SICARIOS

SIMON

Simon Lancaster was a sibriex, a type of demon. Well, technically, anyway. The fact that his skills with the toy maker were essentially nonexistent made it difficult to advance in the flesh-warpers. He got some nice horns and a decent job for his membership, but very little else.

His twin sister, Seena, sat next to him, fidgeting in her seat. She had a black skin cosmo—completely black, like a pool of ink. Combined with her naturally black hair, she would have been nearly invisible in the dark. Thankfully the auditorium where they were having class was well-lit, at least for the moment.

By comparison, Simon was... gaudy. Yes, that was a neutral term. He had mottled purple skin and green hair. Both very strange colors for most demons, but as a sibriex, it was downright bland. Nine Hells, his horns weren't even a weird shape, just sharp little nubs sprouting out of his forehead.

Seena kept adjusting the daygoggles covering her eyes nervously, so Simon elbowed her gently in the gut. “Stop fidgeting,” he whispered.

“I can't help it,” she whispered back. “They itch.”

Simon sighed and gave up. She was always like this. When they were younger, she had been forced to get a pretty pricey buff to remove her acne, since she would not stop scratching, to the point that her face had been covered in scars.

It was nine in the morning, the first Monday of the school year. Normally, it would be a fun environment, as people were still enjoying meeting new people and seeing old friends.

But instead, the mood was tense and hushed. The lecture hall was divided into clumps of students, seated as close to their friends and as far from strangers as possible. Even the maintenance man installing speakers in the corner seemed subdued. Everyone was whispering, glancing around as if there was a bomb threat hanging over their heads.

There had been a screamer attack on Saturday.

Details were sparse, but there were nearly two hundred causalities. Worse yet, it had happened just outside the Springfield Wall. If the Paladins hadn't gotten there in time, everyone in the school could have been killed.

But then, the Paladins had come. A small group had managed to annihilate an entire horde. There were worse things coming, everyone knew that. But at least they had some sort of defense. Simon didn't know about everyone else, but it definitely made him feel better.

“This seat taken?”

Simon glanced up to see Derek grinning at him, hand on the seat next to him.

He blinked. “Derek?” Simon grinned. “You're still alive? I thought some gargant would have eaten you by now.” He waved his hand at the seat. “It's free, go right ahead.”

Derek put his bag under the seat and sat down, Akane sliding into place next to him. “Where's David?”

“Dead,” Simon said, glancing at Seena. She was wide-eyed and a little pale in the face, but that wasn't surprising when Derek was around. “Shootout with some vampires. Not sure what he did to piss them off.”

Derek winced. “Ooh. Tough luck.”

“Don't you guys have a job or something at night?” Simon asked.

Simon saw something in Derek's eyes, a brief look of worry and guilt. It surprised him, but before he could figure out what it was, it had disappeared again. “Oh, right, the monster slaying. Thought you meant something else.” Derek shrugged. “We decided to try and get some sane hours. Wake up at normal times, do work between classes.”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Simon grinned. “No more midnight strolls through Dying Jade territory, huh, Akane?” He patted her on the knee.

Suddenly she had his hand in an iron grip, with a knife poised to strike. He hadn't even seen her move.

“Sorry,” she whispered after a moment. She let him go, blushing.

Simon frowned as he rubbed his hand. Was she still like that around him? He thought she had gotten over that when she rescued him from the Queen of Dying Jade's hounds.

It was probably the touch that did it. It must have reminded her of their disastrous date. Simon could understand why that, at least, would make her... twitchy around him.

Derek coughed lightly. “So, ah, Seena... when did you get the nighteyes?”

She blushed, but when she spoke her voice was strong. “A few days ago. I joined the Mals. Was recruited by Abigor himself, actually.”

Akane frowned. “Baal's general?”

Seena shook her head. “Not anymore. A Night-caste angel assassinated Baal about a week ago. Now Abigor, Bileth, and Zepar are in charge.”

“I'm going to be honest, those names mean little to me,” Derek said. “But I met Baal once. He was...” He searched for the right words. “Not charismatic. Present.”

Simon nodded. That was a good way to describe the Duke of Maladomini. Simon had met him three years ago, but he still remembered the crushing weight of his presence. It had been like an ant before an elephant. Simon had assumed he hadn't noticed him, but apparently, he had made an impression, since one of the first things his generals did once he died was send an invitation to both himself and his sister to join. Obviously, Simon had declined.

“It's always been a relatively small subculture,” Derek said. “You think it can survive without the founder?”

Seena shrugged. “That's why they recruited people like me. They need fresh blood. Anyone, young, strong, and willing to learn will do.”

“First assignment?” Akane asked, just above a whisper.

“It's not like that,” Seena said. “I'm teaching the kids, not running around killing people.” She rolled her eyes—Simon could tell even with the goggles. “I've done plenty of missions over the years, but none of them count as far as they're concerned.”

“Well,” Simon said. “You have to admit they're pretty different skillsets...”

“Find the target, remove it. What's the difference?”

“There's are a number of important difference between slaying a dangerous monster and assassinating an individual,” Derek said. There was a fire in his eyes Simon didn't want to test. “I hope you understand that.”

Seena looked like she had been slapped. “I... yes. Of course.”

Derek pulled his laptop out from his bag, still beneath his feet. “And I hope you understand the implications of a subculture founded by the Lord of Murder.”

Seena swallowed. “Ah... I know what Mals do...”

“Then hopefully Baal's generals will be as wise in choosing their targets as he was,” Derek said in a tone of finality. He turned his attention to the laptop. The conversation was clearly over.

However, Seena looked like she wanted to cry. Simon had never been good at consoling her, but luckily Akane's antipathy to him didn't extend to his sister. She jumped over the seats to the row behind them, walked over to Seena, slipped into the seat next to her, and started whispering something Simon couldn't hear.

He turned to ask what Derek thought about all this—he wasn't the type to intentionally hurt anyone's feelings—but was shocked to silence.

Derek was on Fundie, browsing the internet. Nothing strange about that. However, of the dozen or so windows and tabs he had open, every single one of them related directly to the three Mal generals. For a normal person, there wouldn't be anything odd about that, either. You hear your friend has joined a culture, you want to learn more about it.

But Simon knew for a fact that this was how Derek researched his targets when he got a new monster job.

Simon found himself desperately hoping that the warlords of Maladomini knew what they were doing.