Lapidary

During my off days, I slept a lot. I also forced myself to eat and go for runs every morning. I didn’t want to be weak or unfit and unable to protect myself. I greeted Sachiel every day, when she sat in the garden, but other than that, we didn’t speak much.

I didn’t see Ace and assumed he was busy with work. I didn’t hear anything from Devton, either. On Wednesday, my sister bought me lunch, and I was glad she reached out. Our relationship was slowly getting better, although I didn’t know if it would ever be what it was. She was still on edge around me and didn’t open about her feelings, but on the plus side, she was at least not yelling at me or telling me to leave.

On Thursday, I returned to work, only to have Istrag eye me. Was it because the last time I showed up late for work had been followed by Volgrun trying to possess me? He had not reprimanded me yet, but I expected he would, soon.

This week, I was not working in the VIP section, but the center island with Zara. We worked fast and efficiently together, and the night went smoothly. I hoped Devton would show, but I didn’t see him in the crowd. When the bar closed, I helped to clean the counters and pack up the tables. I was placing salt, lemon, and tequila under the counter when Istrag approached me.

“Stay after work,” he said.

I nodded, accepting that he was going to lecture me. Once everyone was out of the club, it was too silent, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable being alone with Istrag. He came to me, and the only thing separating us was the island counter. He couldn’t see my hands, so I reached for the salt next to the tequila.

“First, you beat the shit out of another waitress,” he said. “Then you show up late. And then you insult Volgrun.”

I couldn’t hide my shock. “I insulted him? He tried to possess me!”

The daimon’s yellow eyes glowed in the dark. “And when a daimon wants to possess you, especially a daimon of that status, you let him! You’re nothing and no one – an empty vessel for the taking. You’re just another human who was born to die.”

I had known he didn’t like me from day one, but I had not expected this. Istrag was stronger than me, and we were alone.

“Careful,” I said, masking my fear. “I might just outlive you.”

He snaked out his hand and closed his fingers around my throat. Istrag pulled me closer, and my hips slammed against the counter. I tried to pry his hand loose with my left hand, while I fumbled at the salt’s lid with my right.

“Arrogant slut,” he said. “I don’t know what Devton sees in you or why he would stoop so low as to employ you. Humans should only be allowed in clubs for one purpose – so that we can enjoy them.”

The salt’s lid came off, and I chucked it into the daimon’s eyes. He cried out and let me go as he covered his face with his hands. I ran, the half-empty salt pot still clasped in my hand. Istrag’s screams filled the club like the music had moments before. The club doors came into sight, and I pelted to them like they were the only thing that mattered in this world. Freedom was within reach.

But then Istrag tackled me to the ground. I managed to turn onto my back and tried to kick him, but he moved out of the way and climbed on top of me. Blood leaked from those yellow eyes, and he bared his teeth as if he planned to rip out my throat.

“Get off!” I cried.

I struggled against him, but it was futile. He grabbed my wrists and pinned me to the ground. I trembled beneath him. My whole life I had feared being murdered or abused just because I was human, just because I was weaker. And that fear was coming true.

Istrag leaned forward and licked my ear. “Let me show you what you are good for.”

I kneed him in the crotch, and his mouth opened in a wide O – he was clearly in too much pain to make a sound. I managed to twist free from under him. I was not weak and had been trained to fight and protect myself ever since I was little. And this was a life-or-death situation. I reached for the salt pot I had dropped, and then I shove the salt down his throat.

He tried to spit some of it out, but it was not enough, and his body began to burn from the inside out. He was dying, and he shrieked as he writhed on the floor while I got onto my feet.

“I warned you.” I was amazed my voice wasn’t shaking.

As I watched him die, the numbness inside me vanished, taken over by adrenalin. He shook one last time before his body stilled, and his eyes stayed open. He had moved on to the Netherworld, but his body remained here.

Fuck. What was I supposed to do with him now?

Black blood leaked from his eyes, mouth, and ears. It seeped into the floor. I had heard before that daimon blood could turn anything black, and it could only be removed by the light of an angel. I considered calling Ace, but then decided against it. Ace would be mortified if he knew I had killed someone. He took the law seriously, and he might even lock me up.

I couldn’t call him.

I had to dispose of the body, but how? The street outside was always busy, and someone would see me. If I tossed him into the ocean, he could wash up, and the police would investigate his death. I could try to bury him, but I still risked being seen. I could try to burn him, but his bones would remain.

I paced around nervously. By stealing, to survive, I had broken the law before, but this was the first time I had committed a serious crime which could land me in jail for the rest of my life. But I was friends with someone who has broken the law many times. I pulled out my phone and dialed Dev.

“Nat?” he answered.

“I need you. Right now.” I didn’t bother trying to hide the urgency in my voice.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“My Night Habit.”

“I’m on my way,” he said.

I waited a while, pacing around. A frowning Dev arrived with his wings out and slits in his black shirt to accommodate them. For a moment I worried that I had made a mistake in calling him. I had killed his manager, a fellow daimon. Devton looked from my shaking body to Istrag’s corpse and chuckled.

“What do you need me for?” he asked. “It seems like you’ve sorted him out yourself.”

“He attacked me,” I said.

“Then he had it coming,” Devton said.

I ran my hands through my hair. “You’re not upset with me?”

“No. If anything, I’m thrilled that you decided to call me. I had no idea you trusted me this much.”

I suddenly felt sick. The adrenalin must be wearing off. Gods, I had actually killed someone. Devton was going to help me; he could keep me out of prison. “Yellow isn’t my color.”

Devton snapped his fingers and a controlled hellfire consumed Istrag until nothing but ash remained. I watched him burn.

“I’ve killed your manager…”

“And now you’ll have to replace him,” Devton said.

I arched my eyebrows. “You’re promoting me?”

Devton nodded. “Yes, you can start by fetching the vacuum cleaner.”

As I walked away, my legs felt like jelly. I returned, fumbling with the appliance, and sucked up Istrag’s remains. It was like he had never been there.

“What are we going to do about the bloodstains?”

The daimon’s black blood had seeped into the stone floor, becoming one with it and staining it permanently.

“I’ll have the Sky Watch clean it up,” he said.

“Won’t they want to know what happened? Won’t they ask questions?” I asked, panicking.

“No,” he said calmly.

“Are you sure they will be able to clean it?” I wondered.

“With their light, they certainly can,” he said. “I saw them clean the daimon blood off the city after The Shaking.”

I’d never seen any traces of black daimon blood on the city or in the water, which meant that they had done a good job. I drew a shaky breath.

“Come on,” he said.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To the beach.”

We locked the club when we left, and I followed Devton to the beach by my cottage. It was quiet, and he sat down in the sand. I sat next to him as he stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out Muze and a drug I didn’t know.

“You brought me here to get high?” I asked.

“It’s just something to take the edge off.”

I had tried plenty of drugs, hoping that they would still the voices in my head. I could hear those voices now but tried not to focus on them.

“What is that one?” I asked.

“Mirage,” he said. “If you smoke it, your life flashes before your eyes. It only lasts five minutes but feels like hours.”

“Wait. You’re saying it is going to make my life flash before my eyes, as if I were dying?”

“Exactly,” he said, “but if you smoke it more than three times, they say, your life won’t flash before your eyes when you really die. It will just be blank.”

“How many times have you smoked it?”

He hesitated. “Twelve times.”

I gaped, and he shrugged as if it was no big deal. When I tried to kill myself, my life hadn’t flashed before my eyes. It had just gone dark, and I had welcomed the blackness. My life was one big, sad mess, and I had no desire to relive all of it. Had Istrag relived his life, before I killed him?

“Strong pass,” I said.

“Muze it is.”

“I didn’t know you take drugs,” I said.

“I don’t often,” he said. “I like having my mind clear, but every now and then I like taking the edge off and just relaxing.”

I assumed the dangerous life he lived didn’t give him much time to relax. He rolled the Muze in some paper and used his hellfire to light it. He took the first pull before handing it to me. I was such a hypocrite because I had told my sister to stay away from drugs, when I didn’t. But I suffered from post-traumatic stress and schizophrenia, so cut me some slack. I drew the smoke deep into my lungs and felt the effects almost immediately. I relaxed and felt happy.

“You’re grinning,” he said. “You must be picturing me naked.”

I laughed.

“It’s not a joke.” He pretended to be offended.

“If you want me to see you naked, go on. Take off your clothes.”

“I don’t think you can handle it,” he teased.

I smiled at him. “I can handle a lot more than you think I can.”

“So, I’ve come to realize,” he said gently.

We lay down, side by side in the sand, close enough to touch. We looked up at the clear night sky and listened to the breaking waves.

“Tell me something about yourself,” I said. “Something I don’t know.”

He pondered this for a while. “I used to do graffiti – I have it all over the city.”

I smiled. It seemed like he feared nothing. He had been breaking the rules forever.

“What is your favorite piece?” I asked.

“I have a piece on Heaven’s Window,” he said.

“You should show me some time.”

He smiled. “I will.”

His hand found mine, pulled off my glove, and he lifted it to his mouth. But before he could kiss it, he spotted my ring.

I pulled away my hand. “I know it’s been a year, but I still miss him.”

“Some wounds take a long time to heal,” Devton said.

“Some wounds never heal,” I countered. I thought I would wear this ring until I died, unable to let go of Ryker, just like Devton would continue to search for the White Crystal so that he could bring back his father.

“Dev,” I said. “Your father is a daimon.”

He nodded.

“And he died – which means he is in the Netherworld.”

“Yes.”

“So, to resurrect him, you’ll have to open a rift – like Duras had.”

“Yes.”

I met his eyes, and it felt as if I was sitting on a cloud. Despite the Muze making me happy, this was a serious conversation.

“What if you rip the city apart?” I wondered.

“I haven’t thought how I could prevent that yet,” Devton said. “There must be a way. Like, I’ve heard of angels casting powerful shields.”

“Only archangels can do that,” I said, “and even their power is fading.”

“If there was an archangel here on the day of The Shaking, he might have been able to castle a shield and saved lives...”

“You can’t risk it,” I said. “The angels aren’t powerful enough, and they might not even want to help save the city. Besides, using enough magic to create a shield that can protect the city could kill an archangel.”

“I know,” Devton said. “I’ll figure it out somehow.”

He was determined to bring back his father, no matter the cost. “You loved him, very much, didn’t you?”

Devton nodded. “I did. And once he died, Linda fell apart.”

I touched his tattooed arm.

“We should get you a tattoo.”

I laughed, maybe a bit too loudly because of the drugs. “No way.”

“Come on,” he pressed.

I raised an eyebrow, and we both laughed. The image of Istrag dying flashes through my mind and I

decided to let it go. He had it coming, and I wasn’t going to ponder over it. I laughed with Dev. It

felt good, and for a moment, I forgot that I’d been sad.