A Snake in the Grass Read Free

blacksmith buddy
Marty had made me a couple of years prior, as a Christmas present.
It was supposed to just be something to hang over my mantel, if I
ever had one, and look wickedly pretty. That didn’t mean, though,
that it wasn’t a perfectly functional weapon, or that I didn’t know
how to use it.
    I gave Cole a small smirk. “And you said that
a thousands-of-years-old martial art wasn’t going to be applicable
to my everyday life.” He probably would have laughed at me if he
hadn’t been busy looking like he was going to puke.
    After swallowing a couple of times, he said
“Are you ready?” and when I nodded, he opened his mouth and the
nastiest thing I have ever heard in my life came spewing out of it.
Seriously, the thing had no vowels, or consonants, it was just
poison wrapped in hate, and smothered in a nice layer of bloody
thorns and acid. My body had an instant and violent reaction, and I
hit the ground with a sharp pain in both knees as I heaved up my
guts into the grass. Cole was faring no better, by the sound of it,
coughing and gagging just out of my sight.
    My throat and nose burning with my own
stomach bile, I finally managed to force myself to my feet. Meeting
a demon on my knees seemed like a shitty first impression,
especially given the deal I intended to offer him.
    The first thing I noticed, aside from the
fact that Cole was still crouched down, trying to regain control of
himself, was that the night had gone absolutely still. The birds
that had been serenading us just moments ago had fallen silent, and
the insects that were feasting on us had found somewhere else to
be. Even the breeze had stopped, and the late spring air felt heavy
with the night’s dew still settling onto the foliage around us.
    If it hadn’t been so still, I’m not sure I’d
have noticed the faint movement across the clearing, and I murmured
“Incoming” to Cole as something stepped from the trees. It looked
like a man, at first, dressed in nondescript green hospital scrubs.
But as the thing drew closer, the scrubs melted away, first into a
suit and tie combo, and then into faded jeans and a black T-shirt,
and I realized that it was trying to look like me. Trying to set me
at ease. ’Cause yeah, magical melting morphing clothes was normal .
    The thing stopped a good ten yards away,
giving me a slow smile for a moment before turning his eyes on my
brother. “Cole Younger Dawson. I have come to your call.”
    Ew. Ew ew ew! Cole was right, there was
something in the voice, something that tasted like rancid lard at
the back of my throat and felt like an oil slick over my skin. No
human sounded like that. I wanted to spit until that taste was
erased from my mouth, but I didn’t have time for such nonsense.
    Cole, on his feet again, visibly flinched
when the thing said his name, his shoulders up like he was
sheltering from an incoming blow. I couldn’t have that. I couldn’t
let this thing beat him down without even raising a finger.
    “Hey, tall-dark-and-devilish. Over here.” I
snapped my fingers to get the thing to look at me, which it did
with a raised brow. “You’re here to talk to me, not him.”
    “I am listening.”
    “Oh I just bet you are. Well listen up good,
Sparky, ’cause it’s time to play ‘Let’s Make a Deal’.”
    The thing grinned at me, showing pretty much
more teeth than a human head holds. “I will hear you.”
    “You have his soul, yes?” I nodded toward
Cole. “You possess the soul of one Cole Younger Dawson.” The thing
had said Cole’s full name. That seemed important.
    “Yes. I am in possession of such.”
    “I want it back.”
    The demon – I was still having trouble
thinking of it like that – chuckled, and its eyes flashed a bright
red, lighting up the night for a moment. Okaaaay. That was…weird.
“And what do you offer in exchange?”
    “I will fight you for it.” I brought my other
hand out from behind my back, displaying my sheathed sword. “If I
win, you will