Sympathy for the Demons (Promised to the Demons #1) - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,76
easier to sneak into?" Gillian asked.
"I suspect none of them will be easy for me to sneak into..."
"I could sneak in," Jameson said. "If you just give me hands. I am an actor, after all."
"Jameson. Maybe it is your lucky day, after all. I am feeling benevolent." I held out my hands and reached within my stored power, from all the souls I had devoured, to give him the hands he had long wished for.
The spell jolted him and caused a little cloud of magical smoke. Jameson lifted his wings. "You know...I did not mean hands on the ends of my wings. I meant hands and an entire body to match the hands."
"How about the body of a centaur?"
"No."
"Oh, I think that would be nice," Gillian said.
Jameson paused. “No—no—how would I get in the library as a centaur?"
"Because you are doing me a favor." I snapped my wrist and gave Jameson a human form. "You can get some clothes from the corpse."
Jameson looked at his hands and arms and legs. "You really did it. I'll be damned."
Gillian looked at his naked groin, not that it was impressive, and nibbled on her fingernail. "D'you know how to walk with those long legs?"
"I'm sure it can't be that..." Jameson lost his balance even as he was trying to claim otherwise. Gillian started disrobing a corpse for him.
I certainly understood why my father told me to kill and torture the servants regularly.
Well, they might not have been particularly talented, but at least they were loyal. We had a long journey ahead to get to the library, as it was in the capital city, and it always takes days to get to a capital city from the country, no matter much you will it to be otherwise. I didn't have time for anymore trouble, so I moved off the road when we passed other travelers, and we didn't stay at any inns. This meant chilly nights huddled in caves and empty barns, and meager rations since I was still unable to hunt for my meals. The servants developed chilblains and I could tell Jameson missed his wings. A couple of times he did an odd jump like he was trying to take off and then pretended it hadn't happened.
All the misery of this travel, oddly enough, left me the opposite of miserable. I could taste purpose, like the way the wind grew fresher when the seasons changed. I had not traveled very far in many years, since I had long ago tired of attending house parties.
As we entered the bustling capital of Etherium, I stole a fine cloak from a clothes line to hide my form, but my horns still poked up the hood and one look at my red eyes sent the natives running. It was hard to stay unnoticed here, as every street was crowded with people but they were also very wide streets with elegant white buildings made of marble, pale stone and wood painted in cheerful colors. My dark aspect stood out no matter where I turned.
"I'm afraid trouble will find us pretty soon," Jameson said. "I think I should go it alone from here."
"I don't like that we would be so far apart. If you have any questions about the research it will take you hours to return to me for my advice."
"I doubt I'll need any advice. I'm sure a library can't be too hard to use."
"You've never been in a library? I thought you went to university."
"Oh, just for acting," Jameson said. "I'm afraid I didn't learn anything else."
"That sounds very shoddy. I should have known..."
"And what am I supposed to have learned? I grew up in a tree. I was only literate due to the kindness of a bored local orc-wife.”
"Very bored indeed. I can't imagine you had anything to offer in exchange."
"I mean..." Jameson made a little shrug that suggested more than I cared to know. "She was really, a very fetching orc, and her husband was always out."
"I did not ask for any details about your actor whore life. Just...go to the library and stay very focused. We need to know what binds familiars to wizards and absolutely nothing else. Return to me as soon as the library closes or by nightfall, whichever comes first."
"Aye aye, captain." Jameson tried to take off again and tripped, barely saving himself from more scuffing of his Ethereal guard uniform. Gillian giggled and waved at him.
"I am starting to think you two deserve each other," I muttered.