Part 2 in a series of short stories. Can be read separately.
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There were thirteen dead cultists in the manor hall, but you wouldn't know it from looking around the place. They were mostly soup now. Entrails hung off the banisters like morbid garlands, blood and guts were splattered on the tasteful wallpaper, and most of the candles had been doused in splashes of blood. The gore-drenched grand chandelier was still swinging, casting crimson shadows that licked the abattoir below.
Kai took a step and his hoof slipped on some goop. He was still breathing heavily, his fists balled and his jaw set. The rage was only just simmering down enough for him to fully appreciate the carnage he was capable of when provoked. He loathed those who tried to leash him. And they had tried, these weekend cultists with their incomprehensible sigils and limp-dicked attempts at incantations. It annoyed him that they hadn't even gotten the demon-restraining sigils right. There was no sportsmanship in it.
A chain rattled. Only when Kai turned around did he realize how quiet it had gotten now that the screaming and roaring had stopped. His ears were still ringing and his blood still rushing, but he had heard it loud and clear. In the middle of the hall was an altar. A nice one, he had to admit, black and shiny with very precise sigils carved into the stone. And a boy on top. He was naked as a newborn, his hands cuffed over his head and attached to a ring on the altar, black hair spilling over the edge. Kai hadn't noticed him before. It was strange, but he didn't feel much fear coming off him, let alone the panic that would come from seeing a cult gathering turn into an infernal meat blender. Maybe because he hadn't cracked him yet.
"You must be the sacrifice," Kai said, walking over to the altar to take a closer look.
"Yeah," the boy said, and he seemed more suspicious than scared by the hulking blood-splattered demon towering over him. "Hi."
"What's your name?"
A wet glob of gore dripped from his horn and fell on the boy's chest. He narrowed his eyes.
"Matt."
"No it isn't."
"Phil."
"Come on."
"Well I saw what you did when the other one told you his name."
That was fair. Again Kai felt like something wasn't quite right with that boy. He seemed much to blase for the predicament he was in, although understandably cautious.
"I'm not going to do that to you," he said. "If I wanted to, I'd have done it by now. I don't have a problem with you. Honest."
"Then why do you want to know my name?"
Whatever his name was, he was a bit to clever for his own good. Either way Kai was walking out of there, and soon, but he hated the idea of going through all this mess for nothing. He was hungry and quite upset. There wasn't enough time to find somewhere else to feed and he doubted he'd get another summoning before sunrise. They tended to taper off after midnight.
"Noah."
There had been a fair bit of reluctance in his voice, but Kai knew immediately that he was telling the truth this time. Noah opened up and flowered, but even his emotions were strange, smooth and flavorless, like licking an egg. Kai put his hand on the boy's chest, curious at the complete lack of fear. There was nothing there. He wasn't repulsed at the sight of blood, he wasn't scared of the demon or worried about his situation. He was just there. All Kai felt was a small prickle of curiosity, as if the boy's soul was an ornery cat sniffing his hand.
"Noah," Kai repeated, and for the first time he really looked at the boy. He must have been about twenty, lean and olive-skinned with sleek black hair and narrow eyes. His hands were still cuffed, his wrists bruised, but his legs were free. It made Kai curious.
"What did they tell you would happen?" he asked, and Noah grinned.
"Nothing. But I overheard. They said a demon would come and infest me with infernal seed and rip me apart. Will you?"
"I might," Kai nodded, plucking chucks out of his hair, just to see if he could scare him. It did, but only a little. He hardly got a nervous jolt out of him. Feeding on that boy was like trying to suck a steak through a straw. But the curiosity still simmered below, and something was beginning to dawn on Kai. "You volunteered for this, didn't you?"
Noah nodded, and a note of slight amusement finally made the pieces fall into place.
"Of course you did," he smiled, and the boy mimicked his smile. "Because you were bored."
"I'm always bored."
"I'll bet. Am I amusing you?"
"A little. I liked it when you ripped that guy's spine out through his chest."
And he still enjoyed it, but not much. His smile was plastic, and Kai knew for a fact that Noah was still making an effort to look normal. But he couldn't fool a demon that fed on emotion. Most succubi didn't bother with psychopaths. Cracking that smooth, flavorless shell wasn't worth the effort. But Kai was an exception. Just thinking about the singularly pure emotion that could be spun from that dusty heap of straw made him bite his lip. It was worth it to him. And he so rarely got a chance.
"Would you like to feel something?"
His hand was still resting on Noah's bare chest. Underneath his palm a blossom of excitement flowered, muted but pure. He felt pity for that boy, even if Noah wouldn't appreciate it. Kai spent his eternal life chasing the emotional arousal he could never truly experience for himself. Noah's boredom resonated. It tasted like the ashes on the cold plains of the void.
