Page 55 of Demon Hunter

Using his key, Ian lets us into the house. Everything seems… normal. There’s a quiet murmur of voices coming from Marc’s favorite living room—or as he calls it, the parlor—to the right, but no chaos, no yelling, no tenseness pervading the air.

“Marc?” Ian calls, and I narrow my eyes at the back of his head. Can’t he hear that Ma?—

Are they speaking too softly for him to hear them? Is it my demon powers at work that allows me to?

“In the parlor,” Marc calls back, and I’m left to wonder as we head in that direction.

Ian doesn’t pause, just barrels into the room and goes directly to stand beside Marc, who’s rising from the armchair. Dylan and I stop just inside the doorway, and I focus on theother… being in the room, who’s getting up from the fancy-ass leather couch.

He’s… hot. I guess since higher demons get to choose what they look like—mindfuck—that kind of makes sense, but I don’t have to like it. Beings that have the power to destroy me without lifting a finger shouldn’t be so attractive to me.

“IsGQthe only magazine available in the otherworld?” Dylan asks, and I snort-laugh. Because… yeah. This demon isn’t dressed as formally as Marc, who still apparently wears a suit when he’s at home alone, but the casual separates and loafers still give him that rich, just-stepped-off-a-private-jet look. Paired with the swept-back black hair and chiseled features, he may as well be holding a sign that says, “Stereotype of a European billionaire.”

“I beg your pardon?” the new demon asks, and while his voice isn’t quite as condescending as Marc’s, there’s still plenty of “how dare you speak to me” in his tone. It’s a nice voice, though. I guess they get to choose those too.

“Ignore them,” Marc declares. “They’re barely verbal.” I open my mouth to protest that—verbally, fuck him very much—but he’s already moved on. “Ian, Matthias, Dylan, this is Raum. He’s come from Crmærdinesgh”—there’s the slightest emphasis there, Marc reminding us that we’re rude bastards for calling it the otherworld—“on a matter of importance.”

“It’s not killing us, is it?” I’m only half joking, but the new demon—Raum—looks me up and down and sneers.

“Not without reason.”

Oh, great.

“I think we’re getting off on the wrong foot here,” Ian says hastily even as Dylan and I step backward into the hallway. “For fuck’s sake, get in here so we can hear what this is about.”

Dyl squeezes my hand. “I guess since you dragged me away from what might be the most important breakthrough we’ve had so far, the least we can do is listen. It better be good, though.”

If looks could kill, Dylan would just have been murdered by two demons and my bestie. Actually… can higher demons kill with a look? I know they can with athought, and I guess if they were looking at you while they thought it, that might count as killing with a look, but I feel like there’s a nuance there that can be argued.

Also, if this is what I’m thinking about right now, it makes a good case for the traumatic brain injury scenario.

“It’s not good,” Raum says stiffly. “Not from our perspective. I’m sure murderous humans think differently.”

Ian takes a deep breath, but it’s Marc who speaks. “We’re all on the same side here. Please tell them what you told me, and you’ll see that it’s true.”

Raum doesn’t seem convinced, but he addresses me and Dylan. “I am an investigator for Crmærdinesgh’s… I suppose police force is the closest equivalent.”

“FBI, perhaps,” Marc suggests. “Raum has been working for several years on a series of missing persons cases.”

“Missing demons,” I correct. I can’t help myself. Another argument in favor of head trauma.

I get another round of dirty looks, but nobody argues with me, and Raum continues.

“With the new stability in our world since the rebuilding of the barrier, it came to my attention that my cases might be more widespread than I thought. You see?—”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Dylan says even as he interrupts, proving that he is, in fact, perfect for me, “but could you give us the tl;dr first and then fill in the gaps? Because this slow build of tension is gonna drive me bananas, dude.”

Raum stares at him, then turns to Marc. “This…thisis what you must deal with?”

Marc shrugs. “There is a reason nobody wanted my job. Also, tl;dr means he’d like to know the focal point of the story first.”

Nodding, Raum folds his arms and faces us again. “The… tl;dr… is that I believe humans are summoning demons and trafficking them as slaves.”

Chapter 24

Dylan

Matt clutchesthe doorframe as if for balance, and I can’t say I blame him. “That’s not what I was expecting you to say,” I confess. “Uhh… I think it might be time for me to sit down.” My knees consider right here in the hallway to be a good spot, but Matt puts his arm around my shoulders and gently pushes me into the room?—

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