Lord Calligan Fray was ushered in, and there was a clatter of chairs pushed backward as everyone in attendance rose.
Lord Calligan brought with him a presence of dread;theirkind always did. His face carried no color beneath the flickering of the candlelight, his waxy skin taut across his cheekbones like animal hide unnaturally stretched. His fingers were disproportionately long enough to choke a man using only one hand. Distantly, Hargreaves heard Kilworth smother a gasp when he beheld His Lordship’s eyes, the dark entirely overtaking the white sclera.
He had fed recently.
Hargreaves heard Kilworth mutter a prayer to the Saints beneath his breath:Lead us away from the influence of demons.
Demons.
Hargreaves ignored Kilworth and inclined his head in welcome. “Lord Calligan. What a pleasure to see you aboveground. I trust your journey has gone well?”
The man who had entered the room—if he could even be called that—dismissed the rest of the party disinterestedly and took a seat at the last remaining chair.
Hargreaves’s face remained mild, but he felt a shadow of foreboding at seeing Percy’s seat occupied. Lord Calligan sat next to Martin, who attempted to inch discreetly away from the newcomer. If Calligan was offended, he didn’t show it. Instead his lips twitched as if he could taste something in the air, then his pallid face split into a wide smile.
“Sit, my friends,” Lord Calligan suggested. He spoke in a clear, well-bred accent. Still, there was something odd about his voice, something elementallywrong—something that should never have been heard within the light of the day. “Lord Hargreaves has told me that you are having trouble with your peasants?” He laughed—a gurgle from deep within his throat, as if the very idea was amusing.
Hargreaves would never have invited this decaying visitor—this demon—if he hadn’t been confident in his ability to control him. Lord Calligan’s one ambition was to inherit his father’s dukedom as soon as possible and use its wealth to pay his mounting debts, butthe old Duke refused either to die or to lend his son any more money. This left Calligan alone to fight off the debt collectors.
Hargreaves would know. Lord Calligan owedhiman enormous sum of money as well.
And yet, Hargreaves refused to accept the gold that Calligan continuously offered in an attempt to free himself. Gold was plentiful in Bastmore, the underworld, and worth very little to the demons, unlike the humans.
Indeed, it was far more profitable to entrap Lord Calligan in his debt as long as he could, only accepting the paper money that demons used as currency, knowing that it would be a lengthy time before Calligan could collect such a sum.
Hargreaves hid the gleam of triumph from his eyes. How many human men could say that they had a demon lord indebted to them?
“I’m sure you are aware that rebellion is already stirring, and we must dampen that fire before it begins to burn,” Hargreaves explained to Calligan.
“Aye, I’ve heard. And you require my service?” Lord Calligan murmured, eager. Hargreaves knew that Calligan was searching for any other means to pay off his debt early.
Hargreaves’s nod was grave. “Your service would be most necessary.”
Calligan waved at Martin to pour him a glass of wine. Begrudgingly, the tradesman did as he was told. “I assume that you’d like to borrow a few of my mercenaries to suppress your people?” Calligan brought the goblet to his pale lips. “I’ve foot soldiers to spare, enough for an entire army—that’s not the problem—but what troubles me is how we’d bring them aboveground. A question which has previously confounded us,eh,my lord?” Lord Calligan raised a thin brow. “I hate to beat a dead horse, but it remains impossible for one of my kind to travel without a vessel.”
“A vessel?” Kilworth interrupted with a flicker of annoyance at being left ignorant of such crucial information. He’d only beenmade aware of the presence of demons a few months ago, despite more than two years of devoted loyalty to the Wake. Since then, Hargreaves and Kilworth had argued over their differing opinions on the matter. Kilworth viewed the demons as lesser beings, to be hunted and eradicated before they began to hunt humans, while Hargreaves saw a much higher purpose for them.
“A vessel is a talisman,” Hargreaves replied to Kilworth. “A trinket that allows Lord Calligan and his…kinto leave their world and enter our own freely.” Hargreaves possessed two himself, stolen by the men the Wake employed to handle such brutal matters. “There are only a few known to exist, and almost all belong to the demon nobility.”
Hargreaves could see Martin’s mind calculating, his gaze turned inward. “I am sure I must be ignorant of these matters, but I must ask—can the vesselyouused to enter this world, my lord”—he turned to Lord Calligan—“also be used to bring a demon army to us?” He paused. “For a price, of course.”
Hargreaves commended Martin’s turn of mind. He thought like a businessman, relinquishing his distrust of the demons for the greater good of profit.
“Unfortunately, unlike humans—who have no limitations in crossing into the demon world through specified portals—the demons are far more restricted.” It was Hargreaves who answered rather than Calligan. “A vessel allows only one demon into our world at a time, and cannot be used in rapid succession or it would drain the vessel of all its powers. Therefore, gentlemen, we are entirely at the mercy of these vessels. Even accessed sparingly, a vessel can easily malfunction and deplete.”
“My family possesses a few vessels.” Lord Calligan’s mouth was pursed. “All belonging to my father, of course. He would not allow them to be used carelessly, and certainly not to benefit humans.”
“I do not requirethosevessels.” Hargreaves leaned forward, a knife-etch of a smile sharpening his mouth, finally reaching the heart of the matter. “Instead, I have heard tell of a vessel that nevertires, that never depletes, and can open portals for hundreds of demons at a time, thus allowingusto control the trade between both worlds indefinitely.”
“Ah, Lord Hargreaves, I wondered when you would finally learn about the existence of the Limitless Vessel.” Lord Calligan let out a low chuckle. “Unfortunately for all of us, it is lost.”
Hargreaves kept his expression mild.
You fool,he thought.I have known of its existence for fourteen years.Only within the last few months had he finally had a hint about its location, but he could not retrieve it himself without external assistance. He would not have revealed his hand today if he had not required the other men.
Martin and Lord Kilworth said nothing, but Kilworth’s face had noticeably paled at the description of the Limitless Vessel and he took a shaky gulp of his drink. He met Hargreaves’s eyes with fear at the thought of demons having unlimited access to their world.
Hargreaves shook his head slightly, his own eyes flashing a warning to Kilworth to hold his tongue.
