I walk over and stand in front of the demon and smile. I wave my hand in front of his face, releasing the freeze from his head only.

“Hiiii, now, here’s how things are going to go. You will tell me, one way or another, who is behind the plans to raise Malphas—”

“Malphas?” Gargoyle asks.

I roll my eyes. “Yes, Malphas. Now shut up and let me do my thing.” I face the demon and flash him a smile. “Now, as I was saying. Before I was rudely interrupted. Sorry about that, gargoyles right?” I chuckle, which earns yet another growl from the gargoyle behind me. “You will tell me one way or another who is behind the plan to raise Malphas. I already know that it involves one of the few gates to the Underworld, and the Book of the Dead…

“The Book of the Dead.” I whip around to face the gargoyle.

“What are you a fucking parrot! Shut. The hell. Up!” I bark at him. He goes to speak and I hold up my finger. “No! One more word out of you and I will sew your mouth shut you hear me?” No protest. “Good.”

I turn my attention back to the demon. “So, what is it going to be? You can either give up the information now, or I literally force it out of you. The ball is in your court.” My jovial tone doesn’t seem to sit well with the demon.

“I’m not telling you anything she-devil, so you can shove it up your ass!”

Why do demons never go for the easy option? It always ends badly for them. I always end up killing their demonic selves.

I shrug.

I place my hands on either side of his head and focus on seeing into his mind. Instantly images flash before my eyes. I see what he has seen and experienced. I’m hoping for and searching for something that can tell me who is behind the whole thing, but nothing. All I can see is him going about his pathetic and boring life. I’m just about to give up when an image of him meeting with a demon I recognise comes into view. He is talking to Kane, a mid-level demon who thinks he’s much more powerful and stronger than he actually is, about the plans to release Malphas. They are discussing how they need to find the Book of the Dead and the keys in order to release Malphas from his cage.

I remove my hands, stopping the images that are playing like a film, after the discussion between the two demons.

“I’d say thank you for the information, but you really didn’t give it me of your own free will. Soooo. . . “

“How did you do that? Only upper-level demons have the power to see into another being’s mind.” The shocked expression on the demon’s face brings a sense of satisfaction to me.

I think about how I manage to be in the presence of two stupid, stupid beings. What were the odds that not only would I run into Tweedle Dee, but also Tweedle Dum? “You just answered your own question there Einstein. Geeze, are you naturally this dumb or have you had one too many hits to the head?”

“Tell me who you are!” He demands.

“Ahhh, no.”

“Tell me or I’ll—”

“Or you’ll what? May I remind you that you are in the presence of an upper-level demon. One that can kill you with the snap of her fingers.” I snap my fingers to demonstrate just how easy it could be. “Actually, that gives me a brilliant idea!”

“Don’t, stop!” Gargoyle shouts behind me.

I snap my fingers and the demon drops to the floor.

He is dead.

I have killed him.

“What the fuck was that for?!” he exclaims

I feign cluelessness. “Why, whatever do you mean?” I spin around to face him.

“Why did you kill the demon?”

“Because he was useless, he was getting on my nerves and the information he gave, I already knew.”

“And what if I had questions?”

“He honestly wasn’t going to tell you anything else. I got everything I needed from being inside his tiny head, which was nothing. You know, we could always team up? You look like you could be useful to me...” I look him up and down. “Somehow. Maybe as a lackey or something.”

“No,-” he says shortly. “Just tell me what you fucking saw.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “He was having a meeting with another demon, Kane, real slime ball and a massive prick. I still don’t know who is planning on raising Malphas, but I do know that in order to do so, the demon will need to know the locations to one of the main gates to the Underworld, this book.” I pat the book that’s sitting under my arm. “And three keys, whatever that means.”

“Okay, now hand the book over.” He holds out a beckoning hand.

I stare at his outstretched hand and then at him and scoff. “Are you stupid?”

“Huh?”

“Are you stupid?” I repeat.

“What does that—”

I interrupt impatiently. “Because only a stupid person would think that I’d hand over this book, the Book of the Dead, the book that is said to contain the spell needed to raise a demon of Malphas’ strength and power to the surface. I’m going to burn it, so it can never be used.”

“You can’t do that.” His tone a mix of shock and anger.

“Oh I can’t, can’t I? Says who? You? HA!”

“There are other spells in there that may be worthwhile one day, there is a reason why it’s been kept intact for all these years. Give it to me and I’ll protect it.”

I don’t try and hold back the laughter that forces its way out of my mouth. I can’t believe this guy. “Oh shit man, there are not enough ways to say no to you. I’m going to burn this thing and there is nothing that you can say or do to stop me.”

He grabs my shoulder and squeezes hard.

Going to play that game huh?

I immediately throw him against the wall on the other side of the church and teleport over to him, crouching down to where he is crumpled on the floor. “You know, even though you have been a Grade A dick to me this whole time, my offer still stands. I will no doubt need help with this whole, stopping a potential apocalypse from occurring. Are you in or out?”

“Fuck off!” He sneers

I shrug. “Suit yourself!”

With that, I teleport out of there and back to my home in Barcelona. Standing in my room I toss the book on the bed, flopping down next to it and letting out a sigh. It has been a long day, and I’m exhausted. Demons don’t usually get exhausted, we have enough power to sustain us for weeks. We can even go without sleep for days on end and be totally fine. Between getting my ass somewhat kicked and having to deal with Mr Broody McDicknuts back at the church, I’m spent and in some serious need of a good massage by a hot Spanish man.

I close my eyes as I picture getting covered in massage oil, a smoking hot masseuse moving his skilled hands over the contours of my body, up my legs, before settling on the sweet spot between my thighs. I shake myself out of my erotic thoughts when I notice my hand has dipped beneath my shorts and panties. Pulling my hand out I spring up to a sitting position.

“Need a cold shower?” Vee giggles.

“Oh quiet you!” Her loud laughter fills my head.

Ignoring her, I grab the book and start flipping through it.

I need to find the specific spell that they were looking for, if it exists in this book. Unfortunately, with a book titled Book of the Dead there are many spells that can be used to conjure up such a demon. The sound of my stomach grumbling tells me that I’m hungry, making me realise that I hadn’t actually eaten for weeks.

I get up and walk to the kitchen, taking the book with me. I’ll whip myself up some food and read through it while I eat. I place the book on my dining table and walk to the fridge. Peering in I realise I haven’t done any grocery shopping in a while. It is a good thing that I have some readymade meals in the freezer. Grabbing myself a creamy chicken pesto pasta, I open the throw away container and hold my dinner in my hands, allowing heat to radiate from them to defrost and heat up my meal. When it’s hot enough, I open the lid, grab a fork from a drawer and sit down at the table where I had placed the book.

I am halfway through the book when I find the spell that could be used to raise Malphas. I feel rather triumphant and incredibly pleased with myself. Why? It is a boring book to read, I’m surprised that I lasted this long without falling into a deep sleep. I have no purpose for most of the spells in it. There is no interest there anymore. If I was the old me, I would be grabbing the ingredients to perform them as quickly as possible. I am just about to read through the rest of the spell when I’m dragged out of my perfect little haven and standing back in the church again.