24)

Cassy- In a conversation way above her pay grade at the Party-mart.

Ah crap!

The boss decided to send her driver down to run a little errand. Which should have been a total cakewalk, but since he needed me to activate a lithoglyph, I joined him for a second trip down to hell.

And who is the one guy in hell you don't want to meet?

This guy. Right in front of me. Demanding that I answer for all the f’ed up Thibedeau family drama that had gone nuclear on at a eminent threat to all of reality level.

"Ah... He has some problems with his magic. It hadn’t been a problem up until someone shot him.” I nodded over at Riggs, the idiot in question that had started this whole mess. Gleefully doing my best to throw him under the bus.

The primordial entity who was dressed up as a cowboy didn't even bother to look over at the twit who was now giving me an angry look.

“I know his sins Cassandra, and I called him a warlock because that is what they used to call those who could not master higher order spells for whatever reason. They used to get them just up to the level of being able to fight and set them loose to risk their lives until they died or burned out their souls with slapdash spell weaves.”

He had almost gone into lecture mode like he was happy to have a teaching moment, but then he got angry again.

“But with someone at a level of power that can damage the works of the Creator, he should have enough training even as a Warlock to temper his spells to just being grossly overpowered. No apocalyptic."

"He wasn't trying to kill a fly with a sledgehammer, it was more like trying for a gnat with an artillery piece, and I for one would like to know who failed in their responsibilities to train him before letting him wander off on his own.”

“I...” what do I say, what do I say? “I’m sorry sir, but that isn’t my story to tell.” Why did I say that, why did I say that?

The First blinked a few times and tilted his head to one side. “Good answer, Cassandra.”

“It was unfair of me to put you on the spot for someone else’s bad choices.” He smiled.

“Guess I’ll have to go and talk to them myself.”

He grinned. “Now I’d imagine a young woman such as yourself, who is trusted to take care of things for the secret rulers of your world. Would be able to tell me where I could find a fairly intact set of the physical remains of a demon.”

Right... I got away with being less than helpful once, and vampires are technically demons, so…

"That was going to be my second stop for tonight. But the soul of the... former owner was called back and bound to it."

The first perked right up. “Neat, I always wanted a roommate.”

Martin- Dealing with too many people on his mind.

Great, now what?

Then I saw the short bulky form of a little blue imp peaking around the corner of the door to my old bedroom. Ah, just can not get away from you can I? Guess next time I will have to put a sock on the door nob.

I had been told before that I tended to let people get into my head, but now it was more than a metaphor.

I leaned over to give a stern look past Sofi. "We are going to talk about how you managed to get into my dream Tosser.”

The imp nodded in relief, "Someone moves the mirror Master."

I sighed as Sofi nearly tripped trying to simultaneously jump to her feet, spin around, and pull out her gun. "He works for me Sofi, but if you really feel the need to shoot him. I have plenty more of them at home.”

Tosser made an "eep!" noise and vanished into the dim light of the hallway outside. "No hurt Tosser, Tosser obeys the Master, Tosser good imp."

Sofi looked back and forth a few times while demanding. “What the heck is that!”

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I waved a hand at the hallway. “An Imp, just like he said.”

She glared at me, tapping her revolver against the side of her leg. “Explain”

I shrugged, fighting a grin. "I'm afraid I do not have time to explain my dear. I may be in imminent danger back... in what passes for my real world. But this way, if you really do want an explanation, then you will have to come see me again."

She gave me exasperated look. "You could just ask if you want me to keep in touch."

I stood up from the bed and smirked. "Could you please come to visit me again in my dreams if I can not meet you in person? And do so many many times."

Then I gave her a more serious look “I want my friend back... and also? How do I go and wake up? I kind of have a time sensitive issue going on out there right now.”

She gave me a fond smile. “You got her, and the fastest way to wake up is a good scare.”

She lifted her gun to my face and pulled the trigger.

Then I woke up with a start, looking up at a pair of big blue eyes. Tosser's unfortunately, as he was sitting on my chest with his forehead pressed up against mine.

I screamed he screamed, and a dozen other imps who had gathered around my bed screamed. An unpleasant moment was had by all.

Sadly it did not even make the top ten of the worst ways I had woken up.

Number one was my father telling me to get dressed and pack a bag.

As Tosser clambered off my chest I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. Two hours of sleep. I guess it would have to hold me for the moment. Also. “Thank you Tosser, but maybe next time just shake me by the shoulder rather than send your soul into my mind."

The beast nodded firmly "The Master not alone, Tosser no block good time.”

I stared at him for a moment. "Very… thoughtful of you Tosser." Apparently, the bro code was shared across species. Good to know.

“Now tell me what is happening.”

The imp stood to attention. “Water room wall door below shake, voices other side.”

I sighed. I thought I had dealt with this. Why do they have to keep pushing? What would I have to do to get them to stop coming after me? I do not want to kill anyone, but how many chances do I have to let someone have to try to hurt me before their well being is no longer worth risking my own?

I stood and belted on my robe as I took a deep breath and reached down to see how much was left in my reservoir after unleashing most of it earlier.

Well… rather a lot. Almost all the mana I had used up was back, with a little extra room left over for even more. Plus what felt like cords that now connected me to eight other reservoirs.

All of which were either standing around me or lurking nearby.

Right, I had somehow ended up bonding the imps to me... Without knowing what that meant or what the effects would be. I do so love how my life is so seldom shaped by my own choices.

But right now, someone is tampering with one of the mirrors that connect here and hell. So dealing with being bound at the soul with a band of otherworldly entities would have to wait for later. Why the heck not, I got the whole day trapped in a convenience store in another dimension to work with.

Downstairs the mirrors from the two bathrooms and my bedroom had been removed from the walls, wrapped in multiple layers of paper towels and garbage bags, and secured with duct tape.

Then they had been tucked face down under the ends of the rows of shelving to keep anyone from pushing through from the other side. I was still figuring out the rules of the bespelled store, like why the mirrors did not move back after being moved, or why the paper and plastic wrapped around them did not get broken down as garbage.

I am guessing intent figured in somehow, after all, all of this was my spell.

From the store toilet mirror, I could hear a feminine voice telling someone to be careful and not to crack it again.

What are they doing? Well, with the mirror covered, the easiest way to find out was…

“Excuse me, what are you doing over there?”

Donovan- Doing the Devil’s bidding in hell.

Great. Like it wasn't bad enough I had three bitches show up and start bossing me around. Now I got another one dropping out of the sky just to make more work for me to do.

She and the cowboy started talking about the guy I shot and I sort of lost track of the conversation after the cop lady tried to put the blame for everything on me. Nice try lady, Luther is like some big shot in hell, like he’s going to care If I shot someone.

Next thing I know Mr. Big Shot is asking me to help find some tools and help the cop lady pry the mirror off the wall of the bathroom. "You'll probably just need a screwdriver, they're a handy tool to have around after all."

Wait, did he know something? Yeah the screwdriver, the same one I pocketed was right back in the same place I had found it earlier. Same one, or a copy. Don’t know, don’t care, but helping the cop lady with the mirror gave me a chance to continue our earlier conversation.

As I was turning the screws holding up the frame of the mirror, I could see the other side was covered in layers of cheap paper towels, the thin ones which don't suck up anything, just smear things around. The cop lady was hovering around me doing that woman thing where they ain't helping, just getting in the way, not shutting up, and looking at you like you’re doing it wrong.

“She cut off his arm.”

She gave me a confused look. “Who did what now?”

I glanced over to see the cowboy looking around at the shelves, occasionally picking up things to read the packaging. "Damia, the one in charge. She got that Martin guy to reach through a mirror and then shattered it, cutting off his arm. It didn't bleed and they gave it back to him after he blew up the front of the store."

She nodded slowly. “Okay...thanks for telling me.”

I gripped the screwdriver tight, she was more than close enough to shove it right into her face. Bitch must have some idea what I had in mind since she stepped back.

She nodded over to Luther. “He’s pretty upset about the hole in the firmament thing, so being able to tell him that my boss is letting his daughter off the hook for maiming the guy who did it, that might be enough for my boss to agree to bring you back to earth. But first, she needs this mirror to settle up a few issues before she can get back here to do anything for you.

I gave her a look to know how I felt about that and drove the screwdriver right into the side of the frame around the mirror to try to pry it off, cracking the glass and making her jump a little and sputter out some upset noises. "Give it a minute and it will fix itself up, but I'm on a time limit. By morning I might be stuck here forever. I need to get back home and back to my life."

She nodded and watched the crack in the mirror start to seal itself with a crackling noise. "You're turning, pretty fast too. Must be because... never mind why. You need to try to stay calm and maybe catch some sleep. The less you get angry, or think about things or people you hate, the slower your soul will shred. Maybe have a smoke and get a hot meal, anything like that will help."

I gave her a look of disbelief but she just nodded her head at me. "I told you I would try to help you, and I will, but I can't bring you top side on my own. All I can do is try everything I can to get my boss to do it."

After a moment I gave her a nod and went back to undoing the screws on the frame while she went back to doing useless things like telling me to be more careful.

That was when the Party store guy spoke up from the other side of the glass.

“Excuse me, what are you doing over there?”

Huh? Oh no, he’s probably doing that thing with his hands, well, hand, on the other side of the mirror. And aimed right at me. I nearly dove over the toilet getting up in the corner on the same wall as the mirror trying to get out of the line of fire.

The cop lady wasn't in any hurry to stand in front of the glass either, but at least she started talking, which I hoped would turn this Martin's guy's aim in the other direction from me.

“Mr. Thibedeau? I’m Agent Varrow of the Magic investigation Bureau, I work with your Aunt Natalie Thibedeau and I would like to ask you to attend a meeting.