Page 20 of Dead End

“How about you go home to your place, and I’ll go to mine? Then we’ll both get what we want.” As I gestured to my house, I noticed my lawn had been trimmed. Even in a crisis, the ghosts could be relied upon to maintain the Castle. Best stewards ever.

“I would love that, peaches, believe me. This town gives me the heebie-jeebies, but I made this oath and yada yada.” He rolled his onyx eyes. “It’s a whole thing. I won’t bore you with the details.”

“You seem like a reasonable demon. I don’t want to hurtyou, so I’m going to ask you nicely one more time. Please step away from the gate.”

“My orders are…”

I stepped forward. “About to get you killed.”

He tucked away the knife, an encouraging sign.

“The boss wants us to wreak havoc. What kind of demon would I be if I let you stroll through that gate without a tussle?”

“I promise if I see your boss, I’ll tell him you attacked me.”

He barked a laugh. “If you see my boss, you’re as good as dead, peaches.”

“Do you know who I am?” I asked.

“A lady with a death wish, apparently. Do you know who I am?”

“I don’t care if you’re Humpty Dumpty and you fell off my wall.”

He raised a morning star—because, of course, it was a morning star. Where had he been hiding it?

I pretended to assess him. “You’re using a mortal weapon. Must be a lesser demon.”

Wincing, he lowered the morning star. “Ouch. Words have power, you know.”

I shrugged. “You asked.”

As the demon drew back his weapon, a gnarly hand jumped on his shoulder and yanked the morning star from his grip. The weapon clattered on the pavement.

“Good to see you, Claude.”

The demon wrenched Claude from his shoulder and flung the revenant into the iron bars of the fence. Bastard! The demon scooped up the morning star and spun to face me. He brought the weapon down with the weight of his anger. I dodged the blow but barely. If he’d acted without emotion, he might’ve managed to make contact. If I could keep him angry, maybe I could keep him slow and stupid.

My gaze slid to the gate. I was so close to home. A couple steps and I’d be on the other side of the ward that protected my property. The demon wouldn’t be able to reach me there.

“I thought you were told to wreak havoc, not bludgeon people.”

“You’ve put me in a foul mood.”

“I have that effect.” I wasn’t sure how to kill this particular demon, but I figured if beheading was the way to kill Belphegor, a prince of hell, then it would kill this demon, too.

Now if only I had a weapon.

The demon lunged at me, his massive claws slashing through the air. I dodged the claws. My leg hooked his ankle and we both crashed to the pavement. Heart racing, I sprang to my feet.

“Get him, Lorelei!” Nana Pratt’s voice rang out. I spotted the ghosts beyond the gate, fists clenched in anxious anticipation.

“I need a weapon! A big one!”

The demon misunderstood. “What are you telling me for? It’s not like I’m going to give you mine.”

Ray dissipated and returned a few moments later with my trusty longsword. He tossed it over the fence, and I snatched it from the air by the handle.

The demon blinked twice in quick succession. “Hey. What just happened?”

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