The ‘first aid tent’ was more a covered set of hammocks off to the side of the festival, but it would serve. One of the helpers running it was even nice enough to bring in shaved ice for all three of them. Helena wouldn’t have been able to splurge on that.
She was helping Camila bend her arm so the jiang-shi could eat, when the demon stirred. The woman’s bat wings twitched a few times, and she groaned in pain. But the cut didn’t seem to reopen. After a moment the woman’s eyes opened and she looked around.
“Heya,” Camila chirped. “Looks like you had a rough night, but you’re safe now.”
The demon looked around the area with dull eyes, before flopping on her face again, matted red hair blocking out the light. “You should have left me to die.”
Camila frowned at that. “You’re welcome. It’s probably impolite to die at a festival for the dead you know.”
Dr. Collins seemed put off by the demon woman’s snub as well, but he moved to her side. “Are you still feeling discomfort? Your lacerations seem to have healed, but I don’t know if there are any lingering effects.”
“I’m fine,” the demon muttered, turning away from the doctor.
Helena peered at her, trying to figure out if this was some aftereffect of the blessed blade or an innate quality of the demon herself. Depending on how they’d been created demons were naturally contrary creatures. Unfortunately she wasn’t good at demonology or mind magic. All she could tell was the woman was dirty, pale, and incredibly weak.
“Lord forgive me for my sins. What did I do to deserve this?” a familiar voice sounded behind her.
She turned to see Inspector Kilduff of the police department standing there with two other officers. Camila grinned and awkwardly waved. “Heya. Been a while.”
“Not as long as I would have liked lassie. I’d hoped you’d be able to keep that Daughter of Satan out of trouble,” Kilduff pulled out a cigarette with thick fingers. “But here we are with attempted murder and on an actual demon.”
“Daughter of Hecate,” Helena corrected testily.
Dr. Collins stood. “Please don’t disturb the patient too much. And no smoking in the tent.”
“Sorry doctor,” Kilduff said, putting the cigarette away. “Do you need to keep an eye on the victim, or can you spare a bit of time to give Officer Jones your testimony?”
“So long as we can talk here it should be fine,” the doctor said.
“Right. Jones, do the interviews. McHowell, go check the scene. The oni neighborhood watch will have blocked it off so show your badge. They like the respect.” Kilduff glared at Helena. “I’ll question the victim.”
Helena stepped aside. “Go ahead.”
Kilduff sat next to the demon woman and pulled out a paper. “Right then. What’s your name?”
“Acedia,” the demon muttered, turning away from the policeman.
Helena blinked as she parsed the name, then groaned. “She’s a sin demon. Of course.”
Everyone in the room turned to look at her, including Acedia. Camila raised a hand. “Kay, explain that to the poor dead immigrant girl.”
“Some sects believe there are demons that are personifications of the deadly sins.” She looked down at the demon. “I’m guessing you were created by a group before they cut it down to seven. Since I know acedia got removed in favor of sloth.”
“Good job, you figured it out.” Acedia muttered. “Now leave me be.”
Kilduff grimaced. “I don’t suppose you’d be doing me the favor of telling me who tried to murder you?”
Acedia froze. The drums from the festival slowly beat as they all waited on the demon. Finally she closed her eyes and said, “It was an angel. I was attacked by an angel at my apartment.”
Kilduff looked down at the woman. “I find that a bit hard to believe, lass. You sure it was an actual angel?” Honestly Helena had a hard time believing it too. Helena was good at judging how strong mythical creatures were, and Acedia didn’t rate. An angel would have slaughtered her.
“It was!” Acedia glared at Kilduff, fire in her eyes. “I can tell! That cursed holy aura’s a little hard to miss even for a pathetic failure of a demon like me! It was so bad I couldn’t even see its face!” And then the fire was gone. The demon flopped on her back. “Whatever. I shouldn’t have run. Just leave me.”
The policeman tapped the paper. “Can you tell me which apartment it was?”
“87 Cherry Street. Room 13,” she muttered.
Kilduff marked it down, then stood up. “Thank you for your time miss. We’ll contact you if we find any leads. And if you need anything drop by the station.” He walked over to Helena lowering his voice so the demon wouldn’t overhear. “There anything that matches the lass’ description that isn’t an angel?”
Helena found herself hesitating. Kilduff was as fickle an ally as the Athenians, and she’d been on the wrong side of his religious intolerance towards magicians too many times for her liking. But she’d learned a lot working with him on the Liang case. And the man had shown he was dedicated to the law as much if not more than he was to his faith.
The fact that he’d asked for her help decided the matter. “I don’t know,” Helena replied. “I have a hard time believing she escaped an angel. But the wound was blessed. Stranger things have happened. My guess is that it was a lesser god or something outside our respective pantheons though.”
“How’d we tell the difference?” He started scribbling on his paper.
Helena shrugged. “Get a priest. If he thinks the area’s holy it’s an angel. If he thinks it’s unholy it’s someone from a different pantheon.” She grimaced. “That or wait. Any angel who’s willing to murder demons in defiance of the laws of the land….”
“Is a pretty sad excuse for an angel,” Kilduff said.
“I was going to say ‘is going to start killing again very soon,'” Helena replied.
Kilduff’s expression grew even more grim. “Right.” He leveled a gaze at her. “If you learn anything let us know. No trying to handle this yourself.”
“I’ll tell you if I blunder into anything, but I’m not working for you anymore.” Helena frowned. “Unless you’re willing to pay me again.” She didn’t want to admit it, but she needed the money.
“I’d hire a priest first,” Kilduff replied before walking off to compare notes with the doctor. Not too surprising.
Camila hopped over to her side. “Still getting along great I see.”
“You should have seen what it was like before,” Helena replied.
The jiang-shi woman chuckled before moving next to Acedia. “So, you got any place to stay? Going back to your apartment doesn’t sound great.”
The demon shrugged, not bothering to raise herself up.
“No need to be shy. I know what it’s like to get tossed out into weirdness. I can get you to wherever your friends are,” Camila said.
“I don’t have friends,” Acedia replied.
Helena saw Camila’s expression darken and put her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “She’s a demon formed to be a personification of acedia. This is her natural state.”
“So that acedia thing isn’t translating for me. What’s that mean?” Camila replied.
“There’s a lot of religious meaning I don’t fully understand,” Helena said, “but the simplest explanation is suicidal apathy. That’s her natural state of being. Her essence if you will. She can’t help but be miserably uninterested in everything.”
“But she’s still a person right?” Camila replied. “She can make her own choices.”
Helena nodded. “Yes. But she can’t change her mood, like you can.”
Camila nodded before turning back to the demon. “So if you don’t have any friends, who’s paying for your apartment?”
Acedia glared up at her interrogator, but Camila just smiled and waited. Helena was impressed. She hadn’t seen this side of the woman before. Then again they’d only know each other for a month. It somehow seemed longer.
Finally the demon broke. “My sister Invidia sends cash. She likes showing off, and since I’m totally worthless it’s easy to be superior to me.”
“Family.” Camila shrugged her shoulders, but there was a tinge of sorrow in her eyes. “Well you can stay with us while you wait for the money to get a new place to live.”
“What?!” Helena’s voice joined the demons. “Camila, why are we offering a demon sanctuary in our home?”
“And why are you being so nice to a demon?” Acedia asked.
Camila laughed. “Well I’m some kinda zombie, so a demon can’t be that much worse. And seriously you look like you can use a hand.” She turned to Helena. “And you’ll agree to it because you’re secretly a nice person, and because you really want to solve the mystery here.”
Helena couldn’t help but chuckle in return. “I’ll admit to the second. Though explaining it to the landlord will be fun.”
“I suppose I don’t have a say in this?” Acedia muttered.
“Sure you do!” Camila replied. “We’re gonna go help Aoi out, and if you’re still here when we come back I’m taking you home. If not, you obviously didn’t need our help.”
Acedia stared at Camila a little longer before collapsing on the bed again. “You’re annoying.”
“Probably,” Camila admitted. She hopped to face Helena. “So, ready to get back to work.”
“Yes.” Helena stepped up and adjusted Camila’s outfit again. “Let’s go find Aoi.”
As they walked back into the festive night, Camila glanced back to the tent. “You think she’ll still be there when we get back?”
“I’d bet every penny I own on it,” Helena replied.
And so it truly begins. I’ll likely be doing a Monday Friday release schedule, as that’s what fits my work best. Glad to have you all again and I hope you all enjoy.