Chapter Text
“Look,” Kevin said, waving his hands in front of Andrew’s face. “I get it. You want to know what’s after death, we all do. You want to bring Aaron back - we all wish we could bring our loved ones back. But this is going too far, Andrew.”
Kevin really was an idiot sometimes. Aaron had died a long time ago: Andrew had long since healed, and wasn’t stupid enough to go disturbing the create-destroy balance. Also, Andrew couldn’t give less of a shit about what happened after death.
The only reason Kevin was here was to make sure Andrew didn’t hallucinate whatever results he was about to happen across. Kevin didn’t actually know what Andrew was planning. He’d been working on this a good year, deciphering the code and glyphs within the Wesninski journal, which was a spellbook all about demons and their alternate realms. Andrew was sure he had it right this time: if he kept the circle intact, there would be nothing dangerous about this at all.
Unless he fucked it up. But he wouldn’t. He’d never fucked up a ritual before, and he wasn’t about to start.
That is, if Kevin stopped blabbering.
“Kevin,” Andrew managed. “Will you shut the fuck up?”
The man glared, fiddling anxiously with the small raven brooch that his brother had gifted to him years ago. Andrew turned away now that Kevin was somewhat quiet, ignoring the “Wymack’s going to kill us.” whispered under Kevin’s breath.
Andrew poked his palm with the tip of his knife and watched the droplet of blood slide from his hand, dropping into the centre of the circle. It sizzled, like Andrew was doing this ritual on an enormous hotplate, and dissolved into the pile of pure salt crystals beneath it. The glyphs all glowed a vibrant blue as the ground shook. Andrew could feel the energy being drawn from the clearing, summoned to the ritual circle. He shielded his eyes as the light grew too bright to look at and took a step back.
There was a strange and obscenely loud noise that tore through the silence, almost like someone was shredding a piece of paper into a microphone. The air shook around Andrew, quivering anxiously, and all Andrew could think was:
Fuck.
He needn’t have worried. Within a few moments, the noise, the vibrations, the light - it all vanished. He slowly opened his eyes and glanced to Kevin, who was curled into a tiny ball on the ground.
“Oh, Hell.” Came an unfamiliar voice, very out of breath and very relieved. “You saved my life.”
Andrew slowly looked to the ritual circle: Within it was the figure of a young man, barely taller than Andrew was. He looked normal for the most part, dressed in a billowing white blouse and trousers, except for the scars across his skin and his eyes. The cuts and burns seemed to be laced shut with golden thread, glittering in the moonlight, whilst his eyes were the most piercing shade of blue Andrew had ever seen. They glowed, really glowed, like those glyphs had during the ritual. The strangest part were his pupils, like two little voids but shaped into inverted pentagrams. Combined with fire-licks of gorgeous red hair and the curvature of his cheekbones, Andrew seemed to have summoned the most attractive monster possible.
A monster of whom looked extremely exhausted, bewildered, and injured.
“What?” Andrew remarked, clutching the book to his chest.
“You saved my life by summoning me.” He stepped closer to the edge of the circle. “You pulled me out of my father’s realm and into this one. Speaking of which,” He looked around. “Where in Lucifer’s name am I? And how did you manage to get ahold of that?” He pointed to the Wesninski journal in Andrew’s grasp.
“Found it.” He said.
“Of course.” The demon threw his hands up into the air. “She said she’d hidden it, but I knew she’d lost it. ‘It’s safe with your uncle, Nathaniel. I never lose anything, Nathaniel. Don’t accuse me of causing us such a terrible fate, Nathaniel.’ If you’re listening, Mary, just know I know you were full of shit!”
“You are the demon Nathaniel?” Andrew tried not to act shocked. He’d hoped that the ritual would pull a demon. He didn’t expect to pull the demon. Or, more accurately, the Wesninski demon’s son.
“You had to have known who you were summoning when you perfected the ritual,” Nathaniel frowned. “Didn’t you?”
“I wasn’t 100% sure on the translations.” Andrew admitted. “Kinda went on a whim.”
“Well,” The demon remarked. “Congratulations. You’ve snagged yourself a demon.”
“Now what?” Andrew demanded. “It didn’t exactly tell me what to do once I’d brought you here.”
“No wishes?” Nathaniel hedged. “No insatiable desires? No memories you wish to have removed or altered? No enemies you want smited down? I owe you big time, little witch. I’d have a knife in my throat if it weren’t for you.”
“It’s Andrew, not little witch. Also, that’s rich, coming from you.”
“I’m aware.” The demon said breezily. “But for what I lack in height I make up in attitude. It’s what my father was trying to knife me down for: Being such a nuisance. I think your friend has gone into shock, by the way. He can’t seem to stop looking at me like a concussed goldfish.”
Andrew had completely forgotten about Kevin in the midst of his success and looked to where the man was curled into a ball on the floor, jaw hanging and eyes peeled wide open. He kicked Kevin’s leg. “The ritual worked.”
“No shit!” Kevin snapped, scrambling to his feet. “Are you insane? Summoning demons? Everything has its cost, you know!”
“He’s not wrong.” Nathaniel offered. “What you get is what you give.”
“I saved your life.” Andrew pointed out.
“That was fate. You didn’t do it on purpose.” Nathaniel reprimanded.
“Well?” Andrew spread his hands wide. “What do you want?”
The demon frowned. “Aren’t I meant to ask you that?”
“Because I totally care about semantics. What do you want, demon?”
Nathaniel narrowed his gaze at the journal in Andrew’s hands. “I need that book back.”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “I asked you what you want, not what you need.”
He looked to his feet, lacing his fingers behind his back as he chewed on his bottom lip. All his teeth were just slightly pointed. “Well - I suppose I would…no. That’s ludicrous.”
“Spit it out.” Andrew crossed his arms. Kevin made a weak noise of distress behind him.
The demon looked up from under his lashes. “I’d do anything for my freedom.”
“Anything?” Andrew prompted.
“Anything.” Nathaniel confirmed.
“Alright.” He walked over to the circle of glyphs that kept Nathaniel ensnared. Just as Kevin cried out “Andrew, no!” his shoe scuffed the engravings in the dirt, and whatever invisible leash that bound Nathaniel to the centre of the circle snapped: Andrew could hear it.
The demon looked at Andrew like he’d lost his damned mind.
“You’ll still have to uphold your end of the agreement.” Andrew reminded him.
“Right.” Nathaniel said. “Right. Okay. Are you crazy? You just unleashed a demon into your home realm.”
“Yes, he is!” Kevin cried out, holding up his hands as Nathaniel stepped outside of the ritual circle. “Oh, fate, don’t hurt me.”
“Not insane.” Andrew said, cocking his head. “Just intrigued.”
“Well.” Nathaniel said, appraisingly. “I’m sure we’ll cross paths again soon, Andrew Minyard.” With that, he tapped two fingers to his forehead in a mocking salute before promptly vanishing into thin air. He left behind a distinct smell of smoldering ash and ocean spray.
Kevin covered his face with his hands and moaned “We’re all going to die!”
Andrew ignored him. He still had the book in his possession and Nathaniel owed him. It was an asset that no other witch would’ve had before, and that made Andrew very powerful.
Andrew found that he didn’t mind the idea of having a demon in his pocket. No, Andrew didn’t mind at all.
*