As far as Aylin was concerned, the night was going great. They’d only had to kill one demon so far. That one death had been enough to keep the rest of the streetlords that had shown up in line.
There was a slight chance that one death was only so effective because of the enormous flower that Moxie had grown from the streetlord’s corpse. It swayed beside Aylin, more than a foot taller than him, with bright yellow petals as wide as his head.
It smelled incredible. Rich, sweet, vibrant — and deeply unsettling. There was something wrong about such a tantalizing aroma rising from a flower that had been a demon just a short time ago.
No matter how unsettling the flower was, there was no denying that it had done its job. The streetlord in question had attempted to cut Aylin’s throat mid conversation. Violet and Vrith had killed him before Aylin even had a chance to do anything.
That was enough to give all the other streetlords at least a few seconds of pause. But when Moxie had stepped out from her tent, wordlessly transformed the man into a giant piece of flora, and then headed off without another word, she’d taken that moment of fear and dragged it out indefinitely.
Aylin himself couldn’t keep from throwing glances in the flower’s direction. There was no more sign of the body that it had been made from, but splatters of blood still painted the ground around its base.
But even the threat of the flower couldn’t completely repress the streetlords forever. They’d survived this long on the streets, and they wouldn’t be cowed easily. After all, Spider wanted to control the gangs. Nobody could control something that was destroyed.
Violet still stood by his side, keeping anyone from getting too ambitious, but Vrith had receded to the shadows. That was where Aylin needed her, but he still missed her presence.
“What benefit do we get to falling under your banner?” Ovellum, a Rank 3 streetlord that led a gang called the Lichen, demanded. “Why does Spider even desire this? We have lived this long as we are. Keeping the sections of our territory separate has let us avoid serious conflict with each other. This threatens to ruin all of that.”
“That’s hardly true,” Aylin drawled. “Gangs fight all the time. The streets are paved with the corpses of demons that have died for worthless battles. This solves all of that. Anyone that obeys Spider lives. Anyone who disobeys him dies. The survival rate of anyone with half a brain will grow significantly. You, on the other hand, may face some difficulties.”
A few demons chuckled. There were few things demons appreciated more than a good fight, be it verbal or physical. Ovellum’s light-pink features tightened in displeasure, but he didn’t let his anger get the best of him.
“And what stops this Spider from sending us all to our deaths? If I wanted to enter the upper echelons of the city, I would have joined with one of the Houses that rule it. Why would I swear fealty to some uppity noble?” Ovellum crossed his two sets of arms in front of his chest and arched a bushy eyebrow. “He needs us, not other way around. Nobody would go through all this effort if we didn’t have something he wants. You can’t cow us into submitting when we’re the ones with the bargaining power.”
“You’re sorely mistaken if you think Spider will give you anything but your life,” Aylin said. “The only reason you still live and haven’t joined our late friend as a part of the landscape is because you aren’t worth Spider’s time yet. The Ravagers have already fallen under his banner. Rekeba tried her hand and was left shattered at my feet. What makes you think that you would be any different?”
“It’s not just me.” Ovellum jerked a thumb toward all the other streetlords gathered in the market square. Ten different streetlords had all arrived to discover just how powerful Aylin was and see if they could get a glimpse of the infamous Spider. Nine remained, though Aylin strongly suspected he’d be down to eight by the time he convinced the others to bend knee.
“Ah, yes,” Aylin said dryly. “I’m certain that the demons you were doing your best to kill a few days ago will be thrilled to lay down their lives so you can feel like a big strong demon for an extra few minutes before Spider rips your head off and feeds it to your second.”
The streetlords exchanged glances and the tension in the air rose. Violet took a step forward, her eyes welcoming anyone to try their hand challenging her. None of them knew the full extent of her strength yet, but after what had happened to the last streetlord, nobody was about to accept her challenge yet. They were all waiting for someone else to do it first.
Aylin’s claim hadn’t been wrong. Not a single one of the demons before him actually liked each other. They’d have been thrilled to rip each other’s throats out if the opportunity had presented itself.
Today, that wasn’t possible. Their conjoined front was the only thing that gave them any bargaining power and no streetlord was going to just surrender without a fight. Not to him, at least — but they weren’t stupid enough to completely ignore Spider after recent events.
They’d come to see just how far they could push. To see if Spider was as powerful as he claimed. It didn’t matter if they’d been enemies just hours ago. When it came to losing their power, all the streetlords were more than willing to put their differences aside.
Nothing so far has surprised me other than Moxie. It’s a good thing she’s also immune to my powers or I think I might have stolen some of her energy on accident. I don’t think Spider would have been happy with me if that had happened.
I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping myself from accidentally revealing my abilities during this meeting. So far, I’m still just the arrogant urchin that Spider turned into a streetlord. I’m sure they’ve all gotten rumors and updates from their scouts as to what happened to Rekeba, but demons are shit at believing anything they don’t see with their own eyes.
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That’s what happens when everyone around you only works out of fear and is always looking for a way to take your strength. You can’t trust your own subordinates.
That was the biggest difference between Aylin and every other streetlord around him. He didn’t have a sliver of doubt about Violet and Vrith’s allegiances. He had absolutely no desire to ever try his hand fighting Spider. He was content — and that meant he didn’t have to worry about clawing more strength from people or keeping a subordinate from sliding a claw through his back.
That obviously doesn’t stretch beyond my closest circle. Golon’s people would be thrilled to be rid of me, but they won’t matter once we finish up tonight. I’m just a small push away from bringing the rest of these idiots under Spider’s banner.
It won’t be long before they try something else. They won’t give in this easily. Given how much they’ve been standing around and wasting time talking, I imagine their next move should be to try and go after one of my perceived weaknesses.
A pit formed in Aylin’s stomach. Even though he was putting his full focus on remaining logical, he didn’t have Vrith around to consume his fear right now. He couldn’t keep the worry chewing at him completely repressed.
Almost as if on cue, a loud scream from the tent behind Aylin split the camp. It cut short abruptly. It took all of Aylin’s practice not to let the relief show in his posture. He kept his features impassive as he met the stares of the streetlords.
That was too deep to be Torick or Edda. They’re fine. I knew they’d try this.
“You don’t understand yet,” Aylin said with a sigh. “I don’t blame you. It’s in your nature. It’s in my nature. Seeking understanding is only natural. It’s the greatest purpose of life.”
“What are you on about?” Ovellum asked. “Blathering isn’t going to change our minds. I think it’s time to stop playing with you, boy. Bring Spider out. If he wants to rule over us, then he needs to—”
Aylin lifted a hand. Ovellum’s mouth snapped shut. Aylin smiled, and fury washed over the other demon’s face when he realized what he’d just done. His self-preservation had instinctively cut him off.
He nodded to the shadows over his shoulder. Vrith stepped out from within them. She held the head of a gray-haired demon clutched in one of her hands, their eyes wide open in horror. She tossed it to the ground and it rolled to a stop by Aylin’s feet.
“What are—” one of the other streetlords started.
“Be quiet,” Aylin said softly. “I’m speaking.”
The demon’s mouth snapped shut. Ovellum stared at the head, veins in his neck bulging as his jaw clenched. He recognized the demon. That certainly made things easier.
“What is this?” Ovellum demanded, spittle flying from his lips as he took a step forward. “You dare—”
“You sent someone to kill members of my gang,” Aylin said, anger entering his tone. “I allowed you free entry into my territory. I extracted no punishment for when one of your number attempted to slit my throat. And this is how you thank me? I should kill all of you on the spot.”
Violet tensed and lowered her stance, prepared to spring into motion the instant someone made an aggressive movement.
“Even if you were capable of that, you can’t hold us responsible for the members of other streetlords,” another demon protested. “That isn’t—”
“Are you not an alliance? Is that not what you came here claiming to be? I suggest you make up your mind.” Aylin rose to his feet and crossed his arms behind his back as he blew out a tired sigh. “You should thank me. I will help your decision.”
“This is rich,” Ovellum said through a bark of fury-infused laughter. He flexed the fingers on his many hands and cracked his neck. “Come on then, child. Tell us why we should scrape at your feet. Will Spider come save you?”
Idiotic demonic pride.
“You will thank me,” Aylin said, keeping his voice measured, “because I have chosen not to treat you as an alliance. I have chosen to treat you like deluded fools you are, but you will be blind no longer. I will forcibly show you the truth.”
“What are you on about?” Ovellum asked. “And best choose your next words carefully. We know what you are, urchin. Spider made you powerful, but not experienced. There are far more of us than you, and Spider clearly doesn’t care about any of this.”
“Lee,” Aylin asked, raising his voice slightly. “Are you back yet?”
The ground beside Aylin rippled and the short demon rose from a shadow to stand beside him, chewing on a long strip of jerky. She held a clenched fist out to him. “Yup! Here you go!”
Aylin extended his hand and Lee dropped a strip of patterned cloth into his hand. It was stained brown with blood, but the decoration on it was still just barely visible. Aylin turned back to the group of streetlords watching them and held the scrap up. Ovellum’s eyes focused on it, then widened slightly.
“For those of you unaware, this is a strip from Ovellum’s bedsheets,” Aylin said.
“What, you broke into my house?” Ovellum asked, but the confidence in his voice had faltered. He let out a derisive snort. “Why is that supposed to scare me? I wasn’t there.”
“Of course you weren’t. You’re here.” Aylin nodded along in agreement. “And now, the rest of your gang isn’t there either.”
Ovellum blinked. “What are you talking about?”
“They’re all dead, Ovellum.” Aylin’s quiet words cut through the market air like a knife. “Spider made it clear what would happen to those who opposed him. Every single member of the Lichen is dead.”
“Liar,” Ovellum roared. He lurched into motion. Violet stepped to meet him — and Lee blurred.
One instant she stood beside Aylin, and the next her hand was buried in Ovellum’s chest. She ripped it free, sending blood splattering across the ground as the demon’s wide eyes stared at her in shock.
The four-armed demon grasped at the hole in his chest. Then he fell to the ground with a splatter.
“You were correct. I was lying, and I find that slightly distasteful,” Aylin informed the corpse. “Now every member of the Lichen is dead. Thank you for the help, Lee.”
“No problem,” Lee said. “I left the head intact, by the way. In case you want to stick it on a spike.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Yup.” Lee raised a bloody hand in farewell and ambled away.
Aylin joined the other streetlords in watching her leave, then turned back to catch their eyes.
“I’ll ask you all again,” Aylin said. “Are you an alliance that will die together with Ovellum? Or are you individuals capable of making their own decisions? Do not make the mistake of believing Spider needs you. Spider extends his hand to any wise enough to take it, and his blade to those fool enough to reject it.”
There was a second of silence. Then a thud split the air as a streetlord dropped to one knee and bowed his head.
“I separate myself from the others and request to join the Web,” the streetlord said. “Thank you for your warning.”
Seven more demons kneeled in rapid succession, mirroring his words. Not a single one of them remained standing.
Aylin smiled.