“Mist is my friend too,” Eva cut in, interrupting the staring contest. “We’ve been hanging out a lot the last month, and he’s really sweet. I want to help him.”
“Of course you do.” Dan shook his head. “When you were a kid, you always rooted for the monster in the story. I should have known you’d be trouble.”
“What can I say? I love a good anti-hero.” She smiled at Ash.
Bel rolled his eyes.
She turned to Dan. “Mist is a good guy. He deserves a chance. Please help us?”
“All this ‘good demon’ stuff is new to me, so I’m choosing to trust your judgment. Tell me about the brands.”
Belial explained everything he knew about how they worked. Thankfully, he’d forced Mishetsu to let him snap a few pictures after their conversation, and he passed his phone over to Dan now to let him study them.
“Hmm.” The Grigori stared at the pictures for a time. “It looks familiar. I must have read about it at some point, possibly in something on Sheolic magic in the Empyrean library, but it’s hard to remember now.”
“What do you remember?” Belial asked.
Dan studied him. “What doyouremember? I think you’d have more knowledge on this than I do.”
“I remember something,” Bel admitted, “but it was from a very long time ago. I wanted to hear your thoughts to verify if my memory was accurate or not.”
Dan nodded. “The memories tend to blur together over the ages, don’t they?”
“Often to be lost completely.”
A moment of understanding passed between them.
They both grimaced and looked away. Belial was not getting friendly with an angel. He’d rather have Dan’s knife stuck in his chest.
“My best guess?” Dan said. “The design of the brands looks like something from the Shehanva.”
Belial cursed.
“You thought that too?”
He nodded.
“What’s the Shehanva?” Eva asked.
“The Shehanva were a race of nomadic demons,” Bel explained. “Savage little shits. They were skilled with magic and big on slavery. At one point, I think they’d cornered the entire market in the underworld. But they were wiped out of existence ages ago. They pissed off one too many territory rulers, and it was one of the rare instances where they banded together to defeat a common enemy.”
“So how were they responsible for Mist’s brands if they’re extinct?”
“Mishetsu has been around a long time. He would have gotten them before then. Paimon probably hired someone to perform the magic for her.”
“Either way, it’s a dead end,” Asmodeus said. “The Shehanva are gone, and so is all knowledge of their magic practices.”
“So there’s no way to help Mist?” Eva looked devastated. “He’s doomed forever to serve a horrible demon queen?”
“There has to be something.” Bel stroked his chin and tried to remember.
It was hard to dig up memories from thousands of years ago, however. His mind had once been a very dark place, and after a certain point, he’d just deleted some of what was in there so he didn’t go crazy from all the disturbing shit lurking around.
“There is someone I could ask,” Dan said, though he didn’t look happy about it. “But it’s against the rules, and I don’t feel right asking her to break them on behalf of a demon.”
“Please, Dad?” Eva made doe eyes, and he caved instantly.
“Fine, fine. I have a friend. Well, more of an acquaintance. We were friends before I fell, and we’ve kept in touch over the ages. I could ask Sunshine to have a look in the Empyrean library for me.”
