Annabelle was grateful for the return to camp. The guide voice had spoken to her on the hike with a group of girls, telling her to go back, to go to a place called Crested Pool, but just as she had tried to explain to the group why they should go back quickly, the voice told her to stop. No hurry. Camp. Safe.

Reaching the cabin area, Annabelle looked around for signs of Joey or anyone in his group but saw none of them. She did see Sam speaking nervously to some of the other chaperones who all looked at him in awe and shock. Joey had been with him. Something had happened. And when Sam turned to see her and approached, she braced herself for what she didn’t want to hear.

“Annabelle,” he said, his voice shaky. “I need to talk to you about Joey.”

Swallowing a sigh and attempting to bury her concern, she said, “Okay. What’s up?”

“Well, he and his group were with me today on our walk and…there was an incident.”

Annabelle could not hide her emotions this time. She sighed, covered her face and said, “What did he do?”

“There was an argument between him and another boy while I wasn’t looking. That argument made its way toward one of the hot springs and—”

“Oh God, no, he didn’t. Please tell me he didn’t.”

“He fell in.”

This was not the response Annabelle was expecting. To confirm she asked, “Joey fell in?”

“Yeah.”

Annabelle studied his face. One of his campers had just fallen into a deadly hot spring and, though he appeared terrified, it wasn’t the kind of fear she expected to see from someone who had possibly just witnessed a terrible accident. Something people usually died from. But I’m still here, so he’s not dead.

“Is he hurt? Is he at the hospital?”

“No. He’s here, and surprisingly perfectly fine.”

Now she sighed with relief. “Thank God. Can I see him?”

“I need to talk to you about him. There’s something…well, did you know he has some…abilities?”

Annabelle knew there was no right answer, but felt defensive nonetheless. “He’s a special boy. And as long as no one is hurt, it doesn’t matter what he can do.”

“No one is hurt, but what happened today…he should have died. He was underwater for so long, even if he could swim he should have died from burns. He did something to get out and he’s not hurt at all. He did some other things too, before that, and with everything all together, the other kids are scared. Joey isn’t special. He—he’s dangerous and we’re asking you to leave.”

“What?” Annabelle stared at him, appalled at the accusation of Joey being dangerous. “You said no one was hurt. Joey is not dangerous and would never hurt anyone.”

“If you had seen what occurred today, you would change your mind. The other kids are scared and I can’t risk their safety. And if Pastor Colmyre isn’t aware of what he’s capable of, he should be. Joey needs divine intervention.”

“I am certain I would not change my mind. Let me speak to him right now.”

Annabelle was directed toward the cabin where Joey had been told to remain. He was alone inside, and Annabelle’s heart broke at the sight of him sitting on a bed, head in his hands, his clothes still damp.

“Joey?”

Instead of the relief that she normally saw when she came to him, she saw pain in a deep sigh and a hiding face. She sat beside him and looked at his arms. Indeed there were no burns, no blemishes, no redness of any kind. She put her hand on his arm, expecting heat, but he felt normal.

“Tell me what happened.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what? Did you hurt someone?”

“No.”

“Then what’s there to be sorry for?”

After a little more coaxing, Annabelle listened to his story of how a simple mention of heavy metal had turned them all against him, and in his self-defense he had inadvertently shown his mind-reading ability. When he said Colin had tried to kill him, Annabelle stopped him.

“Did you just say he tried to kill you? He threw you into the pool?”

Joey nodded.

Annabelle glared at the cabin door, vowing to chastise Sam for leaving out that important detail.

“I tried to save myself,” Joey continued, still covering his face. “I broke the fence and made it hit him, but it was too hard and he almost fell with me. So I made it hit him the other way so he wouldn’t fall in. And they still think I’m a demon.”

As Joey cried into his hands, Annabelle squeezed him in a hug as she fumed. As much as she hated that he had shown his powers, she vowed to stand up for him. “Never mind them,” she said. “There are too many closed-minded fools in our circle, it seems. You saved a life today, even if that person was trying to take yours. You really take the book of Matthew to heart, don’t you? And that verse you told Grandpa and Grandma, ‘For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.’ Do you see now what a wonderful heart you have? You follow Jesus better than any of these people, demon or not. You used your powers to help someone. Maybe that is your purpose.”

Joey shook his head. “How can it be if everyone hates me, or is scared of me?”

“We just have to find the right people to accept you. Obviously the people here are not the right ones. I’m sorry I brought you here. I thought it would help. Instead, someone tries to kill you.” She looked down at him and his uninjured body. “How did you survive that? Those pools are nearly two hundred degrees.”

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“I don’t know. Something happened, like my body used the heat instead of getting damaged. Maybe it’s a demon thing, surviving hot water and stuff.”

Annabelle hid her curious expression. It made sense, but she didn’t want to accept it. “Well, whatever it was, it’s a good feature to have, I guess.” When Joey said nothing, she sighed. “Listen, I’m going to talk to Sam about what happened. It’s not fair that nothing’s being done about someone trying to kill you.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Annabelle stepped out, her anger flaring as she searched for Sam. Finding him talking to his bandmates, she approached.

“You failed to mention that the reason Joey went near the pool was because someone tried to kill him.”

The group stood silent, Sam shifting his feet. “He thought he was doing the right—”

“No. You know who did the right thing? Joey. Even though someone was about to kill him, he spared that boy’s life. And no one is grateful? Just because the way he did it was shocking to you? You call yourselves Christians, yet you show no love or caring for someone who’s different from you. You should be ashamed. And if that boy isn’t punished, I’ll make sure the police do it for you. I don’t suppose you want that sort of exposure, do you?”

Annabelle prayed that would work. She didn’t want exposure for Joey either, but if it came to that, she’d have to.

“You’re right,” Sam said. “Joey should be commended for showing forgiveness in such a situation. And Colin did attempt to do something that God forbids. Even if Joey is…well, I guess your father wouldn’t want this to get out either.”

“Certainly not. Will you punish that kid? Kick him out too?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. And don’t worry, we will be leaving as well. And perhaps we can all agree that none of this ever happened.”

“Agreed.”

Annabelle returned to the cabin to find Joey had not moved. “Now that that’s taken care of, we’re going to spend the rest of this trip in a hotel pretending we are still here and nothing is wrong. We will tell Grandpa and Grandma that you had a good time and you’re going to be as good as an angel from now on so they believe it. Okay?”

“Okay.”

* * *

When Malphas appeared before Lucifer once again, his feathers were ruffled and he bounced on the edge of a chair. Lucifer sat back in a black leather chair across from him, his feet on a wide stone desk. He tossed a black rock between his hands and stared at the newcomer, expressionless.

“My lord,” Malphas said. “I have some big news.”

“You found Buriel.”

“No, not exactly.”

Lucifer stopped tossing the rock and glared. “Then why are you here all flustered like that? I told you I don’t want to see your face unless you find the bastard.”

“Yes, I know, and the Soul Reachers have been providing us with occasional leads, but Buriel is too fast, he’s gone without a trace by the time my legions arrive.”

Tossing the rock again, Lucifer said, “I’m tired of hearing that excuse.”

“Me too, my lord, but we just aren’t getting enough leads. Maybe the Soul Reachers aren’t—”

“Doing their job? They are, it’s just become very clear that some are better at it than others. There’s at least one that has caught many the others have missed. I am confident we are finding all of Buriel’s victims that land in our realm.”

“But it’s not enough. If there were more, we could spread out faster.”

“Buriel is both highly intelligent and a fool. He knows how to limit his powers to remain hidden from your view, but is stupid enough to kill whomever he feels like, which means most of his victims are going the other direction.”

Malphas shifted some more. “Perhaps if we still had our external servants out there as normal, Buriel would have better choices.”

Lucifer sat up and smashed his rock on the table, cracking it slightly. “Are you questioning my decisions?”

“No, certainly not, my lord. It’s just—”

“You obviously still don’t understand. No matter how much we track our servants, I do not trust them to not disobey my orders and side with Buriel. Can you imagine what will happen if he creates his own legions? He will eventually destroy humanity, which will make him stronger than me, which is probably exactly what he wants.”

“Perhaps we should attack humanity first then? Since Buriel seems to just be playing around for the last fifteen years.”

Lucifer stood and threw his rock at Malphas, who dove out of the way just in time. “If I didn’t need you, I swear I’d send you to torment. Destroying humanity is not my goal. Stealing them is what I want, and for fuck’s sake you should know that by now. If you dare question my choices or suggest I should do something different, I will put you in a pit of lava. For a while, because I need you.” Lucifer sighed. “Why the hell are you here?”

“It’s about the cambion, my lord.”

Lucifer stared. “Okay, I’m listening.”

Malphas bounced as if relieved to finally tell his news. “There was a large burst of demonic activity earlier today. Really big. Almost as big as when Buriel was summoned, but it was not a summoning. It was the use of demonic powers.”

“And what makes you think it’s the cambion and not Buriel? Isn’t the boy still young?”

“He’s nearly fifteen, my lord. It seems he has discovered his powers and…he’s quite strong. At first I thought it was Buriel, especially since it took place far from the cambion’s birthplace, but when I sent a full legion there as crows, they discovered evidence that it was likely the boy.”

Lucifer leaned forward on the stone desk. “Tell me this evidence and it better be good.”

“There were a lot of teenagers present at the location, a campsite of sorts. Lots of trees, good for spying. Everyone seemed a little uncomfortable, but were quiet about it, as if it was forbidden to speak of something. It made it very difficult for my servants to hear details of the demonic event other than someone fell into a pool and lived. And something about flying objects. Anyway, interestingly they were able to hear well when the adults started preaching.”

“Preaching like…religious preaching?”

“Yes, precisely.”

Lucifer stood straight, his eyebrows raised. “The cambion is targeting Christians?”

“Well, I’m not convinced of that. There appear to be no deaths, and the boy is definitely not there anymore.”

The glare returned. “He’s gone? Did he go back to his birthplace?”

“There hasn’t been any further activity, so I can’t track him.”

“Great. So now we have two potential world dominators on Earth. Just great. And if they meet each other…”

“Earth is fucked.”

“Indeed. But wait, if the boy was with Christians, did something massively demonic that killed no one, and disappeared with no uproar from said Christians, why was he there?”

“I do have a hypothesis about that, my lord.” Malphas hesitated.

“I’m listening.”

“Well, this camp thing or whatever it was had a lot of music at it. A band playing, kind of heavier music, not something I would expect from Christians, but the world evolves, I suppose. Anyway, the teenagers had great interest and enjoyment, like it was a concert of sorts. Since they had a microphone, my servants were able to hear quite well, and the singer said, ‘As we have learned today, it is important to stay away from the music of the devil. In the wrong ears, it is dangerous. It is tempting to many. Do not let it tempt you.’ I think it has something to do with the cambion. Music of the devil sounds fitting.”

Lucifer smiled and chuckled, putting his hands behind his back and looking out his window to the lava falls. “Just like his father. Tempted by music. It’s the only thing I liked about Buriel, he had great taste. And any time Amdusias brings out a new collection of instruments, who always showed up to steal them?”

“It has been pretty quiet around here without Buriel all these years.”

Pacing around, looking from the floor to the window and back, Lucifer remained silent. He bit his lip in deep thought. After a couple of minutes, Malphas finally said, “My lord? Do you have orders? Do we keep waiting?”

“He was tempted by music,” Lucifer said as if not hearing. “He didn’t care about it being Christians. It was the music. Then he did something and hid. And others are hiding it. Perhaps they know.” Lucifer stopped pacing and faced the window, silent for another minute before turning to Malphas. “Tell Beelzebub to gather the Great Kings immediately. I have a plan.”