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Chapter Nine
The Winter Gala
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The whispers began almost as soon as the sun rose. Austin could feel the change in the air. His mother was a flurry of activity, already calling her event organiser, favourite caterers, and florist. Somehow the magical wards around the house seemed to be pulsing, almost as though the building itself was reacting to the increased activity like an excitable dog.
Austin wasn’t sure whether he was relieved or annoyed when his mother announced that he could go to the bakery for his shift. Apparently, now that he was taking contracts, keeping up public appearances with his ‘charity work’ was good for his image. The woman really was impossible. His mood fluctuated further when Exton accompanied him onto the main street. There were several spirit orbs bobbing about and a greater sense of energy in the air.
He’d been taught that a contractor demon puts off a sort of scent that other demons and spirits can sense. It wasn’t so much a smell as a calling card that contracts were available for those who had valuables to trade. As they walked, Austin was constantly aware of the little spirit orbs, jostling about above him, trying to get his attention. Gods, was this going to get worse?
Maybe that was why the manor house was so warded to begin with, to keep the riff raff like low level spirits, at bay. Austin was so busy looking at the swimming balls of light above them that he missed a huge crack in the sidewalk and nearly went down on his face. Exton’s hand shot out and caught him by the arm.
‘Steady on there, Aus,’ Exton spluttered.
‘Sorry. Just a bit distracted,’ Austin grumbled.
The hellhound snorted. ‘Not going to lie, you dug yourself into this mess. You need to work out what you’re going to do about it,’ the hellhound said pointedly. Austin shot him an annoyed look, one that said without words “no shit.”
‘I’m more concerned about what we are going to do if the new lordling turns up to the gala,’ Austin sighed.
Exton’s expression turned faintly pained. Probably because he knew there was nothing they could do. Unless… ‘Exton…’
‘Aus, whatever you’re thinking, I can almost guarantee the answer is no.’
‘Hear me out! My mother is going to invite a whole lot of heavy hitters to this mess, and we can be fairly sure that Jedrzej will invite himself so what if I make sure he’s not the only lord there? If Overlord Nathair is there too?’
‘Austin, no. Seriously, this is trading one problem for another.’
Austin huffed impatiently. ‘Come on! It would work. Jedrzej said himself he’s not strong enough or doesn’t have enough followers yet or whatever. He’d never outwardly attack someone like Overlord Nathair!’ Their conversation paused briefly as a woman pushing a buggy went past. She gave them both a funny look which told Austin that at least some of their conversation had been overheard.
Exton shook his head. ‘Okay, fine. Say you invite him, and the hunter is subdued. What about Nathair? What are you going to do to stop him from putting his paws all over you?’ he asked flatly.
Austin opened his mouth. Then he closed it again. Honestly, he didn’t have a real answer for that. ‘I’m sure it will be fine.’
The bodyguard gave a low groan. ‘Seriously Aus. I feel like you’re trying to introduce the cane toad to fix your beetle problem. This isn’t going to end well!’
‘Yeah well, we haven’t exactly got a lot of fantastic Plan Bs’ to choose from.’ Austin didn’t wait for the hellhound. He charged on up the street, trying to ignore the horrible squirming in his guts as he went.
Work was not nearly as fun as usual. The brief conversation with Exton had put a definite dampener on his mood (not that he’d been overly cheerful to begin with.) Jess kept giving him concerned looks as he aggressively spread pale pink icing on the cake he was decorating. He loved his job but the usual scent of frozen custard, fruit syrups and baked pastries just wasn’t having the soothing effect it normally did.
‘Did you have another fight with your folks?’ Jess dared to ask after an hour of stony silence.
Austin glared down at the strawberries he was arranging. ‘Kind of,’ he grumbled. ‘My mother is putting together one of her fancy galas and she is using me as the glittery table centrepiece,’ he added.
Jess clucked her tongue. ‘Ouch. Message received. When is it happening?’
‘Two weeks from now.’
She blinked. ‘Isn’t that a little soon? What if people can’t attend?’
Austin snorted. ‘Anyone who is worth their salt will come even if it means leaving their significant other waiting for them at the altar. That’s how my mother’s community works.’
Jess gave a low whistle. ‘Well… at least it will be over soon then and you won’t be waiting around thinking about it for the next month.’
Austin gave her a weak smile. ‘That is true. Hallelujah for small mercies.’
‘How about we finish up these last couple and go grab some food? We’ll go to that coffee place you like and get you something with all the syrup in it.’ This did help cheer Austin up very slightly. But even sweet potato wedges and his favourite coffee couldn’t bolster him enough for the trial to come. He finished his shift with enormous reluctance at half past five in the afternoon. He kept re-wiping the counters and asking if there was anything else to do.
‘Come on, Aus! I have a beef Wellington waiting for me at home! Get your butt out so I can lock up!’ his boss whined. Finally admitting defeat, Austin took off his apron and pulled on his jacket. Jess had already left an hour ago. The evening was depressingly blustery with ice creeping down his spine with every gust. It was like even the weather was warning him against the evils to come. Exton picked him up on the corner and they drove without speaking. From the bodyguard’s tense and bolt upright posture, Austin knew Exton was not approving of this little adventure. Austin pointedly looked out the window at the cars whizzing past. He had to do this.
He took out a small piece of black card. He looked down at it and tried to clear his mind. This was a very basic spell even a human could learn provided they were magically gifted. He whispered the name of the Overlord of the third ring and watched as gold writing began to spiral along the card, an invitation. The demon would need it to cross the barriers into the Avaris manor and of course, only the person named on the card could use it.
‘You may as well just drop me out the front. We both know they won’t let you in anyway,’ Austin said as they pulled up to the club. Exton was muttering curse words as he tried to find a place to park.
‘But!’
‘Pull over Exton,’ he ordered. The curse words got a little louder. The car slowed. Austin ignored the car horns that blasted from behind them as he climbed out onto the sidewalk. Just like before, he cut the line of glittery people to approach the bouncer. The only small improvement is that this time, he didn’t need to announce himself. As soon as the bouncer saw him, he tilted his head and spoke into an earpiece. By the time Austin was at the door, a skimpy demoness in hideously glittery high heels was guiding him inside by the arm.
The club was packed as always, the thumping rhythm seeming to echo in his blood. The scent of perfume, sex, demon magic and wine were enough to make his head spin. He tried to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other as he was taken upstairs. Unfortunately, the scent only got stronger as he ascended. He didn’t remember it being this bad last time. Was it his imagination, or was his own perception of things heightened?
No. No, he was reading too much into this.
The Overlord of the Third Ring was in much the same position as last time, reclining on his throne-like lounge with a wine glass in one hand whilst his other stroked the face of an enraptured demon boy seated at the foot of his chair. Nathair could have been considered handsome if not for his horrifically unsettling eyes. They snapped to Austin as soon as he reached the entryway.
‘Elessaion Arvaris twice in one month, I must be the luckiest demon alive!’ Nathair purred. His little fan club tittered with laughter. He took a long sip from his glass. The red liquid looked oddly thick.
‘It’s Austin,’ said Austin automatically.
‘Come, sit. Sit! You must have something for me?’ The Overlord cooed. He was wearing a stupidly over the top thick pink feather boa around his shoulders. The suit he wore was pinstriped in white and silver. On an average person, it would have looked ridiculous but somehow it worked on the dangerous man. Austin was guided to a seat that was uncomfortably close. Nathair’s aura was pungent. It made Austin’s hair tingle and his nose itch.
‘So, have you come to offer me another contract, precious?’
‘Yeah, please don’t call me that,’ Austin grumbled. This earnt another round of giggles from the pretty men and woman about the luxurious low-lit room. To them, it was like a goldfish asking a shark to slow down.
‘I have come to extend a family invitation to the Arvaris Winter Gala,’ Austin continued, trying to look calm and collected like the son of pedigree, fame and fortune should. He took out the black card and held it out. Nathair’s nostrils flared like a snake scenting for a rabbit. He took the card and peered down at it with great interest.
‘Ah, I see! I have always wondered what old Rimmon kept in that sparkling house of his aside from a pretty bride…’
‘You will be respectful to my mother,’ Austin growled. Those snake-like eyes lifted to meet his and he had to repress a shiver.
‘You, little Avaris pup, are a delight. It’s so cute the way you think you can order me about.’ The laughter was really starting to rub Austin up the wrong way, but really, there wasn’t exactly anything he could do about it. So, he tried for a new angle.
‘Well, if you don’t want to come, I understand. I can imagine an Overlord’s job is very time consuming, but my mother never has thrown a dull party. None of the other lords have turned down their invitations yet.’ There it was, a thinning of the nose, a slight crease in the elegant brow. Annoyance. And something that might have been jealousy. Demons really were predictably petty.
Nathair leant forward, brushing aside the simpering pet that had been leaning against his leg. ‘Oh, you love stirring the pot, don’t you?’ he sneered with a smirk.
Hedging his bets, Austin gave a small shrug. ‘I am my father’s son.’
There was a pause, then the Overlord threw his head back and laughed. ‘Oh alright, I’ll come. If nothing else, I want to see you all glammed up and ready to be paraded around.’ Eww.
‘I’ll try to keep at least one spot on my dance card open,’ Austin said dryly.
‘See that you do, precious. I’ll be looking for you.’ Nathair took the card and made a show of pressing a kiss to it. His fan club seemed to sigh, drawing closer to him like incredibly suicidal moths to an open fire. Personally, Austin had absolutely no wish to get any nearer to the man. He stood up, gave a short bow and turned to leave.
‘I wonder just how tight an ass like that would be. It’s probably as close to heaven as I’ll get, wouldn’t you say?’ Austin heard Nathair say in a loud carrying whisper. The laughter howled out behind him as Austin stalked, red faced, back down the stairs. He really hated that asshole.
‘So how did it go?’ Exton asked hesitatingly as he climbed back into the car ten minutes later.
‘As well as can be expected. He’s coming.’
‘Your ma is going to have kittens when you tell her,’ the hellhound pointed out.
Austin groaned, thumping his head back against the car seat. ‘And the good news just keeps coming.’
‘Sorry Aus.’
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“Having kittens” did not quite encapsulate the near hysteria that followed Austin’s news to his mother. This was the closest Austin had ever seen the woman come to losing her so perfectly woven composure. She flung herself on her son, tears on her lovely cheeks and dark curls all awry.
‘The Overlord of the Third ring! At our gala! Oh, you beautiful boy!’ She kissed him on both cheeks, leaving him with sticky imprints from her dark cherry lipstick. Austin never understood how she was so excited to be in the presence of literal monsters. She managed to step away, clearing her throat and quickly brushing back a few locks of hair.
‘Well, much to do. So much to do. Come.’ Austin really was not a fan of planning these sorts of things. He had an unfortunate amount of practice over the years. The word “party” had never been considered something fun even when he was a small child. It meant endless hours with the event coordinator, picking cookies, making seating charts and organising artworks. Jess had teased once that if he hadn’t wanted to be a pastry chef, he could easily have the qualities and experience to be a wedding planner. Austin was pretty sure he’d rather eat his shoe first.
The two weeks snailed by at a dreadful pace. Every day was a flurry of activity and strangers in his house. Austin hated it. His only relief was his shifts at the bakery. As though to show that his mother could be “supportive” of his little charity shop, she had ordered three hundred macarons, much to his boss’s amusement.
All of his work friends had been teasing him ruthlessly ever since. Still, the big order was good business and once it got out that Elizabeth Avaris was buying pastries from the Little Prince Bakery, their customers seemed to increase. Austin’s mother was one of those celebrities that seemed to be famous for reasons that the human population couldn’t quite remember. She was absolutely gorgeous which probably helped but more likely it had to do with the fact that she and her family were one of the richest in the country. Aside from demons, paparazzi were Austin’s next least favourite kind of people.
At least the night seemed to be moving forward with little drama. Jed had not made another appearance which Austin was taking as a win.
As the day in question arrived, Austin locked himself in his room for most of the leading afternoon. He had absolutely no desire to be down there in the throng of people setting up the tables, produce and flowers. He received a single text from Jess at around four wishing him luck. He smiled down at the screen and thanked her. He would take whatever he could get.
He showered, shaved, and reluctantly got dressed in his new suit. The outfit was lovingly soft and fit to his exact measurements which was hardly a surprise. He wasn’t even sure his mother knew how to order things off the rack anymore. Exton knocked on his door.
‘You ready boss?’ Exton was looking extremely handsome and slightly aggressive in his tailored black suit, the sleeves rolled just enough to show his thick muscles and glowing green hellhound tattoos.
‘Not in a million years,’ Austin sighed. ‘Let’s do this.’
His bodyguard grinned and held the door open for him.
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END
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