A Friend to the Darkness. Katherine Rathbone

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СКАЧАТЬ at me. I took her cigarette from her hand, lit it for her, and handed it back. She looked at the smoke, looked at me, then laughed and laughed.

      "I see why you interest Him. You interest me, and that’s saying something.” She paused then, and stared off into nothingness for a bit, before shaking her head briskly and offering me a smoke. “My brother is on his way. I think he’d like to meet you. Wanna hang for a bit?” And she wandered over to a park bench and took a seat.

      I blinked, and then a second demon was there, a guy this time, his back to me, facing her. “You called, sister dear?” His voice was musical, and he seemed on the verge of laughter. I jumped, and flushed a little. His voice was beautiful, and I felt like I could listen to him talk all night.

      The woman looked at me slyly. “I thought you might like to meet our latest…devotee. Sebastian, meet Katie. Katie, my brother, Sebastian.”

      He turned to look at me, and I was entranced. He was just as beautiful as his voice. He was tall, head and shoulders taller than me. His hair was short and nondescript brown, slightly longer on top than on the sides. Like his sister, his horns, eyes and talons were all the same colour. Unlike his sister, they were a brilliant emerald green. He had a generous mouth, slightly turned up at the corners as if he were suppressing a grin. His eyes sparkled with amusement.

      I swallowed hard, took a step closer, and held out my hand. “Hi. Nice to meet you.” My voice only shook a little bit. He glanced at his sister, then back to me, a calculating look on his face. He took my hand, and pulled me closer to him. I stumbled into him, briefly noting that he was as muscular as his sister looked, and was strong. Very strong.

      “Hello there.” He looked down at me, eyes narrowed, waiting for my reaction.

      I yanked my hand away from his, and tried to shove him away. I was happy to note he was slightly unbalanced and took a step back. I did the same, widening the gap between us. “Gross. You’ve got to be, like, at least 23.” I snapped at him. He rubbed his chest absentmindedly.

      “Give or take a few thousand years, yeah.” He turned to his sister. “She’s feisty, Sera.”

      “Isn’t she.” Her reply was a more of a statement than a question. They both watched me, and I couldn’t read their expressions. I glared back at them.

      Sebastian broke the silence with a laugh. “Well, what can you do for us, devotee?”

      I laughed back at him. “I’m not your devotee, buddy. I pledged my allegiance to Lucifer, not you.”

      He threw his head back and laughed and laughed.

      “Oh, she is going to be so much fun!” He exclaimed. Sera smiled briefly in agreement. I put my hands on my hips, and glared at them. He snorted at me, and said with an amused tone, “Well, we’ll see you around, devotee. Let’s go, Sera.” They both smirked and wiggled their fingers at me, before they disappeared.

      “Holy. Fuck.” I said the words out loud, and sat at the picnic table to collect my thoughts. So demons were real. And so, I assumed, was Lucifer. What had I gotten my stupid arse into?! I wandered home, pondering the expansion of my reality.

      Two.

      It was weeks before I saw my new acquaintances again. This time was the middle of the day. I was walking my dog down by the river, enjoying the solitude, contemplating going for a swim. I decided it was probably too cold still. Maybe next week. The cold didn’t stop my dog, and I settled down on the riverbank to watch him play in the water.

      “Hiya, Katie.” It was Sebastian’s musical voice. I leapt to my feet, and looked wildly around. He stepped from behind a tree, and gave me a knowing smile.

      “Uh, hi.” I stammered. I’d almost convinced myself I had dreamt that night.

      “Watcha doing down here?” He asked curiously.

      “What are you doing here?” I shot back, trying not to let my nerves show. He smiled, and sat down, removing his boots. He rolled his pants up to his knees, and his long shirt sleeves up to his elbows. Without looking back at me, he waded a short distance into the water, before bending down and letting his arms drift in the current.

      “Is that shirt silk? Won’t you ruin it if it gets wet?” Why did that pop into my head?!

      He straightened, and turned to smirk at me. “Why? Do you want me to take it off?”

      “Gross.” I snapped and looked away from him. “Come, Rufus.” I called to my dog. “We should go.” But the traitorous mutt splashed over to Sebastian instead. Sebastian laughed delightedly and patted my dog enthusiastically.

      “Hey buddy!” He exclaimed, rubbing behind Rufus’ ears. “Oh, you’re a good boy, aren’t you?” He splashed down into the water, and wrestled and played with Rufus, giggling like a kid the whole time. I have to admit, it was pretty adorable. In spite of myself, I relaxed and smiled as I watched them.

      Sebastian glanced over at me, a wide, genuine grin on his face. He looked a bit embarrassed, then shot me a guilty grin. “There’s no dogs in Hell. I love dogs.” He gave Rufus one final pat, then stood and came over to sit by me, dripping wet.

      “You ruined your shirt.” I pointed out.

      “Should have taken it off, I guess.” He absentmindedly rubbed his chest. We both watched Rufus sniffing around the nearby bush for a while.

      “So what are you doing here, Sebastian? Come to take my soul to Hell?” I tried for a joking tone, but my voice wavered a bit on the last part.

      He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and said seriously, “Contrary to popular belief, Lucifer and the rest of us don’t actually want your souls in Hell.” I snorted. He smiled and shook his head. “Cynical, aren’t we?” I shrugged. He was quiet for a while longer, before asking, “So, what did your friends say when you told them about the other night?” He glanced at me sideways.

      I didn’t meet his eye as I replied bitterly, “What friends?”

      He seemed taken aback. “I dunno, the cult maybe?”

      I laughed. “They kicked me out before I even met you guys.”

      “Seriously? Why?” He sounded shocked.

      I blushed. “Because I said that if Lucifer wanted my soul, he’d have to work for it.”

      Sebastian laughed again. “Seth did mention that you said that. Good for you.”

      “Does he own your soul? And who is Seth?” I was curious.

      “Seth is my brother, and I don’t have a soul. I’m a creature of the underworld. What you see is what you get.” He spread his hands and smiled charmingly.

      “So when you die, you just… stop existing?” I was vaguely horrified.

      “Yep. But I will live forever. Unless someone or something kills me.” I nodded thoughtfully.

      “How old is your brother?” I asked slyly.

      He smirked at me and met my eyes. “Younger than me.”

      “Is СКАЧАТЬ