Chapter 16 #2
“Archdemons are powerful enough not to care because our rituals can’t send them anywhere.
They offer their names willingly to assert power,” Daylan explained slowly, as if he spoke any faster he’d knock over a Jenga tower.
“They love reminding you where you stand. I’m assuming you all didn’t get a name? ”
“No,” I said. “I’ll double-check with our clients in the morning, but in every interaction I’ve had with it, it didn’t mention a name.”
“Then we’ll tentatively cross Arch off,” Daylan decided. December did just that; her red slash reminded me of a bloody cut. I frowned at the smeared ink.
“Now for everyone’s favorite, the Chaos demons,” Daylan said.
“Lives of the party, according to our parents,” Nico spoke under his breath.
“Oh, for sure,” Daylan agreed. “And they don’t limit themselves to one person or place. These things like to plague entire neighborhoods or towns. Feed off collective fear.”
I thought about how Octavia was adamant about not letting the town know who we were and what we did. The people of Alpine Peak seemed none the wiser about the issues at Elmwood. As far as I could tell, there were no mysterious happenings once we stepped foot off the property.
“I think that one should go, too.” Nico gestured for December to cross it off. “This town’s quiet. Chaos would have been triggered by now if that thing was really looking for a good time.”
“Alright, so, that leads to one of the fuckers who got me, a Crossroads demon,” Daylan offered.
“Tricksters, promising riches and success, bind the human to a contract and come to collect their soul once the time’s run up.
Most times, they offer their services. Hunt for desperate individuals.
On rare occasions, people have called out to them in prayers, requesting their aid.
Has your client been experiencing untold success? ”
A needling question about his personal experience poked in my mind, but I nudged it away in favor of saying, “She hasn’t had time to open her ranch and experience much of anything.”
“So, not a definitive yes?”
“Correct,” I said. “But I think she’d remember making deals with the devil.”
“You trust she’d tell you if she had?” Daylan said. “Some people are embarrassed. My client was.”
There was no way a disbelieving Octavia shook hands at a crossroads and feigned her way to my table at the convention…but Wilson could have done something and now was too ashamed to speak of it. Maybe even Esther had a hand in this somehow?
“And remember, these deals don’t always happen at a physical crossroads.
Demons stopped expecting traditionalism after the turn of the century,” he said.
“It’s metaphorical at this point. Think of it as more of a crossroads of life.
They offer themselves to people desperate for change.
Buying a ranch feels a lot like a crossroad. ”
December’s notes revealed the same thought process. She’d underlined Wilson three times.
“Crossroads stay on the list,” Daylan said. “Hellhounds are next. They’re glorified beasts. They can’t control their forms like other demons, so since this one can talk and premeditate attacks, we shouldn’t bother leaving it in consideration.”
“What do hellhounds do, though?” December clicked her pen.
“Hellhounds are a simplification, a misnomer. They can be any type of creature. They’re guards attracted to markers and boundaries of the underworld.”
“The ranch has an elm tree,” December said. “That’s where the previous owner was buried. The owner who we thought was haunting the ranch after his murder. Do you think that could have anything to do with a hellhound?”
“Not on its own,” Daylan said. “One of my colleagues got caught between one of these hounds before. Trust me when I say these things don’t think, just act. And that leads to the Ancestral demons. Now those guys are in it for the long game. They target restless spirits, possessing them.”
“A demon possessing a ghost?” Jonah’s first words of the conversation were strangled, as if he were having issues processing one shock after the other.
“Brilliant,” Nico whispered to himself as he typed notes into his phone.
Nothing about his excitement was wrong, per se, and yet I wanted to chew him out for it.
I leaned back into my seat, forcing my shoulder blades against the cushion.
My spine ached, and I kept pushing because it kept the frustration at bay.
“They’re more parasitic than their brethren. Ever heard of a family just down on their luck? I’m talking about years of accidents and untimely deaths?”
“Sure,” I said, thinking about Octavia’s parents’ passing and her brother’s accident. Was it possible that we were witnessing the beginning of an ancestral curse?
“Plenty of that bad luck can be attributed to Ancestrals. They drain energy from family lines until there’s no power left for the next generation. They can survive off one family for centuries.”
Jonah winced and started massaging his temples. I raised a brow at him, and when he didn’t meet my gaze, I asked, “Do you need a walk?”
He dropped his hands at the suggestion. “No. I’m fine.”
I studied him for a second longer before asking Daylan, “How do we go about validation?”
“It may take a few days,” Daylan said. “And a couple of tries. But you’re going to have to go back to the ranch and provoke it. Coax it back out and get it to talk.”
“That shouldn’t be too difficult,” I muttered. “It was starting to chat it up.”
“My money’s on an Ancestral or a Crossroads,” Daylan said. “The longer you’re face-to-face with this thing, the more it’ll slip up. You’re going to have to trap it, learn from it, and use what I know about keeping them contained.”
“And how would we go about containment?” I asked.
“Ancestrals require the destruction of a connection first. I’ve seen it done once before; it’s an excruciating process but doable,” he said.
“The Crossroads will be a bit more complex because of the contract. Turns out trickster demons are good with words and bonds. You’ll have an easier time just living out the sentence. ”
My knee bounced as I looked down at December’s circled Ancestral and Crossroads. “How soon should we wait to go back and trap it?”
“As soon as you learn how to set a trap,” Daylan said.
“I’ll walk you through it. It’s tricky, but between the four of you, it’ll only take about a week?
Maybe two to be safe? And a bit of harvested energy.
The good news is I’m sure you have some of that lingering in the air after the night you’ve had. ”
“Another understatement of the century,” Nico teased him.