Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
The team was arguing when I quietly slipped back into the RV. My lips still tingled from Octavia’s mouth. I mindlessly massaged the base of my neck, a feeble attempt to stave off drunkenness.
“I don’t care how many times she calls him,” Nico was saying. He stood in the entryway that led to the short hall of bunk beds. His hands pressed into both walls of the hallway, the wooden panels bending slightly under the pressure. “I’m going to double it.”
December leaned against the sink with an empty cup in her hand. She pressed the rim against her chin, gaze locked on Nico. “She said the man was possessed.”
Jonah sat on the couched with his knees pulled into his chest. He gave me a passing glance, but that was the only animation he had to offer.
“Give him some time. Blowing up his phone will not do much more than piss him off,” December said.
“Why would I care about pissing him off? If he didn’t want to be a resource, he shouldn’t have become one of the few demon experts in the world.”
“What’s going on?” I couldn’t swallow my deep sigh. I should have known they wouldn’t be playing nice this late at night. Sleep would be preferable at a time like this, but the clock had sped up on this case. The sooner we got more information, the less likely something horrible will happen.
“It’s been too long a day for a yelling match,” I reminded them.
Nico and December at least had the courtesy to look a little ashamed of their back-and-forth.
“I’m spamming this Daylan guy,” Nico explained. “Dawn didn’t get an answer.”
“You really think if he doesn’t pick up the call from the person he knows, then he’ll pick up for someone he doesn’t?” December asked.
“No,” Nico said coldly. “But that doesn’t matter. The plan to wear him down.”
December looked at me, eyes squinted with irritation as she gestured toward Nico.
“He’s right,” I said and held out my hand to Nico, requesting the phone so I could put in another call.
“You two are going to make sure the man won’t—” December stopped short when the call picked up. All our eyes went wide. I flinched at the vibration of a gruff voice on the other end.
“Look,” he said. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but if you don’t stop calling me, you’ll live to regret it.”
December threw me a, see what I told you?
“Hi, Daylan,” I said quickly. “This is Rae Jones. My sister Dawn gave us your contact information.”
“I don’t care if you’re the archangel Gabriel with news from God,” he spat. “My phone’s not a hotline.”
“I’m sorry about waking you—”
“Are you? Because sorry people don’t continue to do things they regret. Are you an asshole or dense? I don’t do business with either.”
I covered the mic for a second, pressing the edge of the phone to my forehead to regain my composure. I needed to be able to do the one thing I was good at, and talk. Convince someone I was worth listening to. “We need your help.”
“I figured from the obsessive redials.”
“It’s about a demon.”
“I figured on account of I’m a limited edition,” he grumbled.
Nico snorted, a bit amused, a bit pissed.
“It’s important,” I promised.
“It always is.” Daylan’s voice was monotone and uninterested. “But I’ll tell you what I tell everyone else: I don’t care. I’m inactive. I’m exhausted. And I’m seeing things. I’m no use to you.”
“That’s the furthest thing from the truth, I promise.” I slipped into the kitchenette booth. Reheated microwave meals littered the table, no doubt December’s attempt to fuel us through the night. The food remained untouched, its burned smell lingering in the RV’s heavy air.
“Daylan, we’re freelancers with no connection to the Guild other than my sisters. The job we have involves a rancher who’s lost her parents and is about to lose her home. The demon latched on to either the land or her, and all I know about demons is a bunch of maybes.”
“Then maybe you should hightail it out of there and tell your rancher to do the same.”
“And leave whoever comes next to deal with it? That’s not what we do.”
“It’s never too late to restructure your approach to things. You said you weren’t part of the Guild anymore, right? With all the freedom you have, why are you still limiting yourself to their rules?”
My jaw tensed. Nico huffed out a humorless laugh, turning away for a second to keep from saying something we’d all regret.
One of the main tenets the Guild drilled into us was that no matter what happened, we saw the job through to the very end, even if that meant death.
That rule remained with me, and I’d abide by it until I stopped hunting or died—whichever came first.
“I’m just asking for a rundown. Crash course on demonology. A clue where to look next. Prey preference? Common haunting tactics? Favorite goddamn colors? Anything.”
He was quiet. December motioned her hands quickly, urging me to keep talking.
“I know it can’t be easy…getting these types of calls after what happened.” My voice lost its bass, wobbling on the tightrope of uncertainty.
Daylan chuckled. “That’s the understatement of the century.”
“But if you don’t help us and we leave this town, who knows what will happen.
This thing is strong, and it’s only a matter of time before it decides it wants to jump into someone.
And then, their world would be forever altered, too.
Except they won’t be like you. They don’t know half of what you know.
They probably won’t even realize what’s happening.
And they damn sure wouldn’t survive it.”
The quiet returned; the only sign that Daylan was still there was his low, steady breathing.
“You got into this for a reason. Whether it was to help or to get answers. I do it for both…but to be honest, I’m losing faith that any reason truly matters.”
The gazes of my team studied me, looking for what angle I may be trying to play. I kept my eyes on the phone, unwilling to confirm the words were the simple truth.
“But none of that really matters because at some point, we decided to be the people who helped. And it’s wholly unfair and infinitely selfish to drop that responsibility just because we’re not sure we can or if it matters. We owe it to them to try.”
I closed my eyes for a second, anticipating the call to disconnect.
“I’ll consult,” Daylan said finally. “There’s no way I can get within spitting distance of whatever town you’re in, but I can…try. Try to help from here.”
Nico came over to squeeze my shoulder, rocking me back and forth in celebration. Jonah even looked a bit pleased, resting his feet on the ground, his body opening again.
I pressed my lips together, trying to tame my tone of excitement before offering him a “Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Daylan dismissed. “Just catch me up to speed. Don’t skimp on any of the details. And grab a pen and paper. I’m going to need your undivided attention.”
December was already prepared. She slipped into the seat opposite me, leaning closer to the phone to wait for his wisdom.
It took almost an hour to catch Daylan up.
He kept asking me to backtrack, probing for the smallest of details.
A scratch of a pen on his end revealed he kept written records as well.
“I think I understand enough,” he decided after we told him about what happened tonight for the fifth time. “Now, on to the next step: what do you guys know about demons?”
“They’re the only supernatural beings who can successfully feign the appearance of another supernatural being,” Nico spoke up. “We have a Chaos category. They’re cocky enough to reveal themselves. Vengeful enough to always resort to murder.”
“Good. What else?” When he was met with quiet, Daylan continued, “Fine. That’s fine.
To be expected. Now, here’s what needs to happen next.
It’s imperative that we figure out what classification this demon is.
There are five. The only recorded ones in the Guild’s database are Chaos and Archdemons because they’re the only ones we’ve been in prolonged contact with.
But that doesn’t mean we should assume it’s going to be Chaos.
Hunters are explorers after all, finding new corners of hell every day. ”
I understood the world was far larger than my eyes would ever witness.
I’d made peace with not being able to understand even a small percentage of existence.
But Daylan’s reminder made me feel trapped in a room with no oxygen.
I tugged at my collar, taking small, quick breaths.
New corners had been thrilling even a year ago.
Now, all I wanted to think about was how nice the familiarity of a living room couch could be.
How comforting the creak of the same door opening was when one came home.
Or saying goodnight to the same beautiful woman and holding her until we both fell asleep.
“Archdemons are the most straightforward,” Daylan continued. “Buttoned-up.”
Nico laughed humorlessly. “How so?”
“They’ll introduce themselves by name because there’s nothing for them to hide,” Daylan said.
“They’re some of the most powerful supernatural beings that walk the planet.
If you came across one, you’d know it. They don’t gatekeep their names, considering the pain they could receive from someone knowing them is equivalent to a pinch—”
“Pain?” December asked.
“If you learn a demon’s name, you can wield some power over it,” Daylan said simply. “Use it in a ritual that will weaken it to the point where you’ll have an easier time sending it to a prison of your choice.”
“So like the other side?” I asked.
“No, not exactly. Don’t get caught in the other side fallacy.” Daylan sighed. “Ghosts get peace. Demons don’t.”
“And why not?” December wrote in barely legible cursive.
“They don’t really deserve, now, do they?” he snapped and then paused for a second to take a deep breath. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” I frowned at December and mouthed, Slow down.
December’s jaw tightened, but she didn’t provide any protest.