Page 63 of Hellfire & Tinsel
“Yes,” Beau whispered, almost inaudibly.
“Would you die for him?” Azoth pressed.
Beau startled at the question, then startled at himself as “Yes” came out of his mouth without hesitation.
“Iiiinteresting,” Azoth said, elongating the vowel and giving his twin another glance that was loaded with meaning.
They began circling him like two cats winding through his ankles. Beau could only stand there, heart too hopeful and open.
“You see, ever since Oren turned up everything has been rules, rules, rules,” Tarik said.
“It’s soooo boring,” Azoth complained.
“Oren was the one who wrote the summoning book, right?” Beau asked.
“He’s also the one giving a presentation to your mopey eggplant downstairs.”
“He’s not a—Wait… Kassel is moping?” Beau asked, lower lip shaking.
“If dragging his ass around Hell, sighing your name and frowning and not doing his job soothershave to pick up the slack when he already had an all-expenses-paid vacation topside is moping, then yes,” Azoth muttered.
“He’s sad?”
“Sure,” Tarik said, examining his nails. “Whatever that is. He’s that.”
“Oh…” Beau’s voice wobbled.
“Don’t leak!” the twins screeched.
“But I don’t want him to be sad! That’s not why I wanted him to go back,” Beau wailed, covering his watering eyes. “This has gone all wrong!”
“How do we make it stop?” Azoth hissed to his twin.
“Listen, squishy. The solution is very simple.”
Beau sniffled. “How? It’s not simple. The book says he can’t be summoned for another century, and he lives and works in Hell. He told me time moves differently, so I might never see him because I’ll die and then go to Heaven because I don’t have an evil soul and I know you offered to do evil stuff together, but I tried that and it never worked out because I feel bad and—”
“All you have to do…” Azoth cut him off with a finger over his mouth.
“… is trust us,” Tarik finished, sliding a hand over his shoulder and tickling at his turtleneck.
Beau gulped in a deep breath, swiping his fresh tears away. He looked between them on either side of him. “And I can see Kassel again?”
“Pinkie promise,” they sang, holding them up.
Beau weighed his options.
This wasn’t a summoning, that was clear. Beau didn’t know why these demons were here, or what their agenda was, but they were offering him everything he wanted on a silver platter.
He knew that making a deal with something not much better than the devil, maybe even worse, was cautioned against, but he was done with being cautious. Done with being sad and lonely and miserable. He wanted to grasp something for himself, consequences be damned.
Kassel had become the world he wanted to escape to.
Any price was worth it.
He held out his pinkie. “Deal.”
They giggled in glee, sharp teeth flashing and red eyes glowing. The smell of ash and brimstone grew heavier in the air, the room darkening.
