Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
Thomas was proud of himself for not going down to the basement to check on the progress until lunchtime.
He figured it was natural to have some eagerness.
The contracts they found would be the key to saving his ass and his soul, not necessarily in that order.
That said, he was wary, as well. He’d found out about the two dead temps when he’d first arrived in Oakland.
The smoothness of Yagi’s cover up was almost as disturbing as the deaths themselves.
Thomas didn’t balk at the idea of death, or even killing, considering what he needed to do in the next year.
But careless, pointless death, especially of innocents, preyed on him.
They’d died because only he—and by extension, “his” people—were protected.
Temps did not count. The employment contract Kate had signed would prevent the demons from hurting or killing her.
At least, he hoped.
He wasn’t sure if any other bodily harm was included in that, or if Al had conveniently left another “loophole.” Despite the surprisingly iron-clad nature of these metaphysical contracts, it seemed like there was always a loophole.
Just like in the “real” world.
He also wasn’t sure if Kate was in the beginning stages of possession, like Pablo had been. He dreaded the thought of seeing that ugly, misshapen process hitting Kate.
So why are you risking her?
He set his jaw, stepping out as the elevator doors opened on the sublevel, ignoring the slight but insistent nudges of his conscience. He was risking her because he had to. He needed the names. He needed to get free, before Cyril took possession of his soul and his will.
He’d protect her, as best he could. With the amount of money he was paying her, and the bonuses he’d lavish on her, he felt certain he’d make it up to her. But for right now, risking her was a necessary evil.
Sure. You keep telling yourself that.
Yagi was there in the basement, waiting for him. He’d sent Yagi to check on progress several times, saying to only report if something had gone seriously wrong. While he trusted Yagi, he got the feeling Yagi’s definition of “seriously wrong” and his own differed by a wide margin.
“Is she okay?” Thomas said without preamble. Then he scowled. Damned sneaky conscience.
Yagi’s eyebrow shot up at the question. “She’s shockingly well.”
Thomas stopped. “What do you mean?”
“She got them to use the scanners. She drew pictures on a flip chart. She’s got stickers for those of them going through the paperwork correctly; she’s already distributed two boxes of… Ho Ho’s.” He made a sneer of disgust. “It’s like demon daycare.”
“Woot! We have another winner!” Thomas heard Kate yell. He glanced over to see her on a table-top, her black hair pulled up in a jaunty ponytail, her face bright with excitement.
The demons at her feet yelled “woot!” in response.
She presented a box of Ho Hos, and the demon who won was grinning like a five-year-old while simultaneously fighting off other demons who were scrabbling for his prize.
“Hey, now,” Kate said, snapping at them. Physically snapping her fingers at demons. “Fair’s fair. You can win your own box!”
Thomas waited for the teeth to bare, the snarls to start. They might not be able to kill her, but they could sure as hell frighten her.
But they didn’t.
The damned things backed down. A couple of them with sheepish expressions.
Thomas turned to Yagi. “Okay, what just happened there?”
“I have never seen anything like it,” Yagi hissed. “And I survived the Oni Uprising of 1622.”
Thomas had no idea what that meant, but from the sounds of it, it wasn’t good. “Is it the sugar?” He made a mental note to stock up on Ho Hos.
“No. I think it’s her. It’s like she has them in thrall, somehow.” Yagi nodded at Al, who was watching the proceedings and seething. “If she didn’t, our sour friend wouldn’t be quite so upset.”
Somehow, Thomas had no difficulty believing it was Kate’s influence. “Have they found any more signatories?”
“Three since the first hour.”
Thomas felt a punch of triumph. “No wonder Al’s pissed.” Considering the amount of time Thomas had wasted on Al’s suggestions, he was pretty pissed himself. “And she’s showing no signs of possession?”
“None that I can see.”
Thomas caught the edge in Yagi’s voice. “You don’t sound happy about that.”
“She should be insane. She should be dead, Thomas. It’s unnatural.” Yagi paused meaningfully. “It’s suspicious.”
"Everything’s suspicious to you,” Thomas said, nonetheless feeling a little twinge of alarm skitter across the back of his neck. “In fact, that’s why I hired you. You get to be paranoid for me.”
“I’m not joking, Thomas,” Yagi said quietly. “The only reason I can think of for why she isn’t possessed as a result to exposure to the contracts is that she’s already possessed by something else—or she’s already signed.”
That stopped Thomas cold. “What do you mean?”
“If she’s possessed by a demon lord or other supernatural creature, she’d be fine. If she’s already signed a contract, giving her soul over to someone, it’s not in play. Possession is not an option in that case,” Yagi explained. “It would be like renting out an apartment that’s already occupied.”
If she signed a contract already…
He could just imagine who would have signed her, and sent her. And why. “How do we find out for sure?”
Yagi closed his eyes, going still as a stone. Then he glared at Kate.
Kate chose that moment to look over. She winced at Yagi’s expression, turning away.
Thomas held his breath.
Yagi was still glaring. The demons around Kate started to fidget, squirming uncomfortably. One stood up, moving to the far side of the room.
Kate sneaked another glance at Yagi. Then she frowned, sending Thomas a baffled look in the face of Yagi’s sudden intensity. Thomas just shrugged.
If Yagi glared any harder, Thomas thought, his eyes would literally shoot flames.
Kate stared back.
Then slowly, deliberately, she crossed her eyes, sticking out her tongue.
Yagi coughed, trying to cover a laugh. “Right. She’s not possessed.”
“What, because she made a face at you?”
“No,” Yagi said, his tone regaining its solemnity.
“When you hired me, I mentioned that I have… let’s say, a close relationship with oni, or demons.
I am powerful enough to sense and manipulate all but the most powerful of them, at least one-on-one.
If she had been possessed, I would have been able to control her like a marionette. ”
“That’s how you exorcised Pablo,” Thomas remembered, then winced at the memory. “So you think she’s signed.”
“That would be my guess, yes.”
“I want confirmation,” Thomas said. If Cyril sent her—he clenched his jaw. “Damn it. I need to know.”
“I do have one way of confirming if she’s been signed or not.” Yagi reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a red envelope.
“What’s that?” Thomas peered at the thing.
“A scroll. This is an ancient form of magic,” Yagi said, pulling an ivory sheet of paper out of the envelope. “Think of it as a sensor, and a sort of booby trap. Get Kate to touch it—have her pick it up, say—and if she’s unsigned, nothing will happen to her.”
Thomas started to reach for it, and Yagi yanked it back.
“If anyone who has signed his soul touches it,” Yagi said apologetically, tucking it back into his suit jacket, “it will kill him.”
“Oh.” Thomas swallowed, tucking his hands under his folded arms. Close call. “So if she’s signed, and she touches it…”
“You want to know for sure,” Yagi reminded him. “This will be proof positive.”
Thomas looked at Kate. She was still sending irritated glances at them, even as she patted a demon on the back. The demon looked startled, then sent her a slow, tentative smile.
“Don’t forget to drink water,” she said. “And everybody gets a stretch break after two hours! Think ergonomics!”
“What if Cyril didn’t sign her?” Thomas asked. “What if someone else did?”
Yagi shrugged. “It’s not really that specific. But if we know she’s definitely signed her soul to someone, I have other spells that might help. Ones I can use on the body,” he clarified.
The body. Thomas recoiled slightly.
But who else would send a signed soul into his business? Even if it wasn’t Cyril, what other purpose would she have to infiltrate Fiendish?
She might be cute, granted. But he wasn’t fucking around here. If she was a spy, or anything worse…
He couldn’t afford it.
“Give me the envelope in something I can touch without killing myself,” Thomas said slowly. “I’ll make sure she gets her hands on it.”
Yagi nodded with approval, and Thomas motioned to Kate. She walked over.
“We’ve got four names,” she said, giving a sidelong look at Yagi. “It’s going great. We keep this up, we’ll have those twelve docs in no time.”
“Yagi, can you give us a second?”
Yagi nodded silently, then stalked off.
“Okay, what the hell’s his problem?” Kate murmured, pouring herself a paper cup of water from the nearby dispenser—one she’d specifically requested.
“He’s just like that.”
“Well, tell him if he keeps mean-mugging people in Oakland like that, he’s going to get his ass kicked,” she muttered, then took a long draw. “God, I’m parched. I feel like I’ve been trying to sell time shares. It’s bonkers.”
“It’s working,” Thomas said, with true approval. “I wanted to thank you. Also, I wanted to talk to you about some stuff I’ve been mulling over.”
“Um, okay.” She looked at him expectantly.
“Not here,” Thomas said. He could just imagine what would happen if she dropped dead in the middle of the demons. “I’d like you to stop by my office after work. Is that okay?”
“Your office. Yeah, sure,” she said, nodding.
He nodded back. “Really good job,” he added inanely.
“And strangely, all without a whip.” Her tone was dry, almost analytic. Hell, she sounded like Yagi… just as judgmental.
“I didn’t peg you as an ‘I told you so’ kind of girl.”
“I didn’t peg you as somebody who’d let all this happen,” she said softly. “Guess we both misjudged each other.”
He grimaced. “We all do what we have to do to get by, right?”
“Better the devil you know,” she said, toasting him with the water. “Okay, my break’s over. I’ll see you after shift. Boss.”
He nodded.
Yeah, he’d see her.
And then see, he thought regretfully, if she lived.