City of Demons Read Free

it happened, you weren’t this calm.”
    He had a point, and I shivered involuntarily, recalling the incident he referred to.
    â€œWell . . . that time involved a serial killer taking out immortals at random. And who, um, had a crush on me. No one knew what it—he—was. This time, it’s pretty obvious what happened. A demon destroyed another demon.”
    It was something demons did from time to time. And honestly, when you considered demons’ selfish and prickly natures, it was a wonder it didn’t happen more often. Sometimes demons would set up formal duels. Sometimes one would just get pissed and incinerate the other. Demons varied in strength, and two who were matched in power mostly just tended to circle and scuff each other up. When the power levels varied wildly . . . well, things ended pretty quickly.
    Regardless of how it went down, destroying each other was not looked upon favorably among our masters. It was disorderly and annoying and created a lot of paperwork for the personnel department.
    â€œIf it’s obvious, then why are you here?” Seth wanted to know.
    â€œBecause they don’t know which demon did the, uh, smiting. All the evidence shows a demonic attack; there’s no question about that. What they have to figure out here is who the murderer is, so they can make an example of him or her.”
    â€œAn example? Like capital punishment?”
    â€œNot exactly. But trust me, you’re really happier not knowing any more than that.”
    An imp standing in front of us turned around. He’d apparently overheard us.
    â€œShe means torture.” He grinned at the two of us, revealing a mouth full of gold fillings. With his green suit and feathered derby, I think he was going for some kind of pimp look. Mostly it put me in mind of a porn star Robin Hood. Robin of Cocksley , maybe. Or perhaps Friar Suck . “Me? I’m guessing flaying, but my buddy Roger swears it’s going to be disemboweling. I was just talking to this other guy in the bar last night, and he thinks Noelle’s pissed enough that they’ll actually flay and disembowel the poor bastard. Thinks they might even get some wraiths to do it—and you know how those little buggers are. They really get into ripping out intestines. Fuck, I don’t even think they care about eating the entrails. They just play with them half the time. Spin ’em like lassos. Wear ’em like boas.” He winked at me. “We’re starting a pool. You want in, sweetheart?”
    â€œNo, thanks.” I glanced over at Seth who wore the kind of shocked look accident survivors had. “Demons heal,” I said hastily. “None of it’s permanent.”
    He swallowed. “And so, they flay ... or whatever ... this guy, and that’s that?”
    Our new friend the imp answered before I could. “Well, you gotta understand that the flaying or disemboweling takes a long time.”
    â€œHow long?”
    The imp narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Oh, I don’t know. Three, four centuries. Maybe five, depending on how bad a mood the judge is in.”
    â€œFive centuries?” Seth exclaimed. “And that works? Stops repeat offenders? Discourages others?”
    â€œNo.” The imp and I spoke in unison.
    â€œBut it certainly makes them think twice,” I said.
    The imp stood on his tiptoes, trying to see the front of the line. “Yeah, some of the punishment’s public, so it sets a pretty harsh example. Pretty cool, really. Too bad we’ll have to wait days to see it. It’d be a lot easier if they just did a reading and got it over with.”
    â€œReading?” asked Seth. “What’s that?”
    â€œIt’s something immortals can do to each other. It’s a way of . . .” I grasped at words for something I barely understood myself. “. . . viewing someone’s mind and soul. More than a viewing . . . it’s