Sagitta’s brows furrowed. “Cygnet?” he asked hesitantly, like he didn’t want it to be true. But then his eyes hardened. “No, I recognize the stink of that smoke.”
Faust smiled.
He turned around, facing the spot where the pier met the boardwalk. A familiar figure casually stepped out from behind the dogwood shrubs. Hartford took a drag of his cigarette, then lazily waved at us.
“Yo,” he called.
Sagitta’s face screwed up in confused anger. I was just as shocked to see the doctor standing there. Hadhesummoned the goat demon?
Hartford blew out a drag and snapped his fingers. The demon pinched between Faust’s claws wilted like a dying plant and disappeared in a puff of smoke. It was like it had never been there at all.
Faust put a hand on his hip and waited for Hartford to approach us. I took his nonchalance as a good sign. If the demon controlling my body wasn’t worried then I wasn’t, either. But I didn’t get a bad vibe from the doctor, even if he was gruff and slightly off-putting.
“Did you do this?” Sagitta demanded.
Hartford’s reply was as laid-back as his body language. “Yup.”
“Why?”
Hartford’s gaze slid from Sagitta to Faust. He pinned the demon—and by association, me—with a long, hard look. The warning in his gaze would’ve made me shudder if I was in control of my own body.
“Wanted to see what the demon would do,” Hartford replied, as if he was discussing the weather. He tilted his head. “You in there, Chase?”
To my surprise, Faust let me answer in my own voice: “Yeah.”
Hartford chuckled and took another drag of his cigarette. “I’ll be damned. The demon lord actually shares.”
“Wait... demon lord?” I asked.
“Demon lord?” Sagitta sputtered.
Hartford took his time putting out his cigarette. “Yes. Faust XIV is a demon lord,” he confirmed.
The colour drained from Sagitta’s face. He spoke slowly, like the bombshell had rattled him. “Professor Fairfax never mentioned that in his lecture. How doyouknow that?”
Hartford snorted. “What, you think Fairfax is a fucking encyclopedia? Give me some credit, kid.”
Sagitta shuffled his feet. He looked slightly embarrassed. “But... heisa demonology professor. He taught me everything I know.”
Hartford let out a derisive snort. “He doesn’t know everything.”
That was weird. Did I detect a hint of beef between the prof and the doctor?
“Anyway, when you dropped Faust’s name, I had a hunch,” Hartford went on. “Suspicious, right? Demon kicked outta hell suddenly possessing an average jock? So I did some digging. Andunlike pasty little researchers who spend all day reading books, I actually get my hands dirty.”
Yup. There was definitely beef.
“Oh, the irony,”Faust said in our shared mind so only I could hear him. “The drama-loving doctor is involved in his own fair share of drama.”
Sounding concerned, Sagitta asked, “What did you do?”
Hartford shot him a mirthless smirk. “Trust me, Sangkaew. You don’t wanna know.”
“Actually, I do.”
“Well, tough shit, ‘cause I ain’t telling.”
Sagitta pulled a deep frown. “This isn’t very professional, Dr. Hartford.”
