Chapter Three

Jake

“Aunt Zelda, wake up.” I tried to turn her face so she’d look at me. Maybe if she saw me, she’d snap out of it. It didn’t work. Her skin was cold and clammy. Was she in shock? I didn’t think so. She was ice cold and frozen in place. I glanced back up to see Bane standing too close to Meena. What the hell was he doing?

“We don’t want anything to do with you. We’re not involved in any of this, and we’re leaving.” The only way to deal with assholes was to lay down the law. “All five of us are going.”

“Five?” The demon pointed at Meena and me and counted out loud. “One, two. What sort of strange new math are you doing?”

“Us.” I pointed back and forth between myself and Meena. “Plus Goblin, Zelda, and Carol.”

“You don’t understand the rules, do you?” Bane said. “Carol is mine because she summoned me under the misinformed belief that she could control me. As you can see, she was wrong, so now I control her.” He snapped his fingers and Carol appeared on the couch. She wore a thick metal collar around her neck.

“What’s going on?” She grasped at her throat. “No.” She yanked at the metal, trying to remove it. “No. You can’t do this.”

“You summoned me and tried to keep me in that pathetic demon trap, so I changed your entire house into a human trap.” He laughed like he’d made a clever joke. “The metal collar isn’t specifically necessary but I think it’s a nice touch to remind you of who your new master is.”

Wide-eyed, Carol glanced around. “You don’t understand. Zelda just wanted to get a message to you, so you’d know she had no idea what Brant had planned. We didn’t call for you, we called for one of your inferiors, hoping he’d pass on a message.”

“And that’s why your demon trap was so weak?” Bane seemed skeptical.

“Yes,” Carol said. “We weren’t trying to trap you. I would never try to hold you. You’re far too powerful for a demon trap.”

“But you have captured my underlings.” Bane pointed at the jars of swirling silver goo.

“Only when they came after me,” Carol said. “I never attack, I just defend myself. You know that.”

Was she trying to play to Bane’s ego? I wasn’t sure it would work.

“So the trap was weak because you wanted to speak with a lesser demon.” Bane tapped his finger on his chin like he was thinking. “That’s far less insulting.”

“I’ve never tried to enspell you in any way,” Carol said. “How many years has it been? I’ve only ever tried to steer people away from you.”

“Have I mentioned how annoying that is?” Bane moved forward, towering over her. “I’m going to look into your mind. If you fight me, I’ll know you’re lying.”

Carol paled and nodded.

What does that mean? Look into her mind?

“Stand,” Bane commanded.

Carol pushed to her feet. She trembled as Bane moved closer. He placed his hands on either side of her face. His thumbs rested right below her eye sockets. Every movie I’d ever seen where a guy gouged someone’s eyes out ran through my mind. Some basic instinct in my head screamed at me to grab Meena and run.

Blue light flashed in Carol’s eyes. She sucked in a breath, like she meant to scream, her eyes rolled back in her head, and her body went rigid. After a few minutes, Bane released her, allowing her to stumble-step back to the couch where she sat, heavily.

“You’re telling the truth,” Bane said. “How unusual.” He laughed. “Although, you must take some blame for using abysmal judgment.”

“Now that you know she’s telling the truth,” Meena said, like she thought Bane could be reasoned with, “why not let them go, and we can forget this ever happened.”

Wow. She was either really naive or way too optimistic.

He turned to Meena. “I don’t understand. I saw your interview in her mind. You’re here to clean? Why?” His tone became way too slick. “You could have anything your heart desires. Anything at all. All you have to do is ask.”

“Your tricks won’t work on her,” I said. “She’s smarter than that.”

“Silence,” he barked at me, and when I opened my mouth to respond, nothing came out. I tried again. No sound. Zero. Not a squeak. Panic rose up inside of me.

“Please,” Meena said. “Can’t you just let this go? Let all of us go?”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Bane said.

“Well, we didn’t summon you. We want nothing to do with you. You can’t keep us here.” She crossed the room, grabbed my hand, and pulled me toward the door.

I tried to argue that we couldn’t leave my aunt but nothing came out.

“Come on.” She yanked harder. “We have to go before we accidentally agree to something we’ll regret for the rest of our lives.” She glanced back at the cat. “Goblin, are you coming with us?”

“I can’t leave her.” He jumped onto the couch and sat next to Carol.

I could tell Meena was about to argue with the cat-man. She was right…if we stayed we ran the risk of accidentally doing something that would allow Bane to dig his claws into us. I opened the front door and shoved her onto the porch. We slid through something that felt like fog and then we were outside in the normal world.

“What are we going to do?” Meena asked.

I opened my mouth and…nothing. Damn it. I pointed toward her car. We had to get out of there. We had to regroup. We needed to figure out how to fight this thing. And I needed my voice back.

…

Once we were in the car, Meena sped down the street to the two-lane roads which led to my aunt’s house. Dust clouded the air. “Jake? Can you talk?”

I opened my mouth and tried to rant about what a giant cluster of a mess this all was, but no sound came out.

“Damn it.” Meena wiped at the tears running down her face. “I don’t know what to do.”

I pulled out my cell and searched for a text-to-speech app. I found one, downloaded it, and typed in a message. “It will be okay,” came out in a robot voice.

Meena laughed. “You have to be terrified.”

I typed in, “I’m angry. Guess that nasty tea didn’t work. How can Bane be so powerful?”

“I’m a little behind in my demon knowledge. We’re going to dig through your aunt’s store until we find the information we need.”

I wanted to believe her. None of this made sense. Twenty tense minutes later, Meena parked in front of my aunt’s house. We hurried out of her car and I unlocked the front door. Once we were inside, I threw the dead bolt and set the house alarm. Now what? I went over to the section of New Age books. Meena bypassed those shelves. “I doubt she’d keep the important books up front.”

We went into the storage room and I approached a bookshelf, hoping my aunt had been lying about the hexes.

“Jake?” I spun around at the sound of my aunt’s voice. A cloudy projection of her stood behind me. “I’m using astral projection. You can talk, Jake. The demon made you think you couldn’t. You need to let everything go, Jake. Forget about today. Focus on the good. Breathe in hope and light.”

What in the hell did that mean?

“How can we help you?” Meena asked.

“There.” Zelda’s spectral form pointed to what I’d thought was a closet door. “Go there.” And then she disappeared.

“You heard her, Jake. Believe you can talk and you can.”

What kind of dumb-ass Disney logic was that? Then again, I didn’t have a better idea. Okay. I could do this. I believe I can talk. I opened my mouth and…nothing happened…again.

Of course it wouldn’t be that simple.

Whatever. We could fix my voice later. I walked over to the closet and moved the boxes stacked in front of it. Hopefully, there was some type of anti-demon gun inside. I opened the door but I didn’t find a weapons stash, I found a room with floor to ceiling bookshelves, a blue couch, and a bar. I knew where I wanted to go first. I headed for the bar.

“Seriously?” Meena threw her hands up. “You think a drink is a good idea right now?”

My mom’s third husband had a thing for whiskey, which I had learned to appreciate. If I was supposed to let go, or whatever Aunt Zelda had said, it might help.

I texted: “It will help me let go.”

“She said you were supposed to focus on the good. Alcohol is not good.”

It’s not like I planned to get howl-at-the-moon drunk. “Got any better ideas?” my cell phone asked in its stupid robot voice.

“She said you needed something good, something hopeful, maybe something that could lead to good things,” she said. “I have an idea.”

“What?” I texted in robot speak.

She walked over and placed her hands on my shoulders. Standing on tiptoe, she hesitated and then she leaned in, pressing her mouth against mine. It felt natural to wrap my arms around her and pull her close. She was softness and light and hope.

Too soon, she pulled away. Looking up at me with wide brown eyes, she said, “Please tell me you don’t want a pageant girl.”

“A what?” I said…out loud…not with some stupid app.

“You did it.”

I pulled her in for another kiss. My heart was racing when she backed up a step. Wait a minute. “Did you only do that so you could help me get my voice back?” Because I wanted to kiss her again.

“No.” She blushed. “I hoped it would work, but that wasn’t the only reason.”

“Cool.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“You never answered my question,” she said. “Girls like my sisters have big hair and wear high heels. I’m more of a bookworm who likes flip-flops.”

“That works for me,” I said.

She grinned. “Good. Now let’s see what we can find to help Carol and your aunt.”

“I need a notebook,” I said.

“Why?”

“Diagrams and lists help me figure stuff out.” Meena probably didn’t need things like that, but that’s how my brain worked. I scanned the room and spotted a yellow legal pad and pens on the bar. After retrieving them, I sat on the couch. “What do we know about Bane?”

“He’s a powerful, scary demon,” Meena said. “And he talked about rules. We need to know what the demon rules are.”

“According to movies and television, Crossroad demons give people whatever they want and then they collect their souls as payment.”

“We don’t know if any of that is true.” Meena scanned the bookshelves. “Television demons are all about fire. Bane gives people frostbite.”

“True.”

She chose a half dozen books and carried them to the coffee table in front of the couch. “These were grouped together at eye level. The rest of the books are shelved by topic like they do at the library, so I bet these are the books your aunt used the most.”

Made more sense than anything I would’ve come up with. I grabbed a book called The Evolution of Demons and started reading. If I came to something interesting I wrote it down.

Fifteen minutes later, Meena sucked in a breath.

“What?”

“Not that I thought about this a lot, but I always believed demons collected souls and gave them to Lucifer or used them for some sort of currency.”

“Those are the television rules,” I said.

“According to this book, demons don’t collect souls, they eat them.”

“So people who trade their souls for whatever stupid thing they think they need end up becoming demon snacks?”

Meena nodded. “Feeding on souls is what keeps demons alive. If they are locked up and deprived of food, they turn into that swirling silver goo Carol keeps in jars.”

“That’s disturbingly interesting, but how does any of this help us rescue my aunt and your boss?”

“I have no idea,” Meena said. “Let’s find the demon rules, so we can see if there’s a loophole.”

I skimmed pages in my book until I found a section on making deals. “People have to sign in their own blood when they want to make the deal.” I kept reading. “When the contract comes due, the demons track them down by the scent of their blood.”

“Or just their human scent,” an unwelcome voice said from the doorway.

I jumped to my feet and put myself between Meena and Bane, who had somehow snuck up on us despite my aunt’s alarm system. “How did you get in here?”

He laughed. “You got your voice back.”

“I did. Now get out. You weren’t invited inside.”

“I’m not a vampire. I go where I want.” He shot across the room in a blur and snatched the book from Meena’s hands. “You’re reading about demons? I’m flattered.”

…

Meena

“Don’t be,” I said. “We’re figuring out your weaknesses.”

“I am power incarnate. I have no weakness.” He reached out and touched my hair. “Although I do admit to a few fetishes.”

“No touching.” I scooted away from him while Jake moved around me, blocking Bane’s access to my hair.

“Why are you here?” Jake asked.

“I determined that your aunt wasn’t aware of Brant’s treachery.”

“Good,” Jake said. “Let her go.”

“It’s not that simple,” Bane said. “A deal must be struck.”

“No deals,” Jake said.

“Fine, I’ll keep your aunt frozen until you feel like talking.”

Bane wanted something or he wouldn’t be here. “If you expect us to strike a deal, we need to know the rules. And the rules must come at no cost to us. Just you sharing information because you want us to understand.”

“That takes some of the fun out of it.” Bane leaned around Jake so he could look into my eyes as he spoke. “I’ll fill you in on the rules if…you let me play with your hair.”

“What?” I couldn’t have heard that correctly.

“I like your hair.” Bane gave a wolfish grin. “I want to run my fingers through it.”

“Get out,” Jake said.

A wave of power blasted through the room, knocking books off shelves. “I wasn’t bargaining with you. I was talking to Meena.”

This would go downhill quickly if Jake kept coming to my defense. Maybe I could use Bane’s deal-making ways against him. “Jake, thank you for trying to protect me, but I think Bane just wants to touch my hair. If I let him do that then we can get your aunt and Carol back. Is that right?” I asked.

Bane laughed. “Nice try, but I’ve been around for ages. You won’t trick me so easily.”

“It was worth a shot.” I reached for Jake’s hand. “Sit next to me. He can touch my hair. If he tries anything you can punch him.”

Bane snorted like the threat of being punched meant nothing, and it probably didn’t, but Jake sat beside me, so we were making progress.

“Tell us the rules,” I said.

Bane reached out and placed his fingertips on my temple. Power flowed over my skin like cool water. He closed his eyes as he slid his fingers through my hair. His nails grazing my scalp sent goose bumps down my arms and made me shiver.

“The rules,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

“Zelda and Carol both sought to contact me. Their demon trap was a joke. Now that I know it was meant for lesser demons, I’m not nearly as offended… Still…they should have known better. They’re both within my power. I can do whatever I want with them, but I am not unreasonable. I asked if either of them wanted to make a deal. Ten years of freedom before I came to collect. Neither accepted, so now, instead of working against me, they work for me, which means you work for me, too.”

“Like hell I do.”

His hand stilled. “You signed a contract with Carol. She works for me, so now your contract is with me.” Bane slid his fingers through my hair again.

I didn’t love his logic but didn’t have a good counter argument. I needed him to stop touching my hair because even though he was terrifying, he had some sort of demon mojo going on. The more he touched me, the closer I wanted him to be. I let out an involuntary sigh.

“Meena.” Jake’s voice reeked of irritation.

“Sorry, this is making me sleepy.” Hopefully he’d buy that. Time to focus. “How will Carol work for you?”

“She’ll categorize my contracts and keep track of everyone’s due dates.”

He made it sound like people were pregnant. “Who does that for you now?”

“Demons who would rather be out collecting their own souls. It makes sense to employ humans to do menial jobs, because most of them aren’t good for much else.”

Good to know he had such a high opinion of us. Then again maybe he’d underestimate me and I could get out of this mess. For now I’d play along. “So if she’s doing your paperwork, where does that leave me?”

“I think I’ll put you to work in human relations.” The way he said it made it sound creepy.

“Define human relations.”

“Even though I am a stunning individual, most humans find my appearance off-putting. You can run errands for me, like you planned to do for Carol, and I won’t make you clean anything.”

That didn’t sound terrible. “What about Zelda?”

“When she’s performing séances she can steer individuals toward me.”

“You want her to set people up to sell their souls?” I didn’t know Zelda well, but that didn’t seem like something she’d do.

“You’re a smart girl. Try to view this situation in a non-demon-biased manner. Humans who are desperate will find a way to get what they want. If they come to me, I can cause the least amount of disruption in other people’s lives. If a woman wants to get rid of her cheating husband but can’t afford to leave him, I can convince him to file for an amicable divorce. Then he can move on to whoever he’ll be with next. It’s better than the woman hitting him over the head with a frying pan and going to jail for murder.”

When he put it that way… “Okay, but Jake and I will be exempt from any soul-stealing deals. Right?”

“Of course.”

“Okay then. You can stop touching my hair.”

Bane gave a slow smile and leaned in closer. “I could.”

My heart beat faster. What was wrong with me? I took a deep breath. “Let me rephrase that. Stop touching my hair.”

“Fine.” He leaned back against the couch. “There are benefits to this situation. You’re under my protection. No lesser demons can hunt you now.”

“Lesser demons weren’t hunting us in the first place,” Jake said.

“Please, Jake. The same demon who took your father has been waiting for you to take the bait.”

Jake’s mouth dropped open for a moment before he blurted out, “A demon ate my father’s soul?”

“He was desperately in love with your mother, and she never even noticed him. So he made a deal.”

Jake paled. “That’s why he died when I was nine?”

“He had ten happy years and then his time was up. That’s more than most people get,” Bane said.

“What happens…” Jake swallowed hard. “In the books, it says you eat people’s souls. What happens to them? Do they suffer?”

“While we’re eating their souls they suffer, but it only lasts a few minutes and then they’re gone.”

“So there’s no eternal hellfire?” Because that seemed to be the common belief.

“Despite all the stories you’ve heard, we have nothing to do with heaven or hell,” Bane said. “We simply exist and feed the way we always have.”

“Sort of like soul-sucking vampires?” Jake said.

“Not a flattering description,” Bane said, “but if it helps you understand, you can think of us like that. Your aunt will be home soon.” He held his hand out and a delicate silver cuff bracelet appeared in his palm. “Meena, this is for you. When it becomes cold you’ll know I have work for you to do and you should go to Carol’s house.”

I didn’t reach for the strange gift. “Can’t you text me?”

“Would you prefer a collar like I gave Carol?” His voice had gone from charming to threatening.

I plucked the bracelet from his palm and slid it on my right wrist. A shot of cold ran up my arm, making me shiver. Blue light flashed, and the opening that had allowed me to slide the bracelet on my wrist disappeared, turning the bracelet into a solid metal band. “What the hell?”

“I wouldn’t want you to lose it,” Bane said.

Claustrophobia hit me. I fought the urge to try and tug the bracelet off.