The Demon Side by Heaven Liegh Eldeen Page B

families’ lives would end in horrible, disgusting acts of murder after he got what he wanted from them. I despised him and his kind but I also admired him. He too was a master of his craft.
    He’d once gotten a fifteen-year-old Catholic choir boy to not only kill his father, but also feed his rotten corpse to his mourning mother who was unknowingly pregnant with Alastor’s child. When she finished consuming her husband, she hung her son and consumed his body to feed her unborn child. This incident earned Alastor the nickname, The Executioner. He never knew where to draw the line. His cockiness got in the way of his brains. With no qualms about revealing himself to the world so he could take credit for his despicable acts of lust and gore, he often drew the attention of the Arches. I disliked the visits his acts brought.
    “Rahovart! My, it has been a long time. How are you, brother?” Alastor slithered over and embraced me, not out of brotherly love, but to read me. Let the games begin, I thought. Demons can read each other without the trouble of a walkthrough, but the more physical contact you have with another Demon, the more you can read their mood and intentions. With the recent events, I wasn’t sure what he would learn from our “hello.”
    “It’s been a long time. Last time I saw you, you were traveling with Paimon to Salem, Massachusetts. How did that go for you?” I asked Alastor.
    “Worked like a charm. Those Puritans were too easy. Their men were already so corrupt and their women were foul with the stench of sin. It literally became an evil buffet. You should have come with us,” Alastor said with excitement and conceit.
    “So I heard. You disappeared for quite some time after that. Many have come looking for you.” No one ever came looking for Alastor, but I was curious about what he would say regarding his sudden disappearance.
    “Ah, yes, my extended vacation.” Alastor clapped his claws.
    “ You take a vacation ? I heard a much different story.” Alastor and I chuckled for a moment. He knew what I was getting at. Rumor had it he’d followed a family full of Islamic converts to a village in the Middle East. The villagers got wise to his presence when some of their virgins ended up pregnant. After some very crafty planning, they were able to lure him into an incense lamp, which is exactly why I chose to stay in the certainty of my home. The Middle Eastern people were great at ambushing Demons and Angels. A Demon by the name of Jin remained trapped for millennia by the Persians until a great war broke out, freeing him from his captors.
    “Those damned people trapped me. If it wasn’t for a certain Marine, I’d still be in that cramped lamp,” Alastor sputtered. He’d finally been duped by people he always deemed beneath him. I found it quite humorous.
    In the middle of my silent chuckle, it hit me. Did he say a Marine? Alastor wasn’t following Etta. He was following John. If John had released Alastor from his glass prison, that would mean John could be the good guy he appeared to be. The more blood and evil around a Demon the stronger it becomes, but in order to break from a prison, it must attach itself to a very sick, twisted, and damned person. I never would have pegged John that way. I couldn’t push Alastor on the subject or he might see through me and mislead me.
    “So are you traveling through again, my brother?” I knew he wasn’t traveling through, but Alastor was the type that needed to believe he had the upper hand even in the most trivial of situations. If I kept him thinking he was superior to me, his ego would blind his judgment and his gums would start flapping. Similar to the villains in Saturday morning cartoons, he always had a long drawn-out monologue giving away his plan when he should just keep his mouth shut and kill the superhero already.
    “You know why I’m here. The man freed me, but the girl is irresistible. Those succulent hips and firm breasts are to