Pale Demon

I glanced at Al, pretending to mess with the fire. Yea-a-a-a-ah? I hazarded. Don’t call me love. I have a name. By the way, I don’t know yours.

Absolutely. Absolutely, the demon fawned. This is Strontanchaark. Two a’s and an rk. You may not have noticed, but I was at Dalliance last week. Red feathers…silver headdress?

Sorry, don’t remember you, I thought, wondering if he was after a date. Not going to happen. No way. No how.

My call name is Tron, he added, and I sighed.

“Look, Tron,” I said aloud so Al could hear some of it and maybe stop pretending to mess with the fire. “I’m kind of busy right now. Just woke up. Things to do, you know…”

Completely understandable, he gushed, focusing hard to keep me from breaking the connection. But if you could wedge in a little time for me this week, I could make it worth your while. Do you think you could make me a replica of Rynn Cormel’s pool?

I blinked, trying to switch gears. He didn’t want a date. He wanted a contractor. It made sense. They all had the same stuff they’d had for thousands of years, apart from what Newt could give them, and three days ago, I’d made a brand-new desert for them to play in.

“Rynn Cormel?” I stammered when Tron poked my thoughts to see if I was still there. “You’re kidding, right? He doesn’t even have a pool.”

He does. It’s in Washington, Tron insisted. In the sun. The construct has to be in the sun.

Feeling panicked, I waved for Al’s attention, and he turned to me, a soft, secretive smile on his face. “Uh, I’ve never been to the White House,” I stammered. And what was this about the sun? Didn’t they know I’d been cursed?

So get over there and look at it.

My eyes pinched; I didn’t like his attitude. “It’s not that easy,” I offered, not wanting to get the reputation of being a bitch on my first conscious day.

But you can do it, Tron insisted, then hesitated. How much?

His thoughts were flat, and I felt a quiver of excitement. A demon was asking me what I wanted. My eyes flicked to Al, and he shrugged. “What do you want?” he said softly, his voice making me shiver.

Home was probably out. The next best thing would be a place of my own so I wasn’t sleeping in Al’s bedroom. I shifted on the cushioned bench before the central fire, making sure my hand didn’t slip. There was no way I was ever going to see the White House pool in the sun, but maybe we could work something out. “How many extra rooms do you have?”

Rooms? Tron yelped, and I winced. Putrid ash mother corn shucker, you want rooms? As in plural?

Somehow his reaction emboldened me, and I gathered my courage, even as Al blinked at me in astonishment. “You don’t think I’m going to just give you the sun, do you? Out of the goodness of my little demon heart? You want a full-blown tulpa with accurate artifacts and the sun? I’m going to have to get to reality and sneak into the White House estate in the daytime. Evade FIB and I.S. agents both.”

Robbery! Highway robbery! Tron was wailing into my thoughts.

“Supply and demand, buddy,” I said, preparing to break the connection. “Come on back when you’re serious.”

No, wait! I heard him think. How about the car? The one in the desert. I can give you a gently used familiar, well broken in and skilled, if you can duplicate that car for me.

You want my mom’s car? I thought, then pulled my thoughts back to myself. “I live with Al,” I said, glancing at him. “If I want a familiar, I go to the professional and get one, I don’t take someone’s castoff. You want an ’89 Buick with leather seats and a tape player. I want a place to sleep. Call me back when you can give me a room. Unfurnished, if you don’t mind. I don’t like other people’s junk.”

Wait! he called again, and I grinned at Al, stifling my excitement lest Tron pick up on it. If you can make it red and promise me an exclusive, I can cut out a closet for you.

“A closet?” I exclaimed, and I felt Tron wince. “You think my mother’s car is worth a lousy closet?”

A large walk-in, Tron added. Thirty by fifteen by fifteen up. I can get the toys out of it, but the mess on the walls you’re going to have to deal with. I want an exclusive, though. You don’t make a car for anyone else.

“No exclusive,” I said aloud, watching Al for his opinion and seeing him shake his head and hold his hands out in a “bigger” gesture. He didn’t even know how large the offer was, and he thought I could get one bigger.

“Dude, if you want an exclusive, I want something twice as big as a lousy thirty by fifteen by fifteen. And the exclusive is only on that model.” Tron groaned, and I added, “And I want it attached to Al’s rooms.”

Okay, okay! the demon said, and I got the feeling that he was agreeing before I added anything else. It’s a deal.

“Done,” I said, and Al sprang to his feet and almost ran down the narrow stone steps to the cellar below. “I can work you in before the end of the week,” I said loudly so Al could still hear me. “I’m a little tired right now. Call back in about an hour.” Al came back upstairs with a bottle and twin goblets in his hands. “Ah, make that two hours,” I amended. “You can imagine that Al has me scheduled tightly with his tutorial,” I said, and Al guffawed. “Actually, why don’t you arrange the time with him for us to come over and put your car exactly where you want it. Soon as the room shows up and Al tells me it’s safe for storing my shoes in.”

Al? Tron thought, sounding disappointed. I thought I’d fix the tulpa.

“You?” I said, feeling a stab of alarm, having forgotten that little part. I’d wanted Al there as a buffer, but this was spiraling into something more complicated. “No, Al’s fixing it into reality, er, the ever-after, not you.”

I felt Tron sigh, making me wonder if half the reason he’d asked me to come over was for a chance to swim in my unconscious. Not happening, bud-dy. Al was opening the bottle with a soft pop, smiling. I couldn’t meet his eyes. Who knew what I’d find there?

I’ll have the room deeded to you in an hour, Tron thought somewhat disappointedly, and I broke the connection.

“The White House pool,” I said with a snort, carefully setting Al’s mirror to the side. “Is he nuts?” He was going to be in my head again, but it would be worth it. Right? At least Al wouldn’t be sleeping in the library. I was embarrassed that I’d lost my ability to leave unless Ivy or Jenks summoned me, seeing as they knew my summoning name, but Al didn’t seem upset. Actually, he was in a grand mood as he handed me a tarnished silver goblet in the shape of a champagne flute.

“And you doubt you’re one of us,” he said softly, pride and more than a hint of relief in his voice. “Well done, Rachel.”

We clinked and I took a swallow, the unexpected honey-amber liquid flowing, feeling like heaven. “Wow!” I said when I came up for air. “I bet Rynn Cormel could get me the White House extended tour.” It wasn’t wine, but it was potent, and warmth tingled all the way to my toes. I had a room of my own, and a valuable service that no other demon besides Newt could provide. I was going to be okay.

I sobered at that. I was going to be okay. Just what did that mean—I was going to be okay? Was I going to be happy? And why wasn’t I trying to get out of here?

Al grunted, seeming to know why my excitement had left me. “I started getting the calls yesterday when they figured out your scrying mirror was in reality,” he said. “I had to put up a ‘She’s out’ post, but you saw how long it took for the calls to resume when you tapped a line. They were waiting for you. Seems like you have a lucrative place here after all.”

“With your help.” I stared at the small hearth fire visible under the new slate table and remembered waking up and finding Al sitting there looking like…something else. “I’m making a car for him,” I mused aloud. “And I’m getting a room out of it. You won’t have to sleep in the library.”

Al hesitated in his motion to top off my glass. “You’re giving the room to me?” he asked as the liquid poured