Page 42 of Two Who Live On

Nothing about this woman’s appearance held demonic features. There was usually something obvious or even subtle that gave a demon away, aside from the black blood and eating people. It was part of why witches with certain augmentation or bestial branches had to carry waivers of identification. Gael’s spikes didn’t resemble any demon of public record, yet those possessing non-human features would fall under suspicion.

Although, this woman possessed nothing altering her appearance. No elongated ears, no tucked tail based on the skintight dress; since she wore her hair in a tight high bun, it was easy to note she lacked gills on her neck or horns on her head. Milo might’ve stated it definitely wasn’t a vampire to his boss, Enchanter Campbell, but I couldn’t think of a single known demon with entirely human features aside from vampires. Was it a devil inhabiting a human host? I trembled. No. Not possible. If one had surfaced, even Milo wouldn’t sit so casually observing without a trace of fear in his mind or body.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Ellie rushed toward Milo, no longer keeping a quiet distance. “I thought you said we were only supposed to observe, not engage.”

In a matter of seconds, Lena had gotten up while the mystery woman paid the tab, and the pair walked together toward the exit.

“I did.” Milo cracked his neck and followed with Ellie. “My guess is we’re dealing with a succubus or siren. Each can compel with words or contact.” He wasn’t able to narrow it down since the woman had whispered kind nothings and delicately touched the others she sent away before doing the same to Lena and convincing her to leave. “They can also augment their appearance to be aesthetically pleasing to any audience.”

Really? I didn’t know that.

Milo and Ellie exited La Maison de l’Infini, and he held her back momentarily.

“Your only job here is to release the demonic casting she’s done, lock her in place, and keep your eyes open for other threats.”

“Understood.”

“I’m serious,” Milo said. “No banishment until I assess the situation.”

“If we’ve got the demon, why can’t we—”

“Because she’s not hunting alone,” Milo interjected.

His reasoning was fuzzy, like it came from something deep and guarded, but he’d seen this type of targeting and pattern before. A demon used to lure and capture prey for a bigger, scarier monster. He needed to ensure the demon puppeteering these killings was banished more than the deadly smaller threats.

Tossing off his earrings, Enchanter Evergreen took form, and he followed the demon leading Lena through back alleys.

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Milo kept distant, tracking with his sensory root, which the demon couldn’t obscure her presence from, while he had Ellie maintain distance on the rooftops. The danger with demons—aside from their insatiable appetites and need to constantly feed to keep a foothold in the human plain—was, like wisps and fiends, they could sense and sniff out all magic nearby. Unlike their lesser forms, they could ignore magical energy in the atmosphere, not snapping jaws at any and every whiff in the air, and they were quite keen at making note of magic directed toward them. As such, Milo kept his clairvoyance off her and his sensory subtle and soft.

When they’d reached a less populated part of the city, the plan was ready. Milo waited for Lena to spring to realization, which came down to Ellie’s branch. I clamped my jaw so tightly it roused me into a groggy half-sleep state, nearly awakening. But I couldn’t. I had tostay completely focused on Milo’s mind, his plan, and the danger he threw himself in to protect the city.

He kept a close eye on each of the young acolytes’ potentials during this mission. Whether because I slept, the evolution of my branch, or the closeness Milo and I had achieved, I saw his clairvoyance in action. My heart hitched, stunned by how our magics synced so seamlessly. The futures themselves still alluded me, cloaked and shielded, but I glimpsed Milo’s branch as he utilized it.

A white map filled with thousands of colorful lines weaved alongside and through each other like an overlapping maze or roadmap or both. Each color, an infinite spectrum of shades and brightness, represented a different life, different future, different potential. Their crossed paths meant opportunity or fateful chance or things I couldn’t comprehend. Some lines snapped off and ended shorter than others, but different paths for that same potential lifeline glowed with the possibility for a different outcome.

Milo fixated on the pale yellow, representing Ellie, perhaps. He was currently less concerned for that one’s outcome, though still watchful on the ways it’d interwoven with an indigo line. A line he prioritized with each step he took. That was Lena’s potential futures. It had to be. There were so many directions each of their lines went, Ellie and Lena. How Milo sorted them out among the tens of thousands also here at the moment while also glimpsing the futures and keeping ever present in the now, I had no clue.

His thoughts, his consciousness, seemed to trail alongside the potential paths where Ellie and Lena’s futures intersected more than those where their fates divided. He’d picked each of them knowing full well they didn’t know the other, not really, not truly. Two very different acolytes who hung in different circles and worked different cases. Still, Milo wanted to make sure he hadn’t jumped the gun when requesting them for this case, make certain those interactions,whenever and however, would remain viable. It was hard for him to predict because the indigo lines became fainter the longer Lena spent with the demon woman on her arm. The demon’s presence veiled all of Lena’s potential either from demonic energy interference or because she’d cut Lena’s futures off here and now.

“Now,” Milo shouted, turning the corner.

The demon shifted, eyes glimmering with golden flecks under the moonlight. Light which a shadow loomed above as Ellie leapt from the building rooftop. She waved a hand, key in her grip, and Lena’s eyes widened as a fog lifted.

“Acolyte Novak, fallback.”

Obeying Enchanter Evergreen’s order, her bubbles fizzled, popping in the air between her and the demon that’d compelled her. Ellie landed on the opposite side of the demon, which was now in an alleyway between two towering buildings and three guild witches.

“Lock her down, Acolyte Reed.”

“On it.” Ellie swung her arm. Moonlight shone against the large metal key used to support her branch magic. “Lock, lock, lock.”

Bones cracked. Muscles stiffened. The demon paused. Acolyte Reed possessed a powerful warding magic that allowed her to seal things when directing her casting at them. From doors to body parts, there wasn’t a thing she couldn’t lock in place, which was exactly why Milo chose her. A branch that wouldn’t intrigue the demon hunting for prey yet could contain it with ease.

“You think your pathetic branch can hold me?” The demon twitched, her aura glowing black and demonic energy devouring the magic trapping her in place. In an instant, she raisedboth her arms. Outstretched fingers grew long and far—slender talons elongated and deadly—ready to pierce Milo, Lena, and Ellie.

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