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“They would like assurances that a modicum of safety will be promised,” I add.
“You wish to tame our streets,” Nickodemus sneers. “Do humans not have enough of the world to themselves? Why do they need our few blocks?”
“They would say that the demons who live here have stolen the land, and they are willing to concede it if you make a small part more hospitable,” Darius murmurs.
That’s a nicer way than I would have put it, which is why he lasted so long as a court guard.
Nickodemus chortles. “One could say this land was already stolen. It is a matter of one pirate taking another pirate’s treasure, with no regard for the lawful owners.”
“They are willing to destroy the Bone Yard,” I say bluntly.
“Ah, yes.” His long legs drop to the earth, and he leans forward, his yellow eyes gleaming. “Nowthisis more like it. You should have simply started with the threat.”
I slip my hands into my pockets. “It is not the path we wish to take.”
"I seem to remember the pair of you quite enjoyed destroying towns back in the day." His face splits in half with a sharp-toothed grin. "I quite enjoyed those times, too. So much terror. We hardly needed to leave our kingdom to hunt with all the fear in the air."
“Is that your answer?” I demand. “You’d rather see this sanctuary burned to the ground than make some concessions?”
“And there you reveal your hand.Sanctuary.” Derision fills his voice. “This is squalor, Lady Merripen. Do not paint this place with your hopes of a future. If you do not destroy us, we will do so ourselves soon enough.”
Darius nods. “Without some form of rule in place, demons will eat each other until there is nothing left.
“Just so.” Nickodemus clicks his sharp claws together. "There is a hierarchy within the demon plane, rules and regulations that stop us from destroying each other, unless we want to pay the consequences. But no such thing exists here."
“This is the first step of negotiations.” Darius clasps his hands behind his back, reverting to the old habits of a court guard. “This is not just about keeping humans safe within the Bone Yard. We would want to keep the demons safe from humans as well.”
“You would bring in the CURSD to keep us safe?” Nickodemus asks, a bit too quickly.
My lips twitch before I force my face back to a passive mask. When I joked that the JTFPI should change the department name to Cops United for Restricting Supernaturals Department, I never thought the demons would latch onto it.
CURSD really does sound more threatening, though, as far as acronyms go.
Darius’s head tilts to the side a fraction. “If the Joint Task Force of Paranormal Investigations is what’s needed to make this happen without bloodshed, then it will be done.”
“What of the fire users?” the mouth in his stomach hisses.
Nickodemus’s eyes jump between us. “Yes, will you also be joining the CURSD in protecting us? And the soul man? It is not enough that those who protect the Bone Yard are immune to magic. Not all who live here rely on such things to attack.”
Darius dips his chin. “We are working with the JTFPI.”
Nickodemus shifts restlessly. “A counsel is required, and an accord must be made with your captain of the CURSD and the Cleaners. Only then can we negotiate.”
Caution tickles at the back of my mind. He's far too eager to bring law to this quarter, where previously such measures were ruthlessly dealt a killing blow.
I study his face before I glance back at the mounds of dirt that pepper the floor. “Where are all your children, Terror from Beneath?”
His yellow gaze flicks to me before he rises from his throne to tower over us. “Promises to keep us safe mean nothing. A show of faith is required.”
Darius and I step to the side as Nickodemus strides forward and kneels next to one of the mounds.
With clawed hands, he digs through the soft dirt, flinging it to the sides, until a dark hole appears, sloping away from The Cellar.
He sits back on his heels and looks at us. “My children laid down to slumber, and one by one, they never woke. Only one remains.”
The silence around us takes on a different tone, a deafening absence where there should be life.
Is every mound empty like this one? How did it go this far? Why didn’t Nickodemus seek help before now? Was he merely biding his time, waiting for the right opportunity to come, so that he wouldn’t approach us as a beggar and look weak in front of his kingdom of one?
