shoulders. The Reapers are the only ones who can stop the apocalypse, but they need help. Do this, and your debt will be canceled.”
“By helping humanity?” He smirked. “Hell, I might like the world after the Devil takes over.”
There was another reason why Shepherd had to be at the human festival. Prudence and Shepherd had to meet. Once they did, my work was done. Love and attraction always did the rest.
“Don’t you have some family left? What was the name of the town?” His eyes narrowed. “You have a sister, right? Or was it a brother? The world the Devil creates won’t be a happy place for humans.”
“Are you threatening my master?” Wallis said bravely.
“No. I’m here to warn him about what’s coming and get his help.”
I tossed a portal chip on the pool table, and a gremlin snatched it up.
“I haven’t seen one of these in years,” the creature beamed, yellow teeth peeking from beneath his thin veiny lips.
“Can you take us to visit?” another asked.
“Drop it,” Shepherd said. The putrid thing listened, and the device clunked to the table.
“If you want to help, come to the City of the Dead tomorrow night.” I lifted my long skirt. “An ugly, dangerous tradition is scheduled. Grim and his Reapers will be there to stop it from happening.”
“Why are you telling me?” Shepherd asked. His furrowed gaze went to the portal chip as his jaw tightened.
“Think of it as a wonderful way to help the world out while getting rid of that pesky debt,” I said and departed.
Images of his encounter with Prudence entered my mind, letting me know he’d go. Matchmaking was tedious but very rewarding.
One
Shepherd
The night of the human festival
Shuffling the deck of cards, I watched Wallis tiptoe over to his stuffed animal. The gremlin looked left and then right before glancing at me. Quickly, I dropped my head and focused on the cards, but I could still see him out of the corner of my eye. When he thought I wasn’t paying attention, he shoved down the pants I made him wear and plunged his pencil dick into the worn hole within the doll.
“Wallis,” I said calmly. “If you’re going to fuck your doll, don’t do it in the living room.”
The twelve-inch green demon pulled up his pants and lowered his gaze. “I’m sorry, Sire.”
Sire.
I winced. I’d never get used to the title. Apparently, it was common for gremlins to find a master to boss them around. Considering I spent the first two decades of my life believing I was nothing more than human, I couldn’t get used to the custom.
“Wallis.” I warned.
“I mean, Boss. Sorry.”
No, he wasn’t. I hated being called boss just as much.
“You are our sire. Why would we call you anything else?” Dirk, the grumpiest of the three gremlins, asked. He refused to call me anything other than sire.
“Don’t you three get tired of following me around?” I griped.
It was a game we had played for decades. I’d tell them to stop trailing behind me, but they wouldn’t listen. When they first entered my life, I meant what I said. Over the years, however, the ugly creatures grew on me, and the words were empty.
“Because of your human ways?” Marty, the biggest prankster of the three, asked.
I sighed, not bothering to answer.
“You need to let go of this world,” Dirk muttered and crossed his arms.
The gremlins longed to live in their Underworld, but because they wouldn’t leave my side, they were stuck in the human world.
“You don’t belong here,” Dirk added.
“I can’t stand demons.” I tossed the cards on the coffee table, and they scattered. “I like peace. You know that.”
“Here we go again.” Dirk exhaled. “You are a demon.”
I know.
If I’d been human, I would have died a long time ago—sixty years to be exact. That hadn’t been my fate. Instead, I was alive and sire to three ugly creatures.
What would you think of your brother now, Tiffany?
Not that her opinion mattered. My sister believed I died in a motorcycle wreck. Since then, she’d aged, married, had kids, and grandkids while I remained unchanged—just a gruesome specter feeding on souls to survive. The same brother who visited her from the shadows and made sure she was doing all right. Although she no longer needed me, I didn’t stop needing her. She was all I had left tethering me to humanity, but three gremlins constantly reminded me I wasn’t human.
“I might devour souls, but I’m not like those in the Underworld,” I blurted out.