen? You should know there is no escape.”

He was right behind us, preparing the swing that would sever both of Grex's wings from his body. I reached and sped up time for us both, the invisible railroad spike that jammed into my brain a pretty good clue that I might be overdoing it.

But we were still flying, so it must have worked. Grex did something and explosions sounded off behind us; I was focusing on the fact that even cracking my eyes open was painful.

“I need you to try something, Mistress. Can you focus for me, please?”

Grex's voice was surprisingly gentle, even as he juked a painfully intense beam of light that stopped in front of us and burst with all the fury of the sun. Even the very breath I took burned.

“Wh-what do you need me to do?” I swear I could see smoke rising from me, my mouth included. My voice was rough enough for it.

“I need you to focus on your apartment, your space. You need to take us there.” Grex stopped all forward momentum, juking again; the sword of doom cut the air past us and was gone. There was too much light, I couldn't see anything.

Something cupped my left ear gently, and some of the pressure in my head eased; Grex had just removed an earring.

No, he had removed more than one. Power flooded me, and I focused it on home. I needed to be there, right now. I knew what Grex was asking me to do... he was asking me to teleport us; to bridge the space between us and my apartment with magic. Normally it could only be done by ritual, and only by the strongest summoners; I didn't know how risky it would be for me, but it was better than staying here; that angel was crazy.

Was it even an angel? It wasn't acting like one.

Questions could be asked if I survived, and those questions were apparently long overdue. I focused, trying to ignore the sudden movements, glaring lights, and loud sounds. Grex should really be the one doing this, but I was pretty sure I wouldn't last ten seconds against our adversary.

The power so recently freed went somewhere, but there wasn't any noticeable change in my surroundings: no pop in air pressure or the other tells that usually signified a proper teleportation.

Grex sighed. “Of course. I apologize, Mistress, I should not have asked so much of you.”

I managed to crack an eye open enough to take in the scenery. We were still there, flying for our lives, though we were doing it much faster than before. I guess my power went down the oft-traveled path of least resistance?

Grex dodged another beam of light, this one actually slow enough to fully dodge. Apparently, our friend back there didn't have the same kind of insulation against time's passage that we did, but he wasn't frozen like everything else was. He was slow, but not slow enough that I'd risk getting close.

“Give me the abomination, fallen, and I'll spare your existence.” Yeah, those words were pretty clear. A little slow, but easy enough to understand.

If Grex was a fallen, then I was the abomination? I wasn't sure I liked the sound of that. Grex didn't either, from the sound of his response: “I'm afraid I can't do as you request, lapdog. Why don't you come a bit closer, and we can discuss it?”

I knew he was bluffing; he didn't want that maniac anywhere near me.

Unfortunately, the maniac was faster than we were, and it was only my power keeping us ahead of him.

Grex leaned into my ear and whispered. “Mistress, My lady, I need you to try again. I am not strong enough to defeat this enemy while burdened with your safety. Focus on the runes on the wall above your bed, and will us there. Let desire be your guide.”

I tried focusing again, ignoring the sudden barrel roll I found myself in. I felt something, and then Grex did something with the power I'd gathered again, and we plopped onto my comfy bed in an explosion of feathers and blood.

Grex was on top of me, leaking and groaning. It took some effort to roll him off, but he didn't complain.

His right wing was sliced clean through; it had come about four inches away from a clean amputation. His side had been clipped too, but in a spot that on a human would be above the kidney. I had no idea if it was serious for him or not. He was reacting mostly like a human would, rapid breathing, sweat, clammy skin... but his eyes were clear.

His side was still burning.

“Grex, is there anything I can do for you?”

“No. I yet exist and shall be fine soon enough,” He sighed, fingering the hole in his suit. “I shall have to start carrying my own sword, it seems.”

Good. “Well, if you aren't dying, perhaps you can answer some questions for me.”

He sighed again, louder this time. “As you command, my mistress.”

Guess I should lead off with the big one. “What was that, that attacked us last? Was it an angel?”

Grex nodded. I got up to get the bandages. He was still bleeding, and whether he wanted them or not, he was getting them. Besides, he was soaking my bed! I wasn't cleaning that up. “It was indeed an angel, one of the heavenly host, here to solve all the problems humanity might face and keep the wheels started by God turning smoothly.”

Wow, that was some pretty heavy sarcasm. “Alright, so why do you get to be a fallen, and I get to be an abomination?”

“Because I am an angel that fell, and you are not.”

Well, that was clear. I couldn't see any way to twist that around.

“Alright, so what is an angel doing in our neck of the woods other than trying to kill us, and are we safe here from him?”

“We are. This apartment is protected from most beings which could come to do you harm; I saw to it personally. Angels are chief among those.”

I motioned for Grex to take his coat off and started bandaging, thinking. That made no sense at all. Humanity hadn't even seen an angel; we only had the word of the dwindling priesthoods of the various Christian churches that they existed at all. The entire reason the Summoners had come to be was because prayers were not answered when the demons were loosed and began ravaging the world.

“Okay, I get why an angel would be trying to kill you... but why me?”

Grex smirked, and winced a little when I pulled the bandages tight. Perhaps tighter than I'd first intended. “Not I, my dear Lady, but you. If I had been alone, or faced Verborax alone, there would have been no problem. The angel only intervened for you.”

That made no sense. “But why?”

Grex sighed as I started binding his wing. “He likely mistook you as an angel, embroiled in a fight between two demons. Angels do help each other, and from a certain distance, you resemble one of them. It is mainly your beautiful speckled wings.”

Grex ran fingers through my plumage; right, I really should put those up. I guess from distance they appeared white or nearly so, just barely tinted gray here and there. Kind of like a dove's wings and unlike the inky black the Eriynes all seemed to have. I wonder if Grex would give me a straight answer on that.

“So the angel had bad eyes, came in to help and aced our demon. Then when he got low enough to see he made a mistake, he ignored you and went after me alone, which is when you stepped in. What I want to know, is why?”

Grex stood up; his wounds didn't seem to pain him at all. “You're a summoner, my lady. You willingly signed a contract on your soul to summon demons from Hell. The demons themselves are being punished for their own sins; no angel will target them unless attacked. You, however, are breaking the law. God's law. And the full force of the heavenly host will come for you now that they know of your existence. I should have stayed and fought.”

This was big. Very big. All this time the summoners had been on the side of the angels using the devil's tools, or so we thought. And it turned out the angel's side was closer to that of the devil's all along? This was big... huge even. World shattering. All that dedication, all that sacrifice for the home team, picking up the slack against forces that humanity was not equipped to handle – and it was betrayed from the start.

No, wait. I couldn't afford to just take Grex's word for this. Grex was a demon, and not to be trusted. No matter how much his behavior screamed genuine to me. Perhaps because it did.

But the 'angel' had hurt Grex badly, even if Grex wasn't showing all the signs. That wasn't something that could be ignored. The surprise Grex had displayed in seeing both the demon who attacked us and later the angel, well that probably wasn't feigned either.

“Are we in danger here? Can the angel find us?” I followed Grex into the kitchen. Where was he even going?

He started fumbling with the teapot one handed, the other still clutching his side. He filled it and dragged out two cups. Making tea at a time like this?

“No. He can find us through more normal means, but he cannot simply attack us here, in your stronghold. It is unlikely he will use those normal detection methods, those are beneath the heavenly host, and so you are safe so long as we replace your earrings. He and others can track you by your power quite easily.”

Well, at least now I knew why he insisted on the earrings. If only I didn't feel like putting those things back on right now would kill me; I was out of gas as it was.

“So he won't be waiting at the police station for me?”

Grex shook his head, pouring two cups of tea and sitting one in front of me before easing into a chair with the other. “No. However, if he sees you enter it, he won't hesitate to follow you and attack at an opportune moment. He will not be concerned overmuch about casualties, either. Anyone deemed in his way will die.”

“So what do we do?”

Grex grimaced around his tea. “Hope he was on another assignment, and moves on. An alternative would be to ambush and kill him.”

That didn't bear thinking about. “I'm not going to ambush and kill one of the good guys, Grex. Even if he is an asshole.”

Grex barked a laugh, spattering me and the table with blood. I wasn't cleaning that up, either. “Good guy? Do you know how many summoners he has killed? Angels kill summoners as a matter of course.”

My blood ran cold. “Wait, you mean it wasn't just the wings? Angels are hunting summoners? Why do we never see them, then?”

This was big news, if true. Grex gave me a look. “Because the summoners invariably die. Even the best of us find fighting angels directly difficult, and no witnesses mean no sightings.”

Well, if the demons were banished on the death of the summoner, or killed before... yeah it could make sense, but still, you'd think someone would know.

Wait. “You mean the recent attacks? The dead summoners with no apparent or demon or terrorist causes, some of those may be angel intervention?”

Grex nodded. “I'd dare to say most, actually. Very few demons get the chance to kill summoners.”

Well, at least he didn't insult my intelligence by saying they wouldn't.

“Would an angel make a kill of theirs look like it wasn't, in order to blame someone else?” That seemed slightly underhanded to me.

Grex shook his head. “No, but in many cases they don't have to. A sword wound looks much like another sword wound, for example. Light that burns to ash is no different from fire that burns to ash. Such kills are easy to mistake if one does not know or admit the existence of the true cause. After all, before demons gained ready access to this world, how many humans admitted their existence?”

He had a point.

The police needed to know. The Summoner Corps needed to know. The public at large needed to know.

“I know what you are thinking, my lady. And I wish you to reconsider; no good will come from this, and the angels have allies on Earth. You will paint a large target upon your back.”

My phone chose that moment to ring. I pulled it out, amazed it had managed to survive in my robe pocket all this time; it was tougher than it looked. My radio hadn't fared nearly as well and was half melted. I looked and the caller ID showed it was from Sarah.

I had expected this call sooner. I hit accept and her voice came out so loud I could have had the phone in another room and still heard it. “Snow, are you alright!?!?”

“I'm fine, or fine-ish. Are you alright? How's the team?” I could hear why she had to yell, from the sirens and crackling, I'd guess the fires weren't out yet. A glance at the time proved why... it had been less than a minute since I'd been there, engaging Verborax.

“The team's fine,” she answered. What happened after you aced the demon? Where did you go, and why aren't you here?!?”

Great, she thought I deserted. I guess I can't blame her, she didn't know. “I didn't kill the demon, something else did. I had to run to draw it away, too many civilians were at risk. Well, that and Grex was wounded; we made it chase us.”

Having a demon chase you instead of civilians was a time-honored and accepted tactic, especially if it made the demon forego massive property damage. Usually, it was a hard plan to follow because any demon summoned was on a mission. Never mind that what chased me wasn't actually a demon.

Baiting an angel was easier than my normal job; all I had to do was show up.

“Fine, whatever, where are you now?”

I didn't really want to answer that, but it'd be obvious the moment I stepped outside the door. “My apartment.”

I could hear the pause on the other end. “....What?”

“I'm at my apartment. It was the only place I could think of that would be safe. The thing that aced the demon was very strong. Were there any witnesses at the scene?” It would be nice to have some corroboration.

“No, everyone who was still around and looking just saw a light show and heard the screams. Look, the office is closer; you going to be able to meet us there?”

My car was at the office. I turned to Grex, to see him stitching up his wing. I remembered my own and began the process of drawing them back into my back. “No, I don't think I have transportation.” My team was on foot too; how would they be getting back?

“Roger. I'll send someone to come get you. Sarah out.”

Great. Just great. “Grex, more tea.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The wait wasn't long; a mere fifteen minutes later a familiar knock sounded on the door. “Hey! Hello, Snow! Open up please!”

I was closer so I opened it for once. Karen took a step in, mouth open to say something, and stopped, looking at Grex and I could only assume all the blood. I pulled her in and shut the door, so the wards would reactivate.

Karen finally settled on “What happened to you two?”

No sooner had I opened my mouth to tell her than she raised a hand; “No, wait, don't tell me. The debrief is downtown. Seems somehow there are a dozen dead and two buildings that are a complete write-off, or near enough that we will be paying for new ones out of discretionary.”

“Fine. But Grex is staying here, he's hurt.”

I wasn't much better. Sure, I was physically fine, but I was so tired that feeling dead would be a step up; I had literally used everything I had. Add to that I felt queasy, as if my stomach were upset or I had acid reflux, but all over instead of localized. I recognized the sensation, from the last time I'd had a power imbalance, the night Cords and I went to the museum. I hadn't drank this time, though.

I knew Grex wasn't about to let me out without and escort, but that escort didn't have to be him. “Abnex, Sarex, veni huc!”

The twins poofed into existence instantly with a hint of sulfur and a swirl of smoke, looking around wildly. “Abnex, come help me.”

He arrived just in time, getting an arm around me just as my knees started to give. “Run into a bit of trouble, my lady?”

Sarex was pointing at Grex and laughing silently. His eyebrow was raised and posture was slouched, but his eyes were tight. “Sarex, take point. Keep a good look out.”

“What are we facing, my lady?” Abnex asked.

“Grex said he was an angel, and he looked the part to me.”

The twins both drew weapons, their faces grim and bloodless. Sarex drew her wings in tight and all but marched down the hall without a word. Abnex managed to keep me upright even though I was pretty much just leaning on him by this point, and kept up with his sister. Karen followed behind us all, her own athame out. I could feel the skepticism weighing down her gaze; I wished she'd focus behind us and not on my back, but I couldn't really order her to since she outranked me.

“Abnex, can you two handle an angel if one attacks?”

Abnex nodded, his face away from mine. “Depending on the rank of it, yes. We can handle your average run of the mill angel.”

He cut off with an almost audible snap; there was something he wasn't saying about this. He'd also readily admitted the existence of angels. No doubt if I ask why I wasn't told before, it would be because I never asked; that's how these things usually went.

Karen was rolling her eyes by the time we reached the parking lot, but her hand was wrapped around her athame and Thor was out. They were both watching the twins more than their surroundings, but I'd take what I could get.

Abnex deposited me in the back seat with his sister and took the front. Remembering the beams of light I could understand the precaution. I stretched out so I couldn't readily be seen from the air or ground and tried not to shake; the reaction was getting worse.

Karen got in, looking back at us. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” I told her. “I'm taking no chances. What I fought was powerful, and I'm in no shape for round two.”

It wasn't until Sarex started stroking my hair that I realized my head as in her lap. Which seemed a very bad place for it, but it was too late to move.

It seemed Karen was taking that much seriously, at least, because Thor didn't get in the back; he must be flying overhead keeping a lookout. A great idea as long as he didn't stay too close and lead the angel to us.

The angel was probably long gone by now, cursing my name with his buddies on his cloud, or whatever. I really wanted to believe that.

We pulled into the parking garage without incident, the sunlight cutting out into gloom was actually a bit of a relief. Abnex helped me out; my knees had recovered, mostly.

Karen stopped in front of me with a frown. “You sure you're up for this? You don't look well at all.”

“We're already here, let's just get this done.”

She stopped me with a hand on my arm; I managed to stop Abnex from cutting her in half, but she didn't even spare him a glance. “Snow, this isn't an attack or an inquisition. It's a debrief, and it can wait.”

I waved her on ahead; I hoped she wasn't picking up more than my fear and irritation. “No, it can't, that's the problem. People have to be warned.”

With a shrug Karen walked, taking the lead. Thor took up the rear, landing just behind Sarex with a muted thump. He was too casual to have seen anything.

It wasn't until we were in the office that I relaxed. This was the second safest spot in the city. I got a few stares, but the rumor mill hadn't had time to travel far just yet. We all piled into a conference room; there were too many of us to fit in the Chief's office, and I wasn't dismissing anyone. Karen dismissed Thor, and we waited.

It took another twenty minutes for my team to arrive, most of it spent in complete silence.

Then they all piled in, with Sarah and Judge taking seats on either side of me. No one sat on the other side of the table.

A moment later and the Chief walked in; he had to have been watching or had someone watch. He sat across from us, and Karen took the seat next to his with an awkward smile.

A moment after that, the Captain came in, big and boisterous. “And what have we here? A team willing to set entire new standards in collateral damage. Well done, well done!”

Well, that didn't sound accusatory at all. His smile was wide enough, and the tone was joking, but I wasn't convinced.

Sarah was. “All part of the plan sir, just before we ask for raises. Clearly, those requests will be granted without complaint, right?”

“Oh absolutely, Sarah. I'll just crap the money out, and we'll be golden, right?”

“Enough,” The Chief cut the banter off by growling that single word. “What happened an hour ago?”

He was looking at me, so I started things off. “We, that is Sarah's team and I, responded to a request for backup on a demon call downtown, somewhere around 5th and Kennedy. I'm unsure of the exact location. Before we reached the first scene we were attacked by a demon on Kennedy. Having no choice, we engaged.”

And we hadn't had one. The only proper choice when a demon attack was so public was to take it down as fast as possible to minimize casualties. It was even in the handbook I'd slept through reading, months ago.

The Chief looked from me to Sarah. Like me, she took that as her cue. “I ordered everyone out of the transport, and Snow covered us with her power and demon. We spread out and took up covered positions; the demon was on the roof, utilizing a very hot flame indiscriminately.”

Huh, I didn't even know Sarah knew that word; I'd never have guessed. I refocused as Sarah continued.

“Our transport was hit directly after and exploded. Snow and her demon engaged the enemy directly, and the collateral rose, as a result, finally culminating in the death of the target that attacked us. I did not see how, but it was sudden, so it must have been a kill-shot of some magnitude. It was that shot which later brought the Scorpio office complex down.”

“A clean collapse?” The chief asked. What, the office complex the angel's sword hit collapsed? Just from that?

“Very clean sir; straight down. Luckily we had time to evacuate.” Sarah answered. A small relief, at least. I knew I'd be looking up how many dead and injured later.

The Chief looked at me again, so my turn again. “Right. We were engaged against the demon, whose name is Verborax, by the way, and my power was working but kind of useless. Grex went in to fight him hand to hand, and we were just starting to make some headway when another player showed up. A large well-built guy sporting white wings and a sword that cut through both the demon we were fighting and the building as if it wasn't there. He asked me some confusing questions and then attacked, leveling the facade of the building behind us.”

“Wait, what sort of questions?” At least he didn't call me on my almost blatant lie; Verborax had the advantage in our fight. Maybe he felt it wasn't worth mentioning.

I really didn't want to admit them all, but I had to give him and the Captain something. I also needed to omit the fact that I was flying at the time. “One question was, 'what was I doing', and another was 'where was my sword'. I don't remember the rest. I got the impression he thought he knew me, but I'd never even seen him before, let alone met him.”

The Captain clued into what I was saying immediately; The Chief didn't seem to get it. “Did the other demon give a name?”

“No sir, the other player did not give a name; he just called me an abomination and attacked. I used that perceived hatred to lead him away. Also, I don't think he was a demon; Grex identified him as an angel.”

I was about to continue on, but the Chief held up a hand. “No such thing, summoner Numens. Angels do not exist, only demons. What you saw was likely a demon that looked the part, much like your own summon, Grex.”

That guy had looked nothing like Grex, not really; he had lacked the vaguely predatory air and slightly off body lines Grex pulled off without thinking. He had looked more like an Adonis, a vision of stern perfection that was somehow uncompromising. That and he used a light that was so bright it was painful as a weapon; that was literally the opposite of most of demon-kind, who couldn't stand bright light.

I didn't really want to argue, even though the Chief was wrong. “If you say so, sir. However, I will hazard a guess and say he's the one that's been taking shots at the demons we've been finding dead. He is certainly strong enough for that.”

The chief pondered, hand under his chin in a classic thinking pose. “Just the demons? Not our own?”

No way; it didn't fit what I knew of the guy. He had confronted Verborax and myself directly when a potshot would have killed us both. “No sir; if he was lining up on ours, we'd have fatalities by now.”

“Agreed. So... he chased you to your apartment? Does he know where our summoners live now?”

If he didn't five minutes with a phone book would show him. “No sir, I managed to lose him before then.”

They didn't need to know how I did that, either. Teleportation was one of the holy grails of the corps; it existed but was so rare it might as well be legend.

“Any other observations you can recall now?”

“No sir.”

“Alright, you're dismissed. I'll expect your report on my desk tomorrow morning.”

I sighed. There was a huge drawback for being one of the few sane ones. “Yes, sir.”

I got out of there as they turned to - or on - Sarah again. No doubt they would expect her to account for each bullet spent in the fight.

The rest of my team was still downstairs, getting looked at by a nurse. Minor wounds, and I was thankful that was all they were. I should probably get my burns looked at; I hadn't even seen them yet, and they were tender, just patches of skin that were slightly more red than my standard. Of course, they still stood out since my standard was bleach white, but they didn't look too bad.

“Snow!”

I turned, Cords was coming out of the dispatch room. He all but ran to me, stopping with an audible screech of rubber soles on the floor.

He grabbed my hand and pushed back my hood, staring, focusing silently on my burns. His eyes tightened and his teeth ground together.

“That bad? I was just going to get them checked. They don't hurt all that much, anymore.”

Maybe I'd need to wear the hood all the time after all.

He put that short-lived worry to bed. “No, no... they aren't bad. You can just tell if you know what to look for... but I'd heard you had gotten burned. I just didn't know how serious.”

He straightened up and blew a breath. “Right, to the hospital you go. I can't leave the dispatch room unmanned for long, but I want to hear about it later, alright?”

I nodded. “I don't plan to go to the hospital, though, just downstairs. My team is getting checked there too, and I wanted to see how they were.”

“Well that's no good; burns are something that should be checked out by a professional, even if they don't look like much; too easy for infection to set in and spread. Go to a hospital, soon!”

He tried to put on a stern face but spoiled it with a smile. Honestly, his concern was a little cute. I wasn't going to say it was unfounded, either. I headed downstairs.

Wait a minute, how had he known about my condition again? My own team hadn't known until Sarah called me... on my personal phone. And I don't remember mentioning how I was hurt. Was Cords tapping my phone?

It was true that I didn't think the 'angel' (hereafter referred to as “doofus”) was picking off our own, at least not yet. But That was probably because he hadn't had a chance to. If he had, we wouldn't have had witnesses and would be blaming a demon for it. The report I wrote reflected that.

I caught myself scratching my arm, and forced myself to stop. Healing burns was very itchy.

The incident yesterday had done what overwork hadn't; benched me. I wasn't complaining, however.

My warning had been taken seriously, and the number of patrols was temporarily increased. Of course, the people on those patrols weren't exactly happy with me, but they would be less happy to meet doofus in a dark alley with no backup.

I was fine, mostly. More than fit to keep going; the problem was Grex.

He was in terrible shape, with only one working wing and enough holes in him to kill most normal people. A summoner with no summon was a dog without teeth; all bark, no bite. The summoner was benched, banished to a desk until the demon was back or another was bound. However, I was hurt, and that proved enough with Grex added in to get me a few greatly appreciated days off.

So we sat at my kitchen table, drinking tea, while I tried to think of anything, any questions I missed. I was going through a lot of tea.

The twins had finally finished cleaning up all the blood and feathers, and were also at the table, nursing their own cups. I felt kind of bad about making them clean up, but not bad enough to do it myself or bad enough to wait while Grex healed enough to be able to do it. Grex was on the couch, asleep to all appearances.

“So, Angels.” The twins flinched as one when I broke the silence.

“What about them, Miss Numens?” Abnex managed to ask.

“Angels are hunting summoners, and not demons?”

Abnex released a relieved breath. That was odd; what question had he thought I was going to ask? “Yes. Angels have been killing summoners when they find them – at least when they aren't on a mission or have time. But since there are far fewer angels than demons or summoners, it's a bit rare. Most angels haven't even seen Earth for thousands of years anyway; like us they can't just pop in unless invited.”

I couldn't help but feel that most of that information was volunteered as a smokescreen. “So angels are getting invited? There are angel summoners?”

Sarex grinned but answered seriously. “No, not exactly. Only the big G can command angels. But Earth is supposed to be hands off unless stated otherwise, and sometimes angels get missions from the big G and see a chance to do some damage to us. And before you ask, I call him the big G because he might know I'm talking about him if I use his full name.”

“Alright, I'll bite. Why?”

Sarex looked stricken, but Abnex was cool as he answered. “Why what? Why the name thing? My dear sister is an idiot; If God's attention is on you, then it's on you; a simple name change doesn't change intent.”

A good deflection, for all that we three knew exactly what it was. I clarified. “No, why are angels attacking summoners at all?”

Sarex clasped her fingers together. “Well, uh... because summoners are breaking one of the laws; one of the major laws, by consorting with us.”

I pressed the advantage. “And normal people sinning aren't?”

Abnex leaned in. “Sometimes, but the angels have a standing order that allows them to take steps, whereas for normal sinners they don't.”

Alright, begged the same question. “Why is that, exactly?”

Sarex popped to her feet. “We can't say.”

She headed towards the teapot again, seemingly for something to do.

Of course, she had just raised another question. “Why can't you say?”

Abnex joined his sister at the teapot, working on his own mug. “Orders; we were specifically ordered not to tell anyone why angels were after summoners if the question ever came up. And the orders are from one we cannot ignore, and you can't override, Miss Numens.”

All well and good, but it led to another question: “Unless that being has forbidden you to interfere, tell me who ordered you to keep silent.”

Not really phrased as a question, but it worked better this way. “Lucifer himself ordered our silence.”

Well, yeah. No way I was going to pull rank on him; I was just a fake low ranking lord; the lowest with an entire realm or land or whatever it was called to rule, in fact.

I suppose I could always ask Lucifer – set up a meeting through Grex and ask away – but I didn't see any way how that wouldn't go wrong. I wasn't stupid enough to think that I could get the better of something so old, evil, and powerful. Not with my intelligence or scruples; I hadn't exactly beaten Grex at his own game, after all.

“Alright.” I stepped up to the teapot myself and made my own tea. Then I made another cup.

Then it was time to check on Grex. I took the two cups and carried it into the living room. Grex was stretched out on the couch, on his stomach and breathing shallowly. He wasn't asleep, though; he stirred when I walked in. Why he'd even insisted on recovering here was a mystery; he'd heal faster in his home plane.

It was also another question that he'd refused to answer. Well, he'd answered that he wanted to be present to protect me, but he really didn't look like he could protect anything at the moment. The twins hadn't said anything, but I could feel the anxiety they held; I didn't think it was me.

They had stayed here the night with me; they were probably due back home to torture kids or something. “Abnex, Sarex... you can go back to what you were doing. Just come quickly if I call, alright?”

They both bowed in unison, deeply. “As you command, Mistress.” They drained their tea before leaving.

I sat down in my comfy chair and turned the television on with a sigh. I should probably read or work on something, some spell or technique to help us win next time, but my focus was too scattered for that. I felt useless.

Grex shifted, grasping his tea. I was an idiot; he had no way to drink it without sitting up.

“Hang on.” I went and retrieved a bendy straw; I'd taken some flack for stocking those, but who was laughing now?

Now more hydrated, Grex relaxed.

“So... angels and conspiracies.”

He tensed again. “Yes, angels and conspiracies.”

I sat again and tried not to scratch my arm. “Care to tell me about it?”

“I can't. I heard you asking the twins, you should know that.”

“Really? Not even if it endangers my life? Wouldn't knowing about it make me safer?”

Grex turned to the television, and it came on by itself. A neat trick. “No.”

“Really?” Not knowing about some demonic conspiracy to keep things including angels thirsting for my blood was going to keep me safer?

“I can tell you to make sure to wear your earrings when you leave this space. If you forget even once, I may not be able to protect you anymore.”

As if I didn't know that already. “Do you think I should tell the public about the presence of angels? Press the issue?”

Grex turned to look at me. “If you do the angels and their allies will descend on this city like a very biblical plague. I don't think I need to go into more detail.”

This wasn't the first time Grex had mentioned allies. “What allies do the angels have?”

Grex smiled, changing the channel to some fishing show. “Humans, same as demons do. Take the church for example; you really think all the priests and true believers would just tell an angel no if the angel presented itself and gave them a holy mission from God?”

Probably not. “Has that happened before?”

Grex nodded. “Several times, actually. Many summoners have lost their lives to human action, after all.”

Wait. Wait just a minute. “You're saying the terrorists, the ones that target summoners, have angels putting them up to it?”

Grex shrugged, then winced. “Well, I can't state that for sure, but some in the past have. I'm unsure of what they call themselves now, but your mother would know more.”

“Wait, Mom knows angels really exist?”

Grex scoffed. “Of course not! Any human who knows is killed as a matter of course, either outright or sacrificed in suicide missions. But your mother knows the terrorist organizations involved, and that they used to claim to get messages from God. I can't imagine that has changed with time, but if you need confirmation, asking her should provide it easily.”

I wasn't that interested; the major group had changed their name last week, but I hadn't even bothered to learn the new one. They knew enough not to try anything here, in one of the major seats of the Corps's power. Except that wouldn't be true if an angel told them to come here due to meeting me, would it?

“So what does this mean for us? By your own admission, the angel isn't going to let this go.”

He frowned. “I am aware. I am thinking.”

The next question needed to be asked, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to think like this. “If you weren't burdened by me... could you drive him off or kill him?”

Grex grinned, a feral savage grin I hadn't seen in some time; it brought me back instantly to the night of the contract. “Without a doubt, my beloved Mistress.”

I really didn't want to kill an angel. Or order Grex to do it; that was basically the same as doing it myself. But I couldn't let the angel kill me or other summoners either since we were the ones actually slowing the tide of demonic destruction. The angel we'd fought had killed the demon, sure, but only because it thought I was one of his. It hadn't targeted Grex directly in our fight, it had been gunning for me.

“Say Grex, why did that angel think I was an angel?”

He snorted. “As I stated before, I believe your wings caused the misinterpretation. They are mostly white, and seem white from a distance, as an angel's wings are.”

My wings weren't that white, were they? The angel's wings had been glowing they were so white. I was sure their feathers made mine look dingy, even before the spots of gray were factored in. “Was that the only reason?”

Grex paused a moment – too long – and then continued. “A reasonable suspicion. It is possible your power also confused it; you have a... unique signature that is unlike much of creation. It is easy to theorize this also confused the angel, as they are not known to be great thinkers.”

Grex still had a lot of pent-up hatred, it seemed. “You keep saying 'it' Grex. Why do you refer to angels that way?”

Grex grinned again, showing fewer teeth this time at least. “Because angels have no gender, despite their male appearance; they do not have the freedom for such.”

Alright, I guess that made sense... but wait a minute, no it didn't. “But I clearly have a gender Grex, and it isn't male. So how would an angel mistake that?”

His reply was quick and felt practiced. “Angels are allowed to take other appearances if their mission calls for it. Lucifer himself took several while acting on God's behalf.”

Grex looked...expectant. I felt like I was missing something here. My power was muted at the time, but unlike 'much of creation', my gender was apparent and my wings different, yet I could appear as something else were I an actual angel and had a mission that called for it. So why look so close to an angel?

Wait a minute... “Grex, does my power feel like an angel's?” I hadn't had a chance to really get a feel for the one attacking me; I'd been too busy trying not to die.

Grex sighed and nodded. “Your power does feel similar to one, yes. Similar enough to be confused for such. Demons are more discerning, of course, but angels are not known to be great thinkers.”

Grex was biased, right. So I had all the power and powers of a ruler of the 9th circle of Hell, yet felt like an angel, or close enough that angels could be fooled? Something weird was going on here, I just knew it. Something beyond the obvious.

Ah, I had it. Why would Lucifer care enough to forbid demons to tell summoners or any other human that angels existed? To sow despair? That might be right, but if that was it, why not just tell us instead that the angels seemed to be anti-humanity anyway? As it was, the church was already telling us we were doomed for our sins, how would knowing angels were out there and active make that any different?

This was making my head hurt. Well, hurt more. I finished off my tea and got up.

“Whatever. We aren't done with this Grex, not by a long shot. But I'm out of questions for now.”

I couldn't just demand him to tell me what he knew, or I'd be here forever listening to the history of existence from his point of view; that was one of the oldest tricks in the book.

More tea was called for. Grex had decided he didn't want anymore when he started hiding things from me. Petty? Sure, but I was only human, despite what others thought.

When I came back, fresh tea in hand, another fishing show was on. A pretty odd choice in programming, but Grex was riveted. “Alright, so what should we do? Move? Try to get a transfer?”

Grex risked a glance over and nodded, carefully. “That is one option.”

I didn't want to do that; get run out of my home. “What are the others?”

Grex shrugged. “Kill the angel. If it's still here, it's the one you need to worry about. Sure, it's reported in by now, but angels need a reason to descend to Earth. Once here, they can stay for a compelling reason, but they need a reason first. While the death of the first angel might give reason to some, the first angel is the only one that has seen and sensed you. Kill it, and any search will be doomed to failure with the precautions we take.”

I still didn't want to kill the angel. “Other options?”

“I do not know. Let me think on it.” Well, that was a whole lot of help.

We sat in silence, watching some guy fish for monsters from the deep. Meanwhile, I worked the problem.

After some hours of that, there was a knock on the door. Since Grex wasn't in any condition to, I got up to answer it. Checking through the peephole first (reinforced so that no one could drill through it, I'd seen seven) revealed Karen, tapping her foot with her arms crossed.

I unlocked the door and stepped back; even so, she almost hit me with it. “Snow! Why is your door locked?!?

I stared at her until she blushed. At least she shut it before she went rooting around in my fridge.

I locked and tried to ignore how she was now inhaling my fresh fruit. “So how do you feel?” she asked between bites; at least she didn't try talking with her mouth full.

“I'm fine. Ready to go and do my part. Grex is still in bad shape, though.”

“Really? How bad?”

I shrugged. “Check for yourself; he's still hanging out on my couch.”

I realized too late that my chair was open in the living room. I hurried, only to find it taken already by the spirit of gluttony, who was staring at Grex from across the room as if she could see his wounds from there.

“You can't check him out from there.”

She didn't bother clearing her throat this time. “It's okay, I can tell just fine from here. So um... why exactly is he still here, bleeding on your couch?”

With a sigh, I took the other chair, the less comfortable one. “He insists on staying. Something about a worry over my safety. I've ordered him, but he refuses to go, citing our pact.”

Karen sobered up quick. She sat up and her athame was simply out.“Really?”

I waved her off. “He obeys otherwise. He just has veto room when he thinks I'm in danger. You DO remember the circumstances of my pact, right?”

Karen slid her athame back into her sleeve. “Yeah, sure, of course I do.”

I couldn't resist a face palm. “You don't remember a thing, do you?”

“Of course not!” She agreed pleasantly.

“You're an idiot, Karen.”

“Don't be like that, Snow,” she pouted. “I'm here to help you. Well and relax, unwind, and steal your beer and food after a long day. So, how far have you gotten?”

“To a solution? I've no idea. I'm working on something; it depends on if the angel is after me specifically.”

“Demon.” Karen countered bluntly, eyes rolling to meet mine.

“Whatever.” Grex had already mentioned it was an angel in her presence once before, and she knew Grex couldn't lie to me, so why the insistence? Even underselling it like she was, it was odd.

Was her strange persistence in this her own? “Anyway, if the jerk, whatever it is, is after me specifically there is something that might work, but I'm not sure if I can pull it off. If he's after us all, then my plan won't work and the only plan I have is to bait a trap and kill him.”

There was no sense needling Karen by referring to something that looked like a 'he' by using 'it'. Sure, she hadn't seen it, but she knew my description, and I wasn't sure what her game was yet. Of course, for all I knew Karen didn't know that angels had no gender. I hadn't until told, after all.

“Well, don't keep me in suspense! What's your plan?” Karen asked, getting close.

I gently pushed her out of my personal space. “To fake my own death.”

Karen whistled. “Not a bad thought.”

Grex piped up with a groan. “It will not work.”

I forced down the spike of irritation. “Why not?”

“The angel is not here for you. The angel is here for some other reason.”

Yes, I know Grex, you've said that already. But you also said it would stick around to kill me; make up your mind!

“What other reason, Grex?”

He was grinning that insufferable grin, I couldn't see his face but somehow I just knew it. “I do not know; however if I must hazard a guess, I'd say it might have to do with the increase in demon activity in this city.”

Wait, that didn't follow. Just what was he playing at? “But Grex, you told me earlier he wouldn't be interested in that.”

“No, I said it wouldn't be interested in demons themselves; a spike in demonic activity, possibly caused by humans or something else. They would investigate such a thing.”

That was quite a suggestion, and from the look he was now giving me, twisted around as he was, he had more to say. He wasn't offering it, however, which must mean he didn't want Karen to hear. Something for later.

“So, how do we find this guy? Find the rogue responsible for all the other summonings?” We'd had real luck with that so far.

“That would certainly help. By finding the summoner involved, we may use them as bait instead of yourself.”

Well, I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that he had picked up on that. He didn't sound happy with the idea, but I would make the best bait. Or was that my hubris talking? “Well that's acceptable, but we've been looking for weeks to no avail. Unless you have a lead on that?”

Grex shook his head. “I do not; however there may be a way find the summoner for you.”

I looked to Karen for good measure, and she shook her head.

“I'm open to suggestions. I think Karen is too; why don't you regale us?”

“It's simple. Send us to look. It is not as if we cannot find him, or each other when asked.”

I found myself sitting, and wondering if I'd been sitting before. Could it really be that easy? I'd been trying police work in my spare time, push pins in a map, talking to witnesses (other summoners mainly) and gotten nowhere. If it was that easy, why hadn't anyone else done it? There were a few suggestive locations, areas to check, but nothing definitive or small, and I hadn't had time and the Captain hadn't had the manpower to send on wild goose chases.

Karen was quick to answer that through an objection. “Now wait a minute. How many demons are you saying Snow can handle, here? Because the number of demons needed to blanket the city in a grid search is about double what we have access to.”

Grex didn't respond, of course. Karen wasn't his boss; I was.

I didn't ask because I was sure I knew the answer and if I was right, I didn't want her to know. Secrets; summoners gathered them like wine and hoped they aged well. Or maybe it was just me.

Time for a slight misdirection. “And of course, that means I can get involved from a position of safety, right Grex?”

He played along. “That idea might have influenced my thinking, yes.”

He knew and approved. I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

Karen wasn't deterred. “How many, Snow?”

I shrugged. “I don't really know, I've never tried to hold more than three – you know that. But it is more than three and combined with a good map, it might be enough. Certainly, if Grex is suggesting it, it can't be a bad idea.”

“You aren't talking about that stupid map again, are you?” Karen groaned out.

“Hey, the map is not stupid! It's old fashioned police work, and it showed the first-week site attacks drew a pentagram!”

Karen rolled her eyes. “Of course it did, because pentagrams are the most overused thing ever, in every situation demons get involved in. Look, we went to the center of it, we went to all the cardinal points of it, and yes someone made a ritual circle of the entire town. But whatever that circle was meant for didn't happen, and the summoner was not there; not in any location designed to take best advantage. Since then the attacks have been random.”

I shook my head. It wasn't random; the summoner or summoners knew ADTF procedure and response times. They knew where we were, and attacked us, or attacked to draw us out. I wasn't willing to say it was an inside job yet since the internet exists, but the target of the demonic forays was clear. And demons both knew their own and could sense each other if directed.

The problem was a power issue; (sending weaker demons against stronger usually didn't work) most demons don't have the power to sense their own from a distance. But with enough coverage, I really could check everywhere, given time.

I idly wondered if I could sense demons, and if so, what my range was. It was a power, after all.

Something to try another time; Karen was talking. “....you can try it if you want, but don't stress yourself. I'll approve it as your superior on that grounds. Also, you should totally let me watch.”

Yeah, that wasn't a good thing to have happen ever; I was probably going to summon more than anyone thought I should be able to. In fact, the best way to handle it would simply be to let Grex handle it... but Grex probably wasn't in the best shape to.

“Sure. It'll take me some time to set up, though. I'll work it out.” Even with a dedicated circle, summoning demons was inherently dangerous. The more demons, the more dangerous.

Unless of course you handle it like I was going to; I had another crazy plan, already. Something I'd have to discuss with an expert whose head won't explode at the very idea. And I didn't even have to lie to Karen or anyone else; I could pull the summoning she expected off too.

“Alright Karen, you've eaten my snacks, probably snuck some of my booze somehow when I wasn't looking and sat in the only good chair in my living room. Anything else you want to do before you go back to your own apartment to sleep?”

Karen blushed a little; I was pretty sure she was faking that. “Well, when you put it that way... yes?”

I sighed; of course. “What, then, do you want?”

“I want to play your games some first.”

Was I actually going to have to buy another television just for Karen to use while here? “Fine, whatever, knock yourself out.”

It was night, but I couldn't sleep. Not that I had insomnia, but instead I had things to do. I'd taken a nap after Karen had left, but even after four hours I felt tired.

Regardless, It was time to put my plan into action.

Grex stood beside me, and promptly at twelve-oh-one we stepped through the door of my apartment closet, coming out the other side atop the same windswept crag my bed had been transported to, so long ago. I felt the burn of opening the doorway, and I was already dreading the long walk down. It was almost a complete reversal of the first time I was here; I could probably fly down, but this time Grex would be the one having trouble.

So we took the stairs – all of the stairs.

We made somewhat good time at least, and I took a few earrings off along the way, letting my wings out. Because we were still winding our way along the outside of a spoke of rock, and I wanted to be able to at least try to catch us if either one of us fell.

It was annoying to be careful, to waste the time, but we could afford to waste it. My last sojourn here had proved that time in this place was mutable. I had recently learned that I commanded the flow somewhat, and right now our trek down was only going to take us about an hour of Earth time. Perhaps even less.

And I was working on my cardio the entire time; win/win, or so I told myself.

Our destination was the castle I hadn't been to, the one at the center of the realm or layer. The one that was Grex's home. The one that was also the home of all his loyal subjects. All his loyal subjects that may or may not be pissed at me for usurping. Which, come to think of it, was another good reason for keeping my earrings off.

Grex seemed pretty cavalier about the whole thing, walking along as if there wasn't a care in the world. Or walking along as if there wasn't a care in the world while in significant pain, but close enough.

It was dark here, in this realm or plane of existence or whatever it was (I felt that maybe I needed a doctorate I didn't have to get the terminology correct) was in perpetual dusk, not truly dark, but not light either. Once we hit the tree line of the truly enormous forest, occasional birdsong interrupted the silence, and things rustled in the distance.

Now, however, the ground was level, and we could move faster. Grex ran while I flew, trying to work the kinks out and get used to the wings.

An eternity which may or may not have been measured in minutes later, we came upon the outskirts proper of the realm. I knew Limbo was big, in much the same way I knew a million was a large number. But seeing it now, it was as if trillions had been turned into acres; just flying up showed that my new improved eyes couldn't see the border, in any direction, even the one I'd come from. I mean, the spire was right there, and yet, I couldn't see the river I knew to be beyond it, just more forest broken by the occasional plain.

And for me to see those, they had to be huge too.

Aside from the clear scale of the place, it wasn't all that different than what one would see on Earth. Except darker. The sun never seemed to truly set here; it had been hours, and it was still dusk, with light still barely streaming from the West.

The village was large, by village standards, and built according to the standards of ancient architecture, all rushes, wood, and mud. There were gardens behind every house, and a stone well sunk in the center of the village square. There were fields of some kind of grain I didn't recognize on the other side from us.

The biggest part of the place was the palisade, which wound its way around the entirety of all the buildings. There were two large gates of wood that looked to be all of one piece rather than lashed or nailed logs, one on the road in (which we were on) and one on the road out, winding through the fields.

I landed in front of the nearest one as Grex stopped. It wasn't open, and I didn't want to be rude.

As it turned out, I didn't need to worry about that. The gate opened immediately on silent hinges. I could feel them coming my way; they weren't demons, but if I felt them here, then they couldn't be human? Or maybe they could; there was still much I didn't know. Being the first summoner to make this journey with a willing guide changes a lot of rules.

If I could trust my bosses with the intel, I'd already be making history – but I held off on what exactly my contract allowed me to do, how far it allowed me to go. I didn't want them to know until I knew more.

On the other hand, the people now coming out of the gate? According to Grex, either of us could simply command them to silence.

They were dressed in togas or robes, with grass rope sandals on their feet. The first, an older man with hair just beginning to gray, had beaten bronze and copper jewelry. The necklace looked familiar – a silhouette of a winged woman. The other two of the three had bronze spears and those odd open faced helmets with crests.

When they got within ten feet they threw themselves prostrate on the ground – in front of me.

“My Lady, what is your will?”

That was a bit surprising but probably shouldn't have been. “Nothing. Just making a tour. Get up, please.”

I strode past them through the gate, and they fell in behind me... and behind Grex, of course.

“If I may ask, My Lady, to what do we owe this honor?”

There was a sense of something here; the souls that lived in this village, this place. I could see them, and they were dark, shot through with a kind of murk.

But they weren't Grex dark.

There didn't seem to be any other demons around either, enforcing their will on the populace. No pit lords striding about with lashes in hand, no pits of fire (not that I really expected any) and no people suffering under the yoke of tyranny. The fact that no one was outside their house right now but my escort was immaterial, I knew where they all were; there was a sense of mine which I'd only attributed to demons before. But these were clearly not demons.

I shared a look with Grex to confirm it. He knew; he'd known all along this was part of things. Either a situation to tell me about this just hadn't come up... or he'd engineered it so that it wouldn't. He dropped his eyes and lowered his head for a second, and I got the feeling he'd be bowing if not for our audience.

So, the latter then.

I raised an eyebrow to let him know this wasn't over and signaled him to straighten up. Our audience had noticed this of course, but other than falling silent had taken no action.

“To be honest, um...”

“Oh, how rude of me. I am Sark, at your service. I believe you would call me a mayor of this, the village of Filat.”

“...Right. I'm Maeve. And to be honest, we are just passing through on our way to the keep.”

The keep, according to Grex, was the heart of this realm and the very seat of my power. Or as much a physical seat of my power as existed anywhere and any-when; explanations could be murky sometimes. This he'd bothered to tell me about, but it wasn't like I was looking for random excuses to go to Hell. Even setting foot there once was too many – but I had to do this, and I needed a secure spot to do it in; one that I was sure had no spies or bugs. Places just didn't come more secure than your own castle in Hell; especially if I swore all the demons who saw me there to secrecy.

“Ah.” Sark looked at me, or rather, my wings, and then looked to at Grex's wings. “We so rarely get... visitors, from the keep.”

He was being awfully delicate. “And you were worried that you had offended, somehow?”

He nodded. His two friends remained stoic, which was pretty incredible. This close to a demon you suspected had it in for you, armed only with a spear? These guys had big brass ones.

“Well, nothing like that. We were just following the road from the observation point and decided to stop in, rather than go around. To see if there was anything... odd, going on.”

There, that should be suitably menacing and demonic without being really twisted, sort of a 'we're always watching' sort of thing. I didn't really want to do that, I knew it was a form of torment for these poor souls, but I really didn't want them getting the wrong idea and sticking a spear in either of us.

He clutched his pendant so hard he probably cut himself. “I see.”

“Now, of course, we'll be going, just as soon as you open the other gate for us. Unless you have any other concerns?”

His face tightened. “No, we've no concerns. Our treatment thus far under Nargash has been most equitable.”

“Glad to hear it.” Who was Nargash? Knowing feudal systems, he was likely the count that ruled this area.

The people didn't seem to be starving, slaves, or dead, so he must be doing at least a decent job. Maybe I'd get to meet him.

The two flunkies, who hadn't introduced themselves, cranked open the other gate. No one spoke.

As soon as it was open enough to walk through without my wings touching it, I did so. Grex was right on my heels. “Have a nice day, village of Filat. Expect us back within a few hours. Thank you for your hospitality.”

Okay, maybe a bit snarky, but they hadn't even offered me anything to drink; that was hardly neighborly behavior.

“A pleasant journey, My Lady.”

The gate shut so fast the breeze ruffled my wings.

Grex met my raised eyebrow with a shrug. Whatever; I started walking.

Once we got far enough away that there was no chance at being overheard, Grex turned to me. “It might be best if we avoid other settlements, at least for now.”

Okay, now I was curious again. “Why?”

“Our yoke is light here, compared to those of other circles; therefore the populace is only used to seeing a demon when something is wrong, or there is an invasion.”

He looked into my expression and drew the wrong conclusion. “What is it? Invasions are rare, but have been known to happen.”

“Not that, Grex. I just find it amazing that you don't interact with the people here at all.”

Great, now he was defensive. “We are not to be their punishment; the knowledge that they could be in Heaven – that their existence could be perfect – is. Even as rebels we endeavor not to overstep our mandate.

I had to ask. I mean, I knew what the punishment for being one of the unbaptized was, but I didn't really get it. So far my circle was downright pleasant, and with the demons being hands-off...

“Why?”

“Angering Lucifer is not something anyone wants to do.”

Good point. But then again, why would he care? What was going on here, exactly? Weren't punishments dictated by the big G? And if they were, why would the universe's most notorious traitor care about them?

I was missing something, but I don't think Grex knew what it was either. And wasn't that odd, to think that someone as old as he could be fooled. I was beginning to think that the big G and Lucifer talked more than they let on to the rest of us... the only way any of this made sense was if Lucifer was still taking orders, reluctantly or no.

I really hoped I was missing something, there.

“Alright, we can walk around, I guess.”

“Or I can do this.” Grex replied, stopping.

He quickly drew a circle and chanted a string of words I vaguely recognized... and lifted up. Another word obliterated the circle and he flew up to join me, wings carefully clenched at his side.

There was only one thing to say to that. “Showoff.”

He grinned wide, showing me all his sharp teeth. “It's not as if I didn't teach you how.”

“Yeah, but it takes so much power for me to do it on Earth.” Flying without wings sucked for other reasons, too. Not the least of which you couldn't fly as fast, though your maneuverability was better; using the spell, you could literally stop or turn on a dime.

Most people threw up if they did that, however. I still remembered that fateful day in basic where some of the old hands started showing off; it hadn't been pretty.

The next hint of civilization was a town, and if it wasn't a roman town it was close. Multi-story stone and stucco buildings, elaborate fountains, more togas and robed people. The only thing that made me question it was there was no visible sign of water; no ocean harbor, no lake, no river, not even a pond. Weren't most old towns and cities built near water? This city also had a wall too, a large stone one with towers on the corners and massive gates. Every inch of the wall was patrolled by people in armor holding bows. The armor was made of scales and gleamed in the low light like bronze, and the helmets were different versions of the open face thing the villagers were sporting.

I wanted to go down there and talk to them, because there was no way that many people could run and hide from me in time, but Grex was right for all that he hadn't actually said it; we really were running tight on time.

This town also had one other thing the village hadn't; the road branched, with a fork leading right and left. It had to be to other cities.

On the one hand, I was torn. I really wanted to take the time to explore, ask questions, and learn. But something told me I'd be here for a long time soon enough – unless I ended up somewhere worse. So did I really want to rush things?

We passed overhead, our shadows causing many to look up. I could hear faint cries of surprise and possibly alarm that faded as we passed them by.

The next one up the chain was a full city, and it did look a lot like images of Rome. It had large palaces and temples and aqueducts and bridges, all in permanent white stone. It even had a coliseum, complete with cheering crowd, where two men were facing off against each other.

Well, suitably barbaric.

The next town was all wood, dirt streets, dirty animals, and dirty smoke. It was also half the population of the village of Filat, judging by the number of buildings. I was beginning to sense a trend here.

“Grex, are the population centers here arranged by civilization or development? I mean, the time frame when each civilization appeared?”

Grex took a breath and entered what passed for lecture mode from him. “Yes, simply. It's more complex than that of course; certain other cultures have their populations on the other side of the center.

He pointed off to the right a bit. “The Asiatic countries, for example, are that way, and the more modern civilizations like your own are that way.” Off to the left. “I dare say I could find a town in which you would be hard pressed to believe yourself anywhere other than the United States.”

Comforting, in a way. Yet horrifying, in another way.

“Maybe later.”

We worked our way up past the dark ages and into the glory of the medieval era, flying fast now. I could see the mountain we were headed towards, in front of me, small in the distance but growing larger with every wingbeat. My original timetable was shot to... well, here, since this place was just so big. I didn't look at the towns anymore, there was no time – and wasn't that an ironic statement.

There was no way anyone would ever mistake it for anything other than the seat of power.

It was a keep, sure, just as Grex had called it. It was a keep in the same way that a child's lego creation matched the word “house.”

Built on a mountain that up close that had to be bigger than Everest, built into the mountain in a way I'd never seen before, the keep was a large castle of gleaming black stone, easily as large as a city itself. Here and there were winged forms, flitting to and fro, balcony to gargoyle-bedecked balcony. The outside décor seemed Gothic.

The gates were huge, you could probably fit something the size of the titanic through them... and the top of the mountain was smoking; a volcano?

This was Grex's home. This was the twin's home. This was the seat of my power. Grex flew forward and I let him, slowing down. I could probably fly faster than any pursuit if I put my mind to it... as long as I had a headstart.

As we flew closer, the demons began to take notice; many of them rushed to meet us. As they got close enough to notice details (like leather armor and weapons made of black metal, or intricate outfits lined with gold and gems) the small crowd stopped in a spray of feathers, and somehow managed to prostrate themselves, in the air.

“My lady.” hit my ears as one voice from many throats.

Well, that answered that question.

So how to respond to this? “You may rise.”

The closest demons flipped themselves upright. (I really wanted to know how they did that sort of thing, they didn't even move and the breeze was pretty stiff. It was probably some demon magic thing.)

There were four of them; Three men, one woman. All four had charcoal black wings shot through with midnight black, and all four were well built, peak human physique levels that stopped just sort of gross. The three men had dark hair and eyes both that could either be dark brown or black depending on the light, while the woman had an ageless face that could mark her as either thirteen or thirty and a generous hourglass (if not so generous as mine).

“My Lady, what brings you here? How may we serve? We were under the impression that you were busy with mortal matters up above.” The first one said, his glance at Grex leaving no doubt where he'd got that impression.

I really should have planned this better, or at least gone over what I intended to say. I knew I couldn't afford to appear weak here.

“I have an issue, and you are all going to help me with it.”

He bowed again immediately. “Of course, my Lady.”

The woman spoke up: “Anything you require, my Lady.”

The others, even the ones behind the four, who were staying 'down' on one knee, all shot her a look.

Curious, but not why I came. With a wing-beat I lurched forward, in between the gathering before they had time to do more than flinch out of the way. “Walk with me. Grex, my receiving room.”

“As you command, my mistress.” Grex took point and began leading the way as we landed on the largest balcony in sight. I heard the thumps of the others touching ground behind me, but I didn't dare look.

One could only walk down so many drafty castle style hallways before getting bored, no matter how well carpeted they were and how many interesting tapestries and paintings they boasted. Or so I told myself. The torches set in dark iron scones cut most of the gloom, but there was still plenty to go around.

Enough to see the tapestries, though, and they all seemed to be historical. Maybe if I... no, there was no time. I'd be able to come back later, though.

What Grex led me to was a throne room. A throne room also filled with torches and tapestries on the walls, The other side of which I could barely see, with my enhanced eyesight. There were large tables on either side of the red carpet we were now following, all stone and intricately carved with designs that drew the eye in disturbing ways.

At the far end of the room was a throne. Right where I'd normally not be able to see it or at least not make anything out. Unfortunately, the thing was so huge that I really had no choice but to see it, even with the lack of light.

It was made of stone, and carved all along its length. The seat or depression was large; just how large I wasn't able to tell from here, but big enough to match the size of the chair... which was a stepped pyramid shape large enough for me to see in an area where the torches themselves were mere pinpricks of light and I could make out no details.

Considering that even with low light I could make out details for miles, this section truly was the nosebleeds.

Screw formality... mainly because it would take a year to walk the distance to sit on that throne. I headed to the nearest table, holding out my hand. Grex slapped the map into it, and I unrolled the thing and placed it on the table, using some silverware (made of real silver, from the looks of it) to hold it down. I fought down my embarrassment.

It was a printed map from Google, lovingly taped together. There just hadn't been time for anything else. Regardless, the demons crowded close, jostling each other, jockeying for position, and none commented on the flimsy thing.

No one jostled me, despite the fact that I was right in front of it.

“This is a map of the city I'm currently living in. What I want is simple; I want a grand total of twenty-six of you to co-ordinate and search the city for evidence of demon activity.”

Everyone present, even the ones pouring in as word spread, looked to me.

“Right. Other evidence of demonic activity. Circles that don't belong to me, demons that are not us, things like that. I want those picked to take a highlighted section of the map and scan it, and mark such activity on it – and I want it done by morning.”

One of the first four spoke up. He seemed cautiously curious, more than anything else. “Which of us do you choose for such a task?”

“I'm not choosing – you are. Or if you can't decide among yourselves, Grex will.” There was no point to me just picking demons at random after all, some might be better at searching than others. The twins seemed to be reasonably good at it, for example.

“How will we gate to the world of the mortals?” The woman asked – which earned her a glare from the man who spoke before.

“I'll open the way myself.” I'd already opened the way once to get Grex and I here; how bad could it be to open it again?

She bent to one knee, elbowing others of her kind out of the way as an afterthought. “As you say, my Lady. My name is Veess, it is most wonderful to finally meet your august magnificence.”

Did she have a shovel? I think she needed one.

“Oh do be silent Veess, you know better than to speak to your betters. Should you persist, I will silence you myself.” Said the first guy... the demon closest to Grex. Was there some sort of ranking thing I didn't know about at play here? There almost had to be.

“And you are?”

The demon promptly swept into a courtly bow and a smile, complete with a wing flourish, knocking his fellow demons aside with just as much care as Veess had shown moments before. “Ah, Apologies my Lady, I am Ulak, duke of the western marches and your most loyal servant.”

Grex cleared his throat and Ulak's smile slipped... but he didn't retract the statement.

“Right. Well Ulak, I'll let you all confer among yourselves while I work on the gateway home. I don't want any normal duties here you all may have to suffer as a result of my command, so choose wisely.”

Ulak bowed lower as I walked off, Grex in tow. Halfway up to the throne was probably far enough, but I motioned for Grex to spin a quick spell against eavesdropping, just in case; I was sure his were better than mine since he had much more practice at it.

As soon as he snapped it off he moved in front of me. “Some of my subordinates can lip read.”

He seemed slightly angry about something, tense and seething. I decided to just forge ahead; if he was angry with me he would just have to deal.

“So, what do you think?”

He frowned and waited a moment for replying. “That's it? That's all you have?”

“What do you mean?”

He sighed. “I've guided you to Limbo, as you asked. I've taken you to the Aerie, as you commanded. I've watched you meet my own subordinates and lay out your plan to them, as is proper... and the first question you have for me is 'what do you think'?”

I nodded, realizing what he was getting at now. But honestly it wasn't important. Not right now – finding the source of the demonic invasion before we all got overwhelmed was. Getting the angel that might still be stalking me to realize there wasn't any reason to stay and look for me was also important.

The absolutely huge fortress, the extra large throne and the names of the demons working for my own? Not as important. At least not yet.

Grex sighed again. “They won't betray you, at least not yet. You have thus far struck the proper note of command, and they sense your natural talent besides. You have a... charisma to you.”

That looked like an uncomfortable admission for Grex to make. Not quite as uncomfortable as it was to hear from a demon, but it probably hurt him at least a little bit.

“...right. So, I don't need to fear the knife in my back just yet. Good to know.”

I had been tempted (and in truth was still more than a little tempted) to make it an order, to all demons present. A statement like 'don't betray me in any way at any time' would probably go far. But I wasn't sure my authority extended that far, or would work that well. I think the effect was diluted if the demon wasn't right in front of me, or I wasn't speaking directly to them. I wasn't certain of course, but I felt I should test it before making a fool of myself and turning an entire circle of Hell against me.

Just another thing to add to the list of things to test when Grex wasn't around.

“I also think we should actually get started on opening your gateway if you expect to keep to your unrealistic timetable.” Grex added, completely unnecessarily.

I didn't think my timetable was unrealistic. I mean, it had been awhile for many of my impressed troops, but they used to help make miracles happen. Even now they made the impossible happen as a matter of course, what was one more impossibility?

“Alright, well, we start with a circle, right?”

“Not exactly.” Grex replied. I didn't like that sudden smirk of his.

“Okay, what now?”

“Well, gates cannot be built or maintained from this side of Hell. No demon can simply move into the mortal realm without an anchor, be it an object or a person. You are an exception to the rule of course, and I may follow you... but those you see to employ will be unable to follow using the laws you hope to employ.”

That made a worryingly good amount of sense. “This feels like something you should have brought up with me beforehand, Grex.”

After all, he'd known what I was planning.

“There was no need. There is, of course, an alternative.”

I crossed my arms on purpose, a clear signal. “I'm waiting.”

Grex grinned a more genuine smile. “We simply use your existing gateway.”

Wait. “I have an existing gateway?”

“Of course. How else would we simply appear in Limbo and Earth, trading between them with no more effort than is employed in a brisk walk?”

Well there was more effort than a brisk walk employed, I knew that much. I had a lot of power, but the drain to come here had been noticeable. Wait, was he implying....

“We can't waste the time on another walk out to that spire Grex.”

“Of course not. In truth, we did not need to waste any time on the first walk. I was simply directing you to a place you have already been, one that had felt the weight of your presence, and one that you were familiar with.”

Hm, both of those were important. Strong demonic powers (and I'd assume angelic ones too, now that it was certain angels existed) sometimes broke things around them, in much the same way they broke people with prolonged exposure.

In the case of reality or space, however, it just translated into making certain things easier. Like summoning and contracting and certain other spells. I wonder if angels sanctified things instead? Would I find it easier or harder to summon in a place where an angel had been? Yet another thing to test, if I found the time.

“And Now that I'm here, we can do it again?”

Grex gave a little head shake. “Not exactly. It may be easier for you, as you don't entirely belong here in the way others do, but the gateway is already established, and only that gateway will do.”

My stomach met my feet. “What gateway?”

“The one to your apartment, of course.”

I had been right to be worried. “I can't take a bunch of demons to my apartment! To that building!”

Grex showed his teeth. “But of course you can. They can simply become lost in the background noise. There are dozens of demons in that building as is, two dozen more won't be noticed.”

“Grex, that building is summoner central. It has almost every highly trained summoner in the area and their demon living in it.”

His grin widened. “That's why it's perfect. It's least expected.”

Right. Why was I expecting logic or sanity from him? He was a demon.

The smile slid from his lips. “It is the only choice. Your established gateway is the only gate which will work; without it, even you are trapped here. Your apartment will offset the signature of so many demons at once, and we can take steps to make sure they are not detected as they leave.”

Yes, we could do that. I was way ahead of him there. I took a breath and the steadiness in my voice had to have surprised Grex; I know it surprised me. “And where does this gateway connect to, if not the spire we came from?”

“Your quarters of course. This way.”

Quarters? I had quarters here? “Lead on.”

Grex led me to the right of the throne, to a section of wall. Along the way, I got a slightly closer look at the thing – and found it absolutely covered in historical motifs, like the fall of Minos, the fall of Jericho, the fall of Rome, all complete with weeping peasants and fleeing soldiers. I was sensing a trend here.

At Grex's touch, the section of wall slid open to reveal a long hallway. How did they even change the torches in this place? There had to be thousands. Maybe even hundreds of thousands; even one demon per torch per night (torches should burn out much faster than that) would be....

“This way, My mistress.”

I followed Grex and tried to focus. A lapse of attention could kill me here.

The hallway swung around, through many twists and turns, and a few branches which Grex didn't even so much as look at. Twenty minutes or so later, just when I was about to get thoroughly lost, we came upon a familiar-looking door.

It was my apartment door, complete with the room number. Even the scratches on the knob matched.

Grex stood to one side. “You locked the door, and it would be unseemly for me to charm it.”

Wait, this was my actual...? No way. I put the key in the lock and turned the knob, revealing my kitchen.

There was still some old coffee in the pot, and the dirty dishes matched up. I opened my fridge and found my chocolate stash in the door.

“But how?”

“I'll go and retrieve those who are coming with us; they should have come to a consensus by now. Please leave the door open.” Grex said from the doorway, right before he ducked back out.

He knew. Did he do it, somehow? If so, how? I didn't tell him to, but I also didn't tell him he couldn't specifically, since I didn't even know it was possible.

The television in the living room turned on, right to animal planet, the last channel on before I went to sleep. How would that even work? Was there electricity in Hell? So far there hadn't been, and if there was you'd expect light bulbs. My mug was on the coffee table; I'd have to talk to Grex about that, he was supposed to clean up before we left.

My bed was rumpled, the blankets thrown back, just as I'd left it. All of the furniture, if it wasn't mine, it was so close a match my eyesight couldn't see any differences.

I went back to the kitchen and started some coffee.

It wasn't quite finished when the first of my volunteers trooped in. The volunteers all did the same thing; they entered, looked around, and either crinkled their noses or turned them up.

My apartment was pretty big, but just over two dozen demons later the living room and kitchen were both filled. Grex made a show of pouring my coffee as the other demons watched.

“We are all present, and we all have our assigned areas, My Lady.” Veess stated with a bow.

I took a sip, covering desperately. Grex signaled for me to shut the door.

I took my time with another sip of coffee, then got up, reached past a demon I didn't know and pulled the door shut.

Grex then motioned for me to open it again, so I did. It opened into what was clearly the summoner's apartment building hall, with no intervention, no pull on my power, nothing at all. We were just in Hell one moment, and the next, not. I could feel the difference as soon as the door opened, but not how it happened.

I'd worry about that in a few minutes. For now, I had to get these demons out of here. The hallway was clear, but there were cameras.

“Alright. Each of you come to the door, single file.”

The one who I had to reach past was first. I stuck a hand out. “You will do as I command you at all times while here at my request. You will search your section of my map and inform me of anything unusual or demonic. Whether you find anything or not, you are to return here and I will send you home. Got it?”

He staggered back with the force of either my words or presence. Whatever it was, he fell to a knee. “I hear and obey, my Lady.”

“What is your name?”

“Hilken, my Lady.”

“Alright, Hilken. Make yourself invisible before you leave, and before you come back, to avoid detection.”

He ducked his head and faded from sight – I could still detect him because I had the sense and knew he was there, but anyone else would be hard pressed to.

“Next.”

Going through them all one at a time burned another chunk of time I felt we didn't have, but it was better than letting potentially devastating demons roam free or mostly free. Gathering their names for future reference was only prudent too; if they did a good job, I could call on them again, and if not I'd be able to single them out quickly.

I didn't really breathe until the last one was away. There was no outcry raised so detection was unlikely; I hadn't even thought to make sure those I brought with me could spoof sight and the cameras. I really needed to work more on my long term planning.

But with the last of the demons I shouldn't talk in front of gone and the door closed (even though I opened it again – we remained safely in the apartment complex) it was time to discuss certain things.

I turned. “Grex.”

I was getting a good idea after all this time what his tells were, and judging from the slightly twitching hands and the eye movement, Grex was nervous.

“Yes, my mistress?”

“I have questions, and you have answers.”

“As long as it doesn't endanger your safety I will answer my Mistress.” He hedged. I was beginning to hate that hedge.

“How and when did my apartment become an actual gate to Hell?”

“The first day, after you asked me to prepare it, and partly through my preparations and partly through your very presence.” He answered promptly.

Answering promptly was a good strategy for him. “So your preparations did this? Are you insane?”

He started to pour himself some coffee. My quiet command hit him with enough force to stagger him.

“Answer.”

He blew a breath and sank to a knee. “I prepared the way, but on your orders. You requested comfort and safety. Such a ritual, powered by your continued presence, was the best way to provide it. Your presence would have exerted much greater effect on your surroundings, and been much more vulnerable to detection otherwise.”

He stood and looked directly down into my eyes. “Did you think that your contract, the powers you gained, would have no such disadvantages? That your frail mortal frame would be unchanged by the power you sought, even with examples laid before you? No, you were not that naive – instead, you grasped for all you could, greedily, when it was offered. You sinned, Maeve. All the consequences you now face are the wages of that sin.”

I shrugged my wings uncomfortably. He was right; he tempted me, but I fell for it.

Then Grex was hugging me, and not in that playful way he had either. This was gentle... distant, but almost kind. “All mortals have weakness, Maeve. You were no different. If it eases your mind, you may at least rest assured that you did not miscalculate your soul's value.”

That did make me feel a little better, but I wasn't so sure about it; my soul's value seemed to have dropped of late. Still, even worse, I was getting comforted by Grex. It wouldn't do to forget who he was.

I pushed him off, and he retreated. “Second question. How does this gateway work, and why hasn't it been detected?”

“That should be 'questions two and three,'” he corrected.

I rolled my eyes at him, as melodramatically as possible. He shifted to a lecturing tone I hadn't heard in awhile. “It works through you. You are grounded in two different realities; that of Limbo and of Earth. The apartment follows suit; when you are grounded in Earth, the apartment follows. When you are grounded in Limbo, the apartment is as well.”

“So the ritual to get to Limbo earlier was completely pointless?”

Grex shook his head. “The ritual centered you. It was the easiest way to get you to your goal without an explanation.”

“And why not just explain?”

“Two reasons. One, a secret shared is a secret spoiled; secrets have a power all their own, and this one has already saved your existence twice. Once you knew, you could share it with others who can eventually betray you. Best not to share at all, unless I had to.

The second reason is the explanation itself would take time, and it was time you felt we didn't have. You really are too dedicated for your own good.”

Grex grinned as he delivered that line, almost daring me to disagree with him. I really couldn't, even if I knew I wouldn't let such a devastating secret slip (if anyone else had ever gotten that kind of power from a contract, I hadn't read or heard about it) because if people found out I could open a gate to Hell I'd get swamped in people looking for their loved ones and inquisition types.

And without the explanation, the easiest location for me to link to would be where I'd linked to before – the lookout spire. I wonder if that was an intentional location, or if I'd just latched onto it at random; I hadn't been in control that first time and Grex probably hadn't been either, for all his experience. I couldn't see any reason why he'd make sure we ended up there – unless he hadn't thought I was ready for meeting his family. Which was a possibility. Time to move on.

“Alright. How many demons can I control the way I do?”

Grex blinked. Then laughed. It was a disturbing laugh because there was no malice in it; it sounded perfectly human. “Why all of them, of course. The only limitations on that ability are someone stronger than you commanding the same demon, in which case you lose, and how you word the orders. But such is true of almost everyone, even myself. Only the boss himself doesn't have to worry about that because he can never be outranked. I've said as much before.”

“Yeah, but I wasn't sure I could order everyone back at the keep - the Aerie? All at once.”

“It's for the best that you didn't try then. You played your role perfectly; my subordinates saw a strong demon ruler. They will be less likely to try and challenge your rule in the future – something that will be a boon the more you use them.”

I didn't like the implication of that statement at all. Letting more demons loose on the Earth even once was a huge risk. I'd see for sure later; they had all been commanded to do their job and return, if any took liberties it would be an easy thing to spot.

“So how hidden are we still? I mean I know the building is all background noise, but there is noise, and then there's NOISE, right?”

Noise was still the best way to refer to power usage, which was detected by other demons, angels, and certain summoners as a type of analog to actual sound. I did it myself, as part of my contract package, which of course meant Grex did too.

We'd long since disabled the cameras in the apartment. They showed what we wanted to show, when we wanted to show it, with just the right amount of slightly rebellious behavior all summoners showed just to avoid suspicion. So at least they weren't a concern. Outside the apartment was another matter, and the wards put up both inside and around the building were extensive.

“Still fairly well hidden. The gateway itself is a form of threshold spell, and works on the doorways of your personal spaces, linking them. As such, most of the power draw and signature is quite negligible – comparable to a standard contract summoning of my caliber perhaps.”

That was far too suspicious to be coincidental. Grex was good.

“However, as most of the signature generated is directed elsewhere, it ends up in Limbo, which means I know every single time you appear to us in your sleep.”

And there was the creepy grin again. I was going to ignore it this time.

If he knew that meant the rank and file probably knew too, which could be good or bad. They might think me more hands on than I was. And speaking of hands on....

“Grex, the mayor of Filex.”

“Filat.” He corrected.

“Yeah, Filat. The mayor seemed very anxious when we showed up. Not fear exactly, but... okay well it had been mixed with fear too. Then you suggested we avoid the other settlements. What's the story there?”

“We are their overlords, but our touch is light. The human souls rule themselves, and we only step in when we must. It is enough that they look to the sky and see Heaven in all it's glory, knowing they may never walk it.”

I'd only seen a brightly lit day. I hoped that didn't say anything about me, but it probably did.

Grex knew me. For the second time tonight he pulled me close, gently. “You had a choice, Maeve. Only the mortal souls of those bound to the realm can see it; Limbo is a deficient Heaven for the just and righteous but not of the faith.”

“That seems kind of... dickish.” I blurted, then realized what I said.

Grex grinned and opened his mouth; I cut him off. “No, stop, don't want to hear whatever you were going to say there.”

No need to compound my sin with another. I'd apologize to the big man for everything later, on my own time. It wouldn't help of course, but now that I knew for sure he existed, I felt the need to apologize.

Wait, come to think of it, why had I seen a day? We had crossed over at nigh and had hit daytime. Or at least some kind of eternal dusk. Did the sun never set there or something? Or did time simply work differently there? I mean time being mutable there only made sense, but it seemed to have some kind of rhythm.

“So wait, you can't see it either?”

Grex shook his head. “Only those chosen may perceive the glories of Heaven. We are no longer such.”

I'd imagine that after having once known Heaven, seeing it every time one looked would only foster resentment. It was perhaps best that the demons couldn't, in true out of sight out of mind fashion.

That, and if they couldn't see it, they probably didn't know or remember where it was anymore, which would make it harder to storm.

Still, the desire to at least see it was strong within me; the idea to know what I was missing, and to be able to compare Limbo and Hell was strong. I guess I'd have to settle for just experiencing Limbo and Earth while I could before I ended up somewhere worse.

A polite knock sounded on the door before I could tap into the booze; I motioned Grex to get it. The door opened on nothing, and a moment later closed. The nothing resolved itself to one of the eriynes I'd sent out. Um... Ordiv was his name. He promptly dropped to a knee and lowered his head before me.

“My Lady, I have found something both suspicious and demonic.”

“Show me.”

Our town had a warehouse district, right by an old half used train yard. Ordiv led us to one of the warehouses some distance away from the tracks, a middlingly old one that looked to be in good repair.

From across the street, I could feel the concentration of demonic power; the wrongness which felt so right. It felt as if there were dozens of demons in there; maybe more.

I and my little army were perched, literally, on the top of the buildings surrounding our target. The troops consisted of me, Grex, Ordiv, and the twins. There were no other buildings like this one; every other quadrant checked was clear, and the other demons had already been sent home with my generous thanks as their reward. They seemed happy for just that much, just like Ordiv did.

“Thank you Ordiv, you've done well.”

I wanted to go right down there, storm the place, and send whatever was in there back to it's home. But that wasn't the plan, and I was a bit grateful for that. Whatever was down there felt strong. Stupidly strong; but it was also luckily hard to gauge. If I knew for sure, I probably wouldn't even be here.

“Alright. Let's go; now that we know where it is, they can't move it.” I turned to the twins. “Remember the plan, I'll call for you tomorrow.” They nodded in sync and vanished.

I set a small little ward on each roof surrounding the warehouse while Grex and Ordiv played unwilling lookout. It was clear they didn't want to tangle with whatever was going on in that warehouse without backup, and I didn't blame them. Ordiv seemed especially terrified, for all that he was trying to appear stoic.

It didn't speak well for my sanity that I felt I could correctly read demons. Or for my recent history, that I might have such experience.

With the wards set and primed with a drop of my blood, anything demonic that crossed the barrier (really a box) I'd set would trip it, letting me know something was up. At least, that was the theory; I hadn't done or seen any rune-work done this way, and while this circle was an abjuration of sorts, it wasn't a strong one. The theory was anything demonic would break it, and I'd sense that, like an alarm. I was just guessing here, though. I was sure someone had developed a circle to do this better, but I was young yet; if I survived I'd be looking this sort of thing up for sure.

“Alright, let's go.” I floated down ahead, cheating by canceling my body weight; I couldn't use my wings here, so I was using the charm Grex was earlier. He floated right beside me, and Ordiv just flew down, landing with a slight rustle of feathers.

We got in my car, and I slowly and carefully drove us back. Yes, my car was known, and yes my car was easily recognized, but I could drive at night if I wanted and there wasn't anyone around to see and connect us to the warehouse. Not even security, which was more than a little ominous to my mind.

We got back in, my two invisible chaperons sneaking along while I waved to the guy at the front desk. We used the stairs, and I put key to door with a sigh. Then I focused and opened the door again, back to a hallway in Limbo.

“Alright Ordiv, that's your stop. Good work tonight, and if I need to I may call on you again. Be prepared.”

He slipped through the door before turning with a bow. “It was an honor to serve, my Lady. Do not hesitate to call upon me again, should you deem it necessary.”

I shut the door in his face and tore my robe off with another sigh. “I can see now why you want to hang out with me so often; dealing with your kin is tiring in the extreme.”

Grex was already making a fresh pot of coffee. “You have work in the morning, which I might remind you is a mere three hours away now.”

“Well, that's assuming I do my normal get ready routine. Something which I'm tempted to skip today.”

I slipped my feet onto my small foot massager. I hadn't actually walked much today, but my feet were still killing me.

Grex handed me a cup of coffee. Well, he was a demon after all.

I sipped while he turned on the television.

…...

That bastard had doctored the coffee or something. Or so I would say if he didn't have standing orders not to do anything of the sort, and without a clear danger to my health, he couldn't ignore that. I was almost late getting up, really late, not just 'ignore hygiene' late. Of course, I didn't need to ignore hygiene, just dilate time a little to get ready.

Oddly enough it was harder to dilate time in the apartment; something I had an answer for, now. Time worked differently in Hell after all, or so Grex had said. I couldn't remember whether I'd done it before.

Oh well, it didn't matter if I altered time in the apartment before, I was doing it now. I was tempted to do it further, so I could sleep more, but that would be kind of obvious. I canceled the time flows as soon as possible; removing the effects of time on items I'd need to bring with me took more power than I wanted to spend.

I grabbed one of my primers, stuffed to the brim with ad hoc spellwork that Grex had helped me with, and managed to get the door open before Karen could knock on it. She looked so forlorn out in the hall with her hand raised.

“Come on, we're going to be late!” I snagged one of her hands and picked up speed. Small paybacks were the best.

She looked longingly at my coffee pot before the door swing closed. “We'll get some on the way, come on!”

I knew she didn't want to pay for the good stuff, not even the stuff in the shop downstairs. I gave her the chance to stop and get some, a slight hesitation in my walk, but she didn't take the bait, so it was off to the car.

The drive was just as uneventful as they all were; it was pretty obvious what we were, even in my car, so I had plenty of space. It was getting to the point that my driving skills might deteriorate; I was considering taking a defensive driving class or something. Maybe one on demolition derbies.

I turned to check my blind spot and almost wrecked us when I saw Karen with my book open, reading my notes.

She noticed me noticing. “Looks good. So you're still going to go through with summoning more demons to search?”

I nodded, surprised at how cool I looked in the rear-view. I was pretty sure my heart was trying to break my ribs.

“Well, you're on call today, so technically you can do it. Want help?”

I parked in the usual spot and retrieved my notes. “I won't mind an audience in case things go wrong.”

“Right, well I've got your back. First things first, though, we need to check with the captain and the chief to get their okays.

“Okay, you handle the chief, I'll handle the captain?”

“Wuss.” Karen scoffed but added “Sure.” after. She kept going up after I got off the elevator.

My target was right there, staring wide-eyed at my book.

“Captain.”

“No. Whatever it is, no.” was his immediate response.

“But you haven't even heard what I was going to say.”

He crossed is arms, and put a hand on his pistol. “I don't need to; whenever I see a summoner with an old book in hand, striding my way and taking that tone, it's a summoner asking permission to do something incredibly stupid and it never ends well.”

I got close enough that I wouldn't have to shout. “Boss, I need your permission to do something incredibly stupid.”

He sighed, but straightened up. “Alright, what is it this time?”

“I need your permission to summon more demons; demons in number, to do the legwork we don't have the manpower for.”

“And how many of these extra demons would you like to summon?”

Oh, he was all brisk now. “About twenty, or twenty-five imps, to cover places our demonic summoning friend could be hiding. We discussed this a little before.”

The Captain sighed again. “That's the problem with you summoners; sooner or later you always start thinking demons can solve all your problems.”

What? That was hardly what I was doing. “Is that a no?”

He shook his head and grinned. “Not even. How soon can you be ready, assuming the chief approves?”

“As soon as I draw the circles in the basement. Think Karen will have issues convincing the chief?”

The Captain made a show of thinking it over, but I knew it was a sham.

“Nah, not at all. She will just explain it in terms of budget; demons don't cost anything to summon. Well, not money anyway. You better go do your thing; I'll just bring a friend or two along to make sure the imps behave.”

“Well, that's kind of you.” But not really necessary, Captain. Also, did we have the manpower for that? I mean, people from other cities were being bused in.

The Captain was a little psychic. “It's a small price to pay to make sure the building's still standing at the end of the day; don't worry about it.”

Ugh, I could already see how this day was going to go. Thank God I didn't actually follow official channels, or this effort would probably be doomed from the start.

“Go on, back down the elevator you go. Be sure to say hi to the Cryptkeeper, and let him know we're coming.”

Oh crap. I'd never met the guy, he'd always been out before. But the Cryptkeeper was a retired cop, someone who worked murder and taught my Dad the ropes. My Dad always said he was a little flakey... which, coming from my dad probably meant he was wearing people's skins and counting in prime numbers down there.

He also came in and worked in the vaults every day, filing hard copies of cases and taking care of the official summoning circles we kept down there, despite being retired for at least a few years.

Cords met me on the stairs, panting. “Knew...you'd take... the stairs.”

“You need more PT.”

All color left his face. “Shhh, not so loud!”

“Alright, alright,” I relented. “So what's up? And who's minding the store?”

“The Captain is, for a bit. I've got five minutes.” His face turned stern. More stern than I'd ever seen it. “Now what is this I hear about you doing a mass summoning?”

“I'm going to summon a bunch of imps to cover the ground we can't cover with cops, simply because it's too dangerous for them. If the imps see anything, they report back to me and we zero in on that spot. Hopefully, we can find the demon summoning asshole who's made all our lives miserable lately.”

“How many are you going to summon?”

“As many as I can,” I replied. “But I'm shooting for somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty-five.”

Cords whistled, loud and low. “Now who's being loud?”

And he's blushing now. All too easy. “Can you really handle that many demons at once?”

I couldn't tell him the truth, but I didn't have to lie exactly. “I'm pretty sure I can... but Karen and backup will be there in case I can't, so I'm not too worried.”

Summoning was a risky business, after all. Doubly risky for other people I think – but the moment I started actually thinking in those terms I would probably die. Most of my danger right now could very well come from my attitude; if I didn't watch it, I'd start getting an ego. Pride goeth before the fall, and all that.

“Alright, well I'll be there in spirit, but my desk has got to be manned. Good luck.” Cords told me, turning back to go up the stairs.

“Double-time it, soldier. Only way to get back into the swing of things.” Was my parting shot. I should work on my people skills I think.

“Yeah, no. I don't want the Captain to see me puking my guts up at the top. See you later.”

He still took the stairs two at a time; he just didn't run. So his fitness level wasn't too terrible. Still, he needed to get out from behind that desk. Maybe a trip to that park? The one the civil war re-enactors had used... a nice hike. Yeah, that could work.

With effort, I clamped down on those thoughts. No distractions now, I couldn't afford them. Take nothing for granted.

At the end of the staircase, past the basement where the files were kept, the steel blast door was right where I left it, and as scarred and covered in runes as I left it... but it was closed. That wasn't normal; the door was supposed to be open unless something was in progress. That way, failing anything else, the demonic problem could be contained until forces could be massed in order to re-take the basement.

There was nothing else to do but to knock; the great booming thuds were sure to grab someone's attention. I waited another few minutes and knocked again.

Just as I was getting ready to knock a third time, the locks finally ground open with a screech and the door swung open soundlessly.

Standing on the other side of it was a man, older but not old, just beginning to really go to seed. He was probably mid 50's, with a full head of salt and pepper hair. He had two prominent facial scars which looked to have been made by claws that went clear to the bone some years ago. One eye was covered by a patch, and he was hunched over his right side as if he was in pain.

“Ah, it's you. Figures no sooner would I come back after a week then someone would want to ruin everything for the day.” The man said, and just turned around and limped off, leaving the door swinging.

I closed it behind me, but did not lock it. The basement was dark, with only a single old bare light bulb illuminating a space perhaps half the size of a football field. But compared to where I'd been last night, it was both better lit and small. There was a desk in one corner with a laptop on it, and a bunch of discs scattered around that.

Snacks and old wrappers of past snacks were scattered all around the desk, an open invitation that mice and rats would be foolish to take.

“So, you're Numen's kid, right?”

I turned back to find the old guy looking at me. “That's right. And you're the Cryptkeeper.”

He snorted. “Well that name works as well as any other, but you can call me Fred if you'd like.”

Well, now I could see why he insisted on Cryptkeeper.

“You can call me Maeve.” I was sure he knew my nickname, but I hated it.

“So what brings you down to the dungeon, Maeve.”

“Well Fred, I'm about to do something incredibly stupid involving demons.”

He rolled his eye. “If I had a nickel for every time I heard that....”

I paid up. He tossed the nickel onto the desk, where it bounced off several wrappers before coming to a stop. “So, what incredibly stupid thing are you about to do?”

“I'm about to summon multiple demons to help with a search.”

He looked surprised. At least I think that was what he was going for – with all the scars pulling his face in odd directions it was hard to tell. “Oh really? A search and rescue search?”

“Nope, a search for the rogue who's been causing us all the issues lately. I have the city narrowed down some, but I need more numbers for that final push.”

Now that was definitely disappointment. “I see. Got your approval for use of the circle?”

I looked over the various circles, all engraved into the cement floor; it all looked to have been done with molds when the floor was poured, and then inset with silver. Smart. The one I needed was... this one, fourth over and third down from the far wall. “It's coming, Fred. Karen's talking to the chief now, and the Captain's already signed off. He's lining up some backup.”

Fred sighed. “Well, there goes the day. Kare-bear will have the Chief doing cartwheels. Alright, I'll go get the stuff. You use the chalk in the corner to make any additions or whatever you need. Only use the chalk, got it? I don't want to have to clean up paint again.”

“Who the heck would use paint on a circle like this?” The thing didn't need any additions, it was a perfectly made if terribly standard summoning circle. Even the ones at the academy were more personal and customized than this one. Then again, the circle was probably decades old by this point; the building wasn't that new, and this had that 'worked on when the foundations were laid' look.

Maybe a few small changes, here and there. Just to promote a more stable planar connection, with more control. I grabbed some chalk (dark green) and started in.

By the time I was half finished Karen was there, the ink on the approval she slapped down on Fred's nasty desk was probably still wet. She then came over and eyed my work.

“Not bad. I can't spot any flaws, and the lines do have a certain elegance.”

To my eyes, they looked exactly like the book notes I'd drawn; which was to say, alien.

My other backup came in. Baron, an out of town summoner, strode in like he owned the place in front of my squad. I hadn't worked with Baron yet, but Sarah had told me he had an ego. As if all summoners didn't or something. He was also named by his demon, who was supposedly a baron of one of the circles. I didn't know which one though.

He stopped right in front of me and sketched a bow. “Maeve Numens, good to finally meet you. I am the summoner known as Baron.”

“I know who you are.” I dusted off a hand to shake, which he promptly ignored with a slight sniff, choosing instead to look over my work.

Jerk; it was only dark green chalk. It was hardly going to kill him.

“Hmm, Arabic and... Babylonian?”

“Etruscan.” I corrected. It was an easy mistake to make because the two long-dead cultures did have some cross contamination, mostly in their religions, but something about this guy made me not want to give him a pass.

Karen, looking on curiously and clearly having little clue, would get one, though. After all, Latin and barely pre-Roman was the standard, and she used it well. Grex had all but demanded I learn and apply it here, though, and I was beginning to see why.

If you messed up Etruscan, same as anything else, it bit you, and not many people knew it. Mixed with Arabic? It was even worse.

Sarah all but pushed past Baron, then minced forward to make sure she didn't scuff anything. I wish I had a camera. “So um, you all set?”

“I am, once I double-check everything. Once we get started, anything summoned should be in the circle, so if it isn't, cut it apart.”

Simple rules. I liked things simple.

“Right. Hey Judge, Culling. Get the miniguns up by the door. Aims set the shields up.”

Good to know if anything went wrong I'd probably be cut in half by machine gun fire, but the Chief and Captain wouldn't sign off without some ability to control the outcome their way. Summoners did have that pesky tendency to go insane, after all, and it was usually in direct proportion to how much demonic taint they were exposed to.

“Grex, Veni huc!”

Grex flowed down from the ceiling this time, avoiding the circle as he gave me his customary hug.

Baron turned; he had his athame out and wrist exposed. “What are you doing?”

I thought it was pretty obvious what I was doing? “Grex, check that will you?”

“Of course, my mistress.”

I turned back to Baron, who still hadn't put his athame up. “Now, what do you mean, what am I doing? I'm having Grex here double-check my circles. What are you doing?”

He didn't answer. “And then you'll send him back to Hell?”

“No, why would I do that? He can watch my back during the ritual.”

“But the energy costs alone! The stress...!” Baron spluttered.

I looked around; he was the only one that had a problem with this. Karen at least would speak up if she felt I couldn't handle it, and Grex and I already knew I could do all I said and more.

“It all checks out, my mistress.”

“Great, let's start then.” I sat in my appointed spot. Karen rushed to her own, dragging a still spluttering Baron to his.

Sarah and my team took up their positions behind the riot shields, and the Cryptkeeper joined them there.

A brief fleeting desire for coffee and I started the chant.

I almost tripped over the Arabic (Aramaic?) a few times, but soon enough the first imp was capering uneasily about the center of the circle, eyeing all the firepower with clear unease.

“I don't care to know your true name, only your use name.”

“Calix, your greatness.” His eyes flicked to Grex, and I knew Grex was smiling in that way he did because the imp went from ash grey to bone white.

I pulled out a map and unfolded it. “Calix, once released from the circle you are to check the area marked on that map for recent demonic activity. If you find any, you are to mark it on the map, turn the map in to me, and then depart for your home. You are not to take any side trips, harm any humans or animals, or damage any human property at any time during your search. You are to do nothing other than conduct your search and then report back to me. Is that understood?”

I could see my words sink in with the strange force they had; the compulsion to do as I asked would be too strong for it to disobey without help; the other bindings it was summoned into were purely for show.

The imp's jaw touched the concrete floor. “I understand, your greatness.”

“Alright. See that man?” I pointed to Cryptkeeper. “Follow him to the door out.”

I released the circle and he scampered out; Cryptkeeper shot me a dirty look but got up; hey it wasn't like I knew where the door directly to the outside was, exactly.

I reset everything.

“An auspicious start, my mistress.”

“Thank you, Grex.” Grex was all but glaring at Baron, and Baron still had his athame out.

“A good set of orders, pretty ironclad,” Karen opined. Then she brightened. “And the business of the maps was inspired! How many of those did you bring?”

The others were still stuffed in the pockets of my robe; no human could see them yet. “Twenty, all marked with a different section to check.”

“Pretty smart,” Karen opined again. The cupped her chin with a hand, really drawing out the show. “But what happens if the imp loses the map?”

“Simple. They better not. They are demons, not children.” I replied. No mercy was important here.

“Another good point. But you're roping them into commands involving that map; if it gets destroyed, you're going to be left with an imp not daring to report in.”

That was a good point on her part, but I'd thought of it. “True enough, but I have a map of my own, complete with numbered grids on it. The map I handed Calix just now was number one. Since the imp can't actually hurt anyone or cause mayhem, they will be easy to find, just by searching for the imp whose map I don't have.”

Karen whistled... then ruined it. “You have way too much time on your hands, Snow. You did all this last night?”

I nodded. “Time is one thing I do have on my hands... or at them.”

“You cheated?” Karen pouted.

“Yes,” I admitted. If you weren't cheating, you weren't trying. I had entire swarms of people drilling that saying into my head.

“I have taught you well, Padawan.”

Sigh. “Karen, I'm not letting the hate flow through me no matter what you say.”

“Damn!”

“Moving on and restarting the ritual, something that demands silence!” I yelled. I might have glared at her.

Heck, Baron was glaring at both of us. That was fine, the egotistical scum can think I was unprofessional scum all day. At least My team was having fun, judging from the grins.

Karen obligingly shut up, even going so far as to make the zipping motion across her lips.

I started the chant again.

I will say this, for as tense a situation as this was, as physically demanding as it was to summon (not really too bad, at least for me) it was BORING.

I wanted to drown myself in my own tears of apathy by the time the twentieth imp showed up. I still dutifully recorded its name as I handed it the last map, and I was sure I sounded like a receptionist or flight attendant after a full day of dealing with people.

“Once released from the circle you are to check the area marked on that map for recent demonic activity. If you find any, you are to mark it on the map, turn the map in to me, and then depart for your home. You are not to take any side trips, harm any humans or animals, or damage any human property at any time during your search. You are to do nothing other than conduct your search and then report back to me. Is that understood?”

The latest imp, one Cefkex, nodded silently, slightly overwhelmed. A hesitant hand reached out and swiped my last map as if it would bite, and blurred back to the imps side. It fidgeted.

“That man will lead you outside; begin immediately.”

It almost climbed up Cryptkeeper's back trying to get away from me. I felt more than a little snubbed.

I stood up from my place in the circle, and gave my arms a spin to loosen them up; I had been sitting there for hours, I was sure. “So, who wants lunch?”

I looked around, and everyone was gaping at me with varying degrees of shock. Tough crowd. Well, everyone but Grex. He had a small notebook and pencil ready.

“What would you like, my mistress?”

I'd like to knock off and go walk around, grabbing a lunch. Maybe something at a corner bistro.

“What about a toasted sub from that one bistro on 4th?”

Grex slapped a fist onto his palm. “You mean the one on the corner of Morris?”

“Yeah, that one. Anyone else want something? We can all go.”

“What are you doing?!?” Baron screamed, lunging at me, stopping just in front of me as Grex put a clawed hand between us.

“What's your problem, Baron?”

Karen pointed at my feet. Ah, I had been poised to step out of the circle, a foot in the air and hovering over it. She quirked an eyebrow.

“Well, yeah. But the circle's part is done. I can step out any time.”

“If you break the circle, can't the demons return and attack you?” Karen asked.

She'd heard me give the orders. “No. Once they agree, they are bound. They can only attack me after the job is complete; that is, they finish up, go back home, and come back to attack me.”

Even if I hadn't expressly stated they had to go home first, I would send each home as soon as they came back.

“And how long do they have to do that task?”

Oh, oops. Damn it, I knew there was something.“Less than a day, if they know what's good for them. They start trying to drag their feet I'll kick their ass.”

Grex cleared his throat.

“Right, I'll send Grex to kick their ass.”

“Imps are rather notorious for obeying the letter but screwing the intent of poorly worded orders. I think you better just settled back in that circle and wait. Besides, you don't want to be gone when they show up with the maps, do you? You didn't add anything to make them wait on you; if you're gone they can just leave the map and run off.”

I hated it when she was right. I settled back on the cold concrete and started stretching my legs; sitting cross-legged was for the birds, even if it kept the feet from scuffing anything important.

“Fine, so I wait. Grex?”

“The smoked ham and asiago?” He asked.

“Yes please. Go get me one, with a Pepsi. You can get yourself a sub too if you want. No ingredients I wouldn't approve of if I were to know of them.”

He bowed deeply, which was likely a nod to present company and not me and was gone in a puff of flame.

Baron's mouth was still open. “You just... you just sent your demon for lunch.” He finally stuttered out.

“Yes. Don't you?” I asked him, batting my eyes.

Behind the aghast man, Karen held up a small sign. 7/10; damn.

“Karen are you Russian?”

She had to hide her sign with a smirk as Baron turned around.

Baron turned back to me, his eyes slits. “No, I do not send my demon to fetch my lunch; not only is such a thing ludicrous while on the job, but it's a good way to end up dead of poisoning or worse. You could be attacked right now and die!”

I looked around. “Not unless you're the one doing it. You planning something? You heard what I told Grex, and the nature of my contract is pretty clear; he cannot disobey me through action or inaction, and he cannot harm me through action or inaction.”

That seemed to take some of the steam out of him; “....It's just unnatural.”

Grex reappeared in a burst of flame, and I was proud of my team; they didn't even flinch.

“I think what Baron is pissed about is you didn't offer us any.”

Well of course not. “You both have demons of your own, and my team just doesn't accept candy from strangers.”

“We don't,” Sarah said. “It's a principle thing, though, Grex seems like a nice creeper, as creepers go.”

Grex inclined his head in her direction. “No offense taken.”

Sarah flipped him off, and he ignored her.

Two bites in, there was a knock; great booming thuds which reverberated in in the cold chamber and in the bones.

Cryptkeeper sighed and levered himself up. “I'll get it.”

I turned to Grex. “Go with him and protect him.”

Grex bowed and followed, while Baron's jaw dropped again. I was in a pretty decent circle; the silver would have to be completely removed in a spot in order for any demon other than Grex to make it to me, or even a power from one. In the time it took for that to happen Grex would come back and maul whoever was trying to attack me. Baron once again had his athame ready; he should already have his demon out, in my opinion, humans were too slow.

Such concerns were pointless; Grex came back escorting Calix. He came back into his part of the circle and groveled, presenting the map with both of his grubby claws.

I could tell from a glance that while crumpled, the map was actually clean and unmarked; that was only proper considering Calix had been given one of the areas we had determined was clean last night.

I shot Karen a look of triumph as I took the scene in. “Did you find any recent demonic activity at your assigned area, Calix?”

“No, your greatness, I did not.” Good; we had taken steps to conceal our own activities last night, and it seems to have worked as Grex advertised. That was one hurdle...hurdled over?

One by one, the imps all came in, to report the same lack of results. I munched my sandwich and followed along since I wasn't about to let it go cold. The final three were the ones to wait on now, and the last was the real test.

They all reported in. A quick check of the time for each revealed the imps had all probably made best speed to their zones and back. Cefkex was the last, and he came in just before quitting time.

He dropped down and groveled. “Your dark Majesty, I have found the evidence you seek. At this building, there is evidence of recent demonic activity.” A slim claw pointed at the warehouse we had visited last night.

“Thank you Cefkex. Now go; back to Hell!”

He pressed his face lower, trying to grind it through the concrete, and vanished in a burst of flame. Rude; the others at least acknowledged the order. Was I too scary?

I turned to Grex. “Am I really that scary?”

Grex smirked. “Absolutely, my mistress; you are terrifying.”

“Yeah like a big white squishy teddy bear,” Karen added, smirking.

I decided to ignore that. Karen had no business commenting on how squishy I may or may not be. “So, this map, and the other two.”

I unfolding myself with a wince and grabbed the maps. I was tempted to co-opt Cryptkeeper's desk, but that thing was nasty.

Baron was being silent; a quick glance his way revealed he still seemed to be in shock. I cocked a thumb his direction. “What's his problem?”

“Well Snow, most of us, if we'd tried the trick you just pulled, we'd be laid out on our back for at least a day. Some weaker summoners would need a week to recover from that. I guess he's kind of shocked you can get up.”

I stretched. “Well, I feel fine. More than a little bored, and more than a little in pain from sitting still so long, but otherwise fine.

I was a little tired and I'm sure I looked it, but it hadn't been from the imps.

“Yeah, Snow is a bit special. Not your run of the mill type, Baron. If she says she can handle something, she can.” A quick but pointed look at Grex, which I caught, and she turned to the man. He handed over a twenty, his face wooden.

“What she did shouldn't even be possible for a fresh summoner. You need time to build a tolerance.”

“What is possible?” Karen replied. “We're summoners. We do the impossible every day.”

Ugh, enough of that. I needed a shower... and a bathroom. Not necessarily in that order.

“Enough already. Karen, you're the expert here. Are we good? Any lingering imps I missed? Anything I didn't anticipate?”

Karen shook her head. “No, not a thing. You got them all, Snow; we're clear. I don't get it really; they didn't even try to swap in ringers or collude.”

What? “They can do that?!?”

“Well yeah, your orders had some decent holes in them. Nothing too terrible, and I was keeping track with Thor, but stuff they could have tried, and at least two of the imps were strong enough for that... but they didn't.”

Well, that wasn't good. Karen had picked up on something. She wasn't sure what it was, not yet, but she knew something was off. Time to deflect.

“Well, maybe it's an authority thing. You know my contract.”

She shrugged as my team cycled us out the door. “That's as good an explanation as any other. I doubt Grex would tell us if we asked...?”

“I've asked before and he's stayed silent.” Even if he explained about the power in my voice later, he hadn't the first few times I'd asked.

Karen shrugged. “Of course not, too easy.”

I wasn't alone in rushing for the bathroom, but I did beat Karen there. The best stall was mine!

Except Sarah was already in it. Rude. The only thing worse would be if Baron followed us in; thankfully he didn't. Grex didn't either, thankfully.

Well, I wasn't waiting; I'd just take the inferior, colder stall. “So, what happens now? We have a better idea where to search.”

“Your part is over,” Karen replied. She was waiting, from the sound of things.“Even if I wanted you there, you've spent way too much time under the influence; Baron was right about that much. But tomorrow we raid. You should pity me, I'll be working late putting together teams and logistics for the raids.”

The stall door opened and a sink started. Sarah was being quiet.

“I do, poor baby.” I wasn't happy about being sidelined. Again. Something told me I should be there.

“Anyway, for now, you're on the clock and late; clock out and take a load off. Get tacos or something, slurp down a couple of mojitos. Do it for both of us; you did good today. Consider it an order.”

I could read between the lines. “Fine. I'll pick up your damn tacos.”

Karen and Sarah both cackled.

Sitting a raid out was far worse than actually participating one. Especially if you did all the intel legwork for the raid in question. And all that was even worse when you knew they could run face first into an angel and get run over en masse like a squirrel on a highway.

Which was why I was up at the unholy hour of six am, coffee in one hand and book in the other, reading about the best ways to remotely manage summoned demons. Fixing those holes in my orders was a must.

I hoped they had the good sense to call me in. After all, I felt fine; totally rested and good to go.

"It is unbecoming to fidget, my Mistress."

"I'm not fidgeting, Grex."

"Of course you aren't, my Mistress."

I rolled my eyes at him and returned to the book. It was more than a little sobering to read a laundry list of failed orders and what the demons did to the summoners who gave said order. More experienced summoners than I had died trying what I attempted; the only thing that made me different was the aura of command or whatever granted by my pact.

Well, that and Grex would have probably gleefully murdered them all for trying anything. If not, well, he had to follow my orders anyway, so we weren't really in any danger of an insurrection. Still, the whole 'freedom to summon more imps' thing was a hole that needed to be closed down, if for no other reason than to keep appearances.

Breakfast was Belgian waffles slathered in strawberries with hash browns on the side. I would have liked some sausage but I apparently forgot to stock up; it was hard remembering everything when trying to catch a killer. There was too much here for one person, really; Grex had outdone himself.

I finished up, all polite decorum. "This sucks!"

Grex raised an eyebrow.

"They're going to be raiding in minutes, and I can't be there, or even see what's going on! They could need me!"

Grex smiled. "Oh, is that all? Would you like to see how the raid goes, my master? Perhaps even affect the outcome, without disobeying the orders of your superiors?"

Was Grex going to make a suggestion? This was bound to be good... or end in blood. "What do you have in mind?"

"A spell of course."

"What, some sort of crystal ball or oracle spell?"

Grex paled. "No! No, visions of the future are specifically the realm of God or his mortals alone. But with a proper spell, you can see through my eyes. Your superiors did not forbid you to send me, after all."

Well, he wasn't wrong. "Alright, how do I cast it?"

I felt a little twinge about using Grex this way, but he was volunteering for it. That made it okay, right? It was legal to film or watch someone doing something public, right? Just as if you were a reporter pointing a camera at a raid? Right, that was all I was doing... sending a willing cameraman to cover the doings of the ADTF.

While it wasn't against the law, there weren't many reporters that actually shadowed the anti-demon task force, but we were mostly covered by the hardcore print and net journalists instead; the ones that used to be war correspondents and still wanted that hazard pay. Journalists of all types seemed to die pretty often around us since if the demons got past us the media were the next people in line.

Come to think of it, I hadn't dealt with any of the journalists or reporters in the city yet, even though I've been involved in most of the recent cases; had Karen or someone else been body blocking me? If so, why? Was the reason innocent, or not so innocent?

Something to worry about later.

Grex taught me the words while he grabbed a bowl of water. Just a simple bowl of water. Then he grabbed a book from my library and thumbed through it until he reached a page, and put the book in front of me.

The spell did what Grex said it would do; create a link between my mind and Grex's eyes. I would see through his eyes until I canceled it, and the only side effects were I'd be personally blind until I canceled the spell. It was only usable between the willing, and formed a link....

Wait a minute, I was an idiot. "Wait, can't I just use our link for this, and circumvent the spell? Other summoners probably do that all the time."

"Perhaps, but then what excuse would I use to teach you the spell? "Grex replied with a smile.

I rolled my eyes at him and inscribed the needed circle on some parchment. Setting the bowl in the center of it and candles on the points, I watched as Grex added one of his old feathers (we still had plenty of loose ones left over from his now mostly healed wing) and an eyelash.

I started the chant, and within moments I was looking down at myself. My voice came from me, but the center of my vision was on me; it was very disconcerting. "It worked. Go scope the raid out."

My vision swam a bit, landing on the floor as Grex bowed. "Your wish is my command, Mistress."

I was a little worried about the lack of communication we'd have, but if I needed to I could just call him back.

No, wait, that was stupid. We weren't doing that. "Wait. Go to the nearest convenience store and buy a phone, and activate it. Keep it safe and on you. If I need you to do something or don't do something, I'll call you."

Grex's vision bobbed again. "Of course, my Mistress."

And then I got to play the waiting game... only blind, so I couldn't read. I refocused on Grex's eyes to find he was already at the store. The cashier didn't even look up as he rang Grex up; Grex must be pretending to be human. Well, either that or the cashier was very inattentive.

A blurring and Grex was airborne. No one batted an eye, so Grex must be invisible now. This spell kind of sucked since any quick movement cause my (or maybe Grex's) peripheral vision to blur, and the vision to narrow. I hope it didn't affect Grex's own vision. Then again, if it did, I couldn't imagine Grex would suggest it; there was a little danger involved in where he was going.

I saw as Grex fiddled with the phone; it was too bad I couldn't use this spell to hear. But then again I didn't think I'd want to be blind and deaf, even in the safety of my apartment. Soon enough he dialed my number, and my phone rang.

"Hello, Grex."

"Hello, Mistress. I thought I'd make sure this contraption worked. Do you need anything from me?"

"No, thank you. Continue your mission."

"As you command, my Mistress."

A minute of blurring and pinpoint vision focused directly ahead into the bright blue sky and my field of view expanded again as Grex looked below him to reveal one of the staging areas. By chance, or perhaps not, he was directly over the staging area for my team. I could see right away that Sarah and company were being escorted by Baron.

I probably shouldn't worry, Baron had five years and a tour in; at the very least he was a survivor, which meant he had to be competent. But any teamwork was likely to be the minimal standard. the other side of the pincer had the Captain and Karen, with a few subs on the more mundane side. It was hard to tell who was who past the masks when I only seen them in passing for the last couple weeks.

I didn't need to check my watch (which was a good thing, considering I couldn't see it) to know the raid had less than six minutes to kick off. I had pushed for dawn, being a fan of the classics, but the more experienced heads had pushed for eight am, citing it as a time in which hyper-alert or hyper-paranoid would be even less vigilant than at dawn.

We would find out who was right; I hoped they were.

Promptly at eight, the two teams went in, with Grex close behind - invisible, of course.

The first set of traps were set just past the door. My team almost blundered into them, a series of explosive circles set into the floor amid a series of other, fake circles and wards. Roddy saved them at the last minute by pointing them out as he almost stepped on one. It took ten minutes to map the correct path through the minefield. There was no visible evidence of explosions or signs of panic among the team, so it was safe to assume that the other team had found them too if spells covered both entrances.

I pondered the handiwork as the team paused. Maybe I could recreate them or something, but it wasn't a tradition I was familiar with; if anything, it looked older. I filed it away for later.

Roddy was just giving the all clear when my vision blurred again; something yellow and orange to the left just before my field of view shrank. My field expanded to show my team already fighting a Baal-Rog, moving for cover like the well-oiled unit they were while Baron fumbled to catch up.

Baron's summon was a cacodemon and an actual lord of Hell judging from the elaborate headgear, which was mildly surprising, I wouldn't have suspected he had it in him. Of course, the cacodemon was at least a little outclassed, but the baal-rog's flames weren't reaching the team, so that was something.

Then lightning announced Karen and Thor's arrival on the scene. The baal-rog fought both the team's demons off for over a minute before Karen managed to get a banishment on it; Baron was only steps behind. He really was as good as his reputation suggested, for all that he was an ass.

The baal-rog vanished, and Grex panned his eyes around; no one had been hurt beyond some minor burns, and most of the spellwork had been scoured from the floor, which was a bit of a bonus.

The summoner of the baal rog was nowhere to be seen; the search for them began. I noticed a few imps I recognized going through the warehouse too, so there were more summoners from our side about, helping from a distance.

I called Grex.

"Yes, my Mistress?"

"Find the summoner, now."

"Yes, my Mistress." Grex sighed out and then hung up.

I saw him look around a bit, then my vision blurred again. Jeeves didn't have to look far, because coming out of the bathrooms was the very picture of 'crazy summoner.' Tall but stooped, wearing corduroy pants caked in dirt and a shirt that was half rags under a jacket that looked surprisingly well cared for, the man's beard had grown in strange ways and all but taken over his face.

His mouth opened and he yelled something I couldn't hear. I wish I couldn't see; his teeth were broken off pits in his gums. I could have done without that, really.

He was down on the ground before he'd taken a step, already being zip-tied and gagged.

Karen started gesturing around and giving orders. The team started snapping to, finishing the clearing of the building while the demons took point.

My phone rang.

"Hello?"

It was Karen. "I get it, Snow, you wanted to be here where the action is, see what was going on, and all that. You're not technically breaking orders since you aren't here, but get Grex out of here, alright? We don't need him here, and he's contaminating the site."

Uh oh. "Um, whoops?" I had kind of forgotten about that.

"Don't whoops me young lady, just do it. Don't worry, we'll preserve the scene and let you see it to your heart's content tomorrow. We need to figure out where this idiot came from, after all."

"Got it. Okay, hanging up now."

Grex had watched Karen make the call. I called him.

"Yes, my Mistress?"

"Pull back, somehow they, or Karen at least, knows you're there."

"Understood." My eyesight blurred again, and I tried not to get motion sick.

Wait, why was I bothering? A quick fumble to find the candles and I blew on them, putting them out. Then I blinked my own eyesight clear of the stars. Well, that worked and didn't blind me or anything, so that was a plus. Next time I should both read and remember how to cancel the spell, just to be sure.

There were blind summoners for various reasons, but joining them due to a miscast spell wasn't something I wanted to do.

I was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee when Grex arrived, breaking all kinds of land speed records but not teleporting like he usually did. I let him make his own cup and sit down before grilling him; he had done well today and it was the least I could do.

"So, your impressions?"

"I've none, actually."

"No opinion either way, huh? What did the summoner yell out when he saw everyone?"

"'The dark lord will take you all for interrupting his great work!' is the direct quote."

The dark lord? "Which one? Aren't there dozens of those?"

"Hundreds," Grex corrected me. "But in this case, I feel he was speaking of someone well placed on our hierarchy; perhaps even at the top."

"So, someone you know then; lovely. Well, at least I'll be able to make some impressions of my own when I go to the scene later."

Jackpot. Grex's face stayed still and relaxed, but I was pretty sure I'd spotted a reaction. Grex knew something, and it was probably something he couldn't say, rather than wouldn't. At least, unless not knowing put me in direct danger - so whoever the dark lord was, it was higher up than he was himself.

Or I was totally off on what he was concerned about; I'd find out tomorrow, with some luck.

Time to make sure Grex couldn't hide anything. "Alright Grex, well I'm a bit worried here. So stay close to me."

Grex bowed. "Of course, my Mistress."

I sat back, relaxed, and read while Grex watched the nature channel.

I couldn't find anything in any of those books on the symbols I saw, so I decided to go to the source. Well, before a nap; I was a little tired. Perhaps even tired enough to warrant a day off; maybe I'd even owe Karen an apology.

"Grex, do you remember those symbols in the warehouse? The circles and inscriptions?"

He didn't even bother looking over. "Of course I do; I saw them, as you did."

"Well, I'm not finding any matches in these books."

"Of course not, the language the circles were scribed in is long since defunct. It was ancient when Rome declared itself a republic or even Greeks decided they were civilized."

"So what language is it, and how did some crazy homeless looking summoner learn it?"

Now Grex looked over. "Well clearly, a demon taught him."

That followed to an extent, but something didn't add up there. "If so, then how did he summon a demon in the first place? He had to have another tradition, and we were operating on the assumption of German... but I don't remember seeing any evidence of past or present German influence in the writing."

Grex turned back to the show. "To be honest, I did not either. I suppose it will be something that bears investigating."

Good, he thought he was safe. Time to strike. "So exactly what language was it Grex?"

Grex flinched; a tiny but still visible one. "A language that as much in common with the early languages of this world, but whose root structure and basic concepts are demonic."

I gave him my best stare. "Don't try to tell me that language was a demonic invention because that doesn't fly."

Grex chuckled, though that could be from the lion taking down the gazelle... had we seen that episode before? "No my Mistress, not at all. The language was invented by God, and both our peoples are borrowing from the same source. But much as next door neighbors borrow substances from each other, so too has language evolved."

"So then this means...." He was trying to squirm away from something, I knew it.

Grex gave a sigh and held his hands up in surrender. "The language is demonic in origin but shares some words and ideas from human languages. However, it does not originate on Earth and has no true correlation here. Thus, it has no name you'd be familiar with."

Yeah, no. "Grex, the name."

Grex winced again; perhaps I'd let some of my authority trickle into my voice in anger. "The name of the language is Encian, after the human language of Enochian. Before it was given that name, it had none, and was just referred to as 'the language.'"

"Thank you Grex."

Grex turned back to the television. "You're welcome, my Mistress."

He didn't ask if I had any other questions for him, which was a little rude, but given what I'd just done to him I could understand it.

There was nothing in my books about anything named Encian, or a brother language to Enochian. Not even the ones Grex gave me; a closely guarded secret perhaps, that I'd forced Grex to spill?

"My Mistress...."

I looked up; when had it gotten dark? Grex was staring at me, something that might be concern pooled in his inhuman eyes. "My Mistress, please; days off are meant for relaxation. You've gone through everything you can here, why not watch television with me?"

Technically if I was supposed to be relaxing, then Grex should be home so I could recover from the drain of summoning him... not that I felt any such thing really. Wait a minute, if the apartment served as a gateway to Hell, and I sent Grex home, didn't that mean he was only a few doors down from me when I slept here or something? And what of the other demons, weren't they right outside my door? A scary thought.

At least they couldn't get in unless I let them in... right? A quick glance at the walls assured me it was so; someone would need to lay siege to this place mystically to crack it.

"My Mistress?" Oh right, Grex was still here.

"Fine, but we aren't watching that channel anymore." I plopped down on the other end of the couch and grabbed the remote.

I finally settled on a marathon of action movies, because mindless violence that I didn't need to think about was a thing.

....I woke up when Grex tried to approach. "Grex, what are you doing?"

He actually scuffed one foot on the other, like a naughty school boy. "I was going to put you to bed, as you had fallen to sleep."

All of the no. "Yeah, let's not do that at all. Go home Grex, I'll see myself to bed."

He bowed and disappeared in his customary burst of flame.

I steadied myself on the couch and shook my head to clear it; I felt a little compressed as if my head were in a cushioned vice or something, and someone was turning the crank for it slowly.

I knew this feeling; it felt as if I were too full of power as if I were a carbonated drink and someone shook me.

My earrings were in place, and so were my bracelets. I took them all off and set them on my nightstand. I could tell the difference immediately, as the feeling of being about to pop like an overripe tomato started to fade.

I luxuriated in both my sheets and the feeling of freedom.

I did not luxuriate in the alarm the next morning; I hopped out of bed. There were things to investigate today, mysteries to solve, and jewelry to ignore.

"Grex, Veni huc!"

Grex wrapped me in a hug; I pointed to the books. "Breakfast, the usual rules apply, and then clean that mess up."

"As you command, my Lady."

By the time I was done with my shower breakfast was on the table and the books were all back in their places; even my notes were organized alphabetically and by book.

Grex was a cheater.

At least breakfast was waffles again; he couldn't completely break the laws of physics. Well, all of them at any rate. Or was it all of them at once?

"You aren't wearing your earrings," Grex noted. I guess coming out of the bathroom still drying your hair made it obvious.

With a shrug, I dropped the towel. "I felt... constrained last night, so I took them off. I'm safe enough here, aren't I?"

Grex nodded. "You are, but it wouldn't do to forget them. Once you step foot into the hall..."

"I know, I'll be a beacon for everyone. I won't forget." I swear, usually, it was one time and no one let you live it down. I hadn't even forgotten once and I was still hearing it.

"Meanwhile I'll work on the problem. It wouldn't do to have you burst at the seams, as it were." Grex continued.

I had to admit to some curiosity, even if I was a bit fatalist about the whole thing (After all, who could change my fate now?). "Can that actually happen?"

Grex smiled with his teeth on full display. "Not to worry, there are steps that can be taken."

Well, that was comforting.

A knock sounded on the door.

"Grex, would you get the door please?"

"Of course, my Lady."

As expected, Karen was at the door - which was a good thing, since I was half expecting a slavering demon to come rushing through it. I really needed to get a grip there, my own visualizations controlled that transfer and if I wasn't careful I'd have no one to blame there but myself.

"Good morning Snow! Ready to get your Watson on?"

I rolled my eyes at Karen as she stole a waffle. "Oh please, you're totally the Watson of this little group."

Karen shook her head and choked down the pilfered treat. I got up and slipped my robe on and started patting it down for all the essentials; the best thing about robes were the pockets they could provide.

"Nah, I'm the Holmes; I'm the witty and fun one, and you're the dour and serious one who moves the plot along with obvious questions. Or maybe the Cagney to my Lacy."

I knew of that show but had never seen it. Wasn't Lacy supposed to be the dour one though?

Whatever, I had a response to make. "That assumes you can pull off being brilliant, which is something anyone who knows you should question. Also, not a hint of casual drug use from you."

She punched me on the shoulder. Well more of a tap, really, since Grex was there. "See? That's what I'm talking about! And if casual drug use is a prerequisite, what about yours, huh?"

"I didn't make the comparison in the first place," I replied loftily. My own addictions must never be admitted to.

"Details, details," Karen stated, brushing me off with a reasonable imitation of my own tone and voice.

I had to give her credit. "Not bad."

She grinned and bowed, almost bowling someone else over (she ignored his glare entirely) "Thank you."

I shrugged; it wasn't like the other summoners didn't know what Karen was like, he would get over it.

Grex cleared his throat. Loudly.

Oh, right. "I'll be right back."

There was another set of bracelets in my jewelry pile; how had he done that?

I slipped them on and worked on the earrings. At least it wasn't a nose ring; because I would nope right out of anything like that; hearing Gloria's horror stories of her piercings was enough. Then again, I was running out of ear; hopefully, this crap would end or I might have to go for my belly button or something. No, more bracelets were best.

"My car or yours?" I asked as I rejoined Karen at the door.

"Both. I know, not very environmentally friendly, but I might get called away, or you might."

Well, I guess I could wait until we were on the scene, but I really wanted at least one question answered. "You found something there, didn't you? After Grex left."

Karen nodded as the smile fled her face. "Bodies. It's no secret, and I've got pictures if you want to see... but I don't recommend it. The remains were sent away for DNA testing, and we should have identities soon, but it looked a lot like people just plucked from the streets and sacrificed to me."

Something seemed off about that. "Was there a bump in missing persons?"

A spike in missing persons was one of the signs you looked for regarding increases in demonic activity, for just this very reason.

Karen nodded again. "We didn't have much to go on, normally there's some evidence of the demonic. In all of these cases, there wasn't any, so the normal cops were working them."

That was stupid; they still should have been mentioned in the morning briefings. I didn't remember any such statements, and that seemed a terrible oversight, even taking into account that we were a rapid response force, not an investigative one.

"How did they know there was no evidence?"

"They brought me in, duh."

Well, that explained some of where Karen had been the last couple of weeks. I guess I could trust her that far.

The drive was directly over to the warehouse, and accompanied by some classic rock; I was officially clocked in and expected to take a look over the scene in case there were more around the city, so I'd know what to look for before my actual shift in the replacement transport started. I sang along since I was alone and could get away with it.

I didn't like that transport, it was too new and it smelled funny. It wasn't the glorious smell of new car either, but something else, and the air fresheners could only do so much.

I chafed at the traffic. Was it wrong of me to want to stop time and weave through all the morning snarls? I tried to tamp my normal urges - when I drove more aggressively traffic had a tendency to freak out a little.

Whatever, twenty minutes later (Almost the entire inna goda davida song!) I was in front of the warehouse. Only two cars had pulled to the side and let me pass, so I hadn't garnered too much attention to myself this time. Well, no more than my silly car normally generated at any rate.

I parked next to Karen and went right in, completely unchallenged by all the uniforms surrounding the place. There were two summoners here to keep the peace as well, one of the Charlies and Magilla. They were here to keep the cops out of the scene in order to avoid triggering traps or worse, as much as keeping civilians out, since only the most diehard insane types would dare enter this warehouse now.

It would likely get torn down and just left undeveloped, like any of hundreds of other sites like it, even after we cleared it completely and gave it a clean bill of help. Though in a few places in the bible belt churches had been built on a few of the more infamous spots; some of those Christians had guts.

The scene had already been partially cleaned, but seeing it through Grex's eyes didn't do it full justice. There was blood painted on the walls, and both arcane and profane symbols were carved or painted on top of it. The floors were all rust red, and under all that, there was a huge circle chased with runes.

The stench of death was still thick enough to choke on.

It was hard to read all this; there was so much interference from all quarters and all senses. I turned to find Karen at my shoulder, holding out a mask.

I put it on and it had been treated with something that cut most of the stench. "Thanks."

Karen waved it off. "Think nothing of it. Just take it off first if you intend to toss your breakfast."

Please. This was bad, but she had to know I'd smelled worse at boot camp. "As if."

I pulled out my notebook and found an empty page, and started making notes.

I was onto my seventh page and third round of the space when a brightening of the dim light caused me to look up. Straight into the face of the oncoming angel, who already had his white shining sword raised and was less than twenty feet away.

I ducked and a searing wave of heat washed over me,

"Why do you hide your wings, fallen?"

I pulled up short just in time to avoid getting split in half by a stroke that cut through the floor and likely went on. Landing flat on my ass, I rolled.

"Where are your attendants, fallen? Your soulless?"

He was right behind me! I dive-rolled again and scrambled, finally getting enough distance. "Grex, veni huc!"

Grex must have had some idea of what was going on, because he appeared with his own sword, just in time to shower me with sparks as the two pieces of metal met and clashed.

"I see you found our friend, my Mistress."

I only dodge the sword strike because I was already slowing time around me. "Less talk and more defense, Grex."

Grex smiled into the cold face of the angel as they clashed again and spit out: "Women - you can never please them, you know? They always criticize."

The angel's reply was a series of slashes formed at a blistering speed I couldn't really follow. Grex matched it but gave ground.

The angel turned to me. "Your champion is insufficient, fallen. Will you not draw your own sword, and enter combat yourself?"

That sounded like all kinds of bad idea, especially since I had no sword. "I'm good here, thanks."

As attenuated and time dilated as my speech was, the angel showed he understood the gist. With a snarl, he battered at Grex, trying not to kill him, but get to me. I wasn't sure Grex could take him if the angel's attention switched, and I really didn't want to kill an angel despite the angel's own bloodthirst. But I'd have to uncork the magic soon or we'd just lose.

So of course Grex had to draw his attention. "And what of yourself, angel? Who is it that brought you here, I wonder? Whose prayers did you answer?"

The angel turned to Grex with a growl. "I come on a mission in search of much greater game than you, servile one. I seek a lord of your kind, befouling this place," the angel pointed at me."I came in search of such, and I found - her."

Well, maybe I did smell or something. The angel seemed to think so. I leaped up and threw my banishment stones to add gravity to my own enhanced speed, and all of them hit my target. They smoked as they peppered him, but that was all.

So banishment wasn't an option; I guess it made sense. Still, he had several holes through him now, and he looked more than a little pissed. Well, more pissed.Not that looking more pissed was really possible.

Yeah, it was time to stop playing fair. Or to play less fair. "Abnex, Sarex, veni huc!"

The twins appeared and were less up to speed than Grex had been. "Hello, boss, what's up?" Sarex asked, popping her gum. She got weirder every time.

Abnex took the situation in at a glance, and his scythe appeared in hand. "Angel, sis."

Sarex looked, and her gum fell from her mouth, so wide was her grin. "Oh, yeah...party time!"

I couldn't believe I was saying this. "Don't kill him. Just... drive him off.

Sarex didn't stop, her scythe now in hand, but she did pout. "Awww, but I wanted to have some fun!"

With three demons in the mix, all working in concert, the odds evened. But they didn't seem to tip in my favor. I knew the names of some imps, but I sincerely doubted that any number of imps would tip the balance. I drew my athame.

"Enough!" The angel shouted, and exploded in light, driving us all back.

I blinked my eyes clear to find I was being covered, and the angel was glaring at me past my meat shields. "I have been given special dispensation to end this pit of evil, and I shall. Behold the glory of God!"

He began to glow. Sarex took my shoulder and tried to move me, but I was faster than she was and dragged her along as what could only be a laser started from the angel, and we all broke in different directions.

None of us were hit for all the speed of the light, and our return fire consisted of actual fire (from me) and three weapons stuck into the offender.

The angel grimaced and blood like liquid silver flowed from his mouth. He ripped himself free of the scythes and sword, and more blood flowed.

"You cannot best me, fallen," the angel claimed while turning tail. "I shall return."

Grex, Abnex, and Sarex all prepared to strike again.

"No!"

I put all power which I could into my voice. The angel took flight and crashed through the ceiling, and my three allies turned to me and shrieked as one:

"What are you doing?!?" At least Sarex added "We had him!" afterward.

"I told you, no killing him." I was not going to be responsible for killing an angel, even if he wanted me dead. That was a stain I didn't want on my soul - when Grex finally claimed it. Some people went the other way when the realization of their doom hit, but I wouldn't be one of them.

A mote of light wafted down, a small flashing thing that looked fragile and appeared to ignore gravity. I was the only one that could see it from my vantage point.

"Grex, what's that?"

Grex turned and paled; actually paled. The twins turned and paled. Grex held his hands out the twins followed at their best speed without a word and what could only be a shield sprang to life between all of them, merging into one.

The mote continued to fall; did the demons forget we were all sped up?

"Should we even be staying here for this?" We still had a second or more before the mote hit the floor.

"No, if you can do it, do it." Grex answered through gritted teeth.

I was better than I used to be. A quick moment of focus and we were all up in the air over the warehouse. Looking at the structure from this angle, the damage was obvious; Karen was going to kill me.

"Okay, so what did we just run from?"

The three demons reoriented themselves and without missing a beat brought up their shield again. I started to fall and snagged Grex around the waist; there was no way I could pop my own wings here.

The explosion was magnificent, in a way. It blew the warehouse apart; the shockwave knocked us back and I hit something head first. Or did something hit me head first?

There were two Grex's. Something told me that was a bad thing, but I couldn't think of why. The twins came into view - all four of them. I was on the ground for some reason; why was I on the ground?

"Are you alright, Maeve." The Grexes asked.

"I think so?" The words didn't want to come out right, but I managed to spit them out before they could choke me.

A hand to the back of my head came away slick with blood.

"Maybe I'm not."

I remembered. The bomb!

Sitting up was a mistake. One of the Grex's caught me, which was a good idea since I was beginning to suspect I had a head injury. Oh well, the brick was nice and soft, powdered as it was.

"Just lie back my Mistress." All of Grex's four hands began to glow.

A moment later all four eyes of Grex blinked, and both mouths began to frown. My vision grayed out for a moment, and then I was moving. I wasn't sure I wanted to be moving; it was wrong to move someone who was injured. I think; it was kind of hard to focus on thought.

"She's not healing."

"Yes, thank you Sarex, I had not noticed."

"At least she's not getting worse. Some aspect of her power?" Abnex commented.

I wasn't sure I liked how clinical his tone was. He looked almost like he was staring at a bug he'd like to step on. Unless I was seeing things - and with multiple versions of my favorite demons, that was pretty much a certainty.

"It's likely." Grex answered.

Grex leaned in, and I felt panic. Soft hands lifted me up and explored the back of my head.

"I apologize Maeve; You were improperly braced for the explosion, and I should have taken that into account."

"Explosion? There was an explosion?" Oh, my voice. My tongue worked, which meant I hadn't bitten it off. That was a good thing. Wait, that glowy mote thing had been an actual bomb?

Who knew Heaven packed nukes?

"Are we okay?" I asked.

"You took the worst of all of us from the blast." Grex answered.

It was true the demons didn't look hurt at all; barely a single hair was out of place.

The cops! "Are the cops okay?"

Grex shifted a bit. "Mostly."

Mostly wasn't good enough. "Go help them. Abnex and Sarex can protect me."

Oh, Grex did not like that at all. "No, they shall help the police wounded. You are in danger, and I exercise my right per our contract clause."

I could feel it, a sort of faint snap or hum in the air as he invoked the contract between us verbally for the first time in my (admittedly spotty at the moment) memory.

The twins grumbled but walked out of view, toward where the police cordon had been... possibly. Up was up, and down was down, but left and right and East and West were a little lost at the moment.

Sarex had something wadded up and placed it under my head. It was probably going to get bloody and stain. "Why didn't it work?"

Abnex blocked the sun, looking down. "I don't know; the gift should have worked. But this isn't something we should talk about now. Mistress Maeve, can you help yourself? Do you know of anyway?"

I didn't, and answered as much - or tried to. I don't think I managed too well.

Abnex seemed to understand anyway, but of course, Sarex was the one who answered. "A pity. You could always dilate time around yourself and speed up your own healing."

Perhaps that was a good idea... but I couldn't focus. I garbled out as much, and again the twins seemed to get it.

Abnex responded by repeating Sarex: "A pity."

The twins shared a look... a look that I didn't like. I sat up, ignoring how my head swam. "'M fine."

"Of course you are, my Mistress," they answered in perfect stereo.

I was saved from having to respond by the return of Grex, with an EMT following warily behind him.

Wait, I was on a roof. The brick I had crushed with my skull was still there, red brick from the crenelation of the old warehouse across the street, and the warehouse we were at....

Well, there were two walls still standing anyway; that was a plus. I hoped.

The EMT pulled away the cloth, now soaked with my blood, and went to work scraping the back of my head with sandpaper, all while casting nervous glances at Grex who was looming behind him. The cloth was a... spare dress? I snagged it and looked. Something nagged me about it.

"Sorry about your dress."

Sarex waved it off and answered. "It was something handy. We couldn't have you bleeding out on the roof."

Abnex took the clothing back. "I'll just burn it; can't have something with your blood around. I'll get the roof too, while I'm at it."

That made sense, blood was a powerful catalyst. "Alright, but do it now, in front of me, and my witness here."

The EMT was less than thrilled with being called a witness.

Right, time to face the music. "Casualties Grex?"

"Minor injuries, my Mistress. The police were not the target of the attack and were far enough from the explosion to prevent deaths. No civilians were present. Indeed, no pet life was harmed, though rats and cockroaches died by the score."

Oddly precise, but comforting. At least I hadn't completely failed on that front yet.

"Good."

I grabbed my phone, which through some miracle had survived this time. Speed dialing the Captain was the proper thing to do, so I did that first - even though he was probably on his way already. Well scratch that, he was, I could hear the sirens now. How long had it been since the start of the fight?

He answered before the first ring finished. "Go ahead, Snow."

"Um, you're going to be mad," I winced. That had slipped out. "Sorry. The warehouse crime scene got hit. Major activity - The scene is a total loss, but casualties are light, limited to some injuries, including mine."

"Alright sit tight, we're on our way." He hung up.

I dialed Karen. She also picked up before the ring finished, and I could also hear sirens in the background. She didn't wait for me to talk though. "I'm on my way back Snow - I assume since you have time to call me the fight's over?"

I managed to stick to the script this time. "Yes, and I'm not sure who won. I drove off the attacker, but he used some sort of magical bomb to make good his escape. The crime scene is a total loss."

"Must have been looking to cover his tracks, and you got in the way."

I didn't think so, but I wasn't about to argue. "He was on me before I saw him. I think he snuck right past the summoner on duty."

A sudden sense of panic jackhammered my heart. The other Summoner! I hadn't ordered Grex to check on him!

Grex met my gaze and shrugged before giving me a thumbs up and mouthing 'fine'.

"How bad were we hit?" Karen asked.

"Just injuries, nothing permanent," I answered back.

Karen voiced what would have been my own opinion, had I not known what I knew. "Hm, very odd. Demons usually go for casualties when they attack."

Except the humans had been innocent, and angels were only into punishing the guilty, apparently. No, there was more to it than that, because even among humans all were guilty if I remembered my bible.

"I think he just wanted to have a nice quiet explosion, without any evidence of tampering. That or he was ordered to." I hated lying, even by omission. Implying what attacked me was another demon (even if no one would believe me about angels) and also implying he was after the crime scene when I was pretty sure (but not one hundred percent positive) that he had been after me.

"Probably. I'm not too sure what any summoner would get from destroyed the scene after we got pretty much everything we needed, but most summoners don't play with a full deck anyway. If the damage is too bad, we can just fall back to photos and video evidence."

Looks like she didn't understand just what I meant by 'destroy evidence' and 'bomb'. I wasn't about to tell her while she was driving; she sucked as it was. "Look, I got to go. An EMT is waving a penlight in my face."

And he was, right in my eyes. I hung up and tried to keep my gaze steady.

His verdict wasn't long in coming. "A clear concussion. Your eyes are taking some time to dilate; is the light painful?"

"Yes."

My eyes weren't as bad as my head... or my back for that matter. I was sure something had to be broken there, but my toes and fingers wiggled when I asked the to, so I wasn't too worried. The EMT caught me checking. Then he started probing my ribs.

Grex tensed, but I warned him back with a signal the EMT was too busy to catch.

"Problems breathing?"

"No."

"Numbness or tingling in your extremities?"

"No."

He started poking at my legs next. "Any pain?"

"Just my head. Well and my back."

The EMT... his nametag said Carl... Carl shook his head. "Yeah, you've probably got a full body bruise on your backside, but nothing seems broken. You might not even have any cracks; you're either very lucky... or very tough. Maybe it's both."

It was probably both. Though how I was so tough there was a good question to ask; maybe the shield had protected me before it failed. I shot Grex a look, and he shrugged. He didn't know? Something was up. I refused to believe he didn't know - he must not want to say in front of the normie.

Oh. I just called someone a normie, even in my head; I was officially as bad as the rest of my fellow summoners now.

I started to get up, and this time Carl pushed me back down. "You should stay as still as possible and wait for the stretcher. My partner is on the way, and we will get you off this roof no problem, there could be an injury we don't know about and if you start moving around you'll aggravate it."

Well, that was... probably true and ominous for it. I sat back again and waited. But honestly, I was already sitting! I had been sitting, so if my spine were going to fold in on itself, wouldn't it have already happened?

"I'm afraid I can no longer sit idly by." Grex stated. "I will not allow any injuries my mistress has suffered to be exacerbated by two fumble fingered oafs jostling her downstairs. Bring your stretcher and we demons shall carry it."

The twins faced soured. Wait, when had there stopped being two of everyone?

Thinking back, I couldn't remember the time, just that when I first woke my vision was screwed, and now it wasn't.

Was I insane (well, more insane) or was I actually recovering quickly? It was possible that I could simply by manipulating my own flow of time. But I wasn't doing any of that, nor was any of the demons around me.

Carl's partner (his nametag proclaimed him Jerry) came up with the stretcher, a mass of plastic steel and canvas that folded to the size of a breadbox. He stopped short at the sight of Grex and the twins, and Carl had to reach over and grab the stretcher to get it unfolded.

Jerry was hyperventilating; he knew what was looking back at him. "Jerry, hello."

My greeting got him to focus on me. "Hello, Miss."

Carl tapped me on the shoulder; the stretcher took no time at all to unfold apparently. "You can at least move this far, I'd guess. Carefully, please."

I shifted over and laid down. Grex stepped up and the stretcher began to float absolutely level at his side. The twins took up position on my other side and we all went off the side of the roof together. The demons slowed down with a quick flare of their wings while I floated.

"Just going to leave the EMT's up there, huh?"

"I would advise against them walking off the building; they have working legs, and can use the stairs without issue," was Grex's rather imperious response.

We started down the street towards the police cordon - or what was left of it. A little too far as it turned out. "No Grex, the ambulance. The EMT's are going to want to take me to the hospital to make sure everything is fine."

X-rays and MRI's and blood work, oh my. They would probably check for drugs while they were at it. I know I would, because you had to be high for this. Why wasn't I high for this?

I was at least going to drink tonight. A nice glass of wine or champagne or something. "Grex, a note. Remind me to get a nice bottle of wine for tonight."

Oh, crap. I was supposed to be on shift - right now! Who were they going to get to cover for me? There wasn't anyone else around to do it.

I was gently slid into the back of the ambulance. There was no need to delay it anymore, there wasn't anyone close. "Grex, what happened back there?"

"What do you mean, my Mistress?"

Oh, he knew. "I mean why am I not dead. I powdered brick with the back of my head, and I'm still alive. My skull even seems intact; so what happened?"

Grex had to answer, but he did not look happy about it. "I am not certain, but it is likely as you suspect; the shield failed. I did my best to intercept you, but my efforts were... insufficient."

Ah, that's it. He didn't want to admit failure.

"Don't worry about it Grex." But even if he'd grabbed me and slowed me down, I was still going fast enough to powder brick. Maybe it was just old brick? After all, it was an old building....

No, something was up.

The EMT's arrived back at ground level at the same time the screech of brakes announced Karen's arrival. At least she stopped before the police line.

The EMT's managed to get to their ambulance in time enough to look busy as Karen got out of her car. "SNOOOW! You better be half dead!"

I was right; she was a little angry.

She looked to the cops, and the traitors pointed out my ambulance. Now informed, Karen stomped over, and the EMT's shrank back from her angry presence. Or maybe it was Thor, behind her. I know the twins were puffing up for all they were worth.

Which was kind of funny, really. But it hurt to laugh.

Karen took one look at me and said. "Alright, you're forgiven,"

"You should see the other guy. But seriously, that bad?"

"Well, you have your everything intact, but you look about as bad off as someone who has their everything intact can be."

I loved Karen's bedside manner. "Thanks a bunch. I think the robes stopped most of it."

A minor lie there. I had no doubt the robes helped, but if I hadn't dodged or been quite so lucky, I would be dead. That sword the angel had been swinging was no joke. I'd have suspected the robe of saving my skull, but I'd had the hood down. I'd have to check the enchantments later to make sure they hadn't been compromised; normally they could only take so much.

Karen turned to Carl. "How bad is it really?"

"She got very lucky," Carl responded. "A concussion, but not a really bad one, not a light one either. We are taking her in to make sure nothing else is wrong, but she should be released later today and free to dance in exploding buildings again in a few days."

"So she should need a few days?"

"Yes," Carl answered with a nod. "At least until tomorrow. And bright lights should be avoided. Bed rest should be fine, but you'll have to wait for the doctor's all clear."

"Alright, take her out then. I'll handle things here Snow, don't worry."

"But, who is going to take my shift?" I blurted out like an idiot.

Karen rolled her eyes. "Someone else. Seriously, it's not like we haven't handled things without you before."

Yeah, but that was different. I was the center of the universe, a legend in my own mind, or something.

Carl tried to shut the door - only to be blocked by demons. Three of them, polishing their claws on their clothes. It was ridiculous.

"Abnex, Sarex, go home. Grex, you can ride with me if you behave."

I didn't know how other summoners stood it, but I just didn't feel safe alone. Especially with all the nutjobs running around. It really said a lot about a city, when the summoners weren't the craziest people to be found in it.

Grex got in one side, and Carl took the other and shut the doors.

I had no idea how I was going to get my car back; I wasn't too fond of the idea of leaving it out here for the night, even assuming it had survived being so close; It had been parked on the other side of the ambulance seeing to the uniforms was located. It was probably fine; none of the police cars had looked too bad (except for the one with a piece of metal through the windshield) and they had been parked closer; my car was built tougher than my robes were.

The ride proved very annoying. Every time I would so much as drift a little, Carl would say something to his partner, Jerry. Loudly. I wasn't even trying to sleep! Replaying the fight in my head was probably not the best type of therapy, but it was hard for me to follow now. A blur filled with mortal terror and reaction, with the steps half remembered.

Sirens started, but the ambulance siren wasn't used, out of deference to my massive headache. At least, that was the reason Jerry gave. I could appreciate it, but I got the feeling Jerry wasn't in too big a hurry to make sure I wasn't dying. I wasn't of course, but he didn't know that for sure. At least there was an escort.

"Are we going to memorial?" Hismel memorial was where most of us ended up; we still had ADTF members there.

Carl shot that hope down. "Nah, County is closer, and you are technically a serious case."

Darn, I wouldn't be able to make the rounds or see that nurse again. What was her name...?

Hell, I couldn't remember. I hope that was just normal forgetfulness, and not a bad sign of things to come - like my brain leaking out of my ears.

We pulled in and stopped, and Carl got the doors; I guess we really had been close to County. Jerry grabbed the bottom of the stretcher and pulled it out, and I got to relive the fantasies I never had about living out a medical drama, complete with a worried person staring down at me and keeping pace.

Of course, they didn't dare try to keep Grex out of the examination room; any attempt wouldn't have ended well for them.

Then the similarity ended, and Grex and I waited. For almost five minutes we waited before the doctor came in. He was young, tall, and darkly handsome, with a well-built body peeking out from his coat. His nametag read Dimitri, so I was guessing he was foreign. He was also more than a little nervous; I swear I could smell his fear.

His accent proved Russian. "I'm doctor Dimitri, I'm here to examine you to see if you need to be admitted."

"By all means," I told him, lying back.

I expected him to go over the same ground Carl had, but instead, he waited until a nurse rolled in a machine on wheels that looked a lot like a large business copier on stilts. It had a screen on the side at least, but the nurse moved it out of my way, and with a wary look at Grex, adjusted the stilts so the box would go over me.

"Are you wearing any metal?"

What a loaded question. "Earrings and bracelets."

She said the phrase I dreaded. "You're going to need to take them off."

So, an MRI, not an x-ray. "They are moderately important. Is there another way?"

"No." She stated flatly. How unreasonable.

I decided to have a little fun. "Alright, but we better make it quick then; Once I divest myself completely we only have moments before the hordes of Hell lock on to this location and kill us all."

The best lies or jokes always had a grain of truth in them. The nurse stopped, actually shocked out of her cynical zombie state, and I noticed she did not have a nametag.

Then she decided I was joking. "Don't worry, we'll be quick."

I had actually seen the moment the nurse had decided I was putting her on; it had been a novel experience. So was the irony. I started taking my earrings out and the woman's eyebrows rose at the sheer number of them.

Each piece of jewelry removed had me feeling - wild, but at peace. I could feel strength flow like a white river through my soul, flowing around ceaselessly. My wings twitched, but I stomped that instinct down; now was exactly the wrong time for those to come out. I was likely enough of a beacon already. I handed them all to Grex with my athame and laid back.

The doctor moved the machine across as quickly as he dared apparently; so quickly the nurse objected:

"Doctor, we won't get any usable imagery if you don't keep the machine still!"

The doctor was no fool. "Nurse, she wasn't kidding."

The nurse said something very unprofessional, but nonetheless pitched in to keep one side of the machine stable as the doctor traversed it over me.

The doctor reached my head and the hum was about to get annoying when doctor Dimitri moved the machine out of the way and turned it off. "Alright, it looks like we have what we need. You can put your jewelry back on now."

I was getting to be an old pro at the jewelry thing. Getting far too much experience placing them in their proper holes blind; Grex didn't even help this time... much. I gave him a look and he nodded; he thought we were safe.

"So what's the verdict, doctor?"

The doctor was studying the screen I still couldn't see. "Well, you've got a nasty bump... and a crack. A small hairline fracture. The odd thing is you've only a little swelling, and your brain seems to be fine."

Well, that didn't sound like bad news. "What do you mean, my brain seems to be fine? Shouldn't it be, if my brain isn't leaking out of my ears?"

"Well, I'd have expected more impact trauma to be honest. Your cerebral spinal fluid being compressed from the impact and leaking from your ears perhaps, or some other effect. You show none of those signs of severity."

Again, that sounded like a good thing. "So I'm good? What about my other bones?"

"You have one small hairline fracture of your third rib on your right side and a slightly larger hairline fracture of your left ulna; both should be fine, and all three bones should heal with bed rest."

I did not like the sound of that. "How much bed rest?"

"Two weeks minimum; a month would be preferable."

Yeah, that wasn't going to work. But I wasn't going to do anything about it just yet; I needed to lay low at home for a day or two, and plan.

Because angel or demon, that guy blew up a warehouse to try and kill me; he was much stronger and much more crazy than I'd given him credit for.

"So I can go then? You'll sign off on it?"

Doctor Dimitri's face said he would gladly sign me out of his hospital inside the hour if I was half dead. A shame too; I had the feeling he'd be kind of fun outside of the hospital setting. Maybe it was the implied threat to his patients and staff friends?

"Not quite yet. The nurse will run a few more tests and I'll write you a prescription for the pain you're feeling, and then we'll send you on your way."

The nurse shot the doctor a look that screamed 'I have been thrown under the bus' as doctor Dimitri walked out. He didn't even glance back. Even if I looked like - well, hell - at the moment, usually I got a second glance. Maybe he was gay?

Oh well, I could afford to burn bridges; I didn't need friends outside of work, no matter how healthy for me that would be.

The nurse stabbed my arm at the joint with a needle. Unlike all my other pains, that one I felt clearly.

"Ow, damn. Digging for gold or something?"

The unnamed nurse had at least enough humanity to soften a little. "Sorry."

Just not much.

She took the full vial and stashed it, threw the needle away, and stuck a cotton ball to me with a band-aid.

"So, what's the blood work for?"

"To make sure you don't have any allergies to the painkillers... and to make sure you aren't on drugs. You know, the standard employment stuff."

It may be standard to test, but unlike a truck driver or stock person or even delivery driver, no summoner was going to get benched over drugs. Sent to the front maybe, but not benched.

The nurse did the standard EMT thing next, checking my reflexes (amazing, if I do say so myself), my eyes and ears with a flashlight, and my range of movement for pain. At least she was gentle to my suspect arm.

"I half expected an X-ray," I told her as she worked.

"I did too. The doctor decided the MRI would be more effective, and sufficient on it's own."

Oh, he did, did he? Was County poor now? And if they were, didn't MRI's cost more?

The nurse smiled, and her face lit up. "I think he just wanted to use the new and portable machine first." She seemed a bit more pleasant without doctor Dimitri in the room.

"Right," that made sense; who didn't like new toys? "So how screwed am I really?"

"Not at all, really. A concussion and some cracked bones is getting off lightly for your line of work."

Don't I know it.

"And now we're done. You can take off anytime; the front desk will have the paperwork you need to sign and the prescription for you, which will likely be good old fashioned Tylenol with a little extra. Do you have any more questions for me?"

Yeah, this was my last time coming here if I could help it; they seemed far too interested in kicking me out the door.

"No, but if I have any, can I call you?"

"Sure." The number she rattled off had to be from the hospital.

"No, not the hospital - I don't want to be shuffled around to people who don't know why I'm calling. I mean you, specifically."

The smile slid off her face and she took a glance at Grex, who was still standing quietly in the corner, as he had this entire time. "Sure," she said again. The number rattled off this time was different.

We walked through the door together with Grex behind me, and I saw it. The standard red sea parting among the hospital crowd, doctors, nurses, and patients alike. I'd seen it before of course, but this time it really bothered me; this was what we were getting hurt and killed for?

No, don't question it. They are just ignorant, and that slope is very slippery.

I input both numbers the nurse had given me into my phone, then made a call. By the time it connected the nurse had led me back to the ER waiting room. I signed my way out, waved at her, and strode through, trying to pick a route that didn't cause injured people to scramble out of the way. The silence was uncanny; I thought briefly of dismissing Grex, but it wouldn't likely wouldn't help.

Cords came through the door as I reached it.

"What are you doing here?" He was in the wrong hospital for visiting friends.

A hand reached to scratch his neck, his tell for embarrassment. "Early lunch. Are you alright?"

I hung up on the cab service; they probably would have refused me anyway. "I'll tell you about it on the ride home - if you'll take me home."

"Oh, sure thing! They released you? It couldn't have been that bad then."

Cords had parked close, one over from a handicapped spot. Lucky for him to get that. He pinged the electronic lock and I got in with a sigh. Grex got in behind me, actually using the door. I thought again of dismissing him, but I wasn't out of danger yet.

Cords got in and the doors locked. The sound seemed louder than normal, somehow. More immediate in a way.

"Grex, keep an eye out."

"Of course, my Mistress."

Cords gave Grex a nervous glance... Grex was sitting behind him after all. "Should I be worried?"

"Probably not," I replied. "but I believe in being prepared." The vehicle we were riding in was a standard ADTF transport, with all the standard protections.

"So... want to tell me what happened?" Cords asked.

"Sure." It would make the rounds anyway. I couldn't fault the curiosity either.

I gave him the brief run down on the way over, with Grex adding details I hadn't noticed. Cords let me talk but his hands creaked as they tightened on the wheel.

He didn't wreck us at least; we pulled into the parking lot; Cords rushed over and almost managed to beat Grex to my door. Grex insisted on helping me out. He also made a point to stand between us as we walked. Cords was pretending not to notice.

"So, a cracked rib, cracked arm, and cracked head, huh?" Cords finally said as we walked up the stairs. "That demon has a lot to answer for."

"Right, because all the deaths at his hands aren't enough," I stated as blandly as possible, trying to drive the silliness home. Demon or Angel, that being had a body count. There was no way he didn't.

Cords followed me through the lobby.

"Oh, you're coming up?"

"If you don't mind. I know you have Grex, but it's best to have someone there with you to make sure you don't get worse, with a concussion."

I had simply been planning to rely on Grex, it was true. After all, one type of danger was bleeding on the brain, and he was bound to do his best to protect me from it like any other danger by our contract.

On the other hand, it was Cords, finally agreeing to come up and see me rather than just hang out at work or go to the museum and listen to me talk about art.

"Sure. The more the merrier."

I had to fumble my keys unlocked the door of course, but soon enough I managed and headed straight for the couch. I was beginning to get a little stiff, and the pain was really starting to show up as a bone deep (heh) ache all over.

I needed those meds and should have stopped to get them.

Cords was spending his time looking around; he whistled. "Nice place, and larger than I imagined. Kind of reminds me of home."

"Oh, you own a house?" I did not know that; most ADTF members seemed to gravitate to apartments.

"Yep. It's a bit larger than this place, but I like it," Cords answered, pointedly not looking at my bookcase in favor of the prints I'd gotten to add a certain lived-in look to the place. "It's cozy. A nice place."

I settled on the couch with a sigh. "Grex, can you get me a bottle of water, please? Do you want anything, Cords?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks."

Hm. Maybe it was time to call in at the front desk. No, screw it; I was fine here. "Cords can you do me a favor?"

"For you, anything."

Somehow he made the line sound less corny; it was a trick I'd have to learn. "Can you please go down to the front desk and get them to fill this?" I asked, handing the prescription over. "I'd go myself but I really don't want to get up right now."

Cords took the paper. "I'll take care of it. You just sit tight, and don't fall sleep, at least until I get back, alright?"

I burrowed further into the couch, getting comfortable. Grex came back with a pillow and my comforter; he magicked the pillow under my head but just threw the comforter on me.

I hadn't realized I was cold until I was covered. "I won't."

"Are you sure? Because you look like you could at any moment."

"Pretty sure," I told him with my best smile while flicking on the television. True crime would keep me awake."

"Alright, I'll be back in five minutes."

As soon as the door shut, I turned to Grex. "You will let him back in. I won't tell you not to watch him or intervene if he tries anything, but you will not bar him entry."

I waited until he bowed his acquiescence before taking the water in his hand. "Good; I hope you can make sure my brain doesn't bleed or whatever it can do."

"I can. You need not fear."

Good to know that he didn't think I needed to fear... but I would anyway. I hoped the news didn't break in showing a gutted hospital and dead people.

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and flapping around outside my window. Good to know my apartment hadn't moved while I was asleep. Maybe it couldn't, now that I knew; maybe I was keeping it on Earth subconsciously. If so, that was a good thing.

 

There was steaming coffee by my bedside, and a plate of toast. The blinds were drawn to let the sunlight in, and after my eyes adjusted (which took longer than I liked) I could see the sparrows and pigeons squaring off against each other. The pigeons were winning of course.

 

I drank coffee and nibbled toast. I could hear Grex doing something in the kitchen, but I wasn't about to get up and check until the pain radiating from my head to my arm to my legs subsided. A little white pill would fix that problem, and the bottle was right there, so I took one and lay back.

 

When I woke up again, for the second time, the pigeons had won. and were cooing at each other and the toast and coffee were gone. But I felt like I could float over the pain, so I did... all the way to the couch, where Grex was waiting.

 

There was a full bowl of M&M's on the table. Or at least they looked like M&M's.

 

"Grex answer truthfully; are those normal M&M's?"

 

"They are indeed my Mistress. The meat-bag you call Cords delivered them from a local grocery store last night, along with some other things."

 

Right, Cords had been here. He'd left and come back, and we watched television.

 

I was still a little muzzy; of all the ways to get paid time off, this was the worst. I wanted to just go ahead and fix it, but that would be too suspicious. Suffering when you didn't have to sucked. I grabbed a handful of the M&M's and scarfed them down.

 

"More coffee Grex."

 

"Of course my Mistress." Grex flipped on the T.V. before he left. And of course, it was on the local news. And of course, the local news was covering yesterday's attack.

 

The news was covering it as if it was a demon attack, a sort of demonic landmine that I triggered which blew up the building; there are no more mines and no more danger, nothing to see here, move along. I doubted anyone believed that - that entire area would be avoided as much as possible, and people were probably already trying to sell their property along that street and failing. I wished them luck with that.

 

The news was making me look terrible of course; I should have seen the mine, and how was my training being conducted if I missed something like that, and were we truly safe on the streets, etc, etc.

 

The talking heads could raise all the fuss it wanted; the government wouldn't fire me. They couldn't in fact, we were too shorthanded. Besides I think that summoners had tried in the past to be useless in an effort to get drummed out... and all it had gotten them was sent to the front quicker.

 

Grex plunked the coffee down in front of me and changed the channel. Now there was a zombie on the screen, being piloted by a demon in order to kill a bunch of teens... as if the demon would bother or care. Well, unless he was very very bored. 

 

I snagged a handful of M&M's.

 

A blink and the movie was over, and someone was knocking on the door. "Grex, the door."

 

"As you command, my Mistress."

 

Yellow flowers were pushed under my nose; I looked up to find a very nervous looking Cords holding them, vase and all. They did smell nice. 

 

"Tulips, for you. Something to brighten this gloomy apartment."

 

Didn't Cords hate it here? Hate this entire building? "My apartment isn't gloomy! I just prefer darker colors. Thanks for the flowers, though."

 

Cords set the vase down on the table. "I just came by to see how you were doing before work."

 

"I'm fine. A little floaty from the meds, but fine. I should be okay here for now."

 

Cords shuffled his feet; it was almost cute. "Right. Call me if you need anything, alright? Don't hesitate, and I'll see what I can do."

 

Poor guy - he had it bad. the joke was on me there, though. I would not be following in my mother's footsteps, at all. But letting him know that was proving hard. 

 

"If I need you I'll call. Thanks for the flowers."

 

"You're welcome. See you later, okay? I'll drop by after work if you don't mind."

 

I did mind; I wasn't helpless. But maybe I needed to socialize more outside of work. "Sure. I'll be here."

 

"Great."

 

The flowers looked nice on my coffee table... but I had to move them to see the T.V.

 

The next movie was one of the grade B aliens versus demon movies that seemed to roll around every few years; they always shared the same common theme; either the aliens wanted to invade and kill all humanity only to be stopped by the demons or the aliens joined us in our war against the demons and we won. This one was one of the first types, and the best that could be said about it was that it was amusing.

 

"Grex, fetch me the spellbook I was reading four days ago."

 

Grex sighed, but got up and retrieved the book from the shelf without complaint. I started in, reading more about how to cast lightning because who wouldn't want to be even more like Emperor Palpatine? I mean I was already wearing the bathrobe daily.

 

Not every summoner could cast magic, of course, it had to be in the contract. Most did try to bargain for it, but not everyone pulled it off; most found the price to be paid too high. But Karen had hers and I wanted to be able to match her; lightning did seem to be very effective against demons, for whatever reason, if past statistical data was anywhere near accurate.

 

Lightning seemed complicated; I had to take variables like barometric pressure and humidity into account before trying anything. If I didn't I could fry myself, and that would be embarrassing on top of potentially lethal.

 

I also needed to find a work around for carrying a sword in public. I was sick of fighting that guy with only an athame and speed. Registering a sword would cause some raised eyebrows, but finding a sword capable of standing up to something that could carve through a building like a Christmas roast was something else. Grex had one, I could always ask him where he got his... but I wanted to try and solve the problem myself if I could.

 

Besides Grex's sword was probably forged from the blood of innocents on an altar of the damned using the tears of sinners or something.

 

Then again, maybe I didn't need a blade. Maybe something more modern was the way to go. A souped up crossbow might be able to carry banishment seals or other payloads, and with my own talents, I could make the bolts fast enough to hit what I'm aiming at.

 

I'd been meaning to look into that, but I'd gotten sidetracked. Oh well, I had time now.

 

I grabbed my tablet as the phone rang. It was Karen.

 

"What's up, Karen?"

 

"I just had a follow-up question about the attack, for the report. Were you aware there were barrels of refined diesel stored in that warehouse?"

 

Uh... what? "No, I wasn't No one told me anything like that, and I'd just started my own search. Why, there was?" 

 

Assuming she was talking about the big drum barrels of gasoline or diesel, those were hard to get. I hadn't seen anything like that written on the report, and if they had been there, they should have been collected as evidence long before I arrived. Had someone dropped a ball, or was something more sinister going on?

 

"Alright, well the investigation continues. The warehouse was basically a total loss; portions of it kept burning for a few hours due to the gas. So if you have any pics of your own to share that would be a great help."

 

"Sure, I'll forward what I have."

 

"Great, thanks."

 

As Karen hung up I pondered how badly burned I'd be by these turn of events. They certainly didn't look good for me; no I wouldn't be accused of setting the fire on purpose or blowing up the warehouse, there were enough witnesses and evidence to prove otherwise... but incompetence was harder to disprove. 

 

And if I were Karen or the Chief, then I would definitely be looking twice. It wasn't even a question of incompetence really, just on whose part; either it was mine for not moving the fight realizing the diesel could go up, or it was CSI for not finding or moving it.

 

Whatever. They weren't going to fire me regardless, the worst it could be was a black mark.

 

Maybe it was petty of me, but I didn't want a black mark of any kind on my record. I wanted to join the police after my ten years if possible... not that I'd be ADTF if I did. Simple homicide was looking better and better. Maybe arson? I was bound to get a lot of experience with fires.

 

I could also work theft. Many a criminal would probably pee themselves if they knew a former summoner was working their case. For that matter, so would many a murderer.

 

It was too early to be making plans... I had to survive first. I grabbed my tablet again and started looking up crossbows.

 

Most of them were too small, too delicate, and made to fire things small enough to be considered darts. The ones best suited for my purpose were older models from the renaissance or middle ages. The absolute best was a design so old the original came from China; the repeating crossbow.

 

The problem was no one made a modern version. The best I could hope for is probably finding someone to modify a normal crossbow, so until that happened I was stuck. Maybe Cords would know someone? I really needed to expand my circle of friends... but it felt disingenious to make friends knowing my line of work. The angel had almost killed me, for all my power. When I was shipped out, the odds were against survival, for all my power. And making friends despite that, in true 'eat drink and be merry' fashion, felt irresponsible of people's feelings.

 

The doorbell rang.

 

"Grex, get that."

 

Grex got it; he opened the door and then I heard a scuffle. Was someone breaking in? And past Grex? If so, how?

 

All my short lived questions were answered when my Mother came down the hall like a shot, her yoga pants starting to work their way down and her sports bra about to pop. She skidded to a stop in front of the couch, placed perfectly to block my view of the television, knelt before me, and solemnly stated:

 

"You're in Hell."

 

"Usually. So are you; Hello Mother."

 

She blinked, then looked down at herself. "Perhaps I should have dressed better."

 

"Perhaps."

 

Slow measured steps from down the hall resolved themselves into my father, puffing furiously on a cigarette but otherwise showing no emotion. I knew how to read him, however, and saw the tension. I waved with my good hand.

 

"See Samantha, she's fine."

 

Mom reached out and poked me. "She's well enough to call. Why didn't you call, Maeve?"

 

Well, that explained what Mom was doing here. And Mom being here explained Dad.

 

What that didn't explain was why I didn't call. Why hadn't I called? I mean I knew Dad would be told my condition at the office, but I should have made the effort, and instead, it didn't even occur to me. I had an inkling, however; if I had called Mom and said I had been hurt, would she have understood what I was saying, or would she have been detached from reality again? My Mom wasn't exactly what you would call dependable.

 

"I'm not sure why I didn't call. I have no excuse, other than a taking a head injury. I'm sorry." Hopefully, that was good enough as excuses go - head injuries did odd things to people.

 

Dad nodded, but Mom poked me again... and then hugged me, hard.

 

"Ow, Mom, stop! You're aggravating something!"

 

She relented but slapped my leg. "Scoot over, I want to try your couch."

 

I scooted as best I could; I was a little stiff. Grex brought over a footrest and I switched over to it gratefully.

 

"So, what's broken?" Dad asked, sinking down into one of my plush chairs. 

 

"Some ribs, my skull, and my arm. All hairline and not a big deal. No lasting tissue damage, just some cuts and bruising."

 

"How long are you down for?"

 

"Two to three weeks, probably." Yes, the doctor had said a month, but that was bullcrap. I could probably reverse time on myself and still heal faster.

 

"Good. So what are you doing then?"

 

I held up my book with my good hand. "Learning never stops."

 

Mom had see-sawed her head back and forth as though our conversation was a tennis match and she a spectator, but now she decided to chime in.

 

"Do you want me to kiss it better?"

 

I barely managed to stop the facepalm. "No Mother, that's quite alright."

 

Mother stared into my eyes, her gaze soulful. "Are you sure?"

 

"I'm sure. I'm fine, Mom." I was a big girl now.

 

She settled back in beside me, but half draped herself on me. Luckily she avoided my hurt side.

 

"Grex, get some coffee for my parents. Standard rules apply; no special additives."

 

"Understood." Grex stated, bowing and heading toward the kitchen.

 

"I'm jealous," Mom said, watching him go. "I never had him so well trained. He was always... difficult."

 

"Don't be fooled," I replied. "It was a lot of work closing loopholes. My contract is a bit tighter than most though; he's on call 24/7 365, and my orders can layer until all loopholes are closed."

 

Mom's eyes sparkled - as an old hand, she knew what that meant. She snuck a glance at my book.

 

"Lightning, huh? I used to throw that stuff."

 

Sigh. "I know, Mom."

 

She couldn't do anything like that anymore. She couldn't even teach, though I wasn't sure why; it was a notation on her file. 

 

I mean, I could guess; she WAS insane after all. She would probably tell fresh summoners they could fly, and escort them to the cliff to try it out. I put the book down; clearly, it upset her, at least a little.

 

Grex came back with the coffee, black for Dad, and cream and sugar (actual cream, since Mom was picky) for Mom.

 

Mom took a sip, sighed, and set the cup down... and then buried her head in my side.

 

"Mom, wounded here." I managed to get out. Was it too early to take another pill? 

 

"Oh, sorry. I forgot. You're pretty comfortable though." Well, that tore it; she probably wasn't going to get up until Dad made her. But she did ease up a little, so that was something.

 

I looked over at Dad to find his mouth turned up in as near to a smirk as I've ever seen. So no help there, unless I appealed to his sense of duty.

 

"So, how's work?"

 

"Long and boring, lately," Dad replied, settling back and clearly signaling he wasn't going to help.

 

Still, it was curious. "Slow in homicide?"

 

Dad nodded gravely. "The regular troublemakers have all gone to ground for some reason, and the regular murders seem to be dropping lately."

 

Regular meaning jilted lovers, crazy stalkers that no one takes seriously until they go to town with a gun, or black widows.

 

"Odd."

 

Dad nodded again. "I think everyone is keeping their heads down due to recent events. Kind of good for business but...."

 

I knew what he wanted to say there; he wasn't sure if the cost was worth it. I couldn't blame him, I wasn't either. But the cost of saying it out loud and upsetting Mom was definitely not worth it. She was currently fascinated by the movie on television, but she would pay attention to us if we said one of her buzzwords.

 

....Was she sniffing me?

 

"I haven't showered, I know, calm down."

 

I didn't feel like standing in the shower; my legs ached more than a little.

 

"It's okay. You just smell different is all."

 

Whatever. I wasn't about to ask; I just shared a look with Dad.

 

We spent the movie in comfortable silence, but when it was over Dad stood up.

 

"Well, I got to get going. Lunch hour is over."

 

Lunch hour had been over for at least a half hour by any stretch of the imagination.

 

I nudged Mom a little... and she tightened her grip. 

 

This time Dad was with me. "Come on Sam, we got to get going."

 

"Maeve can take me back when I'm ready to go."

 

I shook my head at her. "No, I can't. My car is either parked outside a shattered warehouse, or in police impound. So even if I were cleared to drive, something I'm not sure on, I can't do any driving."

 

"Poo, I knew I should have taken my own car." Mom pouted as she untangled herself and stood up.

 

Dad gave me the 'you can thank me later' look as he collected Mom.

 

For my part, I reclaimed my couch. "Have a good day, and drive safe."

 

Dad nodded as he dragged Mom out of sight. I heard the door close and turned to Grex. "Check it and make sure."

 

Grex nodded, and I waited for him to take the fourth step before I called out: "And more coffee, please! Standard rules apply!"

 

He shot me a dirty look as he returned to snag the cup. But vengeance for my family was vengeance, no matter how petty. Seeing Mom always made remember how much I owed Grex for.

 

Sometimes I was weak, and forgiveness was farther out of reach than the past. 

 

The best part was when I didn't actually drink the coffee he brought back but kept reading. He settled in to watch the next movie, which was another demon themed thing. Something else for him to laugh through.

 

Mom had snuck half the bowl of M&M's when Dad and I weren't watching.

 

......

 

I hadn't expected to fall asleep again, but boring books were boring.

 

The knock on the door woke me. Grex stopped hovering and answered it. I could tell immediately from the tread that it was Cords - better than Karen, I guess.

 

"So, someone liked the M&M's."

 

"Yeah, my Mom. She was here earlier."

 

"Well, that sucks. I'm sad I missed her, she's... interesting."

 

He plunked down in the chair across from me with a sigh and grabbed a handful of the candies for himself. "It's okay, I have more. So, you never checked your tablet today."

 

Whoops. I bet Cords had been bored to tears. Wait, had anything happened today? "I fell asleep reading; did something happen today? Was there another attack?"

 

Cords waved that off. "No, nothing like that. In fact, it was the first real peaceful day in weeks; the raid at the warehouse at least made that summoner lay low. No, I sent you something I thought you might be interested in. If you want we can look over it now."

 

I didn't see my pad anywhere. "Grex, fetch me my pad please."

 

I was stiff now, and I wasn't about to move.

 

Grex went into the bedroom silently, found my pad, and brought it back; had I left it in the bedroom? I must have, right?

 

I didn't think I did. "Grex, were you using my pad?"

 

"No," he replied, but I could tell there was more there. 

 

"Has anyone else been using my pad?"

 

"No," he replied again, with the exact same inflection.

 

It was clear he didn't want to say what was going on in mixed company. Cords for his part flashed Grex a very nasty smirk. Very odd, I thought Cords was afraid of Grex? Did he get over it that quickly? Even odder, Grex stayed silent about it.

 

Well as long as they weren't actively trying to kill each other, I didn't really care. I unlocked my tablet to find the message from Cords waiting for me, and time stamped for when I was asleep. Inside it were pictures. Pictures of the warehouse - the original walkthrough with evidence collection, before everything was taken out.

 

One of the shots clearly showed a lack of anything resembling gasoline barrels where Karen had told me she found the remains of several stacked. The others all showed stuff I hadn't seen yet.This was major.

 

"Isn't sending these to me illegal?"

 

Cords shrugged. "You're cleared to see them, so I thought why not?"

 

Translation: it was, and I wasn't just misremembering.

 

"Don't worry about it," Cords told me with a smile. "It's only illegal if you get caught. So, what does shot three show? I didn't recognize that symbol."

 

Shot three showed a shot of a glyph that acted as an appeal to a demon lord directly... usually used as a sort of suck up title to get a demon to grant the writer power. And the demon being addressed was the lord of lies himself; never let it be said our perpetrator didn't have an ego.

 

"An appeal for power from Lucifer himself; our perp thought pretty highly of himself."

 

Cords whistled. "Straight to the top, huh?"

 

It might explain much. "Well rogues are normally a solo lot; they don't work well with others. But this guy was strong enough to summon multiple demons and command them for weeks. Whatever appeal he made, it seemed to have been answered and then some. There was even some talk of this being the work of a small coven, but this evidence seems to support lone kook more."

 

Though how he got all this take out I was seeing in photo five was beyond me; from what I saw of him just five minutes in the open air would have had every concerned citizen calling the cops or us directly while running as quickly as they could in the other direction. So there was a support network somewhere.

 

The question was, how big and would they try anything? Could they spring him from maximum security? Could they hide him if they managed it? It must be hard to hide crazy, especially crazy with the rampant taste for Chinese this guy obviously had.

 

"What about this one?" Cords asked, bringing up another photo.

 

The picture was a good glamor shot of what looked like a silhouette of an angel... if angels were female. A succubus or eriynes? Under the silhouette (which appeared to be painted in blood) there was writing, and that was far less clear. I didn't recognize the language.

 

"I don't recognize that at all, or the writing."

 

"Well I do. The writing is German, kind of. 'Long live the queen'. I don't think it's referring to the queen of England."

 

I decided it was past time to get up. I suppressed the groan - mostly - and managed to get upright.

 

"You okay?" Cords asked with a wary eye; I was pretty sure he was plotting how he was going to catch me if I fell, which was silly. I hadn't staggered that much.

 

"I feel alright, just the full body bruise making itself known."

 

I snagged my notebook and started writing notes on the points of interest in each photo. Cords looked on.

 

"You know, I originally just sent you these so that you could clear your name." He finally said around photo fourteen.

 

"Maybe, but if the barrels just appeared there we need to know how. If someone was giving this summoner Chinese food while he was killing people we need to know who and why." This rabbit hole was much deeper than first appeared, and we needed to find the bottom.

 

"A good point," Cords admitted reluctantly. "But I don't think the summoner with a head injury should be the one doing the police work."

 

"Maybe, maybe not." I couldn't admit that I couldn't trust anyone else to do it; not even him.

 

I wanted to know the truth, the whole truth... I had a feeling these photos and files would be buried at management's earliest convenience. And it would probably be past my clearance, like the locked and warded file cabinet in the dungeon was. It might even be already since the writing here was German; anything dealing German summoners and German methods were usually classified as a matter of course.

 

There was probably good reason for that; as disgusting as these runes are (even removed from context) I could already see new ideas or possible new ways of doing things from them. Even knowing what they were it was dangerous... blasphemous. As if the architecture, the mere structure of the designs were changing how the world looked... or how I thought.

 

Cords caught my shudder. "Yeah, me too the first time. You get used to all the bodies... kind of."

 

I blinked; yes the bodies were bad, people caught, tied up so that they faced each other, and tortured slowly to death or sacrificed so that those next in line saw their own fate and the demon or demons could feed on their fear - but the geometry of those designs was nothing dreamed by mortal minds or painted by mortal hands. No wonder the summoner responsible was well beyond simply crazy.

 

But still, that was a lot of bodies, in various stages of deconstruction. Very bloody deconstruction. I was thankful my Dad had sort of immunized me to sights like this one... but it was still angering at a deep level.

 

"Have the victims been identified yet?"

 

"No. They are all... sort of mixed together with their fingerprints removed. The only hope right now is DNA, and that could take weeks."

 

Weeks without the families knowing their loved ones were dead... but they probably knew. I really hoped they didn't know how; this summoner and whoever supported him had much to answer for. 

 

"I really want to find out who gave this scumbag Chinese food. A gulag would be too good for them."

 

Soviet gulags were notorious. It was literally the worst fate I could think of before death. After death was my fate of course, which matched that of the crazy summoner in our lockup, but it was more than I could hope for on those collaborators.

 

A few finger taps and the collage of photos settled themselves into a pieced together image of the entire room in miniature. Nothing immediately jumped out at me... but wait.

 

Why were there so many circles? Even with multiple summonings, there should be at most two or three; any summoner worth their salt would re-purpose and reuse a circle before making another one, just because it decreased the risk of making potentially lethal mistakes. But this warehouse had been just littered with circles.

 

Something which went contrary to the lone summoner vibe I was getting from all other sources. Had he really been just that crazy?

 

"You okay?" Cords asked. I realized I had been staring into space for a good minute or two.

 

"Yes, I'm fine. Just thinking."

 

"Yeah, well that's enough of that then, you should be recuperating rather than solving the mystery. So let's find something nice and mindless to do for awhile."

 

What? "We huh? Don't you need to get home? It's getting a bit late."

 

The way Cords shuffled around and scuffed his left foot against my floor like a little kid wasn't endearing at all, and I'd swear that in a court of law. "Well I thought I could stick around for a little while, and we could do something. Not like that! Just maybe watch a movie or something."

 

I stopped giving him the evil eye. "Fine, for a little while. But I'm not playing any board games. I've seen how those movies end."

 

"Yeah, no. No board games. No movie?"

 

"Not really feeling it, I've been stuck watching TV all day. How are you on racing games?"

 

"Bad. I don't play video games."

 

Well, he couldn't be better than me then. "Time to learn. Don't worry, I'm bad too. I just haven't had much time to play."

 

"Yeah, that kind of fits."

 

Now, what was that supposed to mean? Cords was trying pretty hard to stick both feet in his mouth tonight.

 

"What do you mean by that, Cords?"

 

"Oh nothing, it's just that you don't seem to do much outside of work. I keep asking, but you don't just hang out much outside of work."

 

"That's because you ask me to go bowling."

 

He mock glared. "Bowling is a perfectly acceptable sport! Besides, you're free to make a counter-offer."

 

Were we really doing this now? I booted up the game system more to buy time than play. "I know. But this... all of it even just hanging out with the cops, it just all feels slightly wrong, you know? As if it's all not quite real, and I'll wake up or something, and be me again. The old me. Does that make any sense?"

 

Cords didn't even miss a beat. "To me? Not at all. I can't know what you're going through. I can admit however that I like you. I've only known current you, and I like her. I'm willing to wait until you figure it out; the best things in life are worth waiting for."

 

Wow, he had met my gaze without a blink and he hadn't even stuttered the delivery; that was some top tier smoothness. So of course, it worked, and I fumbled up starting the game, twice.

 

"Thank you for that."

 

"Sure, no problem. I said it mainly so I could show up drunk off my ass at 4 am and smelling like cheap perfume and you'd still let me crash on your couch."

 

I couldn't stop the laugh. "If you do that before I'm healed, no jury in the world will convict me."

 

Cords grinned. "That's the spirit; now show me how this thing works."

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a computer expert, Cords was crap at games. I mean, I'd expected at least some competition on one of the games we played - but he wasn't. I wasn't God's gift (heh) to gaming by any standards, but I beat him at every game we tried. I would even have suspected him of throwing, if he wasn't equally as bad when fighting people online and clearly angry about the fact, though he showed none of it with me.

Even now the memory of last night was a nice one. Girls weren't good at video games, my snowy ass. I stretched carefully; there was less pain this morning, but everything felt tender.

Well, less pain everywhere but my head, but I could deal with it. As long as there was no blood or CSF on my pillow, and there wasn't, I was in good shape pain or not.

The television was on, and on the nature channel. "Grex, why are you here?"

"Your protection of course. Why wouldn't I be here?"

"Didn't I tell you to go home?" I could have sworn I had.

"No, you did not." Grex replied as I finally made it to the living room.

Well, that was clear - no room to twist the truth in that statement. "Fine."

It wasn't like it really mattered; Grex could stay out for a week by this point and it wouldn't drain me. But that wasn't the real concern; but while he was in a truthy mood...

"Did you do anything I wouldn't approve of last night, had I known about it?"

"I neither left the apartment nor took any action you would disapprove of. I stayed here in your apartment and watched television. I did pace, twice; exactly twenty-seven steps. I also took the liberty of making myself some tea. I trust you do not disapprove? You have not before."

"I do not disapprove."

Grex rose and swiftly moved, his hands supporting me, and I realized I'd been leaning against the doorway for a little too long.

Soon enough I found myself laying on the couch. This wouldn't do - I needed to get some exercise in before I went nuts. Maybe when the pain meds kicked in. Yeah, that sounded like a plan. I'd go jogging later, without swinging my arms.

"Wait, we didn't move last night, did we? We're still..."

Grex picked up the verbal ball I dropped. "On Earth, yes. Your will never wavered, even while you dreamed."

Good to know.

"Alight, go make me coffee and breakfast under the usual rules and stipulations."

I had no idea if an order like that would work, but I did know a nice ritual to test my food with.

Grex stared at me piercingly a moment, then shrugged. "You're getting lazy, my Mistress. See that you do not before others; I hear and obey."

Well, that was two parts ominous and one part creepy - a step up from the usual half and half.

"Right, I'll be less lazy when my head stops hurting." Now, why did I try to play for sympathy against a being that literally has none? My brain was more scrambled than I thought.

Breakfast came back, and I tested it while Grex looked approvingly on and declared me "Not entirely devoid of sense."

The food, drink, cutlery, and plates all came up devoid of contaminants or poisons of any kind, so I saluted Grex and downed the coffee.

Success, I didn't immediately die.

I changed the channel and smiled when Grex growled at me. He needed to learn all about the ancient aliens anyway, and that one dude with the wild hair was always funny. Demons were really aliens, indeed.

Soon enough Grex and I were both laughing. "This is what passes for scientific rigor among humans now?" He asked me.

I wiped tears from my eyes. "Only the stupid ones."

"So, I suppose I should take you to my spaceship then, take you for a ride to the outer planets, perhaps?"

That would be amazing. "You know, I'd like that. Can you pull it off?"

Grex pondered that a moment. "I could take you to an outer planet. That is if you wish to go. Such an effort would drain me, however, and your continued survival would be up to your own power; there are limits, even for our kind."

Well, that was out then, there was no way I'd survive a journey to those planets as a tender little human, even jumped up as I was. Cracking concrete with my head was one thing, but crushing interstellar forces were quite another thing to survive.

"I guess we better leave the vacation home on Saturn alone then, at least for now."

I was kind of tempted to abuse my power and see if I could glimpse the future; I already knew the past and future was off limits personally, as I could affect the flow of time but not the direction of it. But there had to be a way to manage to see the future.

"Hey, Grex."

Grex looked over from where the wild-haired guy was giving another 'maybe it was possible' example of ancient aliens being demons, the wide smile still on his face. "Yes, my Mistress?"

"Has anyone ever figured out how to read the future with our powers?"

Grex's smile slid from his face. "I wondered how long it would take you to ask; I must say I expected this question before now."

Great. "Glad to prove I'm an idiot. What's the answer?"

"The answer is no, none have been able to discern the future with our power thus far, though there have been no shortage of those who attempted the task."

Then there was a good chance my approach wouldn't work. Whatever approach that was. Leaving dilated notes to myself wouldn't work, for example, because time would only slow around the note after it was written; I could only change the flow, not the direction. The best I could do at the moment was speeding up my own reactions or stopping time completely. Perhaps a combination of the two? No, at best that would lead to post-cognition and not precognition.

Would post-cognition be worth it? Would it implode the world if I found out about something through writing myself a note rather than simple investigation? Would it cause a paradox somehow? Sometimes I hated my power; it sucked because trying to figure it out broke my brain. I guess it was a plus that I cared. Actually, come to think of it....

"Grex, why don't you do any of this? The things I'm thinking of; if you did the war would be over, reality itself would probably implode or the Earth would vanish or something; isn't that something you demons want?"

Grex sighed. "The end of all existence is not something we desire. We simply desire the death of humanity."

Right, the whole 'we hate you because God loves you' argument. Familiar ground between us, by this point. "You really need to stop holding us responsible for the mind of God and get over it."

Grex showed me his teeth. "You ask the impossible, Mistress. However, I will admit you are more... tolerable company than the pathetic poo-flinging primates you associate with."

I showed off my own teeth right back at him. "Gee, thanks."

Grex nodded gracious acceptance of my feelings. "Besides all that, most of us, myself included, don't do self-sacrifice. It is one of the many foreign ideas which fascinate us about humanity."

Good to know our capacity to suicide by demon surprised him; it certainly surprised me.

Well, whatever. I levered myself up carefully. "Time to be doing something then Let's go for a jog."

Grex replied immediately. "I do not think that is one of your better ideas, my Mistress."

His look alone told me how good an idea he thought it was. "It should be fine unless I ram my arm into a wall or something. I'm not going to sit here on the couch and let my butt go flabby; I worked too hard to get into shape."

Grex's answer was as dry as a desert breeze. "I think you can go without jogging a few weeks, follow your doctor's advice, and try not to aggravate your injuries. Unless you feel now is a good time to heal our way?"

It wasn't a good time for that, and he knew it. With Karen and Cords showing up here at least every other day, I had to appear as normal as possible. Well, as normal as possible for a summoner at any rate.

It was a bit off-putting that no one from my team had come to visit me, but I would survive.

I went into my bedroom to change, shutting the door in Grex's face. Putting on my jogging suit was a chore; normally I wouldn't even use the darn thing since a t-shirt and pants served well enough, but it was easier to just pull the jogging pants on with one arm.

The sports bra one-handed took far longer than I'd hoped, but I managed... mostly.

A little bit of jogging in place to test things, and I felt... weird. I opened the door to find Grex literally standing up as if he had been pressed against it and moved him out of the way. My debit card and my keys went into a pocket (Because of course who would buy a jogging suit without pockets?) and I was ready.

I made it as far as the lobby; my surroundings started spinning in a slow yet grand manner. The wonderful smell of specialty coffee drew me off my normal beaten path to the lobby shop; that was my story, and I was sticking to it. From the looks of things, Grex already knew anyway.

At least he didn't say anything more than: "Perhaps a walk?"

That actually sounded like a decent compromise; a walk did not pose the same risk of slamming my brain into my skull that jogging seemed to, or whatever was going on. More brain damage I did not need, I was already stupid and crazy enough.

I finished my coffee, threw away the empty, and was on my way. The outside air was clean and fresh, the birds were chirping, even the squirrels were up to their usual antics. I watched one get run over by morning traffic; there was undoubtedly a moral in there somewhere, but I'll be darned if I knew what it was.

The lack of robe made a difference; I got a few stares, but the public at large didn't exactly avoid me. At least some of those stares were lust filled unless I missed my guess, but I didn't hang around to check; I had nowhere to be at the speed of light and Grex probably did something to make sure the amorous minded didn't pursue. But then again, he wasn't getting many stares either, so maybe he was behaving himself.

The entire walk would have been better if I'd had a destination, but an hour of aimless walking was probably enough to keep me from falling apart at the seams. I wasn't about to try the normal army PT calisthenics anymore.

Then I realized I'd forgotten my phone, and headed back. The sun was bright and hot and I really should have put on some sunscreen; I knew that since boot camp I tended to burn instead of tan. Perhaps it wouldn't be that bad. Perhaps if I did burn, the burn would heal like everything else. I did not see any sign of my new nemesis, the demon angel.

Once back in the safety of my apartment I plopped on the couch. My phone had two missed calls and one text, and I sent back texts to assure my Mother, Father, and Cords that I was fine. As I finished that, my phone rang, and wonder of wonders, it was Sarah.

"Hey Snow, sorry about not checking in earlier but we've been busy here and Cords told us you were fine. How are you holding up?"

"Going stir crazy of course, but other than that and a little vertigo this morning I'm fine. How're things at the office? No one else on sick leave, are they?"

"Quit worrying, everything is fine. The Captain has us all busy patrolling and helping out with looking for professor Crazy's confederate, but no one else has gotten hurt since you. The cops injured in the explosion are mostly fine, minor injuries all around, and we haven't seen a demon since you were attacked."

"Professor Crazy?"

I could hear the half-hearted shrug over the phone. "That's what we nicknamed the perp we caught since he keeps raving in German or Polish or whatever. None of us can really make heads or tails of it, and that includes those of us who speak the language and the translators. We haven't been able to make an I.D."

"That's a shame. I forwarded my own thoughts to Karen, but I don't think I'm supposed to talk about them until I'm cleared by I/A."

"Yeah, don't worry about it, I just wanted to catch up and see how you were doing for myself. If I have time later, you mind if I stop by?"

Even better. "Not at all, I'll be here. Already got my exercise and now it's paid couch potato time."

"Lies," Sarah laughed. "you don't know how to relax. Alight got to go; no promises, but I'll try to show up later."

"I'll make coffee just in case. Talk to you later."

She hung up. And now we played the waiting game. The waiting and thinking game, while watching crazy television.

Where could a relatively sane and sane looking summoner accomplice go? If the subject was a summoner too, why had no new demons popped up? Sarah did offer me new information - there was no way the perp in custody had the presence of mind to tie his shoes, let alone mastermind anything like the attacks we had suffered; they were too neat, the timing too perfect. whoever had planned it had known how we did things at the ADTF.

I doubted we summoners had a mole, that just made no sense at all and would be too dangerous besides, but maybe a former ADTF, from here or another city? What could possibly be the motive? A former summoner, one whose contract had ended but still knew the rules? There weren't many of either, to be honest, and all of those that were still alive were on file; all former personnel were made to register upon the end of their 'career' and tracked until the end of their days. Knowing who was in town was only a few mouse clicks away on the secure work PC's.

It would have to wait in my case of course, and I had no doubt that others were already working this. This wasn't even my first time thinking it, and I was hardly a genius. But there was something else to consider; access files. I would be very interested to see the log of who has accessed those files recently, and if there were any deletions. There weren't supposed to be, but cops were kind of notoriously not tech-savvy.

Sometimes cliches were based on truth.

I wrote all my observations down... in code. No sense getting fired or worse for apolitical opinions. Then I got desperate for something to do again, something to take my mind off things.

"Grex, go get the board games."

We were on our second game of Monopoly when someone knocked on the door.While Grex went to answer the door I fought my temptation to tinker a bit with my board position. Things were not going well.

Cords was in the hallway, a handful of posies in one hand and a vase in the other.

"Monopoly? Really?"

I shrugged. "Not much else to do. Grex, make some coffee please."

Grex reversed course silently with a sour look on his face.

Cords didn't notice. "Heck with it, deal me in."

"I'm not sure I can just deal you into a game already in progress."

"Then call this one and start over, I want to play too."

Now that I could do. "Grex, you officially won game two!" I started resetting everything as he came back in.

"Thank you, Mistress," He called back.

"Hmm, you are the thimble and Grex is the car... I'll take the top hat then." Cords plunked the counter down.

There was another knock on the door. "Grex answer that please."

The new visitor was Sarah, who stopped short upon seeing Cords sitting on the couch."Cords? How did you get here so fast?"

Cords leaned back, nonchalant. "I broke a few traffic laws. How about you?"

Sarah's eyes narrowed as she smiled. Something was up. "Same here actually, but last I knew you hadn't clocked out when I left. Seems you still got it, or something."

"Something like that; I wasn't aware you were on your way here or I'd have offered you a ride. Well, that or bummed one; I'm all about saving gas money and the environment."

Sarah Shrugged. "Your loss. So, monopoly?"

I had to confess. "I know It's lame, but it seemed like the thing to do at the time."

"Deal me in, I'll take the shoe."

I fished the shoe out of the box and put it at the start while Cords counted out the money. Hey, if he wanted to play bank I wasn't going to argue; less work for me.

Grex came back and sat across from me on the floor, Cords took my right and Sarah pulled up a chair to my left. We rolled to see who would go first, and Cords won, which meant I'd be going second.

As he rolled I asked: "so anything new going on with the case?"

Sarah shook her head. "Not a thing since this morning; we're still looking for the accomplice. Oh, and Charles is back on the job, healed and ready to go, so that's something. Helps with the manpower crunch at least."

That was good news. "Any new demon attacks?"

Sarah shook her head. "Not a one; not even a sighting. Whoever the accomplice is they don't seem capable of summoning demons themselves for whatever reason."

"Probably doesn't have another base; it can't be easy for them to set up a place to murder a dozen people or more without anyone noticing, especially us. There was something off about that warehouse; hopefully, we can piece together what it was."

I felt the sting of rebuke there. "Sure, blame the victim for the explosion."

His indignant sputter was more than a little amusing.

"Snow, that was mean," Sarah chided, with the grin she sported hinting at her true feelings.

I was smiling, at least until Cords put a handout. "Pay up."

I'd just landed on one of his properties. One of the more expensive properties in the game.

That was pretty much how the game went; I would never be able to live out my dreams of being a real estate baron or a rich mogul. Not only did I not win, I came in last behind people who hadn't played Monopoly in years.

After my brutal smashing, I begged off any further embarrassment in favor of sleep and Grex happily kicked my guests out the door. Sarah eyed him on the way out and gave me the hand signs for summoning a demon; essentially telling me to de-summon him. She was probably right considering he'd been out all day. I did have to figure out what Grex's problem with me having company was.

"Alright Grex, clean up and then go back to your home; I'm just going to go to bed."

Grex bowed deeply in response, as he liked to do when others were watching. "As you command my mistress."

A little odd. More than a little odd really, but a quick check with all my senses revealed nothing and no one out of the ordinary. So the only audience Grex was playing to was me.

I snagged my water on the way, threw my stupid jogging suit (that I'd never changed out of) onto the floor and jumped into bed. By climbing in carefully, of course.

I'd just settled in when I realized something. If the summoner was in jail he was in a very public place. Would the wards put in place to stop demon attack stop an angel attack? Did the angel read the paper or watch local news? If the angel was as up to date on current human advancement as Grex was, then there could be trouble.

Words failed me for a moment as I shot upright, but I found them. "Grex, veni huc!"