In the Demon's Company (Demon's Assistant Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

to us.
    She walks out of the room. The minute the door closes, conversation explodes. Everyone is wondering aloud what she’s on or what part of her brain got damaged by the accident. Melissa sounds afraid. Jay leaves to get someone.
    I sit there, uneasiness rolling like waves in my gut. Mrs. Crane’s rant sounds familiar. It lacks the hatred and vitriol, but it sounds like the ravings of Heather Bancroft, desperate to cling to more time than she was going to get.
    But it’s not like it’s unheard of for people who almost die to realize they can’t waste any time. Life is precious and no one knows it better than those of us who almost had it pulled out from beneath our feet. And if she’s still on pain medication, it might be messing with her emotions or keeping her from sleeping. She came back to work too soon is all.
    I replay her words in my head. Maybe she made a deal with Azmos. In my time delivering demonic invoices for Az, I once had a grown man cry and tell me he was sorry for making the deal and he didn’t want to go Hell. Then he dropped to his knees and started praying. I ran away. I didn’t tell him it was okay, that Az wasn’t that kind of demon, because I didn’t know that at the time. And it freaked me out. Maybe Mrs. Crane made a deal and is now scared she’s offended God, if she’s religious.
    I mull it over until Jay returns with a woman from the administration office. She tells us Mrs. Crane has decided not to return to work at the moment and to read the next chapter in our textbooks. A couple of people argue over which chapter that is, since we’d been working on a unit outside the book on worksheets printed out by our substitute. I open my book to a random page and stare at it blankly until the bell rings.
    As we’re leaving the classroom, I stop Melissa in the hall and pull her aside. I’m so distracted and disturbed, I don’t even care that we’re not exactly on great terms.
    “What was that?” I ask.
    Melissa shrugs, but her expression is troubled. “It’s probably too soon for her to try and work. You know they made her come back way before she was ready. I say good for her.”
    “I guess,” I say, but something about Mrs. Crane’s words sticks in my head and makes me feel itchy.
    “Sleep deprivation does strange things to people,” Melissa says. The warning bell rings. “I should get to class.”
    “Yeah.” Uneasiness slides through my stomach. I need to check on Mrs. Crane. Talk to her. If she did make a deal with Azmos and that’s what’s upsetting her, maybe I can reassure her. Explain what he is, that he’s not some minion of hell and damnation. “Do you have plans after school?”
    “Not today.” Melissa looks surprised, but in a pleased way. “Why?”
    “I think we should check on her.”
    She folds her arms over her chest. “Mrs. Crane? She’s fine, Nic.”
    “I know,” I say, even though I’m pretty sure her monologue proves that’s not true. “Let’s just go by her house and make sure. See if she needs anything.”
    Melissa chews her lip for half a second before she catches herself and stops. “Will you relax a little if we do?”
    “Promise,” I say. “And after, I’ll buy you a cupcake.”
    Melissa smiles and holds up two gloved fingers. “Two cupcakes.”
    I nod. “Fine, it’s a deal.”

 
     
     
     
CHAPTER FOUR
     

     
    “This is pointless,” Melissa says, parking her car on the street in front of a cheery blue A-frame house nestled between two larger single-family homes.
    “I just want to make sure she’s okay,” I say for probably the tenth time.
    Cam managed to get Mrs. Crane’s home address after sweet-talking the receptionist in the administration office. I swear, he has a superpower where he can convince anyone to give him anything for the sake of his academic future.
    “She’s fine,” Melissa says. “She’s recovering from a freak accident. That sort of thing changes people.” She clamps her mouth shut, like