“Not quite what I was aiming for,” Zagan said. After a brief moment, he nodded. “It will have to do. I would rather not waste my efforts fiddling with attire that will be discarded or destroyed long before it sees any real use.”
Not trusting herself not to shout at him, Juliana clamped her mouth shut.
Zagan smiled before turning his head away.
Following his gaze, Juliana blinked as she realized where they were.
It was the theater room. They were standing on the stage in front of the giant screen displaying the battlefield.
That was a lot of pain for traveling upwards a mere ten or so feet.
Willie lounged in the seats a few rows back. Taking their glances in his direction as a cue to speak, he got to his feet.
“Milady, you truly are becoming a bother. It does not matter how many foolish demons you conjure up. So long as we are in my domain, I rule. You shall all be strung up in the end.”
Juliana blinked. When he had been summoned a few months back, Willie had been terrified of Zagan. Absolutely scared. And Juliana didn’t get the impression that he was faking it either.
Though, she considered, I didn’t get the impression that he was a giant asshole either. That was obviously incorrect.
“Ah,” Zagan hummed before Juliana had a chance to speak. “I forgot I was suppressing my presence. This domain is not mine.”
He made no motion.
Willie, on the other hand, flipped backwards over a few rows of seats. He landed in a pile of his own limp limbs before the strings dragged him up to a standing height.
“You’re a devil,” Willie said. Given how much he was rattling, it was surprising he hadn’t stuttered out every word.
Zagan cracked his neck back and forth, somehow managing to echo the sound throughout the large theater room as easily as he did in the small cell. “And you are one who has upset a dear…” He glanced back over his shoulder, sizing up Juliana. “Well,” he said, face going blank as he turned back to Willie, “this domain is mine now. I’ll not suffer intruders within my domain.”
Juliana tried not to feel too offended.
“You did this,” Willie said, voice full of accusation. “After I clothed and fed–”
“And set my mother and friends against each other? I agreed to your stupid play for my mother in return for you letting us go, and you went back on your promise? And you dare to play the victim.” Juliana spat on the floor. “I hate you.”
“I’ll be back.”
“Not before we leave,” Juliana said. And then she smiled. “You know what? I have some money–not a ton, but I can get more–and my mother has connections. I’ll put out a bounty on every tome mentioning you. I will burn every scrap of paper even alluding to talkina. You were gloating about how easy it is for you to be summoned? Well, good luck with that after you’ve been erased from earth.”
“Great speech,” Zagan said, sounding like it was everything but. “Remind me to be impressed when you pull it off. For now…”
Juliana blinked and Zagan had moved from her side to just behind Willie. The marionette-demon didn’t have a chance to react before Zagan tore his head off.
Flinching away from the expected blood, Juliana was surprised to see nothing more than splinters fly out over the seats.
Zagan gripped the wires above Willie’s body and yanked downwards. There was a knock on the ceiling before Zagan pulled again.
The mural of the demons versus angels caved in, the giant chandelier fell.
Juliana turned away, shielding her head from any debris coming her way. As the noise died down, Juliana peeked back.
Filling almost the entirety of the massive theater hall was a thing. Like somebody had wrapped up a meat locker in a circus tent. Fleshy arms stuck out at odd angles, bending in far more places than would be normal on a human. Several long, flat fingers spread out, each roughly the size of Juliana herself. Strings dangled off of each, terminating in a Willie-like person.
A more humanoid form–still dressed up like a meat carnival side-show–was tangled up in a multitude of wires around the center of the thing’s mass. It was still five times Juliana’s height.
And Zagan was climbing up its chest towards a porcelain face.
The thing swung its arms, puppets and all, trying to scrape Zagan off of it. Any time anything so much as looked like it might be heading in Zagan’s direction, it simply missed. And Zagan did not slow. His hands dug into the meat-like clothing. His feet kicked in foot holes with little effort.
When he reached the face, he placed one hand on either side and squeezed.
Cracks split across the porcelain. All of the puppets cried out in pain.
Shards exploded outwards as Zagan’s hands connected with each other.
Zagan jumped off of it, kicking the thing down towards an opening portal on the ground.
As the bulk of the thing disappeared, Zagan landed on the stage. He brushed some imaginary dust off of his suit.
Juliana turned away from him, facing towards the giant screen behind her.
It was blank, displaying nothing but the gray material it was made out of.
“Damnit.” I should have looked before Willie died. Hoping against hope that her mother was still alive, Juliana mumbled to herself, “where are they and how do I get there?”
“Careful,” Zagan said, voice turning dark. “Or I might think you’re asking for a second favor. I do believe our agreement was for one favor only.”
Juliana swallowed and nodded. She hadn’t been talking to him, but Zagan seemed the type to not care about such minor details.
“Now,” he said, voice returning to joviality as he clapped his hands together. “Where, oh where is my little embryonic one?” He started walking off back behind the screen.
Biting her lip, Juliana followed after him. She didn’t have anywhere better to go. Even if he was just heading towards the exit, at least she would know where it was for later.
Unless he was heading towards the summoning circle she had pulled him out of.
But he mentioned ’embryonic.’ Juliana knew what the word meant. Or at least, she could guess. Early in development was a definition that very much fit with Eva based on what she had said when she handed off her beacon.
And if Zagan was looking for Eva, Juliana held no doubts that he would find her.
Where Eva was, her mother would be.
Chapter 027
Zoe pinched the bridge of her nose.
Wayne had to return soon with news.
Between Devon muttering to himself and the constant whining of the demon infesting Shalise’s body, Zoe was about ready to hog-tie the two of them and gag their mouths. Especially Shalise. Or Prax. Whoever it was. Keeping Shalise’s body available was a must.
The worst case scenario would be that entity deciding to return to that giant castle before Eva showed up.
Zoe wasn’t entirely certain that she could blame it if it decided to leave. At least the castle likely had seats to rest on. The tiny island they were currently standing on lacked such niceties. Her options boiled down to standing on the beach and getting sand in her shoes or sitting on the beach and getting sand everywhere else.
Not that Prax seemed to mind. It had–thankfully–accepted Zoe’s suit jacket, giving Shalise’s body some privacy. But he had otherwise just sat down next to the small tree in the center of the island.
“This domain,” Prax said, interrupting Zoe’s train of thought, “is pathetic.”
Zoe sighed. She knew she should interact with him, if only to keep him here. Couldn’t it be Devon’s turn?