Page 23 of Hexes From Exes

“I have a few more guys lined up…I feel bad dragging you to all these dates. I’m sure you have better things to do, other revenges to serve,” she added.

Rick shrugged. “Not really, the business has been slow lately.” He fumbled with the edge of the can, finding his next words spilling out quickly. “What do you know about the Museum of Antiquities?” he asked.

Stephanie paused, blinking at him a few times. “The what?” she asked. She was trying to piece together how they got to this line of questioning and was coming up short.

“It’s a museum in downtown Phoenix. It was a few blocks away from where we were the other night. I…” he sighed, considering if he should tell her. What was the harm? She was a human. She’d never go to Anathamea, and she’d never meet Cass. He couldn’t talk to Zed about what he’d seen, and he’d been trying to get ahold of Cass, but she was ignoring him or blowing him off. He knew that asking her out to dinner was a bad idea. It destroyed whatever progress they’d been making.

“I saw my ex walking out of it,” he added.

“Your ex?” Stephanie said, her eyebrows raising. “I’m going to need a glass of wine for this.” She turned to grab a bottle from on top of her fridge and poured herself a glass, sitting next to Rick at the kitchen bar. He shifted his weight uncomfortably.

“I thought you couldn’t date humans,” she asked.

“She’s a demon. She works for the Department of Magical Investigations. We broke up a while ago…anyway, there’s no reason for her to be here. In fact, I don’t think she has clearance.” The words were spilling out now, comforted by the fact that it was unlikely anyone would know he’d said them. It was only a matter of time before Stephanie stumbled upon one of the right exes, and he had no excuse to visit her. She was a good listener, so he’d take advantage of it while he could.

“Clearance?” Stephanie echoed.

“Yeah…to come to the human realm you need clearance. There’re only so many approved platforms to get here, and since it takes a bit of magic, they try to ration it for business only. I saw her leaving the museum, and when I tried to follow her, she disappeared. Portaled away. I was right behind her, but when I got to Anathamea, she wasn’t there. That means she used an illegal portal, which means she came here for something she doesn’t want the council to know about.”

“Or,” Stephanie countered, “she’s on a secret mission for the council, and they want her to use discretion. They may not want everyone else to know she’s coming and going.”

Rick had never considered this, his mind immediately jumping to a conclusion that put Cass in the wrong. It wasn’t the first time. He had a sudden memory of Cass yelling at him for always seeing the worst in her, for always anticipating the worst in a situation. It was hard being a revenge demon, you were always exposed to how awful the world could truly be.

“Do you trust the council?” Stephanie asked.

“Of course, I do,” Rick said, taken aback. “They’ve been in charge for centuries, and they’ve kept us all safe and thriving,” he added, though the words felt dead on his tongue.

In his short life, he’d seen the rapid changes in magic and allocations, how the quality of life for the average demon was slowly being squeezed away. It was hard to come to the human realm and sit across from Stephanie and drink her delicious seltzer and follow her on dates to restaurants knowing that Anathamea had no such luxury. Would there even be demons in Anathamea in just a few decades time?

“Do you trust your ex?” she asked.

Rick hesitated, fumbling with the seltzer can again. “I don’t know. I mean, I do…but something happened back when we were dating that I can’t shake. See, she was part of research, and she loved it. She was looking into ancient demon texts, and suddenly she got this huge promotion to Magical Investigations. But…she wasn’t happy about it. In fact, she was furious. Every time she got a promotion within the department, it just made her madder, not happier.”

“What were these promotions?” Stephanie asked.

“Oh, just making it so she didn’t have to travel as much. It’s hard on a relationship when one of you is always portaling away. She would come with me sometimes on my trips here to do her own business, but sometimes we wouldn’t see each other for weeks. So her promotion meant she spent more time in Anathamea and didn’t have to come here as often. We saw way more of each other.”

“Did she ask for less travel, or to be considered for a promotion?” she asked skeptically.

“Well, no. She didn’t really ask, but who likes to travel that much? And who wouldn’t want a promotion?” Rick explained, though it sounded hollow.

“I see,” Stephanie said, though her tone showed she very much did not see.

“I guess it comes down to this,” Stephanie said. “Do you trust your ex, or do you trust your council? And once you answer that question, you’ll know what to do. Maybe you should check out this museum yourself, see what it’s about? Here.” She stood and crossed the area to a desk that sat against the far wall, grabbing a laptop and bringing it over to them. She opened the internet browser and began to type.

“Your computer is so fast,” Rick marveled.

Stephanie paused, eyeing him. “Do you use computers in Anathamea?” she asked.

Rick nodded. “Of course. We have our own network, but we also use a VPN to access the human realm. We have a deal with a tech company founder from a few years ago that really improved our ability to do business.”

“Hmm,” Stephanie said, pulling up the website of the museum. “Looks like it’s what you’d expect. A mostly academic museum where a lot of research takes place. Mostly ancient texts, though there’s some cool exhibits and stuff. Ooh, looks like they have something going on Monday with a new exhibit!” She continued to scroll, fascinated at what was offered.

“You said ancient texts?” Rick asked, leaning closer to look at the computer screen.

“Yeah,” Stephanie said, scrolling back up. “Looks like they have a whole library for research. You need special permission to see the archives, but they have some stuff on display. Damn, it’s extensive.”

“Cass was doing research on old texts when she was promoted,” Rick said.