"Come again now?" said Sam.

  "Ah! I see my confession of love is astounding. But I can assure you I speak true. I wish to woo this girl and see us wed."

  Sam had never spoken to a demon at length. There had been occasions where, as part of an investigation or an exorcism, questions needed to be answered. Occasionally, a nefarious sorcerer of some sort would attack someone by sending a demon to possess them, or a restless spirit unable to move on from this world would need to have the cause of their unrest identified and solved. These questions usually had short answers. This was an entirely different sort of conversation, and the earth-shattering revelation Haborym had delivered was well outside of her depth.

  "Great Haborym," began Sam. "I. What?" As an interrogator, Sam was almost never at a loss for words. But this was so far beyond her experience. She had no follow-up questions, no presence of mind to come up with a clever retort to twist the interview back to her advantage.

  In interrogation, it is assumed that each party wishes to know or to keep hidden certain information. This balances the parts of the interrogator and the interrogated. In this case, Sam supposed she needed to know what the love of a demon Duke of Hell meant for Lisa Everson. She gathered her thoughts while Haborym stared with dark eyes.

  "Duke Haborym," Sam began, "is this why you have taken possession of this young woman's body?"

  "Why, yes. However, I wish to point out I have not completely taken over. I did that initially. She took a dim view and went mostly catatonic. For my purposes, accordingly, it was sub-optimal. However, I used your exorcism as an excuse to extricate myself, and then upon hearing young Lisa here arguing with her father, I elected to take possession of him. He conveniently opened the door wide for me, after all, with his botched sorcery."

  "I am deeply unfamiliar with how a Duke of Hell would court a human woman. Are you saying that during these times of possession, you can communicate with Lisa?"

  "Of a sort. She is dreaming," said Haborym, "and in her dreams, I can visit her."

  "Duke Haborym, I must confess I have no way of removing you from this world. As you have said, Phenex is not your peer, and their power is inferior to your own. From your words, I do gather that you, in your own way, mean this woman no harm. Can you tell me about the men that attacked her?"

  "What? The two humans I roasted?" He laughed. "Well, they attacked her, and I roasted them. I don't see much complexity in the situation. What questions do you have?"

  "Well, it's just that under the laws of the city, Lisa is now guilty of murder and could be in some trouble."

  "Whatever trouble she is in, I will roast that too," replied Haborym. Half of Lisa's mouth twisted up into a smirk.

  Sam's mind raced at the implications of what she was hearing: Haborym the Firebrand, a Duke of Hell, was in love with a mortal woman.

  "Lord Haborym, would you deign to tell me what it is that draws you to this woman? Why her, among all the others in the world?"

  "Ah, you wish to know why I have chosen her. Of course you do. This one is so hot with rage. I can see it even from the depths of Duzakh, where I dwell. I looked from my throne of bone, across my vast lands, and there in the distance saw I her rage burning. The spark of it. Oh, the beauty of it! This one has an affinity for anger like few humans ever have.

  "And I do like blondes."

  "Why not appear before her physically?" asked Sam. "Why not embody yourself in our world? Confess to her your affection and spirit her away to your realm?"

  "So many questions at once. The price is going to be steep when we’re all settled up," replied Haborym. "Well, I suppose I can teach you a bit. It is because we cannot. Have you never wondered why forces of the planes of Hell have never set foot in this world?"

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  In truth, Sam had wondered why these great powers bothered to truck with humans at all. All magic, as far as she knew, came from making deals with demons. You got their attention, you said what you wanted, and you paid for it. This is how magic worked. Throughout history, the demons had called themselves by different names. The realm they came from wasn't always called Hell, but the dealings were always the same. Some of the binding circles she knew were older than the religions that had named them.

  "We fallen are bound to Hell," said Haborym. "By the creation we all participate in. We are bound to Hell as you are bound to Earth. And angels were bound to Heaven before they fled."

  "Which begs the question, really: where could they have fled to?" said Haborym. He tapped Lisa's lips with one clawed finger.

  Lisa's body had continued to change during their conversation. She had even started sprouting tiny black horns on her forehead. Sam wondered whether these changes would be permanent.

  "We can no more conquer nor visit the realm of Earth than you could take a stroll through Hell. Even if you didn't burst into flames in my domain, you would not be able to drag your body there. The distance is too vast and you are far too small.

  "We visit here," continued Haborym, "by touching your paltry little minds. Your sigils draw our interest. Even now, sorcerers around the world speak my name, and I divide my attention between them and thee. I mean you. I have adopted your modern speech, vulgar and informal as it is.

  "But sweet Lisa here, her rage crossed the realms. Her frustration. Her impotence. And so decided I to empower her with my presence. Embodied such as you can see, I can have some physical influence upon the world of man. This is the source of her frustration. All the little monkeys walking around. The ones with dicks. She doesn't like them. She doesn't like the way they're stronger than her. She doesn't like the way they tell her what to do. This is why I took over her father's body. I had thought to decay him and give him an early death as a sort of dowry. Turns out she did not appreciate that gesture either. She even left the house rather than have a nice conversation with me.

  "This evening's barbecue was... Mortal men offer women flowers. I bring a more scrumptious bouquet to her, and what does she do? Flee to you. Well, no matter. I will find out the way to her heart. As I dwell within her chest."

  He paused.

  "I think we have come to the end of our parley. Now, as I have given you so much and you have offered me so little in return, here is my price: Keep your fucking mouth shut.

  "You won't tell Lisa about me. You will give me time to work my wiles upon her until she is mine. In return, I offer you further recompense. I will see her protected from harm. No mortal hand shall lay a finger upon her if you keep her close. Maybe some of my fearsome protection will trickle down onto you.

  "There are powers aligning against you, Samantha Fontaine. Your name is whispered many times among the Dukes and many times among the Princes. You will suffer soon. You can use all the help you can get."

  Samantha considered the offer. It was a fair price, given Haborym's relative generosity thus far. He was being positively merciful by not cooking her on the spot for the affront of attempting to exorcise him three times.

  "Duke Haborym, I accept your terms," said Sam. "On the condition that you cause Lisa no harm should she reject your affection."

  "A condition? Very well, I accept. I knew you would be reasonable. You are, after all, a Fontaine. Your family has always been so quick-witted. Farewell, Samantha. Keep Lisa safe.

  "As shall I."

  Sam wasn’t sure what to make of the mention of her family name. Was the Duke taunting her? Or did some ancestor of hers have dealings with the demon? Bindings for Princes were rare, and Dukes above them rarer still. If anyone in her line were a sorcerer, she didn’t know it. She certainly hadn’t benefited from any ancestral sorcery.

  Lisa's eyes closed. The temperature of the room dropped a bit. Though still warm, it was now comfortable against the cold night. Lisa's skin returned to normal. The horns receded, and she slumped in the chair. Gradually her eyes fluttered open.

  "What? Did it work? Miss Samantha, was I possessed?"

  "Well," said Sam. "Yes. This was a different spirit this time, and I have exorcised it." Sam quickly pocketed the silver coin before Lisa could notice the price had not been paid.

  "Lisa, would like a job as a receptionist?"

  "I have a complicated situation right now. I need to find a place to stay."

  Sam interrupted her. "I think I have a solution for that too. See, I've recently come into possession of a dwelling on the outskirts of the city. In it is a young girl, recently orphaned, who needs looking after in the evening hours. So, in exchange for doing that and being a receptionist for me here at the office, I could offer you one silver per week. Would that be an acceptable salary?"

  "Why, I suppose yes. Yes, I'm not going back to my father's house. I want to attend school. I wish to study the sorcery of science, and I wish to contribute my knowledge to the world. This will be a good first step," said Lisa. "Ms. Fontaine, you have yourself a receptionist. I accept your offer."