"There, it's better here. Pleasantly quiet, if a bit dusty." He ran his finger over the dirty statue of some former mayor that was tucked away in the corner, likely as punishment for raising taxes, or worse, the price of beer.

  "Should you try to lay a finger on me, you will be found here in your own blood."

  He heaved a sigh. "My dear child, what are you thinking? That kind of joy was taken from me ages ago. I've learned that you shouldn't take everything for what it seems at first—and certainly shouldn't try to stick anything inside." He grinned. His incisors were missing, giving the stranger the expression of a lunatic.

  Anike shivered. She didn't want to be here alone with this madman.

  "I just wanted to extend greetings from our mutual friend. He is sorry to have to break the sad news to you that the Court of Appeals in Amsterdam has sentenced your father to death."

  Anike sucked in a sharp breath. Her hand flew to the hidden knife.

  "Don't do that," the albino said. "I, also, am but a pawn on the chess board of the powerful. I have nothing whatsoever to do with the matter in Amsterdam."

  That was probably the truth. Still, his words kept echoing in Anike's head. Father sentenced to death. She sobbed.

  "There, there, child. Don't lose hope. Your father …"

  Anike grabbed him by the lapels of his hideous mauve doublet and pushed the little man against the wall. "Don't you dare talk about him!" Somehow the knife was in her hand. Anger and grief flooded Anike. She put the blade against the stranger's throat.

  "You really are a wildcat, my dear. Would you please let go of me now? I would hate to stab you in the stomach, especially since my blade is poisoned and would mean an extremely painful death for you."

  Anike felt something sharp digging into her crotch. "You dirty weasel." She took her hands off him.

  "Thank you. Why don't you let me finish first? Your impulsiveness will one day be your undoing. Believe me."

  "You and I have nothing more to talk about. My father is doomed to die and thus the Imperial Count has lost his influence over me."

  "He’s still alive for now," he dangled. "The decidedly magnanimous Amsterdam judges granted him a reprieve to honor the start of peace negotiations and to give him time to properly repent of his sins. The execution is set for the coming New Year's Day. If you fulfill the new task that our Lord assigns you before then, he will immediately see to it that your father is released from the Rasphuis."

  "I don't believe a word you say!" Anike was about to leave when he held out a wrinkled piece of cloth to her. Even at first glance, Anike recognized her father's worn doublet, which her mother had sewn for him in what felt like another lifetime. "This could be years old."

  "But it isn't. In prisons, inmates must be frugal with what they have. And for many, that is no more than the clothes they wore on the day they were incarcerated. Who else but your father would have kept that rag for so long?"

  Memories flooded Anike’s mind. Her bloodied father, who could barely be held by the two city guards. My beloved Evi. No, no, no, I didn't. Evi. Evi. Evi … Trembling, Anike took the piece of cloth. The faint smell of her father still clung to the fabric. Images flashed in front of her. Her father, how he comforted her when she had fallen. Her father when he brought her a rag doll from the city. Her father, who tickled her until she had tears in her eyes from laughter.

  "But that is not all. Our master wants to prove to you that he believes in you." He tossed Anike a bulging leather pouch.

  Anike caught it deftly, but almost dropped it again, it was so heavy.

  "Fifty gold marks. You may keep them no matter what. You can use it to build a new life for yourself. A life without all these half-truths and scams. If you fail, you will need the money to disappear, because you will be charged with the numerous crimes you have committed in recent years. If you succeed, you will get the promised five hundred gold marks on top of that. You will be a rich, respectable citizen and your father will go free. Not a bad offer, if you ask me." He looked at her challengingly with his bright eyes.

  The weasel is not wrong. "What do you want me to do?" she asked in a firm voice.

  "Our Lord would like you to bring the negotiations to a quicker conclusion. At the very latest, you should complete this assignment shortly before the turn of the year." He grinned at her with his gapped teeth. "And make it look like it's your surgeon's fault."

  26

  Mela

  December 1644, Osnabrück, 27th year of War

  Gustav would never have dreamed it possible at the beginning of his training, but he was beginning to get bored. The so-called peace negotiations were not only chaotic and unpredictable, but also so tiring and tedious that he was glad for every day that Anike had to accompany Martin. To describe his relationship with the girl as ‘cold’ was an understatement. Since their summer adventure in the garden cottage and the subsequent release of the demons, she had hardly spoken a word to him. Gustav had the feeling that she was deliberately avoiding him. Her behavior was a mystery to him. He had no other experience with young women, but after their shared encounter with Hayo, he had at least hoped they could be friends, if nothing else.

  He rubbed his tired eyes, blew out the candle on the nightstand, and pulled the covers a little higher. In the summer, the crooked house and its garden had exuded a certain charm, but in the winter, it was a cold, clammy shithole. Gustav spent what little free time he had in bed to keep warm. Unfortunately, this left his mind free to brood about Anike and about his deceased family. He missed them, especially during this dark time. His father might have been able to give him some advice about the girl, and his sister would now be blossoming into a woman herself. He still couldn't believe they were dead. He would give anything to return to Breitenfeld one last time to say goodbye to them properly and in peace.

  To distract himself and to have someone to talk to, Gustav had begun summoning the red-scaled demoness fairly regularly. This violated every code of his guild, but he justified his actions to himself with the fact that he’d never get such hands-on training as he got with her. She had taught him much of what a black feldsher could do, even allowing him to trim her claws and remove a splinter from her scales. She was an interesting conversationalist besides and learning about such an alien being was fascinating. Nevertheless, he always exercised caution. She was, after all, still a man-eating demon.

  "Oh, come on, no one will notice," grumbled the demoness, sitting in her usual spot on the window ledge and gazing longingly down at the city.

  "For the hundredth time, we're not going to go roaming through the city again. Have you forgotten the damage we did last time? It's a miracle that Hayo's demons didn't eat the whole town."

  She pouted, sticking her tusks out even further. There was silence between them for a while. "What if I tell you a secret? Will you go out with me then?"

  Gustav had learned by now that bound demons had to stay close to their summoner, so she couldn't just climb out the window and go off on her own. "Will you finally tell me your name?" Gustav straightened up so abruptly that he felt dizzy for a moment. He let himself sink back down on the bed.

  "What is it? Are you dying? Please die quickly so that I can be free. Here, take these. Just shove them hard into your throat." She held her razor-sharp claws towards him.

  Gustav batted them away, laughing. "No, my blood just left my head too quickly. I'm fine."

  "Humans are so disgusting. Do you have to tell me things like that? It makes me sick to my stomach. I would hardly be able to choke down a young girl right now." She spat out something bluish.

  A black spot appeared on the floor.

  "Don't. If the feldsher ever comes in here, he'll notice, won't he?"

  She waved this off and looked out into the night again with wide eyes.

  "Now, what about your name?" Gustav tried.

  "Oh, my dear Gustav. Why do you still want to know? We get along really well as it is."

  Gustav looked into her golden eyes for a long time. The dark room was bright as day for him as she shared her powers. "Trust," he finally said quietly. "Friends need to trust each other.” The demoness shifted in her seat, fidgeting as if she wanted to say something. She slid out of the window onto clawed feet and tiptoed over to Gustav.

  "Are you serious?" she whispered.

  "What? That we need to trust each other? Well, sure, otherwise …"

  "No, that other thing."

  "That we're friends?" Gustav cleared his throat and pinched her arm to cover his embarrassment. "I, for one, have come to see it that way, and I have no intention of driving you to suicide either. After all, you've already saved my life twice." He gave her a tentative smile.

  The demoness took his hand in hers. Gustav’s palm was tiny compared to hers, but the deep red skin on the inside of her hand was soft and warm, like that of a human. "A human and a demoness as friends. There has never been anything like it. But it is a real honor for me, Gustav Hansson. I think of you as a friend too. An ugly one, for sure. A friend I would be embarrassed to introduce to my other friends, but nevertheless, you are my friend." She smiled, and for once it was an honest smile, with no tricks or malice.

  For the first time, Gustav saw beyond the terrible demon face to what lay behind it. A creature that was caged and always at the mercy of others. A creature with a deep sense of humor and a vast education. Someone who liked to read and who had even tried her hand at singing—nevermind that it had attracted all the neighborhood cats. Someone who had unselfishly saved his life as well as the lives of Anike and the feldsher.

  The demon blinked and her small ears fluttered. The connection between them had strengthened so much over the months that they had developed a fine sense for each other’s feelings and Gustav sometimes had the feeling he was seeing the world through her eyes.

  "Mela," she said softly.

  "What?" asked Gustav in amazement.

  "Mela, that's my name."

  Gustav opened his eyes wide in surprise.

  "Did you expect something more warlike? Bone cruncher? Child eater? Fang?"

  Yes, I did, would have been the truthful answer. Instead, Gustav said, "No, that's a very beautiful name. Mela." He felt the utterance of her name close the last missing link in their connection. They were one now.

  She nodded. "You feel it, don’t you?"

  "Yes," Gustav breathed. It felt like he could finally see behind a curtain that had been blocking his view. He felt a whispering and vibrating under his feet—the voices of the countless demons that dwelled in the earth, waiting for someone to call them to the surface.

  "I think you can stop with the stupid ash and blood now too. Just say my name and call me. When I feel like it, I'll come visit you. Ideally, you'll have at least a few legs or arms for me, or a nicely prepared torso to make my visit worthwhile," she joked, lightening the mood.

  Gustav looked at his scarred hands. He was running out of excuses to give Martin about why he was constantly cutting himself on something. "Really? Have you known this all along?"

  "Sure, that's why I didn't tell you." Mela shrugged her shoulders as if that said it all.

  Gustav took this in stride. "Thank you for sharing this secret with me, Mela. I appreciate it very much. Can I continue to forbid you from eating people?"

  Mela rolled her three eyes in annoyance. "I'll try to hold back." She smacked her lips and let her long tongue flick out. "But that wasn't the secret I was talking about before."

  Gustav sat up, curious.

  "And this really isn't a trick to get into town after all? Because there's no way that's going to happen." Gustav stood in the snowy garden, clad only in his pajamas and a blanket over his shoulders, wondering how Mela had talked him into being there. She had climbed down the back of the house to be on the safe side, but Martin could find them at any moment. And it was freezing. "This miserable cold." Gustav breathed into his clammy hands and rubbed them together.

  The demoness wagged her ears cheekily, but said: "No, not a trick. I promise, friend." She beamed at him as she spoke the word.

  The scent of cinnamon invaded Gustav's nose. "No, no, no. You didn't drag me here because you wanted to relieve yourself in the garden, did you?"

  "Don’t be ridiculous. I'm a lady, I don't do that kind of thing in front of men. I used your chamber pot when you were going down the stairs." She sniffed. "Be careful when you go into the room later, the pot is quite small. You might want to bring a rag with you to wipe it up."

  Gustav couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he didn’t have time to protest before the demoness skipped to the gnarled apple tree in the garden, bent down and swept aside the snow, exposing the ground beneath.

  "What are you doing now?" he hissed, sure that the spray of ice-cold snow did not hit him by accident.

  With a critical look, the demoness surveyed her work. "There, that should do."

  "That's your secret? You can shovel snow?"

  "Nonsense, that's not the point at all. Don't ask such stupid questions, apprentice." She moved the four toes on each of her feet and dug into the earth with them.

  Gustav was surprised that she managed. The ground was frozen and hard as stone.

  "Delightful. You wouldn't believe how quickly you miss it. In a way, we're all stuck, and as entertaining as our meetings are, I actually prefer to be at home and …"

  "Mela," Gustav interrupted. "I'm about to freeze something off here. Humans are not as impervious to cold and heat as you are. Please tell me why we're here, or I'm going back to bed."

  She looked at him in surprise, her golden eyes standing out in the darkness. "Don't you feel it?"

  "What? The winter? Yes, I can feel it quite clearly and …"

  "No, the others." She tilted her huge skull and licked her nose excitedly. "Oh, I know. You need to take off your foot holders." She pointed to Gustav's wooden slippers.

  "You want me to do what?" exclaimed Gustav a little too loudly. He spun toward the house to see if he had awakened anyone. He continued more quietly, "If I take my shoes off, I'll have frostbite in the morning, and fewer toes if I'm unlucky."

  "Wouldn't be the worst thing. It's kind of gross that you have five anyway." Mela contorted her face in disgust and her scales stood up like goosebumps. "But fine, I'll make it a little warmer for you."

  The belly of the demoness began to glow, like an oversized piece of charcoal. Heat radiated from her, and her scales undulated over her body.

  Something wet ran down Gustav’s collar. He looked up. The snow on the apple tree was melting.

  "Ok, try it now. I can't maintain this heat for long, plus I'm always so hungry afterwards." Mela winked at him.

  Gustav slipped off first one wooden slipper and then the second.

  "Dig your feet into the ground a little."

  Gustav wiggled his toes. The soil was cool but soft due to Mela's heat and the melt water. "What's this nonsense, I …" Then he saw them. So many of them. Most asleep in the ground. Others in faraway places that Gustav could see as clearly as if he were there. He was sensing all the other demons that existed in the world.

  "We are all connected as part of one big whole. That is the secret. I thought it was about time you knew, friend." Mela looked at him for a long time. "That's also the one thing we all want, as different as we are. Becoming whole and one again."

  Gustav was taken aback. "What happened … Ahhh!" Pain shot up Gustav's leg. He looked down. A small blue hand had sunk its claws into him and was dragging him into the ground. "Mela!" he cried out in panic.

  "The Intellectus!”

  "What?" Gustav tried to fight back but was submerged almost to his waist already.

  Mela reached under his armpits and pulled. The opposing demon dug its claws deeper into Gustav's flesh. Unimaginable pain jolted through his legs, like his skin was being peeled off.

  "It's the demon you set free at Hayo’s."

  "Not a very nice way to show your gratitude. What does he want from me?" groaned Gustav, afraid he'd rip in two. Both demons were about the same strength. He was not being pulled deeper but did not come out again either. "Mela," he pleaded, "this isn’t working. I can't take it anymore."

  She let go.

  Gustav's body jerked deeper into the cold, damp earth. Mela sank after him.

  "Stay with me," Gustav whimpered. His legs were on fire and his vision darkened. Something screeched, the sound muffled by the earth and the pull on his legs ceased. Gustav kicked and clawed the dirt, dragging himself back out of the ground. He jumped onto the stone slab that formed the transition from the garden to the house—demons needed bare earth to appear. He was safe for the moment. His pajamas hung in tatters on his legs and were soaked in blood. "Mela," he shouted in panic. "Mela, where are you?"

  The earth shook. Flowerpots fell from the windowsills and broke with a clink. Growls and roars came from the earth.

  They’re fighting with each other. Gustav wracked his brain for a way to help her, but even if he had his sword with him, it wouldn't be much use. He watched the earth, spellbound, as it rolled and sank and churned with their fight.

  A clawed hand shot out of the ground.

  Frightened, Gustav jumped back until he realized that it was covered in red scales. Mela.

  Groaning, the demoness peeled herself out of the ground. A gash ran across her belly, golden blood pouring out of it. One of her horns was chipped, her nose scratched and the middle eye cloudy.

  "Mela! I’m here, I’ll help you." Gustav ran to help her to her feet. "It's the least I can do after you saved me once again."

  "Do something quickly," she moaned, blood running from her mouth like liquid gold.

  Gustav feverishly considered his options. If he had thick salmon bones and silk thread with him, he could stitch up her belly. Unfortunately, his seldom used feldsher bag was under the bed. To cure demons, you could only use natural things. If I had rosemary, I could stop her bleeding. But he had no clue where the rosemary was hiding under the snow, and he didn’t have a silver knife to cut out the blind eye so it could grow back.

 

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