“You lied to me,” I pointed out.
He gave me a look of shocked indignation. “I never!”
“You said they didn’t have voices.”
“I said they didn’t have voices of their own.” He continued to pick through my shirts, either nodding his approval or frowning in distaste at my collection. “Word choice, Jesse. Learn to listen.”
“Is there something you wanted?” I grabbed a T-shirt out of his hand and yanked it on over my head, then added two more on top of it. Warmth was at a premium, and layers would act as armor. Sort of.
“Have you figured it out yet?”
“Figured what out?”
“What they are. His little pets.” There was a gleam in his eye, not the usual demon red, but a more mundane “I’m dying to show what a know-it-all I am” kinda shine.
I’d had a lot of time to think about that, so yeah, I had my suspicions. They ranged everywhere from aliens to sock puppets, but deep down I knew, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies. “They’re… human, somehow. Or were.”
“Yes! I knew you’d get it.” He beamed like a proud papa. It was. .. disturbing to say the least.
“But what has he done to them? Why are they like that?” He was so anxious to spill his secrets that he forgot to negotiate a price for the answers, and I found that interesting. I’d never seen a demon pass up a chance for a deal. I didn’t think they could. Stuff was going on with Axel, and it remained to be seen if it was going to work for or against me.
The demon motioned me to step closer as if we were coconspirators. I don’t think he noticed when I stayed where I was. “Have you ever seen someone bargain away their soul, Jesse? Not like what you do, but the others. The weak ones who get pulled in by temptation.”
I shook my head and bit my tongue. I wasn’t going to distract him by arguing about how he viewed his victims.
“Do you know what they never ever bargain for? I mean, maybe one in a thousand does. One in ten thousand.” Again, I shook my head. “They never say when we can take their soul. They just assume we’ll wait ’til they’re dead, and lay claim.”
He was waiting for me to say something. “So…?”
“So… What happens if the soul is claimed from a living body? Just yanked right out. Whoosh.” He mimed the movement with his hands.
I frowned, the idea creeping me out on several levels. “You can’t live without a soul, so… So, what? They’re like… zombies?” I hate zombies. Hate hate hate them. Every inch of skin on my back tried to crawl off and go hide. I mean sure, I’d suspected that’s what they were, but confirming it… That was worse somehow.
“Close enough. You humans have called them many things over the centuries. Zombies, vampires… Not the angsty, poetry-spouting vampires, but the original nasty ones. In Hindu, they’re called a vetala.” He frowned thoughtfully. “The lore surrounding that one isn’t quite right, but I suppose I shouldn’t expect you apes to get everything correct.
“In place of the soul, he puts a bit of himself, enough to give them a kind of intelligence. But the body rots, mostly because he forgets to take care of them. They eat, when he remembers to tell them to, but it’s never enough to sustain them. Especially as many as he’s created now. He’s stretched so thin.”
“Well, he’s quite a few less now.” I had the proof caked all over what used to be a perfectly good pair of jeans. “So what’s up with the voices? I didn’t think they could talk, but last night they were calling, and that one just now… it screamed. If they have no souls, how is that possible?” I had to get as much out of him as I could, before he clammed up again.
The demon leaned against the wall, lounging in his own superiority. “Think of them like… echo chambers. They’re empty. All that space craves filling. They ape back things they’ve heard, memories of conversations that rattle around in all that empty until it rattles its way out the open mouth. With their master directing them, they’ll take on voices of people you know, care about, if they’ve been near them. Psychological warfare.” He chuckled. “Face it, you people really are so suggestible. You simply hear what you want to hear. Not every tempting siren is a blonde with double-Ds.”
“And the screaming?”
“There are… some kinds of agony that even being soulless can’t silence.”
I suppose being dumped on holy ground would qualify as that kind of agony for one of Hell’s children. Even one that started out human. “So… he just yanks their souls out. Leaves the body an empty shell, yes?”
“Yes.”
“And he can do it to anyone, if he owns their soul.”
“Yes.”
“So… what about Zane? Could he just… yoink?” That was a disturbing thought. If the Yeti could just rip Zane apart like that, turn him into one of those things…
“He must touch them.” He glanced down the stairs, and I got the feeling that he could see Zane right through the floorboards. “I would be very careful with your young friend, down there. I’d hate to see anything… tragic happen.”
He pushed off the wall, and I thought he was going to do his little disappearing act again, but he stopped. “Have you figured out why he came after the boy, of all people?”
Yeah, I’d had the chance to think about that too. Long hours spent not sleeping lent themselves well to in-depth pondering of all the universe’s injustice. I didn’t like my conclusions. “Because he knew I’d be here. He knew I’d find the kid, and I’d fight for him.”
“Your fatal flaw, Jesse. That damned honor you hold around you like a warm blanket.” The demon sounded downright disappointed in me. “You would live a lot longer if you’d learn to be a bit more self-absorbed.”
“Hold your breath ’til that happens.”
He chuckled softly. “And do you know why he came for you? I mean, specifically why him, why you, why this?”
“Because he hates me?”
“That’s a given, but do you know why?” I shrugged, and Axel grinned. He was enjoying this. “Think about it, Jesse. Voices call us forth, but simple words won’t do it. What do you know that no other living champion does?”
His name. Because I’d faced the Yeti before, I knew his name. And names have power. In all honesty, I’m not sure what kind of power. Mystical Shit 101 was full last time I tried to sign up. Whatever it was, it meant something to the demons. Somehow, me possessing that name was a threat. A big enough threat to kill for.
I only nodded, showing him that I understood. Even thinking of it, the demon’s name swam dangerously close to the surface of my mind, fluttering like a moth with razor-blade wings, and I bit my tongue to keep it from somehow slipping out by accident. I’d have to say it, call him out when the time came. I wondered if, deep down, that made me any better than Cam and his little cadre of demon-summoning priests.
“What use is it? What can I do to him, with his name?”
Axel looked at his bare wrist. “My my, look at the time. I think our session is up for the day.”
“You’re a dick, Axel.”
“I’ve had a long time to perfect it, thank you.”
“What about the other champions? Are they all facing ghosts from their pasts, names they know?”
The blond demon shrugged. “Dunno. I don’t have a vested interest in the rest of your little playmates.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “You’re being awful liberal with your information.”
“Like I said, I just want you to be you. It works in my favor at the moment.” His eyes looked past me, over my shoulder, and he grinned with demon red eyes. “Oh this is about to get interesting.”
I turned to find Cameron at the top of the stairs, staring wide-eyed at Axel. His gaze darted from the demon to me and back, and I saw a grim resolve settle into his eyes. The smell of cloves sprang up strong-stronger than I thought him capable of really-and he opened his mouth to do… something.
“No!” I jumped, clamping my hand down tight over the possibly ex-priest’s mouth. “Don’t even try it. You don’t have enough juice to bless a sneeze anyway.”
He struggled halfheartedly (I think a true fight between us would be a lot messier), but finally settled for trying to pry my hand away from his face. I looked back at Axel. “You’ve caused enough trouble. Go on, get.”