Chapter 12: More Souls

I pull out my fun new toy, checking the guns clip. "Half a clip? Oscar, do you have any in this caliber?" I toss the clip to the snake.

He inspects it for a moment. "Yeah, it's in the ice crate you gave me. It's where I store all the extra weapons, and ammo."

"Good." I snap the crate to our location. "It's always nice to have a full clip. Load up with what you three need, I'll send it back when you're done."

"I'm intrigued, my dear. What exactly is your plan?" Alastor looked at the hoard of guns and ammo, then back at me.

"Those are just a contingency plan. If all goes well, we won't need any of them." I reply. "If it wasn't such a statement to have Valentino's gun, I'd probably give it to Oscar. It's not exactly my taste." I wiggle the gun, keeping it pointed to down.

That seemed to catch his interest as well. "And what, pray tell, is more to your taste?"

I give him my shit-eating grin. "The bigger the better, darling!" I giggle at the record scratch. "I'm only half joking, I prefer a rifle if I have to use a gun, but knives are my weapon of choice."

"A rifle?"

"Yes. My aim, even as a human with extremely poor vision, was excellent. It's only improved now that I can actually see."

"Intriguing indeed." Was Alastor's response as my clip came flying our direction.

Catching the clip mid-air, I pop it back in the gun, making sure the safety is still on, before placing a small layer of ice in the grooves of the design, and snapping it away.

"Are you going to watch from here, and send Shade, to spy for you? Or are you going to shadow me yourself?" I ask the smiling deer demon.

"I would regret not getting a front row seat to your carnage."

"You'll be joining me then." It's a statement this time. "Do make quite sure not to kill anyone, unless absolutely necessary. I need as many of these souls to go to Dex, as possible."

That caught his attention again, his static cutting out for a moment so quick, I almost thought I miss heard. "Are you giving them all to your underling?"

I give him a raised eyebrow of my own. "Yes. To empower those who work for you, is to empower yourself. In the long term, it will pay off much more to empower the whole team. Only then, can they operate without my interference to continue to grow, and in turn, I'll continue to grow even when I'm not putting in direct effort." I tilt my head. "Their contracts make it so that they cannot betray me. My good treatment, and protection of them, make them not want to betray me."

"And what is to stop people like me, from taking advantage of you?" Alastor asks his eyes flashing darkly.

I stare him down. "I have told you before, I am not afraid to die. Rosie knows my people, and would take them in. I would simply have to try to buy them enough time to get there before you killed me." My tone went deathly serious. "Don't think you know everything about me simply because I've been friendly, Alastor. You are not the only predator here, and there's a good reason I'm a fox."

His response was accompanied by a record scratch, and a sharp intake of breath. Eyes flickering to radio dials, as my eyes changed to match the challenge. "You are becoming more and more entertaining, but you should know your place."

I don't back down. "The only reason I haven't gone after Overlords is because of the extermination, Alastor. Not because I don't know if I can take them on. It would simply be incredibly inconvenient to have to manage a newly acquired territory, mere days before an extermination. Don't you agree?"

His grin curls a bit getting larger, his eyes no longer flickering, settled back to their normal beautiful red. "I do indeed agree with your statement. You have given me no indication to believe otherwise."

I sigh. "While as predators, it is habit to test boundaries. Alastor, I would rather you not toy with me so much. You've made my associates uncomfortable." I wave a hand over towards my team, who had frozen in place at the exchange. "As you were. It was nothing serious." They all visibly relaxed, going back to picking out and loading guns.

"What gave it away?" He questions.

I give him a deadpan look. Pointing to Shade, who is simply vibing on the floor with a playful grin, and is closer to me than Alastor, even though natural shadows should be going the other direction.

Alastor's eye twitches. "Traitor."

I give him a grin. "You're just jealous that Shade likes me more than you're willing to admit." I bend down to give the shadow deer man some pets, the creature purring into the touch. "He's more honest with his feelings."

"You've only known about him for a few hours, and already you've spoiled him." If it wasn't for the indifferent tone, you'd think the deer demon was whining.

"I like him." I shoot Alastor a grin.

"We're done, boss." Oscar interrupts the banter.

"Fantastic! Let's get this show on the road." I reply, snapping my fingers to send the crate back where I had summoned it from. "Dex, you know the drill, stay concealed until one of us comes to get you, or you are called."

"Roger, Roger!" They give me a salute, eyes going back to the screen.

I shoot a glance back at Alastor, then at Shade with a smile, as I address them both. "Stay close, you two. You just may learn something new about tactics." I wink teasingly, walking over and grab Oscar's sleeve. "Keep up kids." I have the shadows consume Oscar and myself, spitting us out in the alley behind the building, the others popping out of the shadows beside us.

I let go of Oscar, nodding at my team, and quickly meld into the shadows silently. Oscar goes off to take care of the guards, and sinners on the street, as I move directly among the group of guards, quickly and efficiently using my claws to make small cuts on the demons. The borrowed sleeping toxins from my deal with Oscar, kicking in before they knew what hit them.

I emerge next to the group again, speaking softly to the twins. "Your turn kids. Don't disappoint." They nod, Midnight using the shadows to transport them into the building, Alastor and I, following behind.

The twins worked in tandem, Midnight shadowing them around. And Nightmare using his powers as a dream demon, to put everyone asleep.

I confidently, and casually moved behind their aftermath, Alastor, and Shade, trailing behind me. You could practically hear the gears turning in Alastor's head as we went, his mind rolling over the uses, and possibilities of my team.

After the twins had done their part and put everyone under, I looked up at one of the cameras in the hall we were in, signing to Dex, that they were up, and it was safe.

Moments later, with a spark of electricity, Dex stood nervously in front of me, rubbing their hands up and down their arms.

"You don't have to worry, I'll do the heavy lifting on the negotiations this time. You'll have to watch, and learn. You will have to do this yourself later." My ears flicking as Midnight, and Nightmare, make their return down the hall to my location.

Dex was more sensitive to blood and gore, than the others. Their living life had been spent behind computer screens, always more interested in digging through code, and files, than having anything to do with real human interaction. They were a good assistant in nearly everything, but terrible at being (or even bluffing about being) a big scary demon. As a demon on their own, they were unsuitable for hell, and needed proper protection, and patient training. As part of a team however, they shined.

I froze the demons in a thick layers of ice as we all entered the room with the unconscious bosses. My energy pulsing throughout the cold frozen liquid, ensuring that it would remain solid and unbroken during the upcoming negotiations.

I give Nightmare a look. "Wake them up."

"With pleasure." He snaps his fingers, waking the two bosses.

...

With Alastor in-tow, the negotiations went quite smoothly.

All Alastor and I, had to do was stand off to the side, and smile. The demons once awake, were all too happy to sell their souls to Dex, so as to avoid the Radio Demon's wrath.

It was comical how they practically (verbally) tripped over each other, to make a deal.

I was told which demons were contracted to the the duo, and which ones still owned their souls.

It was too easy, and honestly disappointing.

Alastor being there made everyone so spineless, that no one put up any real fight. It made this training mission near useless for teaching negotiations.

And of course the deer demon responsible for this, was all too happy to see my grin turn to a pout. Enjoying the displeasure in my voice as I complained.

"You truly are a menace!" I was totally not pouting about my plans being foiled. (Yes, I was. And he was loving it.) He was continuing to follow me around, as I ran more errands, having split from the group with everyone but Dex, going back home. Dex had been told where the hotel was, and to meet me there.

His grin curls up farther. "Most people, would simply be thankful for an easier operation. You're welcome." He twirls his cane. "Now, where to, my dear?"

"If you ever want to tag along again, you are to be banned to my shadow. It is a pointless effort on my part, to try to teach my team, if everything is too easy." I inform. "But considering that my head is still pounding from the run in with the V's, and you being there sped up the process. I suppose, I'll simply leave the lecture here and say, thank you, Alastor." I sent him a small smile. "And to answer your other question, I need to pick up fabric, and other odds and ends, for my room at the hotel. And I should probably get the basics for Dex as well." I had called Charlie, leaving a message informing her of their situation after splitting from the group.

His ears twitch, eyes narrowing on me. "Your head still pains you?"

"Not as much as before, I probably had a small concussion." I wave it off. "I had worse migraines regularly when I was alive, it wasn't as hard to function with this."

"You are used to living in such pain?"

"I am." I reply solemnly. "Large amounts of pain and illness were an everyday part of my living life. It's quite amazing how one's outlook on pain shifts, and one's tolerance grows the longer the pain persists."

He nods, making a humming noise in agreement. "As much as I have enjoyed this little excursion, I have business to attend to. So I bid the farewell, my dear." He doesn't wait for a reply, sinking into the shadows at his feet, his presence disappearing completely.

"Well then, I suppose he grew bored of me." I mutter to myself, my eyes catching the shape of Shade next to my own shadow. "Did you stay behind on your own?"

The shadow nods.

I laugh, giving the shadow a smile. "Well, you are welcome to the shopping trip. Your presence will make shopping more tolerable, I'm not particularly fond of such things unless it is for books."

Shade simply grins at me.

...

The shadow man followed me around the rest of the day, going into shops with me, playing small pranks on the other customers, and the workers manning the stores, to make me laugh.

He even lead me to the better shops, when I was disappointed at the selection one of the fabric stores carried.

It didn't take all that long to get the items needed for Dex, and my rooms. The new fabrics for curtains, sheets, and blankets, soft and sturdy. My new sewing machine, an older model that would be durable.

I snapped everything to my room as I went. Grabbed groceries for dinner at the hotel, placing them in an ice crate, floating it behind me. And headed for the hotel.

It was late afternoon when arrived, taking my grocery hall straight to the kitchen, Shade still attached to my shadow, decideling to hide, as Charlie trailed after me asking about Dex, her excitement obvious.

"It's only your first day, and you've already recruited another guest! You work fast!" She was almost bouncing with enthusiasm.

I blink at her for a moment. "Charlie, I own Dex's soul. They are here because it's not safe to go back to their apartment. I called you and left a message, did you not get it?"

"I got it."Her bouncy excitement didn't drop. "But a guest is a guest!"

"They are not here for redemption, Charlie. They are here to be my assistant, tech support, and to have a safe place away from the V's." My ears twitch as I unpack the groceries, and familiarize myself with the hotel's kitchen.

"What's that?" She ignores me, pointing to one of the vegetables I just unpacked and sat on the counter top. "Whst about this one?"

"That is bok choi, it is vegetable in the cabbage family." I stopped trying to correct her, and instead answered her questions. "And that one is a daikon radish. They are popular vegetables in Asian cuisine."

Her curiosity peaked. "Why did you get so much vinegar?"

I looked at the five or six different types of vinegar in confusion. They were only smaller bottles. "Is it a lot? They are each used for different things, so I honestly didn't think I bought enough. I go through a lot when I make pickled vegetables, salad dressing, etc. Not to mention white vinegar is great for cleaning. I'm used to buying it by the gallon. "

"You know how to make pickles?"

"Pickles, jams, nut butters, hummus. The list could go on for miles. I know how to grow, process, cook, and collect seeds from my food." I reply putting various vegetables, and meats, into the refrigerator. "It's the upside of my daddy growing up on a farm, and my mama having a garden every year."

"That's so cool!"

"Um, thanks, I guess." I grew awkward at the compliment. Putting away the last of the groceries, I add. "I should probably get a shower before I start dinner, the back of my head is still hurting for earlier."

Charlie looked mildly disappointed, and a little concerned. "Why would your head hurt?"

"I tell you in a bit. I also need to make sure Dex has everything they need, especially since I sent everything to my room." I tried to gloss over it. "Did you guy already show them to a room?"

"Yeah, their room is down the hall from yours."

"Thanks, Charlie. I appreciate you and Vaggie."

She brushes it off. "Not a problem."

I sent her a wave, and left the kitchen to go upstairs. I definitely needed that shower.