Page 2 of Higher Demon

He hesitates. “I dunno, man. At least I can prevent these people from being able to summon demons again. Yours are going to ask stupid questions forever.”

I stare glumly at my shoes. “Were we ever that dumb? I feel like this might be punishment for stuff I did years ago.”

I can tell Matt shrugs even though I can’t see him. “Punishment, maybe. But we weren’t ever that dumb. I think. Maybe we should ask Gabe and Con.”

Wistfully, I imagine how nice it would be to visit our older brothers for a while. They’re both settled in Illinois, running the newly established compound there and coordinating the archive search and reconstruction happening around the world. I could get a room at Mannix Estate, the haunted hotel my brother’s boyfriend runs, and spend some time with my family and friends. I even miss Uncle Norval sometimes, now that he lives mostly there. I never thought I’d miss a nosy ghost.

But that’s not going to happen. Not now, anyway. Maybe this summer. “You know they’ll just tell us we were the worst,” I reply to Matt. “Even though it’s not true.” Matt and I were awesome teenagers.

He makes an agreeing noise. “So what did you tell them? About the Wi-Fi,” he adds. Just as well, because I had no fucking clue what he meant.

“I told them class was dismissed early and to get the fuck out of my sight. And now I’m calling you for help. I can’t do this again, Matt. Not unless we want me arrested for a killing rampage.”

“How’d you get roped into it, anyway? I don’t think you said.”

I shrug, even though he can’t see me. “Fucked if I know. The Education Committee sent me an email saying they thought it would be a good idea for trainees to know more about the otherworld. That seemed innocent enough, and even reasonable, so I said sure, I’d be happy to answer questions. And next thing I know, they’re sending me a class schedule and asking for a curriculum.”

Matt laughs. “Sucks to be you.”

“You suck,” I retort, and even I know it’s weak. “Stop being a dick and help me.”

“Just tell them you can’t do it anymore. Say you’ve got too much else on your plate. You’re the leading expert on the otherworld, so it’s kind of true.” He pauses. “That’s so weird. You’re an expert.”

“Tell me about it,” I mutter. That’s something else that happened when I wasn’t paying attention. “This is so fucked-up.”

“Adulting is hard. Let’s run away and join a circus or something.”

I snort. “We have no talents… unless the circus starts summoning demons, in which case we’d need to shut them down. And there goes our new life.”

We’re both silent for a second while we think about that.

“So what are you going to do?” Matt asks finally.

I sigh. Hard. “Come back next week for another class.” Dammit. “Maybe I’ll tell them there’s a version ofSurvivorin the otherworld that was made especially for demons and spirits.”

My brother-friend laughs. “You can’t do that.”

“Why not? It’s not like they can go there to find out I lied. And trust me, none of this lot is smart enough to be trusted with talking to an ambassador.” Not like me. Damn my stupid smart brain.

“Not anything like we were, then,” Matt says, echoing my thoughts. “Thoughsomemight argue that the only reason we have responsibilities is because we met Marc before he became ambassador.”

I grin. This is one of Matt’s sore spots, and what kind of bestie-brother would I be if I didn’t rub salt in it? “They’re not completely wrong about that.”

“I hate you so much.”

“I mean, c’mon, Matty. Think about it. We were twenty-one and hadn’t even finished our training, but they let us join the archive review team.”

“I didn’t stay on that team,” he reminds me. It’s true. While it turns out I have a talent for ferreting out puzzle pieces and matching them together—and sniffing out the suspicious, someone-messed-with-this parts—Matt got so bored, we thought he’d developed narcolepsy, and he was reassigned within a few months.

“That’s true. But you did keep your unrestricted access to the ambassador from the otherworld.” It sounds fancy when I say it like that. Truth is, Marc, the higher demon who’s the main liaison between worlds, is such a pain in the ass that nobody can stand him. The council—and the Collective as a whole—was thrilled to be able to palm him off on two barely adult hunters whenever they could. Shame on them.

“Weearnedthat,” Matt insists hotly. “We not only fought in the battle between worlds, we helped coordinate the resistance efforts! Besides,” he adds, “nobody who’s spent five minutes with Marc would consider that a bonus. The jobs we’ve got, we earned.”

I can’t argue. We’ve worked damn hard since the day we learned about the plot to merge the worlds and end life as we know it. We swore then that we’d root out the rotten elements in the Collective that let the whole thing happen, and we’re still at it. A thousand years of corruption isn’t easy to change, not even when there’s a higher demon on hand to tell us point-blank what parts of our teachings are wrong.

A light bulb goes on in my head, and I groan. “I’m such an idiot.”

“You are,” Matt agrees immediately. “But tell me why quickly. I need to get back to the cultists before they decide ‘don’t summon a demon’ means they can summon two instead.”

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