Chapter One


Duncan Menteith had been a jerk before he died. His being a Mazoku didn't change that. He sat across from me, wearing plain white clothes that practically glowed in the dim lighting of my office. How a Mazoku got away with wearing a color that is associated with purity and light is beyond me, but Duncan always did like crossing those strictly drawn out lines of expectation. I had to admit, though, his black hair and eyes were a great contrast to the outfit. He looked the same, of course, and acted the same, as well. He had been the leader of a local gang, probably the most polite and well dressed gang in the history of gangs.

Of course, it would be hard to be a gang-banger when the higher Mazoku were breathing down your neck. I guess that's why he was in my office, although it was hard to see him as anyone's gopher, even a powerful Mazoku's. No, death hadn't changed him much. But just in case, I kept my distance, as well as making sure the wards of the office were tightly in place. It was almost standard policy when dealing with Mazoku. He was a slime bucket, but now he was a demonic slime bucket. It was a new category for me.

We sat in the quiet air-conditioned hush of my office. The powder blue walls, which Luna, my boss and neechan, thought would be soothing (of course, the color held a significant, and obvious, meaning to her), made the room feel cold.

"Mind if I smoke?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "I do."

"Damn, you aren't gonna make this easy, are you?"

I looked directly at him for a moment, letting my own shields down a little to look at the aura which now surrounded him. He caught my slip, and I slammed my walls up, looking quickly away.

Duncan laughed, a soft, almost pleasant, sound. The laugh hadn't changed. "I love it! You're afraid of me."

"Not afraid, just cautious," I said, trying to keep my bruised ego under control.

"You don't have to admit it. I can smell the fear on you, almost like something is touching my face, my brain. You're afraid of me, because I'm a Mazoku."

I shrugged, not much else I could say without fireballing his ass out of my office and getting Neechan upset. But how do you lie to someone who can smell your fear? "Why are you here, Duncan?"

"Ruby Eye, I wish I had a smoke." The skin began to jump at the corner of his mouth, although he tried his best to conceal it.

"I didn't think Mazoku had nervous twitches."

His hand went up, almost touching it. He smiled at me, same old smile, although now it didn't seem as sincere. "Some things don't change."

I wanted to ask him, what does change? How does it feel to be a demon? I knew other Mazoku, but Duncan was the first I had known before and after the change. It was a peculiar feeling. "What do you want?" I asked, an edge to my voice as I tried to cover my curiosity.

"Hey, I'm here to give you money. To become a client."

My eyes lit up at the mention of money, and I glanced at him. "I'm a professional sorceress-bodyguard. Why would a Mazoku need their body guarded? You guys can survive anything that I could protect you from."

He shook his head, a slow, graceful gesture. "No, none of that magic stuff. I want to hire you to investigate some murders."

"I am not a private investigator."

"But you have one of them on retainer to your outfit."

I nodded. "You could hire Ms. ul Copt directly. You don't have to go through me for that."

Again, that shake of the head. "But she doesn't know about Mazoku the way you do, Lina."

I sighed, I was getting REALLY annoyed with Duncan. "Can we cut to the chase, Duncan? I have to leave" - I glanced at my watch - "in fifteen minutes. I don't like to leave a client waiting alone on a dark street. They tend to get jumpy."

He laughed. The laugh in itself was comforting, sounding too sincere to have come from a demon. "I'll bet they do." His face sobered suddenly, as if a hand had wiped the laughter away.

I felt fear like a jerk in the pit of my stomach. Mazoku could change movements like a switch. If he could do that, what else could he do?

"You know about the Mazoku that are being murdered over in the District?"

He made it a question, so I answered. "I'm familiar with them." Four Mazoku had been slaughtered in the new Mazoku club district. Their bodies torn apart, black blood smeared across the walls.

"Are you still working with the police?"

"I am still on retainer with the new task force."

He laughed again. "Yeah, the Spook Squad. Underbudgeted and undermanned, right."

"You've described most of the police work in this town."

"Maybe, but the police like you, Lina. What's one less Mazoku? New laws don't change prejudices."

It had been a year since the Addison v. Clark. The court case gave us a revised version of what life was, and what death wasn't. Mazoku-ism was legal in the good ol' U. S. of A. We were one of the few countries to acknowledge them. The immigration people were having fits trying to keep foreign Mazoku from immigrating in, well, flocks. Not that that could really stop them. How can some barriers and a few security guards stop beings that can teleport? And tear out your heart before you can blink…

All sorts of questions were being fought over in court. Did heirs have to give up their inheritance? Were you widowed if your spouse became Mazoku? Was it murder to slay a Mazoku (Not that most could)? There was even a movement to give them a right to vote. Times were a-changing.

I stared at the Mazoku in front of me and shrugged. Did I really believe, what was one less Mazoku? Maybe. "If you believe I feel that way, why come to me at all?"

"Because you're the best at what you do. We need the best."

It was the first time I heard him say "we." "Who are you working for?"

He smiled then, a close, secretive smile, like he knew something I should know. "Never mind that. We want someone who knows the night life to be looking into these murders. The money is really good."

Oh, he had hit at my one known weakness. It was going to be hard keeping my morality up, with everyone waving money in my face, but I was sure I could manage. "I saw the bodies, Duncan. I gave everything I know to the police."

"What did you think?" He leaned forward in his chair, slender hands flat on my desk. His eyes, with their demonic slitted pupils, eager and bright, shining with an unearthly light.

"I gave a full report to the police." I stared up at him, trying to forget the money that was being offered.

"Won't even give a little, will you?"

"I am not at liberty to discuss police business with you."

"I told them you wouldn't go for this," he said with a sigh.

"Go for what? You haven't told me a damn thing."

"We want you to investigate the Mazoku killings, find out who's, or what's, doing it. We'll pay you three times your normal fee."

I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts under control. That explained Luna, she was almost as greedy as I, and didn't have my rules to stop her from taking money offered. It also was a good plan, on the Mazoku's parts, offering me something that I craved so badly. Luna should have known I wouldn't want to be in this meeting, hear these things. Of course, she was probably having a jolly time trying to figure out what I would do. Dammit, she KNOWS how I feel about Mazoku! Of course, there wasn't anything I could do about it, without bringing down Neechan's wrath.

I suppressed a shudder as I looked back at Duncan. I stood. "The police are looking into it. I am already giving them all the help I can. In a way I am already working on the case. Save your money." Ceifeed, I hated saying that last bit.

He sat staring up at me, although even sitting he didn't have to look far. As I watched, something changed on his face, in his eyes. It was as thought the last semblance of humanity he had had leaked away.

Fear ran up my spine and into my throat, though I tried to suppress it. With the fear, came the anger, as if the two were entwined in my soul. I fought the urge to fireball him through the wall. Throwing a client out with a barrage of fire shamanism somehow didn't seem professional. So I just stood there, waiting to see what he would do next.

"Why won't you help us?"

"I have clients to meet, Duncan. I'm sorry that I can't help you."

"Won't help, you mean."

I nodded. "Have it your way." I walked around the desk to show him to the door.

He moved with a liquid quickness that even Duncan had never had, but I saw him move and was one step back from his reaching hand. "I'm not just another beautiful face, Duncan."

"You saw me move."

"I heard you move. You're a very new demon, Duncan. Mazoku or not, you've got a lot to learn."

He was frowning at me, hand still half-extended towards me. "Maybe, but no human could have stepped out of reach like that." He stepped close to me, white jacket brushing against me. Pressed together like that, I realized how much taller he was than me. I hate people who think that their height can intimidate me.

It took everything I had not to step back from him. But dammit, Mazoku or not, no one could make me back down. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of being the first to see me scared.

He said, "You aren't human, any more than I am."

I moved to open the door. I hadn't stepped away from him. I had stepped away to open the door. I tried to convincing the sweat along my spine that there was a difference. The cold feeling in my stomach wasn't fooled, either.

"I really have to be going now. Thank you for thinking of the Inverse Protection Agency." I gave him my best professional smile, empty of meaning as a light bulb, but dazzling.

He paused in the open doorway. "Why won't you work for us? I have to tell them something when I get back."

I wasn't sure, but there was something like fear in his voice. Would he get in trouble for failing? I felt sorry for him and knew it was stupid. He was a Mazoku, for Ceifeed's sake, but he stood looking at me, and he was still Duncan, with his weird sense of style and lazy smile.

"Tell them, whoever they are, that I don't work for Mazoku."

"A firm rule?" Again he made it sound like a question.

"Concrete."

There was a flash of something on his face, the old Duncan peeking through. It was almost pity. "I wish you hadn't said that, Lina. These people don't like anybody telling them no."

"I think you overstayed your welcome. I don't like to be threatened."

"It isn't a threat, Lina. It's the truth." He straightened his coat, squared his muscular shoulders, and walked out.

I closed the door behind him and leaned against it. My knees felt weak. But there wasn't time for me to sit here and shake. Kagome Higurashi was probably already at the meeting spot. She would be standing there, in her school uniform, wondering where I was, and what new shadow would jump out at her next. Ever since her supposedly 'magic' well in her backyard had collapsed, she had been having nightmares about demons who supposedly have a few (well, actually a lot) of old bones to pick bones with her.

Everything I needed was in my car. All I had to do was make it out there without being jumped by some demon lurking in the shadows. I place a hand on my sword hilt, trying to calm myself down and convince myself that absolutely nothing was going to happen to me. I had my spells. And even though most of them wouldn't even do serious damage, they might discourage any lower Mazoku to back off. It would force them to heal. Although, considering how quickly they could do that, it wasn't much of an advantage. I wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt and went out.

Yura Heir, our night secretary, was typing furiously at the computer keyboard. Her eyes widened as I walked over the thick carpet. Maybe it was the sword bouncing at my side. Maybe it was the half made spell sparking at my fingers. She didn't mention either. Smart oni.

I put my nice little black cape over my shoulders. It didn't exactly hide the sword, but it was better than anything. And I doubted Kagome-san would pay any attention, she seemed surprisingly familiar with most weapons.


Chapter 1   |   Fanfiction