A Wolf at the Door

“That book is priceless. Please be careful.”

I raised a brow at him, and toyed with the idea of dumping the old tome on the floor. But being a fan of old written works myself, I relented and put the book back on the shelf. “How many, Reggie? How many souls have you bargained away at the behest of your clients?”

“It is my job to do what the client wants, regardless of how ill-advised I think it is. And really, most of the time, it works to their benefit. At least in the short term.”

“And yours?” I picked up one of his trophies, turning it over in my hands then replacing it on the shelf crooked just because I could and I’m petty. “I notice you haven’t sold your own soul in one of these very profitable arrangements.”

“Of course not. Do I look stupid?”

“Then what do you get out of all this?”

“As their representative, I get a small percentage of their earnings. If I can enhance that earning potential with this kind of contract, so much the better. That’s not evil, Mr. Dawson, just good business.”

“And if it gets you in good with the forces of Hell, then maybe you’ll get a little compensation on the back side, right? Should you ever need it?”

He was quiet a while before he answered. “That possibility hasn’t been addressed yet.”

I snorted. “Not out loud, maybe, but you have it all worked out in your head. Who to ask for a favor, what leverage you have where. All planned out neatly in that tiny, oily little brain of yours. ’Cause that’s the kind of guy you are. You’re a planner.” I finally turned to look at him. “You’re disgusting.”

Reggie smirked at me. “Glass houses and stones, Mr. Dawson. Remember, I know who sent you here. An interesting…side job you have going, there. Could be lucrative in the future, if you play your cards just right.”

That stung. Bad. Mostly because he wasn’t wrong. “My business is mine. And at least I’m not dragging other people down with me.” Except my wife. My daughter. My friends, family, loved ones. Yeah, I’m a real freakin’ hero.

“To each his own then.” He shrugged, smiling at me as if we were old friends just chatting about the weather.

I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to punch somebody in the face so badly in my life. Luckily, Gretchen came back about then, keeping me from devolving to my baser nature.

She slapped one copy of the contract down on Reggie’s desk, and thrust the other one at me. I rolled it up and crossed my arms over my chest again. “If you can’t tell, Reggie, I’m really unhappy about this. I’ll be reviewing my contract with you as well over the next few days.” She gave him a cold smirk. “I already have a copy of that one at home.”

“Of course, honey. As you see fit. Let me know if there are any points you want to renegotiate.” He gave her a smile too, charming and poised. Somewhere in all this, he’d gathered himself, recovered from his upset earlier. I didn’t like that. Somewhere in that slick, sleazy mind of his, he’d come up with something, something we didn’t know. And if it made him happy, it wasn’t something I wanted to see happen.

“Come on, Jesse.” She turned on her heel and stalked out, leaving me to follow. My skin itched, right between my shoulder blades, the entire time my back was turned to Reggie. Pretty sure that was the exact spot the daggers from his eyes were landing.

Back in the car, Gretchen stared at that contract until I thought her eyes might pop right out of her head. Finally, she tossed it into the floorboards, rubbing at her temples with a pained sigh. “There’s no way to read this. Feels like my head is going to explode.”

“Well, there might be a way.” She raised her head to give me a curious look. “There’s one other person who was there the night you made this contract, right?” I reached over and tapped the tattoo on her arm with one finger. “What if we ask him?”

She thought it over, but finally shook her head. “Even if I could get him to show up, you think he’d tell the truth? He’s a demon.”

“You call his name, he’ll show up. I promise that much. As for truth…well, we got a fifty-fifty shot, right?” Oh, how I hated this idea. Hated it with a freakin’ passion. You don’t summon demons. You just don’t. I’d done it once, just once in the five years I’d known about them, and it still felt like slimy ants marching all over my skin every time I thought about it. Something like that, it leaves a stain in your mind.

“But he won’t.” She gave me a perplexed look. “I’ve tried to call him again, and he doesn’t show up.”

“Wait. You mean to tell me you called a demon by name and it didn’t show?”

“Yeah. Does that mean something important?”

I had no idea. I’d never heard of it happening before. I mean, a demon’s name was power. One whisper of it could get their attention in whatever Hell they existed in, no matter how far away. Call it out loud, and they would ride a human voice across the veil, materializing in our world with all their powers in full effect. Why one would miss that opportunity was beyond me. “Well, we’re gonna try again. You got some place you suggest for this? The hotel room is off limits.” It was the one stronghold we had, if we could even call it that. I wasn’t going to invite a demon right in.

“Reggie has a place he uses. Says it’s special. We could try that?”

I nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Bobby. Take us to the observatory.”

“Actually, Bobby, I need to stop off and grab some stuff. You guys got a Wal-Mart out here somewhere?” I wasn’t going to mix it up with a demon without a bit more ammunition. And it’s amazing what you can pick up at your local stop-n-shop, if you know what to look for.

The supply run took no time at all, and dusk was coming on as we drove toward the observatory, the winter sun setting into the ocean somewhere behind us. Night was a good time for demon summoning. They tended to avoid the sunlight, and if we were dealing with a reluctant demon, I wanted to make sure the widdle fellow felt