“I hate snow.”

Jack Harper shivered despite the thick coat, hat, and gloves. He stared straight ahead as he walked along the sidewalk of a road lined with shops between abandoned buildings. He was only an hour into his shift on the west side of Chicago and was already wishing the day were over. Beside him, his partner on the job only had his coat on, reveling in the snow that lightly fell onto his face and outstretched hands.

“You act like a little cold is worse than eternal torment.”

“Maybe it is.”

“I doubt a twelve-hour shift in winter is worse than an eternity in a pit of fire or something.” Miles Fischer had his face toward the sky, squinting despite his glasses. He removed them and held them out in front of him, then put them back on. He gaped. “Check this out.” Taking the glasses off again and letting the snow fall on them, he showed them to Jack. “See the snow on these? How annoying would that be to see through, right? Watch.” He then put the glasses back on, and Jack watched as the flakes immediately evaporated, leaving the lenses perfectly clear. “Cool, right?”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “We’ve been doing this for years and you only just now realized you could do that?”

“Yeah. But it’s still not as cool as this.” Miles stopped and approached a car parked on the side of the road.

“Miles, don’t.”

“You should try it. Makes working in this cold way more fun.”

“You do this every day. Let’s go.”

“And it’s just as much fun every time.” Miles looked up and down the street, then put his finger in the inch of snow that covered the driver’s side window. The snow around his finger melted as he slowly traced the shape of a phallus. What remained in the middle of his drawing stuck to the window, completely untouched. Miles grinned and looked at Jack. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Jack rolled his eyes but could not stifle a chuckle. “It’s a work of art. Now let’s go.”

Beginning their walk again, Miles asked, “Have you found anyone yet?”

“No. The cold—and you—are distracting.”

“And this is why I have to entertain myself.” He stuck out his tongue and watched snowflakes evaporate before they could land on it.

Ignoring him and the wind that still nipped at him, Jack began scanning anyone in sight. Without distractions, their auras were clearly visible. Most of them didn’t stand out among the rest, just a simple, boring, faint light around them. Occasionally, some were a brighter white, signaling the ones to stay away from—a waste of time, let alone a recipe for trouble. Colored ones, though, were walking opportunities. And the brighter they were, the easier they could be taken.

They approached an intersection, stopping for the red light. Jack looked at the group of people that had collected just ahead of them. Even with cars passing in front of him, Jack could still study his potential targets.

A woman with a bright green tint, standing tall while clutching a purse that Jack felt was a bit risky to be carrying in such a neighborhood, would be easy to crack. The way she held her head high as if trying to make herself look and feel more elegant than the typical folk of that neighborhood matched well with what he normally saw with greenish auras. She was definitely an option, but they would need to get closer to tell for sure.

Another woman, much younger with head down and hands plunged into her pockets, had a strong blue haze completely enveloping her. He hated looking into those souls, full of depression and emotional agony. But he would never admit, even to Miles, that he did not revel in those feelings. He would avoid her.

A couple others were the generic white, and he ignored them. Their collective glow was broken by a brilliant red with an outline of blue that approached from behind. It was a man, also with his hands in his pockets, likely clenching them so tight that his knuckles matched the auras of the people in front of him. His radiance was so strong it overpowered the entire group. The green lady meant nothing now. He had his target.

“Miles, that guy in the black trench coat straight ahead. I need to see his eyes, but he might get nasty.”

“I got your back.”

The light turned green, the walk sign white, and Jack marched forward toward the group. He hoped the man would look up on his own, but instead he kept his glare on the back of the woman in front of him as if trying to burn holes into her. Jack walked straight toward the woman, who gave him a disgusted look before moving out of his way. The man glowing red with some kind of blue—what is that blue from?—did not see him coming and walked straight into Jack.

When their eyes met, the rage that typically came with red auras went right through Jack’s gaze and overwhelmed him as if he were drowning in every ounce of the man’s emotion. Jack did not share in the anger, but it was hot, boiling, though nothing he couldn’t handle. It froze him momentarily, as such connections often did, but he regained control and tried to read what was inside. The man’s thoughts raced lightning fast, and Jack snatched as much as he could.

“Fuck-pissed-seriously?-why?-ugh-hate-can’t.” The thoughts rode a wave of utter fury, mixed with something else that Jack didn’t have time to grasp.

The man broke the connection, pushing Jack backward into Miles. “Watch where you’re going, asshole!” he shouted before continuing. Miles led Jack across the rest of the road, and the entire connection with the aura vanished.

“He’s our guy,” he said to Miles when they reached the sidewalk again. “Easy work for you.”

Miles grinned and they turned and ran back across the street again, just barely missing the cars that now had their green light. Jack watched as Miles snuck up right behind the man, walking in step with him, far enough back to not be noticed, but close enough to do what he needed to.

Picking up speed to be right behind but to the side of Miles, Jack watched his colleague’s eyes staring into the back of the man’s head. Even though Miles kept his eyes connected, Jack knew he was very aware of his surroundings. He wished he knew what was transferring in that connection. He almost wished he could experience it himself one day, to be able to understand the full power of who he spent every day with. But considering the results he witnessed each time, he was also glad Miles could not use his power on him.

The target was becoming more agitated while he analyzed the buildings on either side of the street as if looking for something in particular. Miles only broke his connection when the man turned and entered a small jewelry store.

“Wow,” Jack said. “Jewelry is a pretty hardcore choice.”

“His choice, not mine. I didn’t do anything different. Kinda worried this might not go well.”

“Yeah. Maybe we should go in. Think you can calm him down?”

“How bright was his aura?”

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“Insane.”

Miles bit his lip. “We can’t fuck this one up then.”

They entered the shop. The man they had followed was shouting at three women to get behind the counter, all of them with their hands up and crying. At the sound of the bell above the door, he turned around and pointed the gun at Jack and Miles. Both gasped and put their hands up too.

“You’re the fucker that ran into me!” he said, the gun directed right at Jack. “Both of you, get back there too.”

The man stood back to let them pass, the gun never leaving their direction. Jack and Miles followed the directions to lay on the ground just outside a back room face down with hands on their heads. One of the saleswomen sat against a wall about ten feet from them while the other was forced to stand with hands still up, and a female customer cowered in a corner. The man went to the front door, locked it, and lowered the shade.

“Well, that escalated quickly,” Miles whispered. “Nice pick.”

“I didn’t know he had a gun.”

“If we survive this, how about next time we avoid someone completely unhinged.”

“What do you mean, ‘survive’? We’re already dead.”

“Do you know what happens to our bodies if we get shot?”

“No. What happens?”

“I don’t know and don’t want to find out the hard way.”

The man had returned. “Shut up!” he shouted at them. He then turned to the still-standing saleswoman. “Put everything in a bag. All of it.”

The woman attempted to open the case that was the sales counter with a key, but her hands trembled so much she dropped it. She trembled and cried harder each time he shouted at her to hurry. Finally she was able to get it open and began grabbing the jewelry and putting it in a plastic bag.

“I know there’s witnesses,” Miles whispered, “but maybe we need to just get this over with now. Just dive in.”

“Just dive in? Easy for you to say. Besides, we can’t yet.”

“Why not?”

“There’s something else about his aura. I’m worried he’s not quite ready yet.”

“Then figure it out.”

“Shut up!” the man shouted even louder, pointing the gun at them again before turning back to the saleswoman. “Now I want all your cash. Every bit of it.”

“I—I don’t have access to the safe. I can give you what’s in the register, but—”

“Don’t lie to me! You’ll give me all of it or die.”

“I swear, only my manager can and he’s not—”

The gun went off and the woman fell to the floor in a heap, blood pooling around her head. The other women screamed and Jack and Miles gaped.

“Think he’s ready now?” Miles asked as softly as possible.

“That might have been a bit much. He’s probably going to hell on his own now.”

“Probably? Just—”

The gun went off again, this time the bullet entering the wall just over Miles’s head. “I said shut the fuck up or you die too.” He forced the second saleswoman to stand and open the register.

While the woman fumbled with it as she sobbed, Jack took a deep breath and opened himself up to the auras of everyone. Both of the remaining women were a bright purple, but more noticeably, the man’s previously radiant red was getting muddled by the blue that had simply been an outline before. Jack turned his head slightly to Miles and mouthed the words “We need to take him now.”

“What’s your plan?” Miles mouthed back.

The man was shouting at the saleswoman to open the safe. She cried harder, trying to explain that she couldn’t. Quickly, Jack whispered, “Make him go to the other chick. His back will be turned.”

Miles’s expression told Jack he was unsure it would work, but he locked his eyes on the side of the man’s head anyway. Almost instantly, the robber froze, analyzing the woman before turning to the customer in the corner. “Maybe watching a customer die would change your mind about that safe.”

Jack’s eyes went wide. The customer’s aura flashed brighter purple with a waves of blue, quite cosmic and intense. She looked at Jack and a connection he did not expect occurred and the thoughts flashed blazing fast.

“Why-no-please-oh God-not them?-please them-not me-family-gone”

“Did you tell him to kill her?” Jack whispered to Miles.

“Not specifically, but if that gets the job done—”

“No! Make him stop.”

“Why?”

“Just fucking make him stop.”

Miles glared at the man again, who stopped and lowered his gun. Jack sighed. That was way too easy.

“You look a lot like my wife,” the man said softly to the woman. “She’s dying right now. Our insurance won’t cover her cancer treatment that would save her life.” The man’s aura was now blue, the red now only an outline. “I would do anything to save her life. Anything at all.” He raised the gun again. Miles’s connection had been too rushed and had failed.

Jack jumped to his feet and dove onto the man’s back, pulling him to the floor. As they wrestled, Jack heard Miles tell the women to run and heard footsteps indicating they had listened. Miles then stomped on the robber’s wrist, forcing him to release the gun. He kicked the gun away, and together he and Jack rolled the man onto his back and held him down.

Looking into the man’s eyes, Jack’s connection was full force. “No-no-no—” As the zooming thoughts transferred to Jack’s mind like a bullet train, he spoke.

“I’m really sorry about your wife,” Jack said, never leaving the surrounding blue aura. “And I’m sorry you won’t be seeing her ever again.” His right hand began to glow white with purple sparks. “You have to come with us now.”

Jack plunged his glowing hand into the man’s chest, up to his wrist. He wrapped his fingers around a sphere just slightly larger than a tennis ball, the chest holding it now glowing too. As Jack pulled at the sphere, the man began to scream. Miles pressed on the man’s throat just enough to stifle the screams but not enough to strangle him. With a final yank, the sphere came free from the invisible tendrils that had secured it within the body and the man instantly went limp. His aura vanished, the connection broke, and for a moment silence filled Jack’s mind. A silence so deep that it held him in a state of emptiness that Miles had to shake him out of.

Coming to, Jack pulled a velvet bag from his pocket and looked at the sphere in his hand. It still held a faint glow, just like his hand, but the sphere, which felt like a warm glass ball, had a marble appearance, like smoke was floating around inside it. Red and blue just like his aura was.

“Let’s go,” Miles said, and Jack put the ball into the bag, which he then put into his pocket. He stood, looking down at the man once more. He lay still, eyes open but void of any life, his body appearing completely untouched as if he had just collapsed and died of nothing. No blood, no bruising. Jack could not look away and he didn’t know why. There was no soul left there to remain connected to, and the velvet of the bag that now housed it kept its power contained and undetectable. But something kept him there, longer than the one or two seconds he usually stayed after such a task. Miles finally had to grab him by the arm and pull him to the back of the shop.

With the sounds of faint sirens approaching, Jack reached into his shirt and pulled out a tin pendant than hung from a chain around his neck. Miles stopped him.

“We can’t go yet.”

“We’ll be seen! We’ve already been seen.”

“We can’t go back with just one.”

“Trust me, this one is enough.”

“I’m not in the mood to get analyzed because we only brought back one, especially after all this crazy shit that just happened.”

Jack sighed. Getting analyzed was not on his list of fun experiences. “Fine. But we need to hide.”

He put the pendant back in his shirt and followed Miles out the back door. It led to an alley, which they ran through and between buildings until Miles finally stopped in a collection of snowy brush underneath the elevated train tracks. They collapsed in the snow and gasped for breath.

“What was with you back there?” Miles asked. “You were totally out of it.”

“I don’t know.”

“And since when do you save people’s lives? Must be that ‘nice guy’ quality that everyone in Paimon’s court has.” Miles laughed, but Jack scowled.

“No,” he said. “If he had killed her, it would have been too late. He’d already be destined for torment in Hell, and we both know that’s not the ideal soul to bring back.” But he knew Miles was right. The real reason was from what he’d seen and felt from his connection with her.

“Though that may be true, saving people isn’t part of the job.”

“Unsurprisingly said by a demon loyal to Beleth’s court. Sometimes I wonder why they put you with me.”

“I ask myself that every day. But I like you for some reason. And we work well together.” He pointed to Jack’s pocket. “That looked like a good one. Might get bonus points from Andy and Val for that.”

Jack twitched. “Stop calling them that. I can’t speak for Valefor, but yeah Andromalius will probably love it. I think it’s one of the best we’ve ever gotten.” He patted his pocket, feeling the sphere’s shape through it. The man had been right on the edge between good and evil, so close that his judgment at a natural death could have gone either way. But Miles’s invisibly injected temptations of theft that unexpectedly led to a murder had pushed him one step over the line. With the man still close enough for later redemption that could give him a chance at Heaven, it was the most perfect moment to take him. A theft from God, as their leaders would say. “That’s why I said we could just go back with this one,” Jack continued. “Quality over quantity.”

“Except Luc doesn’t agree with that sentiment.”

Twitching again, Jack slapped Miles’s arm. “Seriously, if Lucifer finds out you mock his name, he’ll behead you repeatedly for eternity.”

Miles shrugged. “He can’t hear what I say on Earth.”

“You’re such an asshole.”

“Maybe that’s why Val loves me. Though I’d never call him that to his face. I’m not stupid.”

“You sure tread the line.”

“Anyway.” Miles stood and looked around. “Let’s get at least one more, preferably two. The more time on Earth the better, right?”

Jack nodded and stood too. “Yeah. You’re right for once.”