I knew what demons were. I even knew a little about their hierarchy, though the exact titles and names were too far back and faded in my memory to ever recall. But never in my life had I ever, ever encountered one before.
Juliet Hatter, however, didn't want to believe that.
"Any dabbling in dark magics will affect your susceptibility to these things. I am not your enemy, and I am not going to report you to some witch council for black magicking like it's the 1600s. I need you to be honest with me and tell me under what circumstances you might have ever established contact."
"Juliet!" I snapped. "I! Did! Not! Summon! Any! Demons!"
"That you know of. Demon summoning can be achieved through a multitude of ways, and some unknowingly. If you've ever experimented with spells you didn't truly understand when you were younger, or if you ever associated even briefly with others who might have been practitioners, that could have exposed you enough to cause this issue. But this is no ordinary demon, either. As I said, it's a Prince of demons, the absolute highest echelon of demonic entities in existence. That means it's all the more critical that you be transparent with me."
"I have been transparent!"
"Have you ever wanted to bargain your soul for something? When you were a child, maybe?"
My jaw dropped. Bargaining my soul — did she think I was an idiot? I couldn't even speak. Shock and outrage suffused my face with cherry-red heat, but before I could lash out at her with a stinging retort, she leaned back in her armchair and breathed a short sigh of relief.
"Never mind. That's answer enough. Then we can rule that possibility out, I guess..."
"You really thought I'm stupid enough to sell my soul to a demon!"
"I'm not insulting your intelligence, believe me. You're obviously sharp and knowledgeable even though it's been a long time since you've been active in the community—"
"You have a funny way of showing it."
"Not at all. For you, the education you received makes it unthinkable to fall to such a low, but not everyone has that luxury. Some are conned into selling their souls for shallow knickknacks and empty rewards because they really don't know any better. They think they can game the system or that it's worth the price. Intelligent people, Sable. They're not stupid, just misinformed. The last year has seen a strong surge in it, so I needed to be sure."
Oh, right. She knew my name now, since the so-called Prince of demons had yodeled it in my dream in front of her. Rest in pieces, Sandalwood pseudonym.
"Well, it's not up for debate," I said sharply. "I don't mess around with soul contracts. I never have and never will. Anyway, I don't have magic, so I can't invoke demons above the tenth class anyway. So it's a non-issue."
"No need to be defensive, I understand... Though you do have magic, it's just not hatched yet. But let's not split hairs. The only way for us to find out what's going on here is to delve into some research, and I'll reach out to some colleagues here while we do that. Are you aware of the Faustian movement happening? I think that'll be a good point to start investigating."
She stood without waiting for an answer, and I jumped to my feet to follow her out of the living room. The crackling of the fireplace faded behind us as we entered a narrow hallway with numerous doors packed close together on either side. It was no surprise when she opened one of them and ushered me into a giant library. The grand ceiling curved with grand wooden arches and a hundred tall shelves full of books, a castle hidden inside the small home. Impressive, but not mind-boggling. My grandmother's house had been a lot like this, and I'd guessed at it when I had first arrived. Witches and spelled houses came as a package deal.
Well, good. I'd been worried that I had stumbled on a discount witch. This one seemed like the genuine article.
A large stone fireplace roared to life when we approached the study space in the center of the library. Juliet pointed me toward the closest wall — but walked right by without stopping herself. "I'm going to reach out to my colleagues now," she called back. "That's my section for restricted books. Comb that wall and take out anything you can find on Demon Princes. I'll be back as soon as I'm done."
If circumstances were different, I would have asked why I was doing the legwork when I was paying her for that, but this wasn't Kansas anymore. If I wanted to fix this curse on me — or whatever it was — then I needed to be proactive. Forget the astronomical cost of the appointment. Juliet had resources like these beyond anything I could access on my own. I'd think of the cost as the price of admission. If all went well, I'd get my treatment at the end. Besides, if Juliet was right and her wild idea about Demon Princes was correct, then it would be well worth the money anyway.
But God. I hoped she was wrong. I'd be pissed if she turned out to be conning me and making me run around like a headless chicken to get me to shell out more cash, but it would be worse to find out I really was entangled with demonic entities. And not just any demonic entity. The highest class of demon that existed, the forbidden, taboo even to demonic magic practitioners.
I ran my fingers over the spines on the books, starting with the shelf closest to eye-level. Shame. My grandmother's library had been far more efficient, summoning the needed books right away wherever we looked first, but this one wasn't charmed that way. I had to individually read each inscribed title and skim until I found the right books, which I pulled out one by one and stacked in one arm.
Advanced Demonology and Rituals. Dark Summonings, Impressments, and Other Prohibited Practices. An Exploration into the Nature of Demonic Contract. Four other promising titles, too, just from the first section. I would peruse the other two after I looked through these, though. The leather tomes were thick enough to occupy me for hours as it was. No matter. I would work through the night to get my answers without thinking twice about it. I had deprived myself of sleep to the point of unconsciousness once already. This time, I'd make sure it was actually productive.
I was halfway into the second tome, a light-toned leather-bound book with more diagrams than words, thankfully, when Juliet reappeared. She joined me at the table and opened the next book in the pile, a pencil stuck behind her ear. "You have a good eye. These are exactly the books I was thinking of. Take a look at this one, though. These chapters discuss the Princes at length."
She slid the open tome across the table with one hand spread over the open pages. I accepted it with a grimace.
"I know you're skeptical, but I've been around for a while and seen my share of powerful, ancient demons. Nothing compares. The demon in your dreams is beyond anything I've ever encountered."
"So you're saying you've never actually met a Demon Prince before."
She held up one finger, face stern. "It's no mistake. I've even met two second class demons in my travels. I have the experience necessary to identify a Prince even if this is my first time seeing one in the flesh. Well, as far as dreams go."
Two second class demons? Most witches went their whole lives never encountering anything above a fifth class at best, and even that was considered titanically dangerous. Juliet Hatter's easy modesty belied her skill if she was telling the truth, and something told me she was. Maybe I should take her suspicions more seriously, but then that would mean I was well and truly fucked.
Damn it. I would take being conned over being screwed for all eternity any day. A Prince of demonkind infecting my mind? How would we even fix that? There were no banishment spells in existence for any entity that powerful, none accessible by us, anyway. I dropped my eyes to the page and glared at the tiny handwritten cursive that filled it, stomach twisting...
"Skip a few pages," Juliet urged, but her voice was gentle, as if she knew I was on the brink of throwing myself out the tallest window I could find. "You'll see why I'm so certain. Go on."
I flipped through to the next chapter without argument. I didn't know what she wanted me to see, but if she was so sure I would know what it was as soon as I saw it—
Wait. Did I just see that?
I flipped back a page. —
And stared.
There, inked onto the page in full color, was a man's face and torso like an immaculate statue.
White, wavy hair. It was long, falling over the shoulders, but still familiar. Bare-chested, and below the illustrated portion, probably naked. Powerful muscles rimmed with beautiful, iridescent scales... I didn't recognize that bit, but the face — unmistakable. That strong, cut jaw. The forked tongue that curled out between smirking lips. And, most memorable of all, crimson eyes inked completely through. They glowed on the yellowing page, filled with a living energy.
On the opposite page, the chapter title accompanying the illustration:
The Seventh Prince of Demons
ASMODEUS, Prince of Lust
"Oh, shit," I breathed.
Juliet nodded. "Yes. Shit."