I yank the spear out the demon, not even given a chance to give it some space before it scrambles onto its feet. It makes a break for the door, but doesn’t even make if halfway across the room when the sigil kicks in.

It lets out a strange wheeze as an invisible force stops it in its tracks. I grunt as my own sigil kicks in, tugging me forward slightly from the demon’s momentum. Mallory approaches the demon with a chair, but still maintains her distance.

“Hey now, why don’t you calm down a bit? Here, take a seat!” Mallory drags the chair in front of her, sets it down, and takes a step back. “We just want to talk.”

“I have no business talking with a bunch of vermin.” It growls, baring it’s claws.

“Well, you’re not leaving until you do.”

The two stare at each other in silence. I couldn’t see Mallory’s face, but the demon looked to be growing frustrated. I make no move to come closer, but ready my weapon to counterattack if necessary.

The low rumble emits from the demon—from a place nowhere near it’s throat—as it turns the chair to face Mallory and sits down. My guard still raised, I lower my weapon and take a seat on top of a desk—the only other place to sit in the room.

I guess this is… working?

Mallory suddenly lets out a sharp bark of laughter, at a joke no one else can hear.

“The fuck are you laughing at?” The demon snaps.

“Oh, it’s nothing. You wouldn’t get it.” She clasps her hands together loudly. “You can call me Lory! What can we call you?”

“You may have the honor of calling me Master.”

Mallory tilts her head to the side, and I could clearly picture the blank smile she had on right now—a face she normally makes when she’s annoyed.

“Okay, Master. What brings you to our lovely city?”

“Lovely is an overstatement. I’m just passing through this shit hole for business.”

“What kind of business?”

“That doesn’t concern you.”

I resist letting out a sigh as Mallory begins making small talk with the damn thing. This process is slow enough, I wish she wouldn’t drag it out further. There’s other monsters that need killing out there!

“Hey, Mallory?” I finally call out after ten minutes of waiting.

She glances back, but I don’t say anything. I don’t mean to rush her, but it definitely seems like things are going off track. What’re they even talking about? The stock market? Why is a demon interested in the stock market?

“I guess I’ll cut to the chase.” Mallory turns back to face the demon. “We’ve been tracking you for about a week now, and you’ve been causing a lot of trouble. Lots of reports of dead pets and in-house disturbances in relation to you.”

“And?”

“And… that’s kind of a problem. It’s upsetting the balance and all that, so we need you to stop.”

The demon takes on a bewildered expression, letting out a grating laugh as it throws it’s head back.

“You’re shitting me, right?”

“No, I’m being serious. I know it’s hard for demons to not be dicks, but I have the perfect solution for everyone!” Mallory pulls out a cute charm of a large-eyed, pawn-shaped thing. “We want you to attach yourself to a token!”

Ah, tokens. A newfound discovery in our hunting adventures, and a rarity in the supernatural world. A token is an item that spirits tend to attach themselves to, to help maintain their form in the Overworld. However, we recently learned that demons can also be attached to tokens in a similar ritual.

It’s just… difficult… when they aren’t willing participants.