Page 22 of The Morning Star
I was going to puke if she didn’t stop that. But she was doing me a huge solid watching the kid, so I held back a gag and plastered a smile on my face. “Yep. That’s nice, that love and stuff. Bye.”
Then I left. Fast. Before Nyalla could spout any more baby-talk at me.
Chapter 7
In my haste to escape Nyalla’s cutesy talk, I’d arrived in Hel with about a half hour until my meeting with Doriel. I’d come in by the Maugan Swamp to avoid getting sucked into any drama at my households, and took a moment to admire the evening landscape. Night had fallen, and the sizzling daytime temperature had dropped dramatically. Insect song filled the air and I heard the splash of bitey fish jumping to snag their evening meals. It smelled like damp moss and decaying lizards, and durft fur, and I loved it.
It felt like home. It felt like…it felt like me.
There had been times in the past when I’d remembered a fond childhood memory and felt nostalgic for the harsh beauty of Hel. There had been times when I’d missed being around demons, my own kind. But this was different. Lately I’d begun to think of Hel as a sort of sanctuary for me.
Yeah, a good two thirds of the residents still didn’t view me as the Iblis, and the other third were on the fence about it. Yeah, I still had some old enemies that would be more than happy to see me dead. But there was something about the place. No, not just the place, there was something about the entirety of Hel that drew me.
It was mine.
And with that realization came that strange sensation that I’d felt in Seattle, only a hundred times stronger. I felt the threads of connection joining me not just with the demons and other life here, but the place itself. For a brief second, it was as if for each breath I took, Hel breathed in unison. Every fish in the swamp, every grain of sand in Dis, every shard of glass in Eresh, every mountain and sea and tree and tumbleweed seemed an extension of myself.
And then it was gone.
The lights of Libertytown twinkled off in the distance, Patchine in the opposite direction. In that moment, I’d felt them, the humans in their homes, most of them sleeping, the demons in the streets, most of them partying. For a brief second I felt them all and they were mine.
Had it been real, or just some strange, homesick illusion?
I shook off the sensation and quickly judged the time. Figuring I might as well kill two birds with one trip to Hel, I headed toward Libertytown, flying over the gates that protected the city, and giving the sleepy guard a reassuring nod as I passed. He looked momentarily startled, then relaxed as he saw my wings.
“It’s late Iblis.”
“Not too late,” I told him, knowing there was one resident of the town who would still be awake.
I landed on the cobblestone street, then walked toward the shop with the candlelight glowing from the windows. It was Kirby’s magic shop, but I saw the moment I opened the door that Kirby wasn’t alone. There was another man with him, an older bald man wearing robes, with one oddly young-looking hand. Gareth, the sorcerer. Of the two, Gareth was the more skilled and talented mage. Of the two, Gareth was the one who tended to lock the door when he saw me coming. Part of that was because he was my go-to for magical devices. Part of that was because I had a habit of not paying him. Well, that and the incident with the stolen gem I was supposed to track down and return to him. I’d found it. And I hadn’t returned it.
“You still owe me a lot of money for all the stuff you ‘bought,’” Gareth scolded.
I did. I’d pretty much cleaned the guy out when I’d needed to arm my household.
“I’m not here for more stuff,” I reassured him. “I’m here with a business proposal.”
Gareth and Kirby exchanged a wary glance. “Go ahead,” the sorcerer said.
“You both are committed to remaining in Hel, correct?” I waited for their nods. “I don’t really blame you because there’s a fucking shit show going on in the human world right now. Angels all over the place, trying to micromanage human affairs. Dragons and harpies and sirens and crap like that. It’s not a great time to be a human on the other side of the gates.”
“And what does that have to do with a business proposal?” Kirby folded his arms across his thin chest and leaned back against his counter.
“Humans need a way to protect themselves. They’ve got some pretty badass weapons, but not much that’s going to keep them safe against dragons and harpies and sirens…” I paused for effect, “…and angels.”
Gareth’s eyebrows shot up. “Wasn’t there some guy up in Alaska selling bullets that killed werewolves? I heard he was working with an elf, and that they were trying to develop something that would kill an angel.”
“I’m not getting involved in that,” Kirby protested. “Next thing I’ll have angels cutting off our food supply, sending hit squads into Hel to take us out. No way. Not me.”
“First off, I’m in charge of Hel and I’m neither going to let your food supply be cut off, nor let the angels send hit squads in to kill you all. But I’m not talking magic bullets here, I’m talking home protection. I’m talking defensive magic. I want to give you guys some parameters for what humans on the other side of the gate might need to help them feel safe, help them feel like they have some control over their own fucking lives. I’m talking nets, amulets, wards of protection, that kind of thing. There’s a human woman who is going to start a company for this, to sell these things. She’ll buy from you, sell to the humans on the other side of the gate. We’ll use demon couriers, or even human couriers with a marble for the deliveries. You guys will get everything you need. Food. Building supplies. Generators with gasoline that can run air conditioners. I’ll bet you guys could make enough to even put in a whole human-style power grid over here with solar panels and wind turbines.”
Gareth and Kirby exchanged another look.
“Who is the human in charge of this company?” Gareth asked.
I put up my hands. “Not Nyalla. It’s a woman named Harper. She has a Nephilim child. She was wronged by an angel, and I’m positive she’s going to jump all over this. She’d love running a company that could help humans avoid the kind of manipulation that happened to her. She’s not part of my household. I can’t influence her, trust me I’ve tried. If I try to pull anything, she’ll tell me to fuck off. Then her Nephilim kid, who is besties with my kid, will kick my ass. And then my kid will kick my ass too.”
Again, the two exchanged a rather meaningful glance.
