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  “What’s going on?” I wanted to know, unease growing as he remained looking at me with those dangerous blue eyes.

  “You did a good job procuring for the feast,” he appreciated my work, watching the sleeping humans with greedy eyes. “They will make for a perfect ceremony meal.”

  “Yeah, about that,” I pulled out of his arm and stepped back, so I could face him. “Maureen said something about an executioner…”

  “Patience, son.” Volpert chuckled as he noticed my agitation.

  I couldn’t tell where it suddenly came from. Maybe from the fact that I was kept in the dark. Not the physical darkness—that didn’t bother me, but I was uninformed, always dependent on the others’ knowledge or experience. Why couldn’t they just tell me the whole story?

  “It would be a lot easier to help if I understood everything that’s going on,” I introduced a thought, urging my voice to stay calm and neutral. I didn’t want to upset Volpert—nobody did.

  His face brightened with insight. “Of course you would like to understand, Adam,” he said and straightened the tie on one of the humans. “That’s exactly why we are here now.”

  “It is?”

  “I brought you here to give you a brief lesson of our history, so you truly understand the importance of what’s going to happen in the next days.”

  “You did?” This was a real surprise. He was intending to give me information. All of it.

  “Do you really think I would let you face the monster unprepared, son?”

  When he put it like that, I almost felt guilty that I had suggested he was keeping me in the dark. Luckily, I was a demon, and demons didn’t feel, did they? The tiny impulse was absorbed by anticipation to learn the whole truth.

  “Take a seat, son,” Volpert gestured at the stone chairs which hadn’t been at the table the last time I’d been in the room. He sat down on the closest one and waited for me to follow his lead.

  “Very well.” He patted my arm as I let myself sink into the chair beside him. The head of one of the humans was in the way as I wanted to rest my arm on the table, brown hair spilling where I intended to put my elbow. I shoved it aside, angling it into an unnatural position, and leaned against the table.

  “She’s going to be delicious,” Volpert commented on the young, bronze-skinned woman I’d just cleared from my armrest.

  “So, what’s the story?” I reminded him he’d been about to tell me something.

  “Ah, yes, son,” he clapped his hands together and leaned closer. “The truth.”

  He made a dramatic pause before he dove into the storytelling.

  “Two-hundred years ago, give or take, my father and I were running this area,” he looked at me intensely, warning me with his gaze to not interrupt. “Just the two of us. Aurora wasn’t more than a settlement and people didn’t notice when one or the other settler disappeared or mysteriously died on their way into the region.

  “There weren’t many demons around in what today is Illinois. The entire Chicago area was under our reign, too—my father’s reign. Whenever a new village was established by humans, he claimed it as his territory in the demon world, something fairly easy when there still weren’t that many clans around. Not that many angels, either.”

  He looked into the past with glazed eyes. Was there nostalgia enveloping him?

  “My father was a powerful demon. An original demon—in the hierarchy of demons they are similar to guardian angels in the angel world. And as Aurora grew, his power grew, and he introduced me as his heir. I was going to run all his territories if he ever died—not that he was expecting it at that time, he was immortal, just the way I am.” His eyes focused on me for a moment. “Just the way you are.”

  I stared back at him, a million questions on my tongue, but I bit them back.

  “When we established our power in this area, we didn’t care for the view of the mountains or the river which fuels the land. All we cared about was securing regions which were predestined for large settlements. And with the endless stream of European settlers in this area, we soon had a city to draw from. Souls wherever you looked, bright and tasty. It was paradise…for a while.”

  He paused and pursed his lips, lost in thought.

  “Then those abominations came to investigate what was going on. We felt too safe for our own good and started making mistakes. We didn’t cover our tracks any longer, leaving bodies behind after we’d fed, and that drew the humans’ attention as well as the angels’.”

  I listened, mouth open, absorbing every piece of information I could get.

  “We tried to plant seeds of superstition, reviving the legend of Devil’s Cave, making sure to whisper the story of the renegade Pottawatomie warrior into the right ears, so people would spread the rumors.”

  I didn’t understand and was just about to ask what he was talking about when he realized I had no memory and he needed to explain.

  “Devil’s Cave, a hole near the riverbank, that supposedly was a hideout for a Native American warrior. People believed that the cave was haunted by the ghost of that same warrior. It doesn’t matter, it was bogus. The only ghosts haunting that place were demons. My father and I spent one or the other night there, scaring humans away with our super-human powers, fueling their superstition….it was quite entertaining.” A smirk decorated his otherwise absent expression. “And for a while, the rumors were enough to keep the humans under control, but then we made a real mistake. We were caught in the act by an angel, right as we were sucking the life out of a girl. We managed to finish our meal and dodge the angel’s attack, but the angel was seen by another human, and that triggered a series of events.”

  A groan brought us both back to the present. One of our snacks had woken up and was just lifting its head. With a strike so quick it was hard to see, even for me, Volpert sent him back to the land of dreams before he continued his story as if nothing had happened.

  “The delicious soul we’d fed on belonged to the daughter of a revengeful bookkeeper, James Albert Thompson, who wouldn’t let it go. We dialed back on the feedings, cautioned by the incident and anxious to escape the angel-creature, and stayed in hiding for a while until we urgently needed to replenish our energy. But also this time, we had to flee the scene before we could dispose of the body. The local priest found the body and called for a search, he sent his posse of believers after us—well, after the evil who was killing their children—partnering up with the bookkeeper.

  “At first it was amusing, they thought the angel was the monster. They did us a favor when they killed it and we were finally free to sprawl around the city and feed as we pleased.”

  He shook his head, scolding himself for his credulity.

  “Our next mistake: we underestimated the bookkeeper. He and the priest partnered up with an angel and they hunted us down together. They set a trap, and when they caught us, the angel delivered a blow which should have been fatal to both of us, my father and me.”

  Volpert paused for what seemed like a long time while my mind tried to comprehend what he was telling me.

  “However,” his face was turning into a hard mask, cruel almost. “It was my father who died. I survived. And I cursed the three of them and promised I wouldn’t rest until the bookkeeper’s family was eradicated. The entire Thompson line. Any child, any relative. And the angel would suffer with them—the guardian angel of the Thompsons.”

  He looked at me, eyes sparkling with fury and anticipation. “Naturally, Thompson took precautions. Parts of his family disappeared to Europe, changed names, got married…like a drop of water in the ocean, they melted away between my fingers and I couldn’t do much. I spent years in hiding, waiting for them to turn up again. And when they did, I did what I could to make their lives hell, taking from them what their ancestors had taken from me.” He grinned to himself. “And soon I will have my last and final revenge.”

  “The girl,” I muttered.

  “Exactly. The last descendant of James Albert Thompson. We
ll, she and her sister…”

  Volpert’s family had been taken from him and the Thompson family had started it. They had been the reason his father was dead. I felt his fury and his anticipation of the sweet revenge.

  Footsteps interrupted our story time.

  “Oh, wonderful,” Volpert looked up and invited the others to join us. “I just told Adam about the importance of the planned execution.” He smiled widely and leaned back, folding his hands in his lap.

  “Here are the robes.” Maureen and Nora each carried a stack of black fabric to the table and laid out one for each of us.

  “I’ll help you.” I jumped to my feet, grateful to escape making a statement about Volpert’s story. He watched us, as we unfolded the robes carefully.

  I followed Maureen’s lead, smoothing every wrinkle in the heavy black robes.

  “Blackbird and Jin are on their way,” she informed us and Volpert’s smile grew even wider.

  “Delightful.” He jumped out of the chair, leaving it empty for us to prepare another set of robes. “I hope they’ll bring the desired intel on the target’s plans for the next few days.”

  “We do,” Jin said as he and Blackbird both entered, freshly-dressed, their necklaces polished and the pendant exposed on their chests. “You should go change, too,” Jin commented when he noticed I was staring. “You don’t want to wear dirty clothes to the feast.”

  I shrugged, pushed the last black bundle into his hands, and left the room. This would buy me a couple of moments to think about Volpert’s story, the meaning of it for all of us, but I didn’t get that far. The suppressed image of the girl from the parking lot returned to my mind uninvited.

  “Adam,” she whispered. There was a tear running down her cheek, crystal-clear and penetrated by her soul’s glow.

  I hurried down the tunnels, ignoring the gurgling of the water and the call of the symbols in the pool, just getting to the safety of my room where nobody would witness my weakness.

  The image was clearer now that I had seen her in real life and there was something about her…I couldn’t put my finger on it… I sat on my cot and closed my eyes for a bit, rubbing my temples.

  “What do you want?” I asked into the silence, but as expected, no answer. She disappeared, swallowed by my own confusion. The embers in my chest were still there, blazing at the memory of her eyes.

  With a sigh, I pushed myself back to my feet and fetched a fresh set of clothes from my closet. The shirt wasn’t a hooded one, but one with ornate buttons running from my shoulder to my hip on one side. I didn’t have a necklace to put on top the way the others did, so I just changed my shirt and was on my way. Volpert was already impatient enough as it was. I could feel it in every movement, in every word—he couldn’t wait for revenge any longer.

  When I returned to the banquet hall, the others were all standing around the oval stone table, nine humans sprawled out in their midst.

  “Come to me, son,” Volpert opened his hand and gestured at the empty chair beside him.

  I teleported to the spot and stood behind a chair the way the others did.

  “Very well, let’s begin.”

  At Volpert’s command, everyone picked up their robes and slid into them. I followed their lead, copying every movement, without understanding why we needed that special type of clothing.

  “We have gathered here,” Volpert chanted, “to prepare for the holy task of bringing justice to an enemy.”

  The others stood still, each of them had lowered their gaze to the ground.

  “For decades—no, for centuries—I have been on the hunt of this enemy. The last descendants of James Albert Thompson. It is time for them to disappear from the face of the Earth.”

  He lifted his hands to the sides like a priest.

  “While the first one is an easy target, unaware of the supernatural, the second one is a challenge. She has been evading our attacks, she has harmed our own,” he looked at me, “and she has been building her army of angels. She is almost untouchable. Almost!” he screamed the last word before he continued in a chant again. “We cannot touch her in broad daylight without risking being seen by humans. We can’t attack when she is with the angels—they are too strong. And so we have chosen our weapon to bring her down.”

  He nodded at me.

  “Adam, please step forward.”

  “Forward?” I was embarrassed having to ask, but there was no space in front of me, just the chair and the table.

  “On the table,” Maureen whispered from the corner of her mouth.

  Nora coughed as I took a slow step onto the cold stone seat and then onto the edge of the table, right beside the brown hair of the girl whose head I’d moved earlier.

  “Right in the middle, please,” Volpert asked, gesturing at the center-point.

  My hands grabbed my robes and lifted the hem so it wouldn’t get caught on the humans as I stepped over them, one by one, until I stood in the middle of the table, five demons gazing up at me.

  “Adam,” Volpert continued, with a dramatic voice. “You have been chosen to be the executioner in this mission—the mission to eradicate the youngest of the Thompson heirs. You will need strength and stamina, an unswerving mind, and you will need energy. Lots of energy. Your own supplies will not suffice to beat this enemy. Not if she is protected by her angels…”

  As he spoke, it dawned on me that I might not survive this revenge. I was a weapon in Volpert’s plan. Of course, the girl-monster had been the reason I’d died in the first place and I had all the reason in the world to want her dead. But what if it meant giving up my own life—again?

  “Maureen, will you do me the honor?” Volpert asked and she hopped on the table, graceful and dark, and joined me in the middle. She raised her hands and I flinched, readying myself for an attack.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” she whispered and shoved the front of the robes to the sides until her fingers touched my shirt, then opened the buttons and lay her hand on my bare chest, grabbing her pendant with the other.

  Blackbird, Volpert, Jin, and Nora had all stepped closer and each of them was placing their hands on a human’s heart, lifting the other hand toward me, palm open.

  “Ready,” Maureen said and lifted her necklace to my chest.

  Before I understood what was going on, she pushed the pendant onto my skin. A searing pain ran through my flesh where the metal burnt into it as they all simultaneously started to channel human energy into me. I saw the light dance away from the creatures on the table and pass through the demons, palm to palm until thin flashes of light met in the metal ornament on my chest. It was beautiful.

  The pain disappeared as fast as it had come when the humans were drained. One after the other lowered their arms, watching me stare in amazement as Maureen detached the pendant from my skin. The symbol had burnt into my chest, the same way Blackbird had left lines on the rat, and bright light was moving like mist under the thin scars the metal had left. I felt different, not satisfied like I was after feeding, but strong, vigorous. Without any further words from the others, I knew what the channeling of energy had done for me. I wasn’t dependent on my own reserves, I had extra energy to draw from—human energy, which made me ecstatic, and which would make me more durable if it came to a fight.

  “This weapon has been steeled and now he will fulfill the deed of revenge. He will execute the youngest descendant of James Albert Thompson. He will avenge my father, and he will avenge his own death.”

  Volpert smiled at me and gestured for me to join him, back at the table.

  Maureen took my hand and led me to my chair.

  “You did very well, Adam,” she whispered before she returned to her own seat.

  “Very well,” Volpert opened his hands and took a seat. “Let the feast begin.”

  The rest of us sat down and I watched the others as they fed on the remaining humans’ souls, leaving dark, lifeless bodies behind. The girl with the brown hair was still sleeping right in front of me,
face calm as if she had nothing to fear.

  “Eat, son,” Volpert encouraged me. “Who knows when’s the next time you’ll have the chance.”

  I did as he told me, not hungry, but aware that I would need every last bit of energy if I was to face the enemy. Everyone was quiet, meditative, as we devoured the meal, and it wasn’t long before Volpert suggested we all retire to our rooms to get some rest. We knew our window of opportunity was coming, just not when exactly.

  On the way to my room, I asked Volpert why he didn’t go for the older sister first.

  “The easy target won’t run away. We need to take out the younger one first. She is the true danger. She has angels at her command.” He put on a serious face as he explained, and I took it as given and didn’t question him anymore.

  When I stripped out of my robes and laid down on my cot, fingers running over the scar on my chest, I enjoyed the pulsating light under my skin. It was like a talisman against the angel-creatures. It would give me an advantage. My mind wandered to the fight-training I’d had with Maureen, going through every move, imagining every angle the enemy could attack from…

  After a while, my eyelids drooped and I couldn’t prevent sleep any longer. The day had been exhausting, and the new reserves of energy weren’t meant to draw from to stay awake. My body needed the rest as well as my mind, and in no time I had drifted into an uneasy sleep.

  I was in a room. A dark room. The only light was coming from under my skin, glowing gently, pulsating in changing colors. It wasn’t my light. I didn’t have a soul. It was the humans’ lights, all securely caught in my demon body. The door opened and a slender shape entered, brightening the room with her soul.

  “Hello?” she called. The girl from the parking lot. From my visions.

  I looked up and saw her skin reflect in the darkness. Her eyes were fixated on my face, searching for something. But she wasn’t satisfied with what she saw. She frowned. I had seen her make the same face at the angel and it bothered me.

  A smile stretched on my face, unexpectedly it worked its way into my features while the girl took a few steps until she was within arms’ reach. My hands twitched, moving upward to touch her, but I forced them down, and her frown slowly vanished.