Summoned

Chapter 12

Deloris was her name.

And like Cindi, she didn't shut up, she just kept on talking and talking...

It had taken us hours – most of the daytime – to reach her house. It felt like we had driven to the other side of the world and given that we had travelled mostly in silence I had started to get bored.

Bored demons aren't good company.

Repeatedly saying are we there yet had fallen on deaf ears.

Whining about how long it was taking to get to the Scribe had earned me a shut up.

Threatening to pluck Cal's wings and use the feathers to stuff a pillow had made him laugh. I was losing my touch, I guess, with threats against his person.

But in general, I had managed to annoy him. I would accept that as a victory.

So, when we had pulled up to a house in the suburbs of some nameless city, I had got a little excited.

Finally, I would get some answers.

A Human Scribe.

The very idea was preposterous, but Cal seemed very sure. It wasn't that I didn't trust him to be right – I didn't trust him at all, how could I? He was a Malakhim. It was all a matter of belief that such a thing could exist. I was tired of not being in the know.

And letting me know about this, and even taking me to her?

Oh yes, Scribes were nonpartisan – they were off limits. What I had done to Ashkej would get me in trouble... Eventually. At worst I would have to cultivate another Scribe if Ashkej refused to talk to me again. It could be done. I had, after all, done it before. Learning the sigil of a Scribe wasn't enough, you had to gain their trust.

But how would it work with a human Scribe?

Deloris was not what I expected. She looked emaciated; her dark skin taught over the bones beneath. Her eyes were large, watery, and hidden behind glasses that were too big for her face. Her hair was the no colour of sand, grey in some light, yellowish in others.

And she hadn't stopped talking since answering the door.

Cal had knocked on the door of the house, and it had opened promptly to a raspy voice saying; "Summoned, I come..."

"Deloris..." Cal had started to say, but she carried on.

"Lord Calhoun, Lord Makenzie I welcome thee."

"How the fuck does she know who I am?" I asked, curiously peeved.

"She is a Scribe," Cal said at the same time she said, "I am a Scribe."

"Fucking know it all's," I muttered under my breath.

"They have the child..." She started to say.

"We know," Cal grabbed her elbow and led her back into the house, leaving me to close the door behind us.

"You, you!" she pointed at me. "Do not break the reflection again. It burns." She was talking about Ashkej.

"Then don't piss me off," I hissed at her.

"The child, the child, the innocent child..." she started to wail.

"I need you to focus," Cal led her deeper into the house, which was an absolute mess. Scribbled on bits of paper was strewn everywhere, and there was a rotting smell.

"You allow her to live like this?" I ran my finger along the edge of a cupboard and wasn't surprised to find it was covered in dust and grime.

"Her choice," Cal said a little too defensively.