When Doc left that evening, he seemed cheered. He had a few ideas to bring to the coven tomorrow. Protection spells against Satan. Enchantments to keep me strong. I had a feeling that nothing we tried would work, but I figured let’s go through the motions anyway.
Erasmus returned after dropping off Doc. Now that things were decided, I was strangely calm. I suppose it was the suspense that was killing me.
“May I…stay tonight?” Erasmus seemed hesitant. Maybe he thought I wanted to be alone. But I turned a smile on him instead.
“I’d like that.”
“Oh. Then…I’ve been wondering something.” He walked slowly around the perimeter of the room. He was used to doing that. He liked staying in the shadows. But I could tell he was thinking deeply about something. “If…if I were a mortal, we would simply be a man and a woman.”
“Yes?”
“And as I understand it, a man and woman…court. Or as you would quaintly put it…date.”
It was my turn to look a little dumbfounded. “Uh…You want to go on a date? With the world crumbling around us in a cannibalistic mess?”
“It might be our last chance.”
That sobered me. Yes, he was right. It might very well be the last time I could.
“When I interrupted you and your constable,” he went on, “you were dining.”
Demon logic. What did they care if the world was ending? “Okay. Yeah. But you don’t eat.”
“And yet I can drink.”
Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we— “You know what? Sure. Why not? I mean, I can’t sit around, right?” I looked at my watch. “I think we have just enough time to catch the last seating at the café. Let me just slip upstairs and change.”
He had the look of a man who got what he wanted but suddenly didn’t know what to do with it. I got up the stairs and threw open my wardrobe. A dress? It was a date, so why not? Something not too elegant. And a little jewelry to set off my…amulet.
I stared at it in the mirror. It wasn’t exactly romantic, that demon face with its tongue sticking out, and those red jeweled eyes. My hand went to it. Warm, as always. Maybe it had essence of Erasmus in it. After all, a demon’s amulet was a part of them. When I snatched it off his neck three weeks ago—God, it seemed like longer—he was sort of put in my power. I could summon him, and it would protect me from him. But now it was more than that. It was part of him in a fundamental way.
Shabiri’s amulet must be the same, the one Doug wore with the green jewels to match her eyes and that streak of green she wore in her long, dark hair. She was a different sort of demon than Erasmus. She wasn’t attached to anything, far as I could tell. Except her amulet.
The amulet wasn’t what I would call pretty. It was ugly, in fact. But now that Erasmus and I were…involved…I kind of…liked it.
Should I put my hair up? I experimented, lifting my brown, shoulder-length hair up behind my head. No. I didn’t have it in me to go to that much trouble.
I added some dangly silver earrings, then remembered at the last minute that demons shied away from silver and exchanged them for gold earrings, and trotted downstairs.
He looked me over. “You’re displaying your legs.”
“It’s a dress. Don’t you like it?” I gave a little twirl.
“I have not seen you wear this sort of thing…except when you were with your constable.”
“It’s for special occasions.”
He merely raised a brow, but I could tell he was pleased.
I drove him to the Moody Bog café, still checking the skies for flying Baphomets. We both hurried inside. I was still hungry, but at least it wasn’t for human flesh. I’d have a little bite while Erasmus…wouldn’t.
We were seated by the window, and once Erasmus sat, he looked around. “Are all these mortals similarly occupied?”
“You mean on dates? Maybe.” I scanned the room. Older couples who were probably married, groups of friends my age, one or two who might be on a date.
“What is the purpose of dating?”
I looked up from my menu and moved my water glass closer. “Well, it’s a ritualized way for contemporary couples to get to know each other.”
“And then have sex?”
I nearly spit out my water. I coughed, clearing my throat and finally setting my water glass down. “Uh, sure, in some instances. But I think the majority are in it for developing a longer relationship, leading to marriage maybe, which is a legal bonding of two people.”
“Why?”
“Because human beings are social animals and we like to pair up, live life together, have children.”
“Ah. Procreation. But a marriage bond does not seem biologically necessary to this.”
I scooted in closer and leaned toward him so that others couldn’t hear. “It’s a cultural thing, an agreement to support each other, both emotionally and financially. It’s expensive having children.”
“So when you were dating your constable, was that your intention?”
I took another sip of water, then toyed with the glass. “I don’t know. I was only just getting to know him.”
“When I interfered.” His eyes were blazing coals. He was proud of that. It pissed me off for a second, before I saw his side of it.
“If I had been set on him, you couldn’t have interfered.”
That took the glow from his gaze. He sat back, somewhat diminished.
“Besides, I wasn’t looking to settle down yet. I had just gotten over a bad relationship—Jeff, remember? And I’d just started this new business, new everything.” Which might well be over before it’d begun, if I couldn’t get out of this somehow. But instead of wallowing, I looked up at him and smiled. “So what does it tell you that I’m here with you instead of him?”
He thought about it, brows dug deep into his eyes. I saw the moment the light bulb went off and he offered a tentative smile. “You chose me?”
“Yeah, you big idiot.”
His smile faded. “But…why? Why would you choose a demon over another human?”
“Who knows? Just crazy I guess. Let’s order. I’m hungry.”
I got us a bottle of wine, and I asked for the lobster roll. And then we were left to stare at each other. I eyed that duster jacket that he absolutely refused to take off (unless we were in bed). Leaning an elbow on the table, I rested my chin in my hand, and smiled. “Tell me about this get-up.”
“Get-up?”
“This outfit. That jacket you’re rocking. Surely you weren’t dressed like this in Babylonian times.”
He looked down at himself and fingered his lapels. “These clothes are only a reflection of the era. In Babylon, I wore a tunic like everyone else.”
“So wait. Are you saying your clothes are like…mood clothes? They pop up with the times? Are they an extension of you? Literally?”
“Yes. I merely think them and they take form around me. I take it the same is not true of mortals.”
“No. We have to clothe ourselves with woven material or, I guess, animal skins made to our shapes. You’ve seen me wear different things. I changed only a few minutes ago.”
“What you wear to sleep is different from your day wear…”
“You mean you didn’t notice before?”
“I noticed tonight.”
“Yes, you did. Points for you.”
A hint of smile formed at the corners of his mouth as he fidgeted with the napkin in his lap.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen when this is all over,” I said, robbing him of that burgeoning smile, “but my plan is to save you too when the Booke is destroyed. I think I’d like to pick this up where we left off. If I survive, that is.”
“I don’t understand.”
The waitress appeared with the wine and two glasses. She opened the bottle, let me try a sip, and then poured more for each of us. After she’d disappeared, I noticed that Erasmus was still staring at me.
“I mean, when the Booke is gone, and you’re free, we could…continue this.” I gestured between us.
“What makes you think any of that will happen?”
I picked up the glass by its stem and gazed at the jeweled light through the wine. “If it doesn’t, then we should enjoy this time together now. While we can.”
When he lifted his glass, I reached over the table to clink mine to his. He gave me one of those “Are you insane?” looks, which made me laugh. “People do that. They clink glasses to toast each other. To celebrate.”
Cautiously, he clinked his glass to mine. “This seems foolish.”
“Just drink your wine, Erasmus.”
* * *
He wasn’t much of a conversationalist. I mostly asked him questions, but he wasn’t very good at elaborating. Comparing him to Shabiri, who was all narcissism all the time, I’d say that demons were as unique as humans. I figured that maybe he wasn’t elaborating because he only had the barest minimum of experiences. While Shabiri got to live her life as a demon 24/7, Erasmus was a prisoner of the Booke, only allowed out and about for a couple of weeks every hundred years or so. That would put a crimp in anyone’s knowledge base.
As we drove home, I was a little buzzed from the wine and happy about the companion beside me. “Do you ever wish you were as free-wheeling as someone like Shabiri?”
He rolled his eyes. “I have no ambitions to be anything like her.”
“I don’t mean be like her. I wouldn’t like that at all. But…freer. To come and go.”
He mulled it over and sighed just as we pulled into the parking area in front of the shop. He spoke carefully, slowly. “I have never cared before. Now I do. As long as it involves you.”
“Wow.”
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No. No, you said exactly the right thing.”
We left the car and when I reached for the door, it unlocked and swung open with a mere wave of Erasmus’ hand. I moved first to go in when a strange prickling started at the back of my neck. And then a powerful hunger stabbed at me so deep that I stumbled, grabbing the door frame. It wasn’t as bad as before but still very noticeable.
I twitched my hand and the chthonic crossbow came to me. Erasmus sniffed the air, on alert. I was ready to make for the woods when a car pulled up. I quickly hid the crossbow behind my back, and a good thing, too.
“I’m sorry for coming over so late, Kylie.”
Reverend Howard of the First Congregational Church of Moody Bog got out of his car and stepped into the porch light, highlighting his white, wavy hair in a halo. His smile was as laidback as Doc’s. “I hoped you were a night owl— Oh. I seem to be interrupting a…date?” He got a strange look on his face, but that was because I had told him recently I was dating Sheriff Ed. Oops.
His expression switched gears—must be the parson part of him—and he put out his hand to shake anyway. “I remember you from Kylie’s dinner party,” he said politely. “Howard Cleveland. And you’re Erasmus Dark, Kylie’s friend from California.”
Erasmus stood stiff as a board, hands behind his back, and stared at the offered hand. “I remember you,” he said curtly down his nose.
Reverend Howard glanced down at his own hand and let it fall to his side. “Well…I just came by to… How do I put this? I’ve been worried about you, Kylie.”
“Oh?” Surreptitiously, I maneuvered the crossbow behind my back to Erasmus’ hand where I’m sure he promptly vanished it. “Where are my manners? Won’t you come in out of the cold?”
“Thanks.” We got out of his way. While I turned on some lights, Reverend Howard walked over the threshold and said, “You know, I just can’t get over how nice and homey this shop is. Of course, you live here, too.”
“Yes.” I shed my coat and hung it up. “It’s too bad there isn’t room upstairs for more of a living quarters. Can’t escape work this way, but I think it will do. Would you like some coffee? Tea? Erasmus can—”
“No, he can’t,” muttered Erasmus.
“No, thank you,” said the pastor. He sat down and clasped his hands together. “I’ve been hearing some strange rumors.”
“Really? About what?” Sitting opposite the reverend, I leaned in, straightening my skirt. Erasmus occupied himself by making slow circuits of the room, always in the shadows.
“Frankly, odd things. Your neighbors have been reporting strange sounds and lights over here.”
“They’ve been reporting it to you?”
“Well, people are scared, what with what happened to the Warrens and some of our other townsfolk. It’s putting them on edge. And, well, when something can’t be explained, they tend to come to their pastors.”
“I can assure you that we’re fine over here. No, uh, strange stuff.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “They’ve been saying some pretty wild things, I have to tell you. Seeing zombies and flying beasts. I just don’t know what’s gotten into the water around here.”
“Wow. That is weird. What do you suppose is behind it?”
“It’s near Halloween. Some folks start to get a little religious fervor this time of year. They wonder about letting their children go Trick-or-Treating, as if it’s some sort of devil-worshipping. I do my best to tell them it has nothing to do with that, but people will be people. I know there’s also teens who get up to mischief, scaring people on purpose. The sheriff’s got to have his hands full this time of year.”
“That must be weird for you. Counseling people that it’s their imagination.”
“It is a little. I mean grown people having these fancies.” He glanced over his shoulder toward Erasmus. “People saying they’ve seen demons. It’s crazy, isn’t it?”
“The very definition of insanity,” said Erasmus smoothly.
“I suppose a lot of it has to do with the Wiccans. Folks think that…well. You can imagine.”
“That we’re having nightly rituals?” I fake-laughed as my gaze slid toward the faded chalk pentagram in front of my fireplace. It was covered with a rug now, since Doc had said that the spell had pretty much expired. But I knew that Reverend Howard had seen it when we first chalked it and had remarked none too politely about it, too.
“You know how people talk. I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Nothing weird going on here, right Erasmus?”
He fiddled with his fingers for a bit before he was able to form an “OK” sign with his hand. It was not reassuring.
Reverend Howard stared at him. “All right.” He got up and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “You will let me know if there’s a problem of any kind, won’t you? Villages are funny places. It’s tough to win some folks over. But I think you will. Eventually.” He smiled and shook his head. “I felt pretty foolish coming over here, I have to say. But you’ve both been nice about it.” When he looked at Erasmus, the demon tried to smile and it was just as bad as his “OK” sign.
“I’ve interrupted things enough. I’ll go now.”
“Oh, do you have to?”
Erasmus growled behind me but I ignored him.
“You’re being too nice.” He reached the door and opened it. “Have a good evening, you two.”
I leaned on the doorjamb and watched him get into his car. When he started it up, I closed and locked the door.
I couldn’t sense the wendigo’s presence anymore. Dammit!
“It’s gone, isn’t it?” said Erasmus into my ear. I could feel his warmth at my back.
“Yes. Unfortunate timing of Reverend Howard.”
“I don’t like clergymen.”
“Is it the holy water?”
“Some of it. And some is their need to interfere.”
I peeked out the curtains to watch him drive away. “I bet they interfered plenty with Constance Howland.”
“If she had not committed suicide, they would surely have hanged her.”
I let the curtain fall and turned to face him. “Humans must seem strange to you.”
He stood stiffly, hands behind his back. “They don’t know what they want. In each age, they view themselves as sophisticated and enlightened. But in the end, superstition takes precedence and their violent natures always overwhelm their intellect.”
“That’s a pretty bald statement.”
“It’s true. I’ve seen it play out for thousands of years.”
“Sadly, I believe you.”
We stood looking at each other…until he moved first, slowly closing the distance between us. “We’ve dined,” he said in a sultry tone. “We’ve talked. What else does one do on a date?”
“I think you know perfectly well.”
“Do I?” His smile was feral for only a moment before it softened. He touched a tendril of my hair and twirled it gently around his fingers. “I must confess. I have been intrigued with that very large, very solid table in your kitchen.”
I laughed. “You are a naughty demon, aren’t you?”
He didn’t waste any more time on talking, getting in close, and sliding his arms around me. When he kissed me, it was gentle at first. I could tell he was holding back. But the promise of that kitchen farm table was playing big in my imagination too, and so I returned his kisses just as his heated up.
We kissed and moved together, groping our way through the scant light to the kitchen. He could see perfectly well in the dark, but I fished around the wall for the light switch. He was worth looking at.
The light flicked on and he smiled. He pulled me in to cover my mouth again, running his hands up my back…and down to grab a handful of my backside. I wriggled, rubbing against him, gratified at the growl that rumbled up his throat. He kept holding me tight as I tried to release my arms to push his jacket off and get in a few good gropes myself. He ignored how his jacket was hanging low on his shoulders—it was as far as I could get it—and his hands found my bosom and began unbuttoning the front of the dress—before he stopped.
Someone was knocking urgently on the damned front door.
“Beelze’s tail!” he swore. “These villagers!”
“I have to see what it is.”
Erasmus let me go and slapped his hands on the table. He hung his head between his shoulders.
I straightened my clothes, fixed my hair, and opened the door.
“Ed?”
Sheriff Bradbury scowled, looking more morose than angry.
“Ed, what’s happened?”
“A couple down the block. We were called about a domestic disturbance. Turned out…they were…”
He suddenly paled and it looked as if he might faint. I grabbed his arm, pulled him over to a chair, and pushed him in it. He dragged his Smokey Bear hat off his head and clutched it in his hands. “Jeezum, Kylie.” His voice was uneven. “There was blood everywhere. They…they ate each other. I mean literally ate each other…like cannibals.”