Page 52 of Cold Curses
“Bring him back to life,” the demon said dryly.
I pressed the tip of the blade in a smidge.
The demon winced. “His master could reverse it. Our master.”
“And who is that?”
“Dantalion,” the demon said.
I stared at him. “What?”
“He’s the boss,” the demon said, and slid his gaze down to the katana. “You sure you want to mess with that?”
I had to rearrange my mental thoughts. It wasn’t entirely surprising that Dante had demonic minions in addition to those we’d seen at the condo; part of his legions, I guessed. But here he wasn’t just opposing humans—taking human property or lives. He was, through his soldiers, fighting other demons.
“Why are you fighting one another?”
At his bitter silence, I dug the tip of the blade in more, just enough to draw a drop of sour-smelling blood.
“The upstart,” he said, teeth grated as blood stained fabric.
“What upstart?” I asked.
His eyes flashed with magic, and his voice was now a gravelly bass growl. “Someone trying to move in on Dante’s territory.”
“Since when is Chicago his territory?” Theo asked.
The look the demon gave us was pitying. “Since you opened the doors,” he said and smiled widely, revealing teeth that were pointed and yellow.
“So, Dante told you to come over here and beat someone moving in on his—we’ll loosely say—‘territory,’ ” Theo said.
“I do as I’m told.”
“What’s the upstart’s name?” Theo asked, prodding the demon again.
“Don’t have it. Don’t need it.” He gestured toward the demon sitting alone. “Ask him who his master is.”
I walked to the “upstart’s” minion, his dark hair slicked into a 1950s-style wave. He wore jeans with rolled-up cuffs and a white T-shirt. His skin was faintly blue gray. The effect was very zombie James Dean.
“Name?” I asked.
“Don’t got one.” His voice was raspy and higher than the other demon’s, and it carried a thick New Jersey accent.
“Employer?”
He smiled, showing small gray teeth. His magic twitched and jumped, like an insect trying to avoid a slapping hand. “Don’t got one.”
I sighed and aimed my sword at him; the first demon’s blood still sizzled on the blade. That had him looking a little more serious.
“She’d kill me,” the demon said.
“She,” I said. “Your boss is a woman?”
“Sure.”
“What’s her name?”
The demon opened his mouth, and we all leaned forward a bit, anticipating an answer.
