Chapter 14 Deal with the Devil
On my mad dash to the train station, a car pulls even with me. At first I flinch away, hand already reaching for my phone, but then I recognize Sanjiv Uncle, one of Aai’s many acquaintances.
“In a rush, beti?”
“I’m late for the train,” I say, then add, “Aai offered to give me a ride, but I didn’t want to bother her.”
He insists on driving me all the way into the city, and it’s actually a pretty pleasant ride.
Sanjiv Uncle has always been very sweet.
He tells me he called Aai on the day of the fire to check on me, and extemporizes on how horrible the attack was.
It feels nice, even if I don’t know him well.
I shoot a text to Aai telling her I’m heading back to the city and not to worry, and relax into the conversation.
Temporarily soothed, I’m caught completely off guard when I arrive home to find a man sitting at my kitchen table. I’ve already, like a complete idiot, closed the door behind me. I immediately turn around, lunging for the door, but he moves faster than I can follow to block it.
“I wouldn’t scream,” he says. “That will not go well for you, I assure you.”
I try to remember what sequence of buttons on my phone leads to an emergency SOS call. I accidentally trigger it once a week, but now my mind is blank. I back away toward the window.
“Please, Ms. Kulkarni, there’s no need for theatrics.
” I look around, wondering what I can use as a weapon.
“Wouldn’t you like answers?” I pause. I would like answers, but not from whoever this is.
He takes my hesitation as an opening. “In a show of good faith, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Asmodeus. Please, don’t look afraid.
I know the Prince of Demons, Lord of Lust titles are intimidating, but I assure you I only want for us to help each other. ”
My ears are ringing. I use my magic, searching out his power, and then—
I can’t help the gasp that tears out of me. He’s not cloaked in the same sickly aura of power as his lackeys. The entirety of him is limned in light. It is very nearly beautiful. The scope of his magic is vast, and yet contained in the most frightening display of control I have seen yet.
“Let’s sit,” he says. My legs obey, though I can tell he has not cast a spell on me.
He wields a charisma so effective that he doesn’t need magic to make me do this.
In a few long strides he sits across from me at my small table.
“My employees have made several blunders. I should have remembered that if I want something done right, I should do it myself.” He chuckles, and it feels warm instead of creepy.
I dig my fingers into my thighs, trying to regain control of myself.
“I would tell you to relax, but it usually doesn’t help.
So instead, I’ll offer to answer three questions for you to establish trust. What do you want to know? ”
I still don’t know what to make of this, but I spent a lot of time as a child wondering what I would do if I was offered three wishes. “This isn’t one of my three questions, but what assurance do I have that you’ll tell the truth?”
He laughs. “I can see you’re well read. I won’t count this against you.
You’ll have no assurance that I’m telling the truth.
But I have no incentive to lie. Demons have different ways of interacting with the world, according to our nature, just as you have yours.
It is not in my nature to do something as base as lie.
I get what I want by being the most powerful in the room. I do not believe in hiding.”
That’s a lot of words for you’ll just have to take it on faith. Clearly, though, I can’t make him leave, so I take a few deep breaths and consider my next steps carefully.
“Why are you targeting me? Surely there are others with more power than I have.”
“There is not a lot of demon magic left in the world. Most demons are dead, and the ones who are left are hoarders. You, a human with demon magic… it hasn’t happened in decades. That is why I’ve been pursuing you.”
As he speaks, I study him properly. He’s tan with dark brown hair and brown eyes, handsome. If he was a politician, he would win in a landslide for his relatability.
“What would you use my power for?”
“Increasing my own, of course. My primary trade is making deals, soul pacts. I’ll tell you for free that I haven’t been asked to commit a murder in years.
It’s mostly about money and power. But the human souls I collect in exchange house merely a fraction of the power currently contained in your pinkie finger. ”
I’m down to my last question, and I’ve still learned nothing useful. “Why try to kill me if you want my power so badly?”
Asmodeus’s eyes harden, and I see the demon inside.
“I’m disappointed that you wasted your final question on something so obvious.
If I can’t have this power, nobody will.
Certainly not a human who has defied me.
There have to be consequences for failing to obey me.
If I had been you, I would have asked something else—how did I set that fire, perhaps.
How I control others. Something to help save your sorry skin. ”
My mouth opens, then snaps shut. He’s right. “I don’t care about my sorry skin and I don’t really care how you’re possessing poor souls or tempting them into predatory deals, or whatever.”
He steeples his fingers, and I keep silent. “You raise an interesting point, one it took me some time to understand myself. You’ve been threatened, nearly run over, caught in a deadly fire, and yet you don’t seem to care much about surviving.”
“You could always take a stab at me now,” I say. I’m not sure why, but I feel confident he won’t.
Asmodeus smiles at me. “Why do you think I went after your clinic? You may be shockingly unmotivated to save your own life, but with a bit of time, I always find the leverage I need.”
Fear spikes within me. “It’s just a job.” I know I’ve made a mistake. I should have said nothing at all. And he sees it too.
“In the absence of your compliance, I could arrange something special. An air strike, perhaps? Or I could buy up your land and have the clinic bulldozed. Poor optics for humans, but I don’t particularly care.”
“If you have such power, why haven’t you already destroyed us?”
“If the fire wasn’t enough, I will take it under advisement. I simply thought you might prefer the carrot to the stick.”
I swallow. “Let’s say I consider your offer. You want my power, and in exchange I get what? To keep my life? My job? That’s a pretty bad deal for me. You could still kill me after you get what you want, and the humans opposing us will certainly still keep trying to put me out of a job.”
“You can have riches, if you would like, or power, enough to protect what you love.”
“I need some time to think.”
“My patience wears thin, Ms. Kulkarni. I don’t negotiate like that. You say yes now, or I will resort to other means of persuasion.”
It’s that line that cements it for me. “I’m very stubborn.”
Asmodeus sighs and rises to his feet. “Rest assured, Ms. Kulkarni, I will have what I want.”
I sit on the floor in a corner of my apartment, trying not to hyperventilate. I don’t know how long I’ve been there when a key turns in my lock. I scrabble to my feet, hoping it’s Aai coming to take me home. Pathetic.
Before I have the chance to speculate further, Muya calls, “Nisha, you there?”
I try to smooth out my clothes so I don’t look like I’ve been crouched over and shaking in the dark. I doubt I’m successful.
“I’m here,” I answer. In a way, I’m kind of relieved. He is quite literally the devil I know. His magic helped save Aaron’s life.
He flicks on the lights, and we stare at each other for a moment. “So you are indeed fine,” he says in a flat tone. He’s holding a long, thin object and when my gaze falls on it, he slips it into his pocket—he must have picked my lock.
“Aw, Muya, were you worried?”
He scowls. “Even someone as ridiculous as you can acknowledge that you are in danger now, yes?”
“Yes.”
“So you will agree to a deal?” he asks. “You give me your magic, and I will deal with this threat for you.”
“How would you go about dealing with it, hypothetically?” I ask.
“I have my ways,” Muya says, and I burst out laughing.
“So you don’t have a plan at all. What have you been doing all this time?”
“I’ve looked into your little problem.”
“And?”
“I’ve been continuing to search for a way to reunite my power without your consent.
I have searched artifacts and sites of magical concentration, even tried to awaken native magical creatures.
But there is nothing that can help me but you.
” He gets more worked up by the minute and almost spits the final word.
“Well, you missed the Prince of Demons by about an hour,” I say. “Maybe he can help.” Muya hisses, a quick, inhuman sound. “You’re familiar?”
“How could I not have known?” He shakes himself. “It’s been so long, and these Western demons…”
“What is the deal with them anyway?” I ask.
“I was trapped in a statue for much of what happened,” he says. “But I imagine your kind hunted down all the demons they could find, thinking themselves conquerors and protectors.”
He sounds angry, understandably, and I’m beginning to appreciate why he has such contempt for me.
We stare awkwardly at each other for a few moments before I break the silence.
“That demon—Asmodeus—he realized… I was stupid. I let it slip that I care about the clinic, and now I get the feeling that he’s planning something bigger, maybe even working with the humans already targeting the clinic, I don’t know. ”
Muya gives me a sharp nod. “I’ll look into it, then, and in the meantime, you should keep digging into the past. See you soon.”
He leaves as he’s still speaking, apparently the demon of ignorance and Irish goodbyes.
I begin a simple palta footwork pattern, trying to steady myself in the beats.
I alternate sides with tatkar before finishing the palta with a flourish that would have made even my hypercritical guru proud.
I scan my playlist and spot a Lasya I learned a decade ago.
It’s not often performed in Kathak, but our guru insisted that we learn both a Tandava for Shiva and a Lasya for Parvati.
I am not particularly sensual, but I’ve always loved the grace of the Lasya.
I put on my headphones, tightening them until they’re a little uncomfortable, and begin to dance.
I bend and sway, and my sides groan in protest. I have lost those hard-won muscles, in the hospital bed and in the intervening months spent under my own covers at home.
And yet I feel grounded, present. I move my feet in small, deliberate steps.
I am not the destroyer, but I am still powerful.
For a brief moment I can inhabit another person. Another world.
And finally, finally, I let go.