Slate Gray

Chapter 18.1: Perrin Slate

Shit. Bad. Hurt. Stop. Fight. Flee. FUCK FUCK FUCK.

The nonsensical string batters my brain as existence constricts to the impaled, bleeding mess that used to be my left hand. A noise I've never made harmonizes with Dad's bellow of paternal fury as he lunges, ready to tear the demon apart. But, without sparing him a glance, Naberius cracks him across the face, rupturing the gash on his temple and sending him sprawling back in the booth. Eyelids flutter behind his crooked glasses as his already concussed mind fights to stay conscious. But then he slumps, boneless, against the window.

"Now, I consider myself a magnanimous being," my arch enemy sneers, wrapping one meaty hand over my mouth to cut off my howl. And tugged by my cheeks, I'm yanked out of the frying pan and straight into the bonfire of his garnet orbs. "As a rule, I prefer honey over vinegar when catching my flies. It makes the transactions sweeter. More earned. But twice now I've come to you willing to do business. To be civil. And twice you've rejected me. Spitting in my face with a truly outstanding amount of vitriol, given the circumstances."

He twists the knife with a metallic screech and I scream into his palm, pounding my free fist on the table to divert the onrush of anguish. Legs buckle but the cruel fingers bruising my face keep me from collapsing.

I can't believe I'm back here. Pinned down and defenseless against the demon who killed Michael. I need to concentrate. To fight back. But pain has me in a headlock and it's choking the life out of me.

"Look, if you want it rough and dirty, I'm more than happy to play that game." He's so close that crimson is all I can see, his breath hot and sulfuric as he laps up my muzzled whimpers. "I've had centuries to mull over all the things I could take from you... From both of you."

And pain yields to fear as those orbs slide sideways to land on Ace.

The poor kid is pressed against the window like she wants to dissolve straight through it, knees pulled into her chest as she stares at the blood oozing from my hand.

Walloped senseless with the need to comfort her, I pull against the knife and a fresh wave of suffering comes a-knocking. But rather than reenforcing the invading darkness, this new swell sharpens things. I lock onto it, engaging with the pain to keep my head above water.

Naberius tuts warningly when my eyes clear. "Before you let hubris cloud your judgement, let's keep in mind the multitude of souls I've already accumulated. And the multitude of methods I've picked up along the way. I have left humans far more remarkable than you lying in pools of their own blood, just begging to die." Our enemy's tone is low, relaxed. Like he as all the time in the world. "If that's how you want this night to go, then by all means, keep resisting. Reticence only makes me more creative. And I have a magnificent imagination."

Surely this isn't the end of the line. There's too much shit I wanna do. Too much shit I wanna see.

And Ace... I can't let this be her legacy. Brutalized and bleeding out on a diner's checkered floor.

"This is the last time I'll be asking nicely. Your final chance to gain something from this transaction." Searching my squished face for anything flexible to work with, the demon sighs when there's none to be found. "I don't want to hurt you girls. Your very souls were placed on this earth to serve me. With your sacrifice, I'll take my rightful place in Hell and all will benefit from it. For that reason alone, I would give you the world on a string. But not if you insist on being difficult."

Here he throws his free arm chummily over my shoulders and angles my trapped head towards Terry. My heart wails at the sight of him, nearly unrecognizable as he hangs between the Wonder Twins, beaten to shit, left eye swollen shut, his unlucky nose crooked once more.