Demon's Triad Read Free

Close the door, you’re letting in a draft.”
    “Well, answer sooner next time.” Aleeza let the door slam behind her as she made her way into the kitchen. There Mona sat at the scarred wooden table, with a cigarette dangling from her mouth, attention focused on the tiny doll in her hands. “You got more orders?”
    “Five more. Even had a couple fly in from New York. Said their fertility doctor referred them, that I was the best in the business if they were going to go with a spell instead of ‘conventional medical wisdom’.” Mona let out a deep chuckle that turned into a hacking cough.
    “And they went ahead and ordered, even after meeting you in person?”
    “Ha, ha. You’re a little bitch—you know that?” Mona lifted her dark, nearly black eyes and winked at her.
    “I learned from the best.” Aleeza pulled up a seat, taking a cigarette from her mother’s pack.
    “Since when do you smoke?”
    “Since tonight. I’m thinking of picking it up.” Aleeza lifted the cigarette to her nose and inhaled the smell of tobacco.
    “Put that down, you have enough vices,” Mona said, smacking the cigarette out of her hand. “What are you doing here, anyway? It’s not Sunday last time I checked.”
    10

    Demon’s Triad
    “I missed you so much I couldn’t wait two more days.” Aleeza picked up the cigarette and stuck it in her mouth.
    “You’re so full of shit. What do you want, money?”
    “When is the last time I asked you for money, Mom?” It came out as a hurt little whine and Aleeza winced.
    No matter how their relationship had evolved, no matter how “friendly” they became, it still hurt that Mona never seemed to understand her, had never been able to see through to the heart of her the way she did her sons. But maybe that was her fault.
    Aleeza didn’t let anyone see through her. She was too afraid of what they might find.
    “Then what do you want? I’m busy, booger. I have to get this doll finished by tomorrow morning. The client is going to be ovulating in the next two days, so I can’t put it off, no matter how much I’d like to hang out and have girl talk.” Mona patted her hand and slid her lighter across the table before flipping her hair over her shoulder in a motion Aleeza recognized all too well. Sometimes it was downright eerie how much she resembled her mother. It was as if she had sprung from Mona’s forehead fully formed, and those hazy memories of a tall man with light brown hair and a warm smile for his daughter were nothing more than a dream.
    “I was looking for some Queen Elizabeth root. Thought you might have some in stock,” Aleeza said casually, flicking the lighter on but not bringing it to the cigarette still dangling from her mouth. She didn’t like smoking, never had. She just liked the sensation of holding the cigarette in her mouth. It steadied her nerves and placed another barrier, no matter how insignificant, between her mother and herself.
    “Why? Are you going to set up shop as my competition?”
    “No, I have a friend who’s having trouble getting in the mood with her fiancé. She’s thinking about calling off the wedding.”
    “She should. If she doesn’t want to fuck him before the wedding, she’s certainly not going to want to fuck him after.”
    “Her dad died a few weeks ago and she’s depressed, Mom. She swears she used to love banging Ted. I’m going to give her the root and let her try it out for a few months.”
    Aleeza shrugged, focusing on the lighter, refusing to look her mother in the eye. She was a fantastic liar, but Mona had always been able to smell a lie. Even from Aleeza.
    “All right, go get some from the cellar, but make sure you give her strict instructions on how much to use.”
    “Thanks, Mona,” Aleeza said, jumping up with a smile. She was getting smoother, or someone was losing her touch. Either way, she hadn’t anticipated scoring the root so easily and figured it was best to grab it and go before her mother