the place of a sorcerer, a very powerful player indeed, and it was angry at the unequal exchange. A human for a sorcerer is not a fair swap. I had to take my time rescuing Martin and leaving the chicken in his place, which is an even more unequal exchange. When the dimension realises your father is gone it won’t be happy.”
I got a chill from the way he described hell as this living, breathing entity with conscious thought.
“So, how long were you actually over there, if time doesn’t move the same as it does here?”
“Months,” he answered. “It was tough, but I truly had a ball of a time.”
I raised an eyebrow at the strange little fellow. “I think your version of a good time is a lot different from mine.”
Edwards chuckled. “I’m half demon, dear, of course, it is. We demons delight in mayhem.”
My dad choked out a strangled cough, and I rushed to his side again. I tried not to let the tears flow when I asked, “Is he going to recover?”
A wary expression crossed Edwards’s features. “Nobody recovers fully from what he’s been through, but with my help, he can come close.”
He got to his feet, and I realised that his blue self was still naked. “Now, could you bring me my suitcase?”
His suitcase? Damn, it was still in Ethan’s car. “Um, I’ll go get it for you. Is there anything else you need?”
“Yes, a clean room with a bed for your father. I may have retrieved him, but he’s far from being out of the woods yet. I have medicines and ointments in my suitcase that will assist in his healing.”
At this, Finn, Ira, and Delilah walked into the kitchen. Seeing me standing there with a little naked, blue-skinned man at my side and my equally naked, completely burned father lying on the floor, Finn exclaimed, “For the love of God! What’s happened?”
He had his hand half-covering his eyes, like he didn’t want to look, but was morbidly intrigued all the same.
Edwards stepped forward with a smile, entirely unashamed of his naked form. “E.J. Edwards, at your service. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Finn stared at him, bug-eyed. “Uh, the pleasure’s all mine?” It came out sounding like a question. Ira and Delilah grinned at Finn’s startled expression. Unlike Finn, they’d clearly encountered their share of demons in the past.
Delilah left to retrieve Edwards’s suitcase from Ethan’s car, and I escorted the little demon up to my room, while Finn and Ira carried my dad to the bed as carefully as they could manage. We didn’t bother putting any clothes on him because it would only irritate the blisters. Instead, I found a soft cotton sheet and laid it over him.
Emotion caught in my throat again as I studied how badly he was burned.
Delilah walked into the room then, carrying Edwards’s suitcase. Miraculously, he still had his leather satchel intact. Remembering how he said sugars aided him in his change from human to demon and vice versa, I ran downstairs and grabbed him a Coke from the fridge. He smiled at me gratefully as I handed it to him, then he swallowed it down in a few quick gulps. He gathered some clothes as his body changed, his blue skin turning back to its human shade and his tuft of grey hair returning.
He dressed quickly and efficiently, and I was surprised at how able-bodied he was, given his age and the fact that he’d just spent the equivalent of months in a hell dimension.
Next, he pulled several corked glass bottles from his suitcase, all containing blue and green coloured mystery concoctions.
He glanced at me. “Before I begin, could you please return my token?”
“Oh, yes, of course,” I replied, pulling out the small coin and placing it in his outstretched hand.
He squeezed his eyes shut and beamed in delight as he clutched the coin, doing a little sway of happiness. I had to admit, it was extremely cute.
“It’s so good to have my token back,” he sighed and slipped it inside his pocket for safekeeping.
He pulled the sheet from my dad’s body and popped open one of the bottles before pouring what looked like green paint over his skin. He rolled up his sleeves and began rubbing it in.
You know your life has taken a turn for the surreal when you find yourself standing in a room while a half-demon massages your father with green paint. However, there was no doubt this wasn’t paint. It solidified