City of Demons Read Free Page A

almost like a union with them. You can see their experiences, know if they’re telling the truth. You feel them.”
    â€œWhoa. Wouldn’t that be a lot less trouble then?” he wanted to know. “And wouldn’t it make sure the wrong person wasn’t flayed?”
    â€œIt’s soul rape,” said the imp.
    Seething Seth’s puzzled look, I explained more delicately. “Letting someone look into your soul is pretty invasive. It completely exposes you—opens up everything inside of you. And from what I hear, it’s a pretty horrible experience, so no one does it willingly. A more powerful immortal could force it on someone else, but even demons don’t like to cross that line. It’d be like . . .”
    â€œSoul rape,” repeated the imp.
    I could tell from his expression that Seth still didn’t quite follow. “And so, even though that would reveal the truth right away . . . it’s still easier just to go through this whole process?”
    â€œYeah,” I told him. “Demons want to hide their souls. Besides, with the way they lie, one could look inside another and swear they saw something that wasn’t actually true. So then they’d have to get more demons to find out what’s real. Makes everything a mess.”
    â€œThis is going to be some trial,” muttered Seth, shaking his head.
    â€œTechnically,” I said, “this won’t be a trial at all—at least not in the sense you’re used to. It’s more like a . . . a tribunal, I guess. There are suspects—but they don’t get lawyers. They just get examined by the prosecution and the jury. The jury decides who they think is guilty. A judge keeps everyone from killing each other in the meantime.”
    â€œNo lawyers?” Seth considered. “Let me guess. You guys are the ultimate guilty-until-proven-innocent group.”
    â€œNo. Well, I mean, yes, but that’s not why. Really, in the grand scheme of things, this is kind of a small dispute. Anthony—the guy who got killed—was a minor demon. They threw together this tribunal because no one wanted to go to the trouble of having a formal hearing. If they did, then that would have a lot more procedure and whatnot. It’d probably take place in Hell itself too. Not a Marriott.”
    â€œI hear that,” said the imp in disgust. “This place is a dive. Last time I went to one of these, it was at a Hyatt.” He shook his head, clearly appalled at the collapse of Hellish civilization. “Fucking cheapskates.”
    * * *
    When we finally made it to the head of the line, the demon working the door gave me a hard time. His eyes flicked coldly over the paperwork I handed him. He promptly handed it back.
    â€œYou aren’t Jerome.”
    â€œI’m his proxy.”
    â€œA succubus can’t be a proxy.”
    He started to turn to the person behind me, but I jabbed him in the arm with my finger. He glared.
    â€œWell, obviously I can, or he wouldn’t have sent me. Read it again.”
    I actually hadn’t read the document. When Jerome had given it to me, I’d assumed everything was in order and devoted my attention to actually figuring out what this case was about. I had, however, seen my name on the last page and figured that was the important part. I opened to that sheet and pointed.
    â€œSee?”
    â€œIt’s invalid.”
    â€œYou didn’t even read it!”
    â€œI’m sure he read it,” a voice nearby suddenly said. “Because surely, surely , Marcus, you wouldn’t offhandedly dismiss a potential juror—particularly one sent by one of the more powerful archdemons in the country. Not only would that be rude and likely incur his wrath, it would also create chaos here when we realized we were down a juror. And that, my friend, would incur my wrath. Now, surely, surely , that isn’t what you want.”
    All three of us