Normally, she liked the cool touch of the stone beneath her bare feet; but tonight, it only felt stiff and icy—like a foreshadowing of the mood that awaited her.
She fidgeted with the skirt of her dress as she waited for the council to settle into their seats. She knew she wasn’t going to lie…she knew that would be worse. And she knew it wasn’t technically her fault, but—
Don’t shoot the messenger.
The expression had been invented for a reason.
Each of the chairs around Millie crafted to be larger-than-life. The rough black stone melted into the low ring looping around the circular room, forming a sort of stage.
Normally, the effect was elegant and grandiose; a reassuring affirmation of the power of its occupants.
But tonight…Millie couldn’t help but note how intimidating it could also be.
The last murmur wisped away, and the shuffling of fabric halted as the council had all settled into position. The crackling of fire in the iron sconces overtook the silence.
Millie opened her mouth to speak.
Rafael leaned forward, his tapered fingers gripping at the arms of his seat. The hood of his crimson cloak swayed over the black pit of his face. His voice emerged in its usual subhuman grumble. “Where is Emma?”
The other elder demons shifted in their seats, exchanging glances as they, too, noticed the egregious absence.
Millie slowly closed her mouth, then clasped her hands together. “O-kay—I can see this is going to be a fun meeting.” She let the grimace unfold across her face. “First, I would like to note for the record that I had no part in this decision, and I repeatedly attempted to dissuade the foolishness.”
Curious murmurs rippled around her.
Millie lifted her voice so she could be heard above the hubbub. “Emma has decided that a mortal girl is way more interesting than haunting people and taking their souls.” She lifted a hand before her. “I know—not really understandable. She tried explaining it to me, but…” She shrugged, hoping the gesture conveyed a hefty dose of helplessness. “I asked for her to appear before you, but she said she didn’t care about this stuff anymore.”
As the chatter swelled, Millie lowered her hand. She’d done her part; now it was time to witness the judgment.
She couldn’t help but let a scowl curl her lips as she reflected on the situation. How many houses had they successfully infected together? How many new recruits had they gleaned? How many times had they stumbled away hand-in-hand, laughing and swearing, when fervent prayers and zealous paranormal groups had cut their mission short?
But this time had been different.
Emma had been the first to scare her.
“I don’t know how to describe it.” They’d seated themselves up on the slant of the roof, their transparent forms basking in the cold glow of the moonlight. Emma had laid a hand across her chest, where a human would’ve had a heart. “But I didn’t…enjoy it. For the first time, I think I felt what they feel. And it felt—uncomfortable.”
Millie poked a finger into her friend’s pale arm. “Really? After all this time? Maybe you’re just tired of these sorts of assignments. Maybe it’s time we pushed for something a little more exciting.”
Despite her blatant lack of understanding, Millie listened to every of Emma’s laments. She’d hoped it would somehow help; that her friend had just needed to get this issue off her chest.
But haunting the house hadn’t gotten any easier. Every time the girl panicked, every time she screamed—the dark hole where Emma’s heart had once been twisted.
Millie had suggested she focus on the house’s other occupants; but that hardly worked, so long as the girl was still the subject of somebody’s torment.
Finally, three nights before their first check-in, Emma had approached Millie, the sound of unable-to-be-shed tears choking up her voice. “I c-can’t finish this—you might as well go on without me.”
And so Millie had.
Erya raised a hand, causing a hush to fall across the room. The elder demon fixed her cool green eyes on their messenger. “We must test how far Emma has strayed. Return to the house. You now need be concerned with no soul but one. The extent to which your friend contests should tell us everything we need.”
Millie nodded slowly. “I won’t let you down.”
Then she dissolved, slipping through the floor and back into the world of the living.
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