“Then maybe I should kill you and make the world a better place.”
His eyes glint black. “Are you in possession of the Devil Killer?”
“Maybe.”
“Liar,” he hisses. “We know you traded it for that stupid ice sword.”
“It’s not stupid. It’s stylish,” I say. “And it matches all my outfits.”
“But it cannot kill us.”
“I noticed. Also noticed the Devil Killer acted like demon catnip. Drove you idiots right to me.”
He shrugs—or rather, Trent’s body does. “Naturally. It was a threat. Best to eliminate the wielder and retire the blade permanently.”
“How does it make sense to attack the one personwiththe weapon that could kill you?”
“We are not known for our strategic brilliance,” Baltazar admits. “A handful of us chose martyrdom for the greater good. Very noble, really.”
“I killed a lot of you when I had the chance,” I say. “That part was fun.”
“Hundreds. But you don’t have the sword now, do you?” His head tilts. “So why not let us go?”
“No chance. He murdered a woman. He gets to face justice.”
The smile fades. “How drearily moral of you. Fine, I’ll just kill him and find my release.”
“Do whatever you want with him, I don’t care.”
“But what if I told youIkilled the girl, that he had nothing to do with it? You would let him suffer?”
“His hands are hardly clean, Balta-asshole. First off, he summoned you via some blood sacrifice. Something was killed to get your attention. Second, I know how possession works. You didn’t do anything he didn’t already want to happen. If anything, you suggested it, and he willingly went along.”
The sirens grow louder and soon red and blue lights wash across the walls. Tires screech. Doors slam. Commands are shouted.
“Trent Hale! Hands where we can see them!”
The door crashes open behind us. Officers flood into the room, guns up, voices loud and sharp, led by Detective Sherbet. They see their man pinned under me. Some blink in confusion, until I wipe the memory of me from their minds. Now, all they see is Trent lying on the ground.
“Don’t move, jerk off!”
The first officer arrives, and doesn’t acknowledge me. And why would he? He literally doesn’t see me. He drops to a knee, placing it on the back of Trent’s neck, pushing the man’s face into the carpet. As they cuff him, Trent starts talking, mostly because I commanded him to do so. But the demon’s shield around his mind is nearly bulletproof. It takes all that I have to push through the evil firewall. Soon, he’s confessing to killing Kayla and to killing a homeless man in a Satanic sacrifice. He confesses to threatening Jamie and to robbing an old lady ten years ago. Wow, the floodgates are really open. I step back into the shadows as an officer reads him his rights.
Another monster in chains. Another woman safe.
Sadly, a real demon is loose in our world. Really do wish I had the Devil Killer. And that Baltazar asshole is right. I probably couldn’t kill Trent to get to the demon.Probably.Just don’t push me.
After he’s been removed from the house and I’m alone with Sherbet, the old detective comes over to me and claps me on the shoulder. “Hell of a thing, that confession. I wonder what possessed him to do that?”
“Not me, detective. I don’t do possessions; I’m an influencer.”
“Kind of like the Kardashians?”
“Pretty sure they’re not immortal, detective.”
“But they are influencers, right?”
I chuckle. “Oh, right. Marlene is waiting in your office, by the way.”
