Page 5 of Higher Demon

That’s… not what I was expecting him to say. It does sound appealing, though. “Go on.”

He spreads his hands. “That’s it. Fifteen humans, all in a room. They’ll say some shit that’s so ridiculous, it’ll make your teeth ache. And then you get to tell them that.”

Definitely too good to be true. “And you’re doing me this favor out of the goodness of your twisted little human heart?”

The widened eyes and innocent blinks would give away the scam even if I wasn’t suspicious. A good actor, Ian is not.

“Why else would I be doing it?” he protests. “Are you trying to say I don’t have a good heart? That I don’t value the hard-won bond we’ve formed enough to do nice things for you?”

I just look at him.

“Fine. I got roped into teaching a trainee class about the differences between Earth and the otherworld”—as always when he calls my homeworld that, I try not to flinch—“and some of the questions I got today made me want to go on a killing spree. Since that would be bad, I thought I might let you?—”

“Go on the killing spree for you?” Now that could be interesting.

Sadly, he shakes his head. “No. No, no, no. No killing. There will be no killing.”

Too bad. “What about a little light maiming?”

Chapter3

Ian

Staring at Marc,I wonder if this was a big mistake. I mean, I know it was, but maybe it’s bigger than I’d realized.

Oh well. Not the first time I’ve fucked up and had to roll with the consequences. Like the time six years ago when my parents were being all “You’ve got a higher demon on your side, so us teaming up with one isn’t so bad.” I got so furious that they were comparing them plotting toendthe world to us trying tosaveit that I gave Marc a big old kiss right there in front of them. Kissing demons isnotsomething we demon hunters do.

“No maiming either,” I say firmly. “These are all kids. Yelling and name-calling would be okay.” As long as I’m not the one doing it. When the parents inevitably complain, I can be all “whoops, I didn’t know he’d be such a colossal douchenozzle,” even though of course I did. Because heisa colossal douchenozzle. He still thinks we should just get over the fact that he nearly killed my brother. Sure, Connor can be a pain in the ass, but I’d miss him if he was dead.

Marc being picked as the demons’ ambassador to the Collective was both good and bad. Good, because we know him and know that he was at least committed to not seeing the two worlds combined and thus destroyed. Better the devil you know, right? But it was also bad because he’s an ass, he tried to kill Connor that one time, and did I mention what a total dick he is?

Is it weird that I kinda like him anyway? Not, as he pointed out before, that we’re friends or anything, but I guess we might be frenemies. If there has to be a demon liaison on Earth, he’s probably the best option.

“Just to be sure I understand the situation correctly,” he says in that total stick-up-his-ass, I-think-I’m-better-than-you way, “you’re supposed to teach a class—was nobody else available?”

“Hey! I’m a good teacher.” That’s a total lie. I couldn’t teach a rug to lie flat.

He quirks a brow mockingly. “Of course you are. And what was the subject, again? The differences between here and Crmærdinesgh?” He puts the tiniest inflection on the true name of the otherworld, and my face gets hot with embarrassment. I know what it’s called, and most of the time now I use its name when I’m talking to people. As the resident expert on the place, it’s kind of an obligation. But I know my pronunciation is shit, so whenever I’m talking to Marc, I chicken out. Which is so rude, because that’s his home I’m “othering.”

“Yeah” is all I say.

He scoffs lightly. “And they thought you’d be the best person to teach that?”

I’d be offended, but… yeah. “I’m kind of the expert right now, since I’ve been going through the archives and correcting misinformation.” Correcting it with the information he gives me. So if he’s fucking with us all, I’m just teaching fairy tales.

Marc shakes his head. “That’s like reading a recipe book and calling yourself an expert on cooking.”

Okay, now Iamkind of offended. “Obviously I don’t know everything, but I know more than any other human. And I definitely know that next season ofThe Bachelorisn’t streaming early in Crm—Crum—the otherworld.”

He barely reacts to me othering his home. “I beg your pardon?”

I nod smugly. “Yep. Today I was talking about how time works differently between the worlds, and I got asked if that meant your people were already watching the new season ofThe Bachelor.” Maybe now he’ll appreciate my pain.

He blinks twice. “Which one is that?”

“Which—” I frown. “Which show is it? The one where a bunch of women all have to impress a guy, and then he chooses one at the end.”

This time, his blink is immeasurably slow. Painfully slow. Oh-my-god-eternity-is-passing slow. “What do they have to do to impress him? Battle? First blood? It doesn’t seem like that should take an entire season. And what does he choose her for? Ritual sacrifice?”

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