monster. That's what we kill."
Victoria nodded, remembering the witness reports and fuzzy photographs, the insane ramblings of internet nutters now making sense. "Why the weapons?"
He shared a moment's look with the brunette, as if debating how much to reveal. "Demons can only die from a holy weapon. Guns and other weapons can't hurt them."
"And just to get this straight," she said. "We're discussing monsters like werewolves and vampires, ghouls, goblins."
"Correct." He gave a little smile. "Except for goblins. Those aren't real."
Luc grunted a chuckle.
"So tell me, if a holy weapon is the only thing that can kill them, why haven't they just taken over?" she asked, channeling the most common naysayer mantra from the websites. "Infected everyone?"
"It's not like that," he said. "It's not some disease that passes around." He rubbed his fingers, as if trying to articulate the thought. "Let's say a demon bites you…well, it doesn't have to be a bite necessarily. Some use sex, or some other type of domination. In that act they mark your soul, and that means they can take you over. But that's all it means. A werewolf bites a hundred people, there's not a hundred werewolves, there's only a hundred potential werewolves, but there's still only one."
Victoria chewed her lip. It made sense. About as much as everything else did. Then she saw the hole in the logic. "All right," she said carefully. "You say normal weapons don't hurt them?"
"Correct."
"They killed those baby-faced things just fine. How was that possible?"
Luc offered the tablet to the Englishman, showing him something. The Englishman nodded. "Those weren't demons. Those were…minions."
Victoria raised a brow.
"Some demons can imbue their power into other creatures. Sometimes as a familiar, which is essentially human, but under the demon's control. Others times they can do it to a corpse. Those screamers you saw in Manchester were made from dead vermin. Those you can kill with mortal weapons."
Screamers , she thought, the memory of the doll-faced bugs sending shivers along her neck. Fitting name . "So that's why you carry guns?"
He nodded. "Partially. But certain elements can also harm a demon's body. Shoot a werewolf with a silver bullet and you can kill its host. The spirit moves to another, unharmed, so we try not to do that unless we have to. Which brings up a point." He leaned closer. "How exactly did you come to know there was a demon in Amiens? It's not like it even matched the description of the one that attacked you."
Victoria tongued her cheek, her gaze passing over the graffiti-etched table. "I started by looking for those but didn't find anything more than what I already knew. But it led me to a lot of cryptid websites and forums. Mostly rumors and questionable photographs of Loch Ness and Black Shuck."
"Any particular sites?"
She brushed at a mosquito buzzing in her ear. "Not especially. Mostly useless, except that they turned me on towards monsters in general. So then I thought about the weapons. At first I assumed that they were for silence, but then I thought, 'Why those weapons?' A khopesh isn't exactly a normal choice. Why not a fire axe or crop knife. So I started searching for unsolved killings or monster sightings related to primitive weapons." She met his eyes. "That got results."
"Websites about us?"
"No." She shrugged, hiding the lie. "Nothing so organized. But I found some rumors, other weapons, more bad photographs. But that led me to broaden my search. More than once a sighting was followed by an unrelated murder or fire and then no more sightings. So I decided to keep the search up for new sightings, try to figure out which ones might be real and not just some prank or cry for attention, and go check it out."
"You lost your job after the attack?"
"Yes."
"Because you told them about what you saw?"
Victoria chewed her lip, biting back the anger. "A good man died."
"I'm very sorry that happened." He drew a breath, about to
Victoria nodded, remembering the witness reports and fuzzy photographs, the insane ramblings of internet nutters now making sense. "Why the weapons?"
He shared a moment's look with the brunette, as if debating how much to reveal. "Demons can only die from a holy weapon. Guns and other weapons can't hurt them."
"And just to get this straight," she said. "We're discussing monsters like werewolves and vampires, ghouls, goblins."
"Correct." He gave a little smile. "Except for goblins. Those aren't real."
Luc grunted a chuckle.
"So tell me, if a holy weapon is the only thing that can kill them, why haven't they just taken over?" she asked, channeling the most common naysayer mantra from the websites. "Infected everyone?"
"It's not like that," he said. "It's not some disease that passes around." He rubbed his fingers, as if trying to articulate the thought. "Let's say a demon bites you…well, it doesn't have to be a bite necessarily. Some use sex, or some other type of domination. In that act they mark your soul, and that means they can take you over. But that's all it means. A werewolf bites a hundred people, there's not a hundred werewolves, there's only a hundred potential werewolves, but there's still only one."
Victoria chewed her lip. It made sense. About as much as everything else did. Then she saw the hole in the logic. "All right," she said carefully. "You say normal weapons don't hurt them?"
"Correct."
"They killed those baby-faced things just fine. How was that possible?"
Luc offered the tablet to the Englishman, showing him something. The Englishman nodded. "Those weren't demons. Those were…minions."
Victoria raised a brow.
"Some demons can imbue their power into other creatures. Sometimes as a familiar, which is essentially human, but under the demon's control. Others times they can do it to a corpse. Those screamers you saw in Manchester were made from dead vermin. Those you can kill with mortal weapons."
Screamers , she thought, the memory of the doll-faced bugs sending shivers along her neck. Fitting name . "So that's why you carry guns?"
He nodded. "Partially. But certain elements can also harm a demon's body. Shoot a werewolf with a silver bullet and you can kill its host. The spirit moves to another, unharmed, so we try not to do that unless we have to. Which brings up a point." He leaned closer. "How exactly did you come to know there was a demon in Amiens? It's not like it even matched the description of the one that attacked you."
Victoria tongued her cheek, her gaze passing over the graffiti-etched table. "I started by looking for those but didn't find anything more than what I already knew. But it led me to a lot of cryptid websites and forums. Mostly rumors and questionable photographs of Loch Ness and Black Shuck."
"Any particular sites?"
She brushed at a mosquito buzzing in her ear. "Not especially. Mostly useless, except that they turned me on towards monsters in general. So then I thought about the weapons. At first I assumed that they were for silence, but then I thought, 'Why those weapons?' A khopesh isn't exactly a normal choice. Why not a fire axe or crop knife. So I started searching for unsolved killings or monster sightings related to primitive weapons." She met his eyes. "That got results."
"Websites about us?"
"No." She shrugged, hiding the lie. "Nothing so organized. But I found some rumors, other weapons, more bad photographs. But that led me to broaden my search. More than once a sighting was followed by an unrelated murder or fire and then no more sightings. So I decided to keep the search up for new sightings, try to figure out which ones might be real and not just some prank or cry for attention, and go check it out."
"You lost your job after the attack?"
"Yes."
"Because you told them about what you saw?"
Victoria chewed her lip, biting back the anger. "A good man died."
"I'm very sorry that happened." He drew a breath, about to
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