Page 20 of Higher Demon

My bestie looks at me and shrugs, clearly bowing out of the conversation.

“Are…” I hesitate, not sure how to say this. “Are you lonely?” Jesus Christ, what am I going to do if he says yes? Offer to hang out more often? I don’t think he’d enjoy video game night with cheap beer and the kind of pizza that’s mostly grease and would make Italians shudder. More to the point, if he was there, I don’t thinkI’denjoy it. From the way Matt’s eyes widen, he wouldn’t either.

“Lonely?” Marc manages to make the word sound like an expletive. “I hardly think so.”

“So why, then? Because it seems to me like you don’t actually want to make friends.”

He stares at me. “Do you listen when I speak?”

What? “Uh… I’m listening right now, aren’t I?”

“Are you? I wonder. If youwerelistening, you would have heard when I said, just a moment ago, that I need to do this for the sake of the truce and ties between our worlds.”

My face gets hot as it all clicks together. Hedidsay that. I got so stuck on the whole “friends” part that I missed the bit where he’s doing this to foster peace and goodwill.

Oh no.

“Shit,” Matt says, echoing my thoughts.

“Yeah… we probably should have handled today differently, then.” I’m suddenly very aware of how many times my phone has vibrated in my pocket. I ignored it, assuming it was probably complaints from irate parents, and maybe from the school too, but now… damn. Those people are not going to want to befriend Marc.

He cocks his head slightly. “Oh?”

“People aren’t going to want to be your friend after you told their kid the oxygen he breathes would be more useful for a being with higher intelligence than him—like an amoeba.”

Matt laughs. “Oh shit, really?”

Marc sniffs. “That boy didn’t even know what an amoeba is. The insult went so far over his head, he couldn’t have seen it with a telescope. I doubt he complained to his parents.”

“I’m sure he did,” I counter as Matt’s laughter continues. “He might not have understood the words, but the tone was pretty clear.”

“Was it the ‘how dare you dirty my presence, you human turd’ tone?” Matt asks.

“I beg your pardon?” Marc asks. I ignore him.

“No, it was the ‘you’ll regret it if you force me to sully my shoe by stepping on you, insignificant human who must die’ tone.”

“Explain immediately,” Marc insists, using that very same tone and making Matt snicker.

“It’s nothing,” I assure him. “One time we got drunk right after you’d been on a rampage at… someone. Do you remember who?” I ask Matt.

He shrugs. “Dude, I’m lucky I remember anything at all about that night.”

“Yeah.” That was a lot of tequila. “So anyway, we were drinking, and I was whining about how people were going to bitchmeout becauseyouwere a rude asshole, and somehow that turned into us giving names to the various tones of voice you use when you’re talking to humans.” I consider it. “Maybe you use them when you’re talking to demons too. I wouldn’t know.”

He’s arrogance personified as he looks down his nose at me. “I certainly don’t change anything about myself for the benefit of humans.”

I nod. “Good to know. So… you’re kinda fucked then. We’re all fucked.”

“I don’t like the turn this conversation has taken,” he informs me.

“That happens sometimes with your friends,” Matt tells him, then shudders. “Ugh, I got a chill just saying that.”

I’m grateful that he’s not planning to leave me to deal with this on my own, but on the other hand, there’s no way I would have let him. Our bestie-brother bond demands that we back each other up through the tough times, and this… this is going to be tough.

“We’re friends?” Marc asks disdainfully. “Since when?”

Case in point.

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