Risky Business

After getting as far as she could go without getting eaten, swatted, or hit by a car, Carahya hid in a well-lit, yet secluded alleyway and shifted back to her human form. She was exhausted and ached from head to toe. She said under her breath, “If I’d have taken any longer to transform back, I may have lost myself…”

Human shifters were not supposed to be able to take the forms of insects, arachnids, or any other types of animals and bugs with little-to-no mental capacity. Not only would it be difficult for her to sustain a form that would not allow her to keep her mind going, but the longer that she stayed in the form, the less likely it would be that she would be capable of maintaining her mind long enough to be able to change herself back. It was a risk that she was completely unwilling to take again. Not only was she exhausted and unable to keep hold of even her hair and eye color shifting, but she was also more frightened of losing herself to a new form than she was of losing her life back at the office that she had been in earlier. Oh, and to top it all off, she felt grimier than she ever had in her life. From now on, she was sticking with mammals and birds, preferably animals with four appendages so she would not have to completely grow or lose any in the shifting process ever again.

She found that the gun was still in her pocket, and had two shots fired from it. She knew nothing about guns themselves, but knew that to carry one concealed in Massachusetts required a permit. She mentally put it on her to-do list, and put her hand to her back, only to find that her backpack was gone. With it were the demon-summoning books, McBride’s defense book, Carahya’s house keys, and her wallet, containing her driver’s license and only photo ID, her debit/ATM card, and about $40 in cash.

“God fucking damnit…what a week.”

She contemplated going back to retrieve them on foot, but knew that it was a terrible idea when she considered how narrowly she had escaped the first time. She would wait until Sunday, when the man with the cane said that they had office hours, to try to get her belongings back. Until then, she’d have to find her way back to her apartment, and find a way in through the window right off the fire escape. After she was home, she’d grab the spare set of keys (thank goodness she left the bike and its keys at home) and make a visit to McBride. He was the only one she could so much as talk to about any of this, and she hoped that maybe he could try to make some sense of it all. She walked out of the alleyway and onto the street, with a single thought:

“Now…where in the city am I?”

Late day and a discovery

Kole stared at the window Carahya used to escape for a few moments and turned to Tibias. He cocked his head to the side, and looked as if he were about to say something and then decided it could wait. He turned on his heal and walked back into the office. At his desk he picked up the copies of the book that was taken from the rat's bag and handed them to Keera, who had followed him into the fast dimming office. She silently placed them on her desk, walking past Royal, who was laying on the floor in mostly what would be called a daze.
Tibias, cane in in hand, and indeed leaning his weight very heavily on it, approached the prone man and stopped just short of his foot.
"Thank the lord, I could use a doctor right now," the blond man said with a bit of a weak laugh.
"I do not understand what is so funny Mr. Holligan. I am no doctor, you know that, I know no more of the human body than the next bookworm," Tibias said, scowling slightly.
"Well, you've got the cane and the attitude, I think that should work for now," Royal tried to push himself up onto his elbows. He was stopped by the end of Tibias' cane pressed into his chest softly.
"I assure you Mr. Holligan, I am not quite as out of touch with society as you seem to believe, if I have to endure another joke about this," he paused and took a breath, "situation, from anyone," he looked directly at Royal, who flinched, "then be assured that there will most definitely be hell to pay. Do I make myself clear?" Royal nodded, right before Keera helped the man up.
"Keera, you are to take those books to Tibias' house, he will need your help tonight to get this cluster fuck sorted out," Kole said dryly from behind his desk, picking something interesting from under his fingernails.
"It would be greatly appreciated, Ms. Trean," Tibias said, turning to her with a smile, "That is if you do not object, of course," he added, making it seem as if she had a choice.
"I think I can suffer your company for the night," Keera said quietly grabbing the books from her desk and placing them in her bag.
"Mr. Tarrent, Mr. Holligan, I am taking my leave, I wish to go home and get started while my blood still flows, I assume you are to stay here and be on the watch?"
"Yes, Tibias," Kole said, glaring at Royal, "And Royal will work on his energy force fields while we keep watch," Royal flinched again.

Keera stayed behind Tibias as he exited the building, he glanced up at the sign that read "Marcus and McDowlle: Piano Tuners" and mumbled to himself.
"What?" Keera asked, looking up at the sign she never really took notice of.
"I said they should get the bloody thing fixed. It was for show back when the Council was underground, it was actually a piano shop back in the day..." he trailed off, turning the corner into the alleyway that lead into the parking lot.
"You drive?"
"Yes, of course, I do not live within walking distance, and while I do sometimes take the T, I find driving to be most enjoyable," he stopped behind two cars and looked at Keera, "You did not know I do not live in the apartment complex with Ms. Kinsley and Mr. Tarrent?"
"Is the black one yours?" Keera changed the subject, embarrassed she knew almost nothing about a man she had seen almost everyday for five years, and was embarrassed yet again when he looked at the black four door sedan with dismay and shook his head smiling. He limped on with the cane a few parking spots away and stopped next to a red 1969 Cadillac.
"This one is mine," he said, throwing her a wink, "Good ol' girl helped me with the ladies back in the day," he said while unlocking it and climbing in awkwardly, tossing the cane into the back.
Keera found herself surprised that Tibias would have gone around town in a Cadillac picking up women. She wondered what he had looked like ten, twenty years ago. He wasn't exactly bad looking now, just aging. She looked at him for a little while, trying to take off the glasses, the gray hair, the crows feet, and the look of weariness with her mind. He turned and caught her looking at him, she was caught off guard and averted her eyes quickly, looking out the window. She must have spent more time looking at him than she had thought, they were clearly not in Boston anymore, there were a lot of trees, for one thing.
"Where exactly do you live Tibias?" She asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.
"Newton," he said, "I have a few tricks for traveling stuck here and there, so it does not take too long getting where I wish to go," he looked to the road, "Here we are, home sweet home,"
The house was not too large, for only one man lived in it, but it looked roomy enough on the outside. The wooden paneling was painted a gray blue, and it had two windows peaking out from behind high flowers planted just to the front of the house. The whole thing was surrounded by trees, Keera took it all in with awe. How had she never been here before? The ivy climbing up the walls gave it a romantic feel, and the yellow light cast a warm glow over everything in sight. It looked like heaven to her, being stuck in Boston for so long, near Kole no less.
"Well, come along, I am the one with the cane, you know." Keera jolted herself out of her staring and stepped out of the car and followed Tibias to the front door and into the hall. The house was decorated much like the office, with deep reds and browns, but it was deffinatly the house of a lone man, for the only pictures on the walls were of portraits of family members, or who Keera believed were family members.
"Sod it all!" came a call from ahead, Keera rushed to see what the matter was and found Tibias standing in the middle of the kitchen, glasses off and on the table, with his hands on his face.
"What, what is it?" She asked, afraid something was off.
"The funeral is tomorrow morning," he said, voice muffled by the hand, he looked at Keera, "If you want me to bring you home now I can, I do not see how I could do it in the morning,"
Keera shrugged, "We need to get this done, and if that means I have to go looking like I'm ready for combat, then so be it,"

"Ah ha!" Tibias said quietly a few hours later, "It seems as if our little rat had the original copy, as well as the new book,"
"I could have told you that," Keera snapped a little, irked at the late night, at least the coffee was hot, the thought.
"No, I mean, an original copy, not just in Latin, but also penned at the time it was supposed to be, this is no remake," Tibias stood up excitedly, then promptly fell back into his chair, "Do you know what this means?"
"That she summons demons?" Keera asked half jokingly, half serious.
"No, it means that the young girl has access to very old books,"
"And?"
"And? And? And it means that there was no reason for her to have that copy. It just does not make any sense, why go through the trouble of obtaining the Latin version, when the English one is mass produced and easy enough to get?"
"So you're telling me that you think the girl had the Latin version to begin with?"
"I think we should inform Mr. Tarrent of that in the morning, but for now, I think we can get some sleep," Tibias smiled at the angel, and rubbed his eyes, "You must be tired, it is almost two in the morning,"
"You must be tired, I mean, after what happened today,"
"I will live, I usually do," Tibias replied, standing up slowly and grabbing the cane, "The guest room is too the right of the kitchen, I think you may be comfortable there,"
"I think I can find it Tibias," Keera yawned, also standing.
"Good night, Ms. Trean,"
"Good night, Hou-" Tibias snapped his head back to look at Keera.
"The warning was for all of you Ms. Trean, do not forget that," Keera's laughter was soon joined by that of Tibias' as he climbed the stairs to his room.


Keera rubbed the sleep from her eyes, it was still dark in her room, but judging from her watch, it was five in the morning. Time to get up. She did not particularly want to leave the warm heaven that was the bed. She was surrounded by lovely blues, a stark contrast to the rest of the house. She forced herself out of the bed and stumbled to turn on the light. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw something out of place.
On the chair in the corner of the room, the one upholstered in a fabric with yellow flowers, there was a black dress draped. She walked to it and picked it up, holding it to inspect it. It was a simple halter top, tying in the back, but what caught here eye and took her breath way were the millions of tiny beads interwoven into the fabric itself, spreading from the neckline and dissipating as they trickled down. The beads were all the exact same shade as her wings. It looked like it would fit. She placed it back down and tripped over a pair of strappy shoes placed quite near the chair. Keera smiled to herself and fixed her hair in the mirror. Looked like she wasn't going to be a forced warrior today.

The Rat and The Angel

The four colleagues stared down at the familiar cover of The Art of Demon Whispering. The grotesque illustration on the front of the book seemed to be looking right back at them with it's beady red eyes. Out of the three books that had been taken from the mysterious intruder's backpack, The Art of Demon Whispering was the one that had held the group's attention the most. Tibias gulped down the rest of the liquid in his tea cup and just stood there, silent. Keera looked from the books over to the unconscious girl, who was currently being held inside of a rectangular prism of white light that Royal had created.
This girl carries demon books on her person when she sneaks into a council office? Who the hell is she? Keera thought.
"I suppose this means my actions were justified. Not that it matters." Kole stated. "Right or wrong, she was breaking and entering."
"Well, not so much breaking." Royal said. "Entering sure, but as a rat..."
"What should we do with her?" Keera asked, cutting Royal off.
"Perhaps we could fetch her some cheese, Ms. Trean." Tibias suggested. He smiled wryly. "She is a rat girl, after all."
"Tibias, not you too! Enough with the rat jokes!" Keera was exasperated. She was still a bit moody after being put under the spell and was doing her best to cope. Unfortunately, she was starting to reach her wit's end. The angel turned to the only other person in the room she could talk to even though her head was still filled pounded with resentment towards him. "Kole." She said. "What do you think we should do?"
While the other two men in the room had been cracking jokes, Kole's focus was directed at the unconscious body inside of the white prism. Suddenly, he recalled where he had seen the girl's face before. It had been her that-
"Kole?" Keera's voice drummed against his ear. He was forced to abandon his train of thought.
"Yes?" Keera's boss answered her, as if he had always been paying attention. The angel gave him an annoyed leer.
"I was asking what you wanted us to do with the girl."
"Ah, yes. The girl." Kole replied slowly, still thinking things over. "She should be reported to the council at once and sentenced for her crimes."
Keera had waited for an answer, any answer, but now was a bit unsatisfied. "We're going to report this so soon? What are her crimes other than stupidity and bad timing?"
With a casual sweep of his hand, Kole picked up Ms. Faroth's copy of The Art of Demon Summoning. "Keera, do you remember when all of the business with this book began? The place that we first encountered it?"
Keera took that as if Kole was insulting her memory. "Of course. The Morgan Fortier case. It was hardly even a week ago."
"That girl was at the scene of the crime before I sent you and Royal there." Kole explained.

Carahya opened her eyes. She was in the same room as before, but there was some sort of white membrane in the way that made everything blurry. She put her hands out and touched a surface that felt wooden. What is this? She wondered. I know it's not glass. She struck against it lightly with her hand. How odd. She hesitated for a moment, then reached into her pocket and felt the familiar metal of the gun. With her hand clasped around it, Carahya took a deep breath. Maybe I'm being reckless. She took another look at the smooth, pallid walls that imprisoned her. On second thought, screw it. She pointed the pistol at the ceiling of her ivory coffin and cocked it. As she pulled the trigger, she winced and shut her eyes.
BANG!
Royal's face turned ghostly white as his body felt limp to the ground. He could see his barrier breaking apart, and Ms. Faroth getting to her feet. His eyes darted to Keera and Kole, who had just heard the shot and were turning to face Ms. Faroth. He couldn't see Tibias, who had been standing behind him before the barrier was broken. Barrier backlash is a bitch. Thought Royal.
"Tibiaass..." He gasped with a rasp. "Taaake covaah, ssshe hasss uh gunn!"
Royal shut his eyes. You're only human, you fop. Please don't get shot.
Carahya was pointing her gun in Kole's direction and taking steps towards the door.
"Do you honestly believe that peashooter is of any threat to me?" Kole said to Ms. Faroth. Despite the man's stony glare and provocations, Carahya's hand did not tremble. Instead she met her opponent's gaze and stood her ground.
"Are you sure about that?" The girl said. "Because it seemed to work on your friend over there."
Kole didn't even bother looking at Royal. As far as the grim reaper was concerned, his subordinate was nothing more than a disappointment.
"I really don't want to call your bluff, shadow ass." Ms. Faroth stammered. "Some crazy shit is going on and I will get to the bottom of it, but I didn't come here to hurt anyone!"
Keera, who had been seething with rage only moments ago felt a tinge of sympathy take hold somewhere deep inside of her. She could certainly remember another young woman who had been mixed up in demonic arts and persecuted by the council. In a short amount of time that young woman had become so jaded that freedom seemed unreachable and every day seemed to be a monotonous and sadistic test of character. It may as well have been a past life. Keera thought. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kole move towards Carahya.
In the next split-second, a shot rang out and the bullet embedded itself in Keera's extended right wing. The wing itself was covering Kole, as if to shield him. Sure enough, the bullet hadn't pierced through. Kole couldn't see past the wing, but he heard Ms. Faroth rush out the door. He pushed Keera's wing aside and looked through the open door out into the hallway. Ms. Faroth was gone. Kole grunted and closed the office door, not noticing as a very jittery fly made it's escape through a half-open window.
He took a look around to observe the damage. Royal was still convulsing on the ground, Tibias was behind the desk holding Royal's gun, and Keera... was yanking the bullet out of her wing without any sort of complaint or wince. Kole looked at her with what he would have presumed a human would call astonishment.
"Come now, Keera. That was just foolish." The Grim Reaper growled deeply. "Taking a bullet for me was a pointless gesture. Still, if you meant to convey loyalty by it then so be it. I merely forbid from doing it again."
"It was a reflex." Keera said. "My body did it on it's own."
She was telling the truth. It had been involuntary on her part. She had no idea whether she instinctively shielding her loathsome boss or instinctively obstructing his view, thereby allowing a kindred spirit to escape his grasp.
It may as well have been a past life. Keera thought. But it was mine at one point.

Terrors and Tea

Royal quickly set to work following Kole’s orders, knowing that any hesitation could precipitate a similar blow to his own head.  Tibias calmly took a sip of his tea, only to grimace as he realized that Kole’s theatrics had chilled the steaming cup to room temperature.

“You know,” Tibias continued dryly, “if she wasn’t unconscious we could already know what she wanted.”

“Or we could all be dead.”  Kole responded, in a voice others would have used to read a grocery list.  “In the meantime, I suggest we discover everything we can about our visitor.  Keera, bring me the backpack and anything else you can find on her.”  After several moments, there was still no response.  Kole turned from his desk.  She was sitting against the wall with her eyes closed, obviously ignoring him.

You know how unwise it is to test me, Keera.  This, of course, was only another example of her growing brazenness.  He had already broken her once; he had hoped he would not have to waste his time and effort to accomplish it again, but she gave him little choice.  Her insubordination had cost innocent lives in the past.  Keera needed to be reminded of who she was and who was in charge.  Kole started to murmur under his breath.

Keera had sat down as soon as Kole had dealt with the intruder.  Her stomach was churning and her legs felt weak.  She hadn’t wanted to collapse right in the middle of the office.

The adrenaline from the day’s activities was wearing off.  Her body ached.  The acrid aroma of demon blood made her mind reel.  She struggled to fight off the tide of memories brought to the surface by the sharp smell that covered her body.  Screams and demonic shrieks, long silenced, filled her ears as images flashed past her eyes, each scene worse than the one before it: a sitting room, littered with corpses and smattered with blood.  A wave of demons crashing down around her, smothering her, their red eyes glowing brightly in the darkness.  Tibias, looking at her with a demon’s smile before collapsing to the floor.

Keera wanted to run, wanted to scream.  She wanted to jump into the sky and lose herself in flight, soaring far away.  She wanted to open her eyes to discover that it had only been a nightmare and it would fade into oblivion as the sun climbed, but she knew that everything was painfully real.  She wanted to cry.  She wanted to…

A strange sensation shot through Keera’s body.  The spell that bound her in servitude to the Coucil of Draelin took hold.  Her limbs stiffened, suddenly rebellious to any of her attempts to move them.  Through no will of her own, she rose and began walking back towards Kole.  Her mind struggled to regain control of the errant limbs, but it was useless.  Unable to close her fists, Keera’s jaw clenched in frustration.  That bastard.

Blood flushed Keera’s face as she felt the eyes of the others boring into her.  Kole had used the spell to assert his dominance before, but never in front of others.  Her legs buckled beneath her and she fell to her knees at Kole’s feet.  Her pulse quickened in fear as she felt him looming over her, but she could not raise her head to meet his gaze.  The temperature plummeted as he engulfed her in shadows.  The icy metal of his scythe pressed gently against her throat.  Every impulse in her being screamed at her to escape, but her muscles refused to cooperate.

“Must we really repeat this little episode every few months, Keera.”  Kole’s voice was laced with annoyance.  Keera didn’t trust herself to respond.  “Remember: you are a criminal and you survive only by the grace of the Council of Draelin in order to do whatever they see fit for as long as they see fit.”  Keera waited in silence, wondering if she would soon feel the blade bite into her skin.

“Kole,”  Tibias’ voice broke the silence, his tone firm.  “We’re wasting time.”  Keera crumpled as the spell withdrew without warning.  Her head slammed into the hardwood floor.

“Royal,” Kole barked, “bring the girl’s backpack to my desk.”  Keera slowly sat up as the dull thuds of a cane hitting the floor announced Tibias’ approach.

“Are you alright, Ms. Trean?”  Tibias asked gently.

“I’ll be fine.”  Keera looked up to find Tibias offering her a cup of tea.  A bit quizzically, she accepted the mug.

“After years of working with Mr. Tarrant,” he said with a smile, “I’ve found a cup of hot tea to be an effective way of warding off his chilling effects.  That’s assuming you can keep him from turning it into iced tea before you can drink it.”  Keera took a sip.  She could feel the warm liquid running down her throat, radiating heat into her chilled body.

“Thank you” she murmured.

“Keera, Tibias,” Kole called from his desk.  “You should both see this.”  Keera stood, careful not to spill the tea and the pair joined the others.  Spread across Kole’s desk was a book on fighting demons and two copies of The Art of Demon Whispering.

A Bit Blunt

                Kole examined the woman standing before him. Her blue eyes were staring up at his with a mixture of barely suppressed fear and curiosity. She looked familiar, yet right now, Kole didn’t care. The insult of her presumptuousness made caring about familiar faces seem irrelevant. “Answers?” Kole sneered. “You forfeited all rights as soon as you came in here.” The girl named Carahya made a small gulp, her face drew a little bit tighter and skin grew a shade paler.  

                “But-” Carahya stammered.

                “Sorry, Ms…?” Tibias arose from his desk and gestured toward her.

                “Faroth” Carahya said.

                “Thank you Ms. Faroth.” Tibias said. “But we have something called office hours. If you wanted to talk to us, you should have come on Sunday from twelve to five.”

                “And now,” Royal chimed in, fiddling with a small gun in his hand in an obviously false non-threatening manner. “We must be forced to believe, due to the circumstances of your visit that you are either an enemy, someone with a deathwish, or both. They are often both.”

                Carahya  started backing away from Kole’s group. Kole could see her barely contained fear starting to crack through her expressions. “You’re right. I’ll come back on Sunday. I am sorry if I caused you any inconvenience. I’ll just leave now.” She turned to go.

                Kole flashed a predatory smile and the room temperature dropped ten degrees.  “Too late.” Dropping the scythe back into the shadows, he grabbed the blunt paperweight on his desk. he reached her before she could even turn around. Kole waited a fraction of a second so the girl could see him him behind her before he smacked her upside the head with a hunk of obsidian that was previously holding down a few papers. She crumpled to the ground.

                Kole walked back to his desk and placed his now bloodied paperweight off to the edge of his desk. “Thank you for the stone Tibias, it came in handy.”

                Tibias was eyeing the girl with a curious look. “You are welcome. “

                Kole looked over to his subordinate.  “Royal, get a magic barrier set up around her. I don’t want her escaping.”

Spinetap Spying

Carahya studied the publisher’s information on the book, and memorized the address. She was pretty sure that she knew where the site of Spinetap Publishing was from the address; having lived in the city of Boston her whole life, she knew her way around. It would be wisest, she thought, to not take the bike with her to go out. She had no idea what to expect of a company that knew so much about demons; though they published a book on defense against demons, the existence of the book on summoning was enough to make Carahya nervous. It was impossible for her to know Spinetap’s actual stance on demons at the moment, and she wanted to be sure that her presence was muted. If the company was pro-demon, she did not want to become a target. On the plus side, it would be easiest for her to navigate her way around the city from a birds’ eye view.

Literally.

           She re-loaded her pack, putting the defense book, the summoning tome, and the manuscript into it. After making sure that Mr. Fortier’s gun was still in her pocket and that her wallet was in place in the pack, she made her way to the apartment’s fire escape. She opened up the window and stepped out onto the wrought iron, shutting the window tightly behind her. After looking around quickly to make sure nobody would see, she began to shift. She shrank down in size and her skin rippled in the change. Her clothes and backpack melded to her form and sleek black feathers shot from her skin. Her bone structure changed, her arms becoming wings and her legs becoming thin and twig-like. A simple crow stood where the girl had just been, and took to the air.

The streets sprawled out below her like a map, and it was easy for her to recall where she ought to go. Anyone below would look up and mistake her for any other crow, but if they were to see her up close, they might have thought differently. Her eyes were a piercing green, unnatural for a crow, and she bore a dark grey feather pattern on her back from where the pack was melded. Only the most ignorant birder would mistake her for a completely ordinary American Crow, so she flew high enough to not be noticed. Finally she saw the old mill building that housed the publishing company. She landed on a chain-link fence around the property and watched. Some sort of scuffle appeared to be happening in the back alley. The fight appeared to be between three attackers and two victims, but she needed to get closer to make anything more than that out.

She flew up again and landed on the building’s roof, looking out over the scene. A man had run clean across the alleyway and into the courtyard adjacent, where his second, an enormous hairy demon, was waiting. The three attackers – a young woman with purple wings, a short, blond man, and a slightly older gentleman – were all taking the initiative to go after the man in the courtyard. The woman attempted to fly, while the short man started charging magic. They began to argue, and out of nowhere the gentleman bolted off at an unimaginable speed towards his target. Carahya watched as the gentleman tackled the man and was then struck off by the demon, allowing the man to escape. She noticed the open door below her perch and quietly navigated her way inside.

Blood and dead demons were everywhere. She guessed that some similar fight had happened here, though had no idea at the moment whose side the demons had been on. She perched herself on the frame of a portrait, hanging behind the desk. The man in the portrait was stern and stoic, grey-haired, and wrinkled. The plaque beneath it was branded with the name Reginald Cathburn Sr. When Carahya heard the shuffle of feet approaching the door, she stayed as still as she could and listened carefully to the three figures she had seen attacking earlier. Carahya assumed that when they referred to Cathburn, they were talking about the man she saw running away earlier. That meant that Cathburn had been allied with the demon.

“And these three people came in here and destroyed all these demons…” Carahya mused about the power that it would have taken to take out all the demons that lay about the floor, and surely there must have been more outside this room, as well.

Upon further inspection, the three people seemed to be obviously supernatural. The young woman with wings was addressed as Keera, and was dressed in dark clothes and wore her long red hair loose about her shoulders. Her eyes were piercingly green, much like Carahya’s natural eye color, and her worry for the gentleman’s well-being showed. The gentleman, called Tibias, was older than the others, perhaps in his forties, with few wrinkles and even fewer grays mingled amidst his dark black hair. One eye of his was clear and brown, but the other was paler, and glazed over. From the scars around it, Carahya deduced that he was blind in that eye. He was dressed well, which is why she called him a gentleman over the blond man who was also in the room. This man was around thirty, with a freckle-spotted face and yellow-brown eyes. He was obviously some sort of elf, due to the larger, pointed ears. It wasn’t until later, after he was sent to call upon another of the group’s accomplices, that she learned his name was Royal. The accomplice who showed up was a young man who seemed to be in his twenties, though his hair was a dark grey that hinted otherwise. He, too, had green eyes, and he wore plenty of dark grey and black. He was only there briefly, to take Tibias “back to the office,” and left Keera and Royal to find a way back themselves.

Carahya thought to herself, “If they’re flying back, so am I. I’ve got some questions I need answered. If these guys fight demons, we may be on the same side. But if they just want that tome from the desk to summon more, there’s gonna be trouble.” She followed as Keera lifted Royal and took off, leaving two or three purple feathers behind, floating down to the ground. Suddenly a flash of a memory appeared in Carahya’s mind. She had held a similar purple feather in her hand once, and could see it in her mind’s eye, being released and drifting slowly downward from the Fortiers’ apartment’s balcony. If they knew anything about the Fortiers’ deaths, she needed to know about it.

With a newfound mission and passion for answers, Carahya soared to keep up with the angel. Her wingspan was so much larger, allowing her much faster flight. Finally they landed at what Carahya assumed to be the “office.” What it was meant to be an office for, though, she had no idea. The building was an old, mill-style building nestled into a neighborhood near the Boston Harbor. The door inside was wooden, painted a deep green, and bearing an old, Victorian-era sign that read “Marcus and McDowlle: Piano Tuners” in faded letters. As soon as she was on the ground, she shifted as quickly as she could considering the pain of each transformation, and became a small, black and brown harbor rat. She scurried as fast as she could to the door before it could close behind Royal and Keera, who were arguing as usual and did not notice the rat following behind them. As Carahya went, she looked about her surroundings. Old Victorian wall paper with pink designs was fading and peeling off the walls. A wooden trim ran down the long hallway, which led to two doorways at the end. The first led into what seemed to be a kitchen, but Keera and Royal passed by the room without a glance. They entered through the pink door in the other doorway, leading into a dark room with four desks, where Kole and Tibias were already waiting, Tibias drinking a cup of tea and sitting at his desk, a wooden cane propped up against his chair, while Kole was on the other end of the room, specifically keeping his chilling aura away from the still-recovering Tibias.

Keera gave a sigh of relief when she walked in to find Tibias at his desk. “Thank goodness you’re okay.”

Royal chimed in, “Yeah, you surprised us all there with that demon blood. Man, and I thought you were scary with just the brass knuckles…can you imagine what Tibias could do with that and the demon blood?”

Kole turned to Royal icily and said, “Yes, I am sure we could all imagine it, but it’s a thought we will put from our minds. Tibias will not be using any more demon blood,” and added sternly, looking straight into Royal’s eyes, “And neither will any of you. Understand?”

“Geez, Kole, chill out…” Royal chuckled a bit at the pun and tore his eyes away from Kole’s, unable to keep eye contact with him for much longer. Changing the subject, he asked, “So, we get that book, Tibias?”

“Yes, actually.” He gestured to his desk, where there sat a black tome with silver lettering that Carahya instantly recognized as Ars Daemonibus Susurrit. She crawled closer to the desk, unable to see up onto it as a rat. Tibias continued, “An original copy, in Latin. This must have been what Spinetap was using to be able to translate and copy to create the English replicas.”

As Royal walked forward to examine the book himself, he stepped on the rat’s tail. Carahya sqeaked in protest, unable to vocalize English, but instinctively grabbed the tail instead of simply running like a normal rat would. She couldn’t rationalize her unusual behavior through the pain of a foot stepping on a tail, until it was too late to do so.

“Did that rat just…grab its tail?” Tibias asked, from his seat.

“We have rats? I thought this place was cleared of rodents and the like when the office was put in,” Kole added from where he stood.

“It doesn’t seem very rat-like to me…” Keera chimed in.

“You know, I thought I smelled a rat,” Royal stated, “But before now I thought it was just Tibias.”

Carahya let go her tail. All four were staring at her. She was caught like a deer in the headlights. She could not think of anything smart to do but to simply change back and let them know why she was there. Hopefully they would be the type of demon-killers who would show mercy to a human, even a supernaturally gifted one as she. The rat’s fur bristled as the change happened, and soon enough a full-sized Carahya was standing in the middle of the office, surrounded by its inhabitants on every side. Apparently, each of them had a different reaction.

“What the fuck?!?” Royal exclaimed, taking a single step backwards and standing defensively.

Tibias put down his tea and stood up using the cane. “It looks like we may have some sort of spy,” he mused, hands still shaking gently.

“Who are you? What are you?” Keera ordered, her voice strong and demanding.

“And more importantly,” Kole finished, “Why have you come here?” He held his scythe in his hand, materialized from the shadows, and stared coldly at her.

Frightened, though confident, Carahya responded to the group’s orders. “No. I am no spy. My name is Carahya. I saw what you all did at Spinetap, and I’m here for some answers.”

The Drawbacks of Humanity

After a few calls on his ancient cell phone, a team of men appeared at the gates of Spine Tap Publishing to clear the area of demons. While the company had a license to summon for research reasons, the keeping of demons as well as the ingestion of demon blood remained highly illegal. During the fuss of twenty armored men standing around in a circle in an attempt at banishing the gluttony demon, Tibias, Keera and Royal slipped back into the building. As it had yet to be scrubbed clean, the building could still very well contain some dangerous traps and a few lesser demons and undoubtedly some imps.
Once inside the dreary building once again, Keera and Royal turned to face Tibias with twin looks of incredulity etched upon their faces.
"What is wrong with you?" Keera whispered harshly to the man, who was leaning cockily against the inner brick wall. When no answer was forth coming she continued, "You could have been killed Tibias,"
"Please Keera, I've been doing this for much longer than you have. Indecently, I knew what I was doing," He flashed a smile at her, one that caused her worry, because she could only see plain arrogance in it. He turned to Royal, "You were too slow, I only incapacitated him, I had no need to worry about Cathburn, you know as well as I that he is only human,"
"I'm sorry, but did you just call her Keera?" Royal's eyes were wide as he looked at Tibias. His pale skin seemed to glow in the dim light of the hallway. Actually, it was glowing, albeit faintly, and as Royal watched, it stopped glowing entirely.
"So what if I did?" Tibias said weakly before he crumpled to the ground before either of the two could catch him.
Keera shook his shoulders gently, praying that he was not hurt badly. Tibias looked up at her with a tired expression across his face before he accepted Royal's hand and was pulled to his feet. He pushed Royal and Keera's steadying hands away and attempted to take a few steps on his own before stumbling into the wall.
Keera rushed up to him and wrapped on of his arms around her neck and supported the exhausted man.
"Tibias, what happened?" She asked quietly into his mess of hair, helping him walk down the hallway, Royal slightly behind could not hear her.
"I was a little more than human for a few moments," He smiled again, his usual self-depreciating one, "I accidentally licked my lips after you got a smattering of demon blood on me," he chuckled weakly.
They continued onward in silence, even Royal was quiet until they were once again outside Cathburn's office. Royal opened the door, Keera and Tibias followed. Keera sat Tibias down behind Cathburn's desk, where his weary but experienced hands fluttered through the ordain papers that littered it. He wrinkled his nose at the unorganized mess before dragging his hand along the underside of the dark cherry wood drawer. His fingers caught on a tiny catch and he pressed his nail into it, hearing a faint click.
Tibias looked at Keera and winked, causing her breath to catch in her throat thinking he was once again under the influence of demon blood. Her worries were quickly squashed when Tibias brought his hand up to reveal a once hidden box with an old tome, far older than the book that was currently sitting upon Kole's desk.
"I think we may have found the book we were looking for," he said, "Mr. Holligan, if you could please contact Kole, I would very much appreciate it," Tibias gingerly placed the tome on the messy desk, as Royal stepped out of the room to use his brand of overly dramatic magic, since Kole was not fond of carrying a cellular phone about with him. Once the door was closed Keera quickly stepped over to the desk and bent over it to look Tibias directly in the eyes.
"I can't believe you of all people would be so dumb!" she scolded quietly, searching his blank expression for any hint of apology or sorrow. Her eyes lingered on his blind one for a moment too long and she turned her face away quickly.
She always tried to avoid looking for too long. It reminded her that the humans she once and still was sworn to protect could be so utterly and completely horrid. Tibias was not born blind, and the angry scars that circled his left eye were no accident.
"It's addictive," she said quietly, Tibias was still silent, "I'm sure you know that Tibias," when he still did not answer, she turned to face him again, this time there was apology written plainly across his face.
"I did not think you cared so much Ms. Trean," he said emotionlessly, a trick he had picked up after so many years spent next to Kole's side. He knew if he let any emotion break through he would loose all control he had, and that was something that was very dangerous right at that second.
Keera did not have the time to respond with more than a look of confusion before the lean figure of Kole stepped out from behind the door.
"Hello Keera, Tibias," he nodded to the man who was clearly ready to pass out before striding over to touch his shoulder. He turned back to Keera, "I trust you can make it back to the office on your own? Bring Royal with you, fly if you must," he said before he and Tibias slipped into a shadow and transported back to the office.


Kole turned the switch on the small self heating tea pot while Tibias quite literally the floor. Kole allowed the man to simply lay there for a few minutes while keeping his aura of cold away from both Tibias and the tea. He did not usually care, and even now he did not. Kole knew that if Tibias were to succumb to the effects of demon blood, he would not only have to find a new partner, but he would most likely have to kill the only man who could keep him in a tentative favor with the council.
Kole disappeared for a few moments before returning with a cane. A small amount of demon blood ingested by a man could do horrors on his body. Demon blood enters the blood stream and as long as it courses through the veins of a still living body, the body becomes vastly stronger. In order to keep the body working, it needs the blood. The reason it was so addictive was because even a small drop has the same affect as a large amount, it is simply the matter of how long it lasts. The human body was not meant to harbor such evil in it, and like all hearts, it can become corrupted and wish to take the easier route and the one which is "more fun".
Tibias would need the cane because the small amount of demon blood running its course through his veins made him feel like he was dying. His body no longer wanted to keep up the work on it's own, the can would be helpful for a little while.
Kole pulled Tibias up to his feet where he swayed unsteadily.
"Go make yourself some tea, Tibias," Kole said dryly, handing him the cane, "Get yourself presentable. You are upsetting the underlings."
"Yes, of course," Tibias said, walking slowly to the tea pot.
"You know Tibs, we still need a human on our team,"
"But you will never experience the drawbacks of humanity Kole," he said pouring a cup of tea.