On the surface the place simply looked like a NewMexico style ranch. Adobe architecture, sprawling single story home, barns,other outbuildings, fencing, even a wall around part of the house forming aprivate courtyard. Very charming. I would have loved it normally.
It practically oozed with malevolence. The air over itshimmered, and I could convince myself I could see arcane symbols surroundingit in some sort of super powerful ward.
You can see them. Possibly because I can see them. Or they are simply that prominent.
"Okay, that's evil," Aaron declared when wewere much further away, nearly back to the main road.
"Yeah."
Did they notice us?
I do not think so.
"That's way more what I expected demons to belike than the three you've got hanging out with you."
I'm quite evil,Ezra declared.
"Ezra says he is extremely evil." I kept mytone neutral.
Aaron chuckled. "Is he?"
"Probably." I shrugged. "He seems to bereasonably mellow in the evil department at the moment, but maybe he's justreining it in for our sakes."
Exactly.
I wasn't quite buying it, but I had no doubt he wasfar from good.
"Sabian could probably be quite evil if he wantedto be, but he seems inclined toward decency. The hellhound, well, he did choosethe shape of a Pomeranian. I'm not sure what that says about him."
Hellhounds are protective and a bit chaotic. Theirpersonalities often reflect the ones they are bonded with.
"Ahh, Ezra just said Mayhem will be chaos, butnot particularly evil."
Both Aaron and Ezra laughed, though for slightlydifferent reasons. I found myself grinning.
The difference between myself and what is going on atthat ranch is that I have achieved my ambitions, and am relatively content torule my corner of hell. The evil we sensed there is of the type that wishes tobreak onto Earth and cause actual destruction.
"Okay, Ezra says he's only evil if you piss himoff. Whatever demonic presences are going on back there are evil because theywant to break the world."
Essentially.
"I see."
"So, Ezra, you mentioned that there was somethingdeeper going on than just an attempt to gain some territory on Earth. Anythingelse we should know about that?" I asked aloud so Aaron could hear.
I don't yet know the extent of this.
That was similar to the answer he had given me thelast time I'd asked basically the same thing.
"What'd he say?"
"He doesn't know enough to say yet."
"Think he would tell us if he did?"
"Eh, probably not. He just wants to end this andhead home. Guess as long as we don't have to deal with the rest of it, doesn'tmatter much to me."
"What do you think the odds of us not having todeal with any of the fallout are?"
"That's a good question." I leaned back inthe seat, unsuccessfully trying to ignore the phantom fingers that trailed overmy skin again. I did find it interesting that Aaron was still consideringhimself a part of the equation after this was dealt with. Especially since he'dfelt what we were up against.
Chapter 18
Price
What is the point of this?
It's fun. It makes Mal happy. Shut up.
We should be planning our attack on the occultist.
Trust me, we will. Also, if you hadn't noticed, Malhas us storming a heavily warded dungeon. Think of it as practice.
Ezra grumbled.
We were playing characters closer to our normal selvesthis time. I was playing a heavily intoxicated sorcerer. Which, I foundentertaining, because I didn't actually drink that often anymore. Even when I'dbeen younger, I'd saved the benders for really special occasions, usuallyinvolving breakups, or fantastic fuckups on my part. Being a drunk exorcistwasn't the best idea.
To appease the demon prince a little I brought up ourmission. "What is the plan?"
"Tomorrow is a new moon," Mal said. "Conveniently,it will be dark. Inconveniently, you won't be able to see very well. I suspectthe rest of us will be fine."
I can help with that.
"I think Ezra's got the 'Price is a human'problem taken care of, at least where my night vision is concerned."
"I see pretty well in the dark," Aaronadmitted.
"Yeah, not a problem for me," Sabianconfirmed.
"So, we sneak in. Severely injure or kill theoccultist, send the demons back to hell, and break things to the point wherethe human authorities can handle it, then call the cops?"
"Damn, Mal, you're starting to sound like me."I chuckled.
He shrugged. "I'm not sure how extensively we canplan otherwise. You and I should probably have a bit of a talk about the wardsbefore I leave tonight. I'll do some research and show up tomorrow prepared todeal with them. We can set Aaron loose on any demon possessed charms. They aremostly Prince Ezra's demons, so I suspect we won't have much of an issue withthem once they're freed. They might even help us against any humans they'veleft behind."
Likely.
"Demon prince agrees," I supplied.
"And we do need a solid plan on dealing with theoccultist. I have a few ideas. Once we finish assaulting this dungeon, I'll cookdinner and we can finalize a few things." Mal leaned back in the chair andstudied me.
I nodded. "Sounds good, mate."
"Should we let Darius know what we're up to?"Mal asked.
"Naw, don't think he's up for this kind of chaos."Honestly, I didn't want to deal with him after. I suspected I was going to haveto let Ezra out to play and he'd probably never forget that. I didn't want tolet Ezra take over, but the extent of the demonic energy I'd felt was far morethan I'd ever encountered before. I also didn't want to put him at risk. Hesimply wasn't as good at this stuff as I was.
Mal gave me a worried look before he nodded. "Itwill be easier if we don't have to worry about any objections the priest mighthave."
Aaron rolled his dice and sighed. "Yeah, yourpriest friend probably doesn't need to know I'm a half angel. At least notuntil we figure out what exactly that means."
"He seems unreasonably cool with demons,"Sabian said, voice a bit dark.
"Yeah, at least leaving me with you lot. Notcomplaining, mind. Just agreeing with Sabian that it is a bit strange. I don'tthink Darius
