Chapter 16
Hashtag thoughts and prayers
The settlement they’d been to before was closer than Drew thought, and it wasn’t long before it came into sight. Andras touched Drew’s arm to bring him to a stop and then guided him off into a small copse of trees. “Do you know how to do a glamour?” he asked.
Drew shook his head, even as he crouched down to allow Leila to hop off his shoulder and scratch around in the dirt. The urco followed her around, sniffing at her, but keeping his fangs respectfully covered. “No. Zach took care of that last time.”
“I thought so,” Andras said.
“How could you tell?” Drew asked, eternally curious about magic and how others interacted with it.
“I’m familiar with his signature,” Andras explained.
“Though I originally clocked you both because the demons he made you look like are the same as the ones he used in the past on both of us. It wasn’t until I got closer to both of you that I could determine the magical signature was definitely his. ”
Drew nodded. “What does a magical signature look like? I’ve not really noticed anything like that before.”
“Not everyone can tell the difference. It’s just one way in which magical powers vary between people. If you’ve not noticed anything, then I’d say it’s not how your magic works.”
“Huh. That’s so cool.” It never ceased to amaze Drew about the intricacies of this new world he found himself in. “What does Zach’s signature look like to you?”
Andras considered this. “It’s a little hard to explain, but it looks like how slightly burnt caramel smells.”
Frowning, Drew tried to comprehend this. Finally, he shook his head. “Nope, you lost me.”
“I told you it’s hard to explain,” Andras said. “It’s not quite a colour, or a smell, or even a feeling. It’s just a sense.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Drew told him. “So, glamours? How do I do them?”
“It’s a simple premise, but there’s a few mistakes made by beginners that can make it a little tricky. Essentially, you’re taking the image of a demon and projecting it around yourself. This encourages others to see that demon and not your squishy, human self.”
“And it also encourages everyone to see a different demon to your ‘wanted by Lucifer’s Shadow Blades’ self?” Drew surmised.
“Exactly!” Andras agreed. “That way, no one will think it’s worth their while to hand me over in exchange for the reward.”
“There’s a reward for your capture?” Drew asked. “You didn’t tell us that.”
“That’s because it’s new,” Andras replied airily. “It’s quite a big one too. While I’m flattered, it will make things rather more complicated than I’d like.”
Drew tried to think of the various demons he’d encountered so far. “I’m not sure how I’ll do coming up with the images,” he admitted. “I noticed some details about the demons we saw, but what if I get something wrong? Won’t that be super obvious?”
Andras shook his head. “Demons are so terribly varied that it won’t have to be perfect. You’ll do fine.”
“What are those mistakes I need to avoid?” Drew asked.
“It’s mostly a mass issue. For instance, if you project the image of a demon who is seven feet tall, but you’re only five and a half feet, and another demon tries to touch your projection’s shoulder, they won’t be able to.
The trick is to keep the projection as close to your own shape as possible, and then just alter the appearance. ”
“I’m taller than five-five!” Drew protested. It wasn’t by much, but those couple of inches counted, okay?
“That’s what you took from that?” Andras demanded.
“No, I heard the rest. I just wanted you to know that I’m actually five foot seven. Thank you very much.”
“Noted,” Andras drawled. “Now, do you want to give this a shot, or do you want to impress me with your towering height some more?”
Drew narrowed his eyes, taking that as the challenge it was.
He dipped into the inner well of power within him, even as he pictured two demons, based broadly on the one they’d met first. He didn’t want to use any of the demons that had been in the settlement in case they ran into them again.
That might draw attention to them. When he was happy enough with the image, he whispered, “nos cela,1” and allowed his magic to flow out of him.
Andras reeled back, his jaw dropping in shock. “Fuck!”
Drew’s heart dropped. “Did I do it wrong?” He wondered which part he’d messed up. Had it half worked? Had he made them look like some monstrous, twisted version of a demon?
Andras slowly shook his head. “Uh, no. No, it uh, it worked,” he said haltingly.
Drew stared at Andras, trying to see the glamour.
His aunt had one of those old 3D Magic Eye books, and it was a little like that.
If he let his eyes unfocus, then almost looked through Andras, he could see the image of the demon he’d projected at him.
It made his brain hurt, though, so he let his eyes adjust so he could see Andras once more. “What’s wrong then?” Drew asked.
“Nothing’s wrong.”
Scoffing, Drew crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him . “Bullshit. You’re acting weird. Please tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.”
Andras sighed, and his pale grey eyes were serious as he met Drew’s gaze.
“Zach told me how powerful you are. I mean, it’s obvious since you have a fucking familiar!
And yes, I saw you crack open the ground itself like it was nothing, which is crazy.
Something like this, though. Seeing you do something you’ve never done before . . .”
Drew’s face scrunched up in confusion. “What the fuck are you talking about? You’re not making any sense!”
Andras ran a hand through his pale curls and gestured in an agitated manner.
“Glamours aren’t a rare form of magic. Lots of people—demons, angels, humans—can do them.
The thing about glamours, though, is if you know someone is using one, it’s pretty obvious when you know what to look for.
Small imperfections, things that aren’t quite right.
To everyone else who isn’t looking closely, they don’t even notice these things.
They just overlook them because those tiny little imperfections aren’t important. Do you get what I’m saying?”
“Yeah, I think so. It’s like AI ‘art.’” He raised his hands to use quotation marks around the last word.
“It’s gotten to the point where a lot of people can’t tell it’s AI, but if you know what to look for, it’s obvious.
It’s not always even the weird fingers or the blurred backgrounds that give it away.
It’s soulless and has that uncanny valley vibe to it. ”
“Exactly,” Andras agreed. “This was your first time doing a glamour. There should be lots of obvious tells to show me you’re glamoured.
You also weren’t just glamouring yourself, but me as well, which makes it even harder.
But Drew, there’s nothing. If I didn’t know you weren’t a demon with cloven hooves, an extra set of arms, and a truly ugly-as-fuck face, I would, with absolute certainty, say you were a real demon.
” Andras shook his head again. “It’s one thing to be told how powerful you are, and to see you perform feats of magic others can’t do, but I guess seeing you do regular, run-of-the-mill magic so flawlessly is what’s really hammered it in for me. ”
Drew could feel his cheeks heating, and he tried to shrug it off. “I’m sure it wasn’t that good.”
“It was,” Andras disagreed. “And it’s absolutely terrifying.” He paused, and then huffed. “I hate knowing I look so damned ugly.”
Drew rolled his eyes. “Hashtag thoughts and prayers. Truly, my heart goes out to you.”
“There’s no need to be heartless. Think of all the poor demons whose lives will be poorer for not being able to gaze upon all of this.” Andras gestured at his real face.
“And you’re still not as gorgeous as Zach,” Drew told him, completely serious.
Andras’s shoulders slumped. “I hate how good-looking that asshole is,” he grumbled.
“No you don’t. You get to admire the view too,” Drew pointed out.
The demon sighed wistfully. “And what a view it is.” He cleared his throat and then hooked a thumb over his shoulder towards the village. “We really should get going.”
Drew nodded and crouched down to allow Leila to jump back up onto his shoulder. The urco fell into step beside them and they headed onwards.
They stood in the mouth of a dark alley, across from the inn. It was nearing dusk, and the square was bustling. Despite their glamours, they’d tried to move through town unseen, not wanting the sight of the urco to cause a panic.
“What now?” Drew asked. “How are we going to get in with Princess?”
Andras thought for a moment and then said, “I’ll go and get us a room.
You and Princess sneak around to the back of the building to the rear courtyard.
Once I’ve got a room, I’ll open the door at the top of the stairs, and we can sneak him in that way.
He can stay in the room while we get some food.
It’ll give you a chance to search the floor under the tables for the ring. ”
“Won’t they have cleaned the floor already?”
Andras arched one of his delicate brows and reached out to pat Drew’s cheek. “Oh, my sweet summer child. You really are so innocent. It’s a demon inn. Do you really think they clean the place regularly?”
“They might!” Drew protested. “You shouldn’t make assumptions about their cleanliness just because they’re demons!”
“No, I’m making assumptions of their cleanliness based on the fact I’ve been inside and seen how filthy it is.”
Drew rolled his eyes. “Fine. Whatever. The plan sounds good. What are we going to do for money, though? Zach magicked some up for us last time, but I don’t know how to do that. Can you?”
“I don’t need to use magic to get us some coins,” Andras told him. “I’ll see you soon.”