A Friend to the Darkness. Katherine Rathbone
You said there’re no dogs in Hell, so you can’t take him with you. And if you hurt me, I wouldn’t let you play with him anymore. So you won’t.”
He cocked his head at me. “I’m a demon. Who’s to say I care for anything?”
I shook my finger at him. “You can’t fool me, mister. I saw how you looked at him.”
He shook his head at me again, and said quietly, “you’re remarkable.”
“Not really. I just say what’s on my mind. No filter. Probably the reason I don’t have any friends.” I shrugged, and tossed a rock into the water.
“Their loss.” He murmured. I snorted again. He rolled his eyes, before standing and dusting himself off as well as he could. “Do you have plans for tomorrow night?”
I stood as well, before replying, “Literally just told you I have no friends. So no, I have no plans.”
“Can you sneak out?”
I grinned. “What mum doesn’t know, doesn’t hurt her.”
“Meet you here, then? Say, 11?”
“It’s a date.” I winked, and turned to walk away, calling Rufus as I went.
“What do you drink?” He called after me.
“I’m sixteen.” I turned back to him, grinning. He raised his eyebrows, not saying anything. I laughed. “Bourbon.” He nodded and disappeared. That was going to take some getting used to.
As 11pm the next evening drew nearer, I became more nervous. Was Sebastian going to bring friends? Or was it just me and him? He had known I was joking when I said it was a date, right? Right? I should’ve asked for details. I climbed silently out of my window, and made my way to the river.
When I arrived at the spot where I had seen Sebastian, there was a small group of people gathered around a fire. I approached them before I realised they were all human. From my school, no less. Shit.
“The fuck are you doing here, weirdo?” Some arsehole had noticed me.
I raised my hands, and said, “Leaving, don’t worry. Just meeting someone.”
“Pfft. Who would come down here to meet you?” His tone was derisive.
“Katie? Is that you?” Sebastian’s voice came from the path behind me. Wide eyed, I spun to look at him, worried that he was showing himself to these cretins.
I had no cause to worry, though. He appeared human, same hair, same eyes, no horns, no red skin, and no talons. He grinned at me. I shook myself. “Hey, you!” I walked over and took his warm hand. “Later, losers.” I threw over my shoulder to the group around the fire, who were staring, mouths agape. I pulled Sebastian down the path, out of sight.
“Hey.” He grinned at me, and looked at my hand in his. He… shimmered, and he was back to his usual form. I primly snatched my hand back.
“Hey.” I muttered, blushing.
He looked at me seriously, and raised an eyebrow, before looking back along the path we had just come down. “They seem like total jerks.”
“They are.” I replied shortly.
“We can fuck with them, if you want.” He studied me closely.
“That’s tempting. Are you here alone?”
“I brought Sera, and Seth wanted to meet you as well.”
“Well in that case, let’s forget about those wankers.”
He nodded, and held his hand out to me. I regarded it suspiciously. He rolled his eyes. “Take my hand, Katie.”
“Why?” I demanded.
“Just trust me.”
I snorted. “Never trust a good looking guy who says ‘trust me’.”
He sighed. “I’m not a guy, I’m a demon.” He pointed out.
I laughed, and took his hand. In the next instant, the landscape had changed, and we were standing at a secluded stretch of riverbank. There were two other demons seated at a small fire. I recognised Sera, and assumed the other had to be Seth.
“Holy shit, did we just teleport?!”
Sebastian laughed at my wonder. “Sure did.”
“You guys have heaps of cool tricks, hey!” I exclaimed. He laughed harder. Sera and the other demon got to their feet. I wandered closer.
“Hi, Sera.” I ventured shyly.
“Hi, Katie.” She smiled briefly at me.
Sebastian placed a hand in the small of my back. “Katie, meet our little brother, Seth. Seth, this is Katie.”
“Hey.” He held out a hand for me to shake. I took it mechanically. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” He smirked at me.
“All bad, I assume.” My voice wasn’t as steady as I had hoped it would be. Where Sebastian’s voice was musical, Seth’s was low, deep and impossibly sexy. I’m pretty sure I was blushing. Sebastian hadn’t lied when he told me they were all good looking. Seth’s features were sharper than Sebastian’s, but he was equally, possibly even more, beautiful than his older brother. His eyes, horns and talons were a deep cobalt blue, and his shoulder length, lustrous black hair swept back, held out of his eyes by his horns.
“Want a drink, Katie?” Sera was smirking at me. I realised my hand was still grasping Seth’s. I snatched it back and coughed.
“Yes, please.” I took the cup from her, avoiding Seth’s eyes. I drank it all down in one go, and held it out for a refill.
“Oh great.” Seth sounded bored. “A messy teenaged drunk girl. This will be fun.” He rolled his eyes at Sebastian.
“Listen, buddy.” I stepped close to Seth and jabbed a finger in his chest. “I’m Australian. Drinking is our national sport. I could drink your demon arse straight back to Hell, bitch.”
He glared at me, and the night went silent. The flames in the fire died down, and he loomed over me. I refused to take a step back, and kept glaring him in the eye, craning my neck further back the taller he got.
I put my hands on my hips, looked him up and down, and said in a mocking tone, “Compensating for something there, buddy?”
Sera gasped, and Sebastian burst into laughter. Seth looked taken aback, then resumed his normal size and laughed too. He looked over my shoulder at Sebastian and said, “Maybe you’re right. She might be remarkable.” He smirked at me, said, “Wouldn’t you love to find out?” and leaned forward as if he was going to kiss me. I stepped back first. Dammit. He grinned and swaggered over to his spot by the fire.
Sebastian clapped his hand on my shoulder. “That round goes to Seth, I believe.” His eyes twinkled.
“Mmh.” I grumbled, and sat by the fire, away from Seth. I took a sip from my refilled drink. “So are all demons brothers and sisters? Lucifer’s children?” I asked curiously. My companions exchanged guarded glances. Sera answered.
“Um, no.” She swallowed. “Lucifer doesn’t have children. Our father is... a different demon. We’re not all related, but we do call each other brother and sister, which gets confusing, I guess. These guys are actually my brothers, same parents. And we have another sister too, Sebine.”
Seth hissed, and Sebastian glared at her. “We, uh, we don’t get on with her.” She added quickly, avoiding her brother’s gaze.
“Family can be tough.” I offered. They nodded, and gazed into the fire, lost in thought. I sat quietly, sipping my drink. Eventually, Sera offered me a smoke, and asked,
“So, tell us about your life.”
I coughed, and looked