safe, that she couldn’t have done it without
you there.”
Nicholas grinned. “Thanks for the props, but it wasn’t all me. Aurora did
a hell of an acting job. I’m just glad it’s over. I’m not too eager to try our
luck at one of those meetings again…not anytime soon, at least.”
“So, I assume Lucas mentioned what I wanted to tell you guys,” Nicholas
said, turning to me.
“He did,” I replied.
“And you didn’t rush me the second I got through the door, tackle me to
the ground and threaten to beat me up if I didn’t tell you, like , yesterday.” Nicholas was joking
with me, but I could barely force a smile.
Seeing my expression, he immediately apologized. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying
to make you feel bad. I was just teasing you because of your enthusiasm about
everything. I thought for sure you’d be more excited about this.”
“Don’t apologize,” I said to Nicholas. “It’s me being funny about it. I’m
just nervous. But of course I want to know!”
“Yeah, we all do,” Lucas added. “I can get some pillows for us to sit
on,” Lucas offered Nicholas. “Afraid I’m all out of furniture.”
“Floor’s fine with me.” Nicholas sat down cross-legged on the opposite
side of the room. Lucas did the same.
“So since I’m hanging around with you guys for awhile, I thought I should
try to get some paid jobs,” Nicholas said. “The agency I work for back home is
affiliated with Lucas’ agency, so it was no problem to let me do some hunting
while I’m here.”
“Last night, I got a call for a routine job,” Nicholas continued. “Some
asshole demon was possessing a human and had killed the human’s husband.
Normally, I’d take the opportunity to send a demon back to Hell even if he wasn’t causing problems. I really don’t
know how these demons justify possessing innocent people.”
“Anyway, I’ll get off my soap box. Suffice to say I’m not a demon fan,”
Nicholas said. I glanced over at Lucas, who was smiling and shaking his head.
“But this one last night had killed once and would likely kill again, so
I had to act fast. I had him tied up and was ready to pull the demon out and send
him back to Hell. He was begging me to let him stay on earth. I wasn’t even
listening to what he was saying – they all beg so you learn to tune it out. Then,
just as I was about to extract the demon-“
“How do you extract a demon?” I interrupted Nicholas.
“Oh, I forget you guys aren’t familiar with this stuff. Okay, so we have
this really handy device that looks like a long tube; the only trick is you
have to get it positioned at the right angle in the possessed person’s mouth.
It’s a demon vacuum. Once extracted, the demon gets trapped inside, you say
some words in Latin, and back to Hell he goes.”
“That’s really cool,” Henry commented.
“It made our jobs a lot easier once someone invented it. Unless the demon
has just completely trashed his host’s body, the people are usually still alive
while they’re possessed. The demon vacuum is painless for them,” Lucas
explained. “Once the demon’s out they’re in control of their body again.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I just had to ask, especially since, well… I was possessed before I died.”
“I know what happened with that, too,” Nicholas said. “I’ll get to that
part in a minute. I had started to tell you before, just as I was about to
finish off the demon, who was screaming like crazy, something he said caught my
attention.”
We were all leaning forward, hanging on Nicholas’ every word. “The demon
said that Lord Leon had become an even bigger tyrant since learning about the
living dead girl.”
“Who is Lord Leon?” Henry asked.
“The current ruler of Hell,” Nicholas replied.
“Like the devil?” Henry looked confused.
“I asked the same question before,” I told Henry. “Apparently it’s a
constant power struggle down there. There’s not a devil that runs the
you there.”
Nicholas grinned. “Thanks for the props, but it wasn’t all me. Aurora did
a hell of an acting job. I’m just glad it’s over. I’m not too eager to try our
luck at one of those meetings again…not anytime soon, at least.”
“So, I assume Lucas mentioned what I wanted to tell you guys,” Nicholas
said, turning to me.
“He did,” I replied.
“And you didn’t rush me the second I got through the door, tackle me to
the ground and threaten to beat me up if I didn’t tell you, like , yesterday.” Nicholas was joking
with me, but I could barely force a smile.
Seeing my expression, he immediately apologized. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying
to make you feel bad. I was just teasing you because of your enthusiasm about
everything. I thought for sure you’d be more excited about this.”
“Don’t apologize,” I said to Nicholas. “It’s me being funny about it. I’m
just nervous. But of course I want to know!”
“Yeah, we all do,” Lucas added. “I can get some pillows for us to sit
on,” Lucas offered Nicholas. “Afraid I’m all out of furniture.”
“Floor’s fine with me.” Nicholas sat down cross-legged on the opposite
side of the room. Lucas did the same.
“So since I’m hanging around with you guys for awhile, I thought I should
try to get some paid jobs,” Nicholas said. “The agency I work for back home is
affiliated with Lucas’ agency, so it was no problem to let me do some hunting
while I’m here.”
“Last night, I got a call for a routine job,” Nicholas continued. “Some
asshole demon was possessing a human and had killed the human’s husband.
Normally, I’d take the opportunity to send a demon back to Hell even if he wasn’t causing problems. I really don’t
know how these demons justify possessing innocent people.”
“Anyway, I’ll get off my soap box. Suffice to say I’m not a demon fan,”
Nicholas said. I glanced over at Lucas, who was smiling and shaking his head.
“But this one last night had killed once and would likely kill again, so
I had to act fast. I had him tied up and was ready to pull the demon out and send
him back to Hell. He was begging me to let him stay on earth. I wasn’t even
listening to what he was saying – they all beg so you learn to tune it out. Then,
just as I was about to extract the demon-“
“How do you extract a demon?” I interrupted Nicholas.
“Oh, I forget you guys aren’t familiar with this stuff. Okay, so we have
this really handy device that looks like a long tube; the only trick is you
have to get it positioned at the right angle in the possessed person’s mouth.
It’s a demon vacuum. Once extracted, the demon gets trapped inside, you say
some words in Latin, and back to Hell he goes.”
“That’s really cool,” Henry commented.
“It made our jobs a lot easier once someone invented it. Unless the demon
has just completely trashed his host’s body, the people are usually still alive
while they’re possessed. The demon vacuum is painless for them,” Lucas
explained. “Once the demon’s out they’re in control of their body again.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I just had to ask, especially since, well… I was possessed before I died.”
“I know what happened with that, too,” Nicholas said. “I’ll get to that
part in a minute. I had started to tell you before, just as I was about to
finish off the demon, who was screaming like crazy, something he said caught my
attention.”
We were all leaning forward, hanging on Nicholas’ every word. “The demon
said that Lord Leon had become an even bigger tyrant since learning about the
living dead girl.”
“Who is Lord Leon?” Henry asked.
“The current ruler of Hell,” Nicholas replied.
“Like the devil?” Henry looked confused.
“I asked the same question before,” I told Henry. “Apparently it’s a
constant power struggle down there. There’s not a devil that runs the
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