“Don’t,” Trisk warned, but it was too late, and the demon beamed a great smile.
“She told you to be quiet,” Quen warned, coming close to enforce his demand, and Daniel stood. That is, until Quen put a hand on his shoulder and shoved him back down again.
“No middle name, Dr. Daniel Plank?” the demon crooned, and Daniel’s gaze dropped to the tiny bells chiming softly, sewn into the hem of his open, baggy vest. “Well, since you freely give me yours, I invite you to call me Gally,” the demon said. “Though that’s not my name. Call my real name, and I’ll come kill you. Then kill everyone with you. Understand?”
Daniel nodded vigorously and Gally laughed. “I like you, Dr. Daniel Plank,” he said, sitting down on a marvelously carved one-legged stool that materialized under him as he sat. “And just so you know, that’s not a good thing.”
Head cocked, Gally turned to Trisk. “And what will you give me for such a curse?” he said, eyeing her from over his blue-tinted glasses. “Your soul?”
Trisk waved Quen to silence. “A memory curse isn’t worth that much.”
“It is if you want it bad enough.” Gally sighed dramatically. “If I don’t give it to you, Dr. Daniel Plank dies, yes? And you will have to kill him yourself. Nasty work that. Killing someone you respect. Someone you would die for.”
Pale, Trisk took a tiny step forward. “Showing me how to work the forget curse will make me a more valuable familiar. That should be worth something.”
“A ghost’s fart, maybe,” Gally said, seemingly disappointed she’d suggested it. “I’m not in the habit of giving away anything, but we haven’t known each other long. Still on our honeymoon, so to say.” Gally made a show of thinking it over, but Daniel knew the demon was more interested in watching Quen fidget than arriving at a price.
“How is your plot against Trenton Lee Kalamack going?” the demon said, the tiny bells on his hem ringing. “Badly? Is that why your . . . friend is here, your plans being overheard by clever, sneaky humans? I can get your name on your research, guaranteed. You should kill Dr. Daniel Plank and skip right to the good stuff of ensuring your species remains extant.”
“Banish him,” Quen said, clearly upset. “He’s wasting our time.”
“Hold up,” Daniel said, trying to stand again, only to be shoved back down.
“I’m not killing Daniel,” Trisk said, flushed. “And besides, if Daniel goes missing, Kal will know something is wrong.”
“None of this matters if you agree to take my counsel,” Gally said, posing dramatically. “Even your elven enclave is reluctant to allow a woman to succeed where a man has failed. Deplorable, really. Our only female demon is insane, but we still respect her.”
Enclave, Daniel thought, rolling the word around in his mind. Trisk had used it, too. They were organized. And going extinct? he mused.
“Such a noble task you have before you,” Gally continued, the lilt of his voice making it sound like a petty goal. “Let me help. Take a roll with Trenton Lee Kalamack. He’s young. He’ll go blind to everything if you involve his genitalia. No-o-o-o-o?” Gally drawled, and she turned her back on him. “Can’t blame me for trying. Ta!”
“Wait!” Trisk blurted, and Gally’s smile widened to make Daniel shudder as the demon confidently took an engraved box from the folds of his clothes. Opening it, he sniffed a pinch of something white, shuddering in what looked like pleasure before offering it to Quen, then Daniel. “All I want is a forget curse,” Trisk said, flushed.
“My idea is better,” the demon said. “Faster,” he added, looking over his blue glasses at Daniel. “Fool-l-l-l-l-proof,” he drawled.
“Forget spell only,” Trisk said, breathless.
“It’s a curse, not a spell,” Gally said softly, and Daniel stifled a shiver at the heavy promise in the demon’s voice. “And you will be the one carrying the smut for it, not me. And that’s even providing we can come to some understanding.”
Trisk straightened her shoulders. “Well?”
“This is going nowhere. Banish him,” Quen demanded, and Gally stood, the stool vanishing as the bells on his hem chimed a warning.
“She won’t banish me,” Gally said, his goat-slitted red eyes glinting in anticipation. “She’s going to give me everything I want. And it won’t be long till she comes back for more.”
Trisk stared at him, her pulse visibly pounding at her neck. “I want a fair price, or I’ll send you away. Right now.”
For three heartbeats, Gally seemed to weigh her need against her shaky confidence. “I give you a forget curse.” He held up a finger. “If only to keep this little triangle of lies and anguish going,” he added, and Trisk’s brow furrowed. “But in return, I want a taste of the source of your power. Your donor virus.”
“So you can sell it to Kal?” Quen said. “No.”