“Geez, brother, remind me to never ask you for a pep talk when I really need it.”
“Hey, I’m doing my best!”
“You could definitely do with more practice.”
Dre pouted. “What are you going to do?”
“There’s no chance you’re going to let this go, is there?”
“Not before something has happened.”
“Tell Sammy he’s a pain in the ass.”
“Tell him yourself, and don’t pin this on him. I want to know as well.”
“Fine. I’m going to talk to Jon. Though for the protocol, I’m going to blame you if this goes south, understood? Because I don’t see why I should shake up a situation that’s working so well.”
“Understood. Just do it.”
Barion showed his brother his tongue, which led to an argument with a small scuffle. The good news was that Barion was able to relieve a lot of nervous energy before going to see Jon.
Chapter Twelve
When Barion appeared in the living room, Jon could immediately tell his friend had had a talk as well. He lifted one brow.
“You talked to Dre?”
“You talked to Sammy?”
They both nodded with a sigh.
“Does this mean we have to talk to each other now?” Jon tried to gauge Barion’s mood. The huge demon lifted one shoulder. Not helpful.
“We talk to each other all the time.” Now Barion winked, the usual mischief shining in his eyes. “And we can absolutely postpone ‘the talk’ until after we’ve shown the first avatars to your followers as we promised them.”
Jon thought he could live with that.
“Our followers. And yes, that’s a great idea.” He felt some of the anxiety that had been building inside of him since Sammy had left leaving his body. Leave it to Barion to find a way of procrastination that was actually fun. Jon woke his computer while Barion went to the kitchen to put some snacks on plates and get the drinks. It was almost eerie and yet so very soothing how perfect the huge demon fit into the space Jon had once thought was his sanctuary of solitude.
“How is Milo doing in his new job?” Jon had been pleased to hear what solution Barion and Dre had found to help the young man. Despite what he had to done to Sammy, Jon had come to like Milo a great deal.
“He hasn’t tried to kill Quirion yet, so I’d say it’s going stellar.” Barion appeared with a huge plate and two bottles of water.
“Your brother can’t be that bad.”
“No, he actually isn’t. He’s worse.”
“I don’t believe you.” Jon sat down in front of his screen while Barion put the plates and drinks between them before doing the same.
“We’re talking about a demon who, during the Middle Ages, made it his job to check out all the books copied in the monasteries he could get his hands on, then haunting the poor souls who had made spelling mistakes so they wouldn’t make them again in the future. Needless to say, if you deprive humans of sleep, they make even more mistakes. Our father was distracted back then by another demon who—uh, did questionable things—which allowed Quirion to let his inner teacher free, and you don’t want to know how many of those monasteries were exorcised, to no avail.”
“You’re yanking my chain.” Jon stared accusingly at Barion. “First, what kind of demonic haunting has ever been about spelling mistakes or books? And second, nobody can read that many books in such a comparatively short time.”
Barion shrugged. “First”—he held up his index finger, mimicking Jon perfectly—“I told you Quirion is the least demonic demon I’ve ever met. Second”—Barion waggled his pinkie—“it is possible, and that’s all I’m saying about the matter.”
Jon remembered the talk about the hidden talents of royal demons and how they were a secret and decided to take the hint. “Do you think Milo is going to ask for a raise?”
“Dre and Sammy hope so.”
