Chapter Eleven


    Little Jenny was walking through the meadow. She liked to do this after school, it helped clear her thoughts. Ambrose hadn’t stopped by today, and that did nothing to melt the ice that had built up in her heart. It had frozen over as if being thrust into a frozen lake.


    Ambrose wanted her to forgive him. Jenny shook her head, watching the flowers sway in the wind. That was never going to happen. Her desire to kill him was the only thing that sent a little warmth through her.


    She clenched her fist, looking up at the sky. To do that, she needed power. It wasn’t just the power to kill Ambrose, but the power to protect herself and her loved ones. She shook her head, remembering her conversation with Uncle Thom.


    “It wasn’t his fault, lass. You must know that, eh?”


    She frowned,


    “Do we have to talk about him? Everyone always talks about him. Can’t we enjoy our lunch, Uncle Thom?”


    They were sitting in Uncle Thom’s office near the mines. It wasn’t large, and Thom hardly ever used it beyond enjoying the air conditioning and telling others what he needed done.


    Thom stroked his long beard, eying her.


    “You have a cold anger inside you, lass. It’ll burn you if you aren’t careful. So, yes, we have to talk about it. Ambrose wasn’t responsible for your father’s death.”


    Jenny felt her eyes become cold stone, and her voice was a winter chill.


    “I called out to him, Uncle. More than once, and he ignored me. I screamed until my throat tore, and then I watched my father pierced through the chest. I watched him crumple to the floor like a sack of meat. Ambrose was supposed to protect us, and instead, he left us to die.”


    Thom looked at her with an expression she couldn’t place.


    “Oh, lass.” His voice was heartbreak and something else. Though Jenny didn’t know it at the time, what she had been hearing in his voice was the sound of acknowledgment of innocence lost.


    She waved a hand,


    “I told you I didn’t want to talk about it.”


    Thom sighed,


    “Your father wouldn’t want you to be this way, lass.”


    Her face went blank, eyes as dead as a cold grave.


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    “How would you know?” Her voice was a whisper, soft as silk, as sharp as a dagger’s edge.


    She stood up,


    “What did any of you know about him? Did you know his favorite ice cream was vanilla? Did you know he named me after my mother, who died giving birth to me?”


    Jenny stepped towards Thom, whose eyes were watery pools.


    “Did you know he liked to fish and play video games? None of you bothered to ask him any of that. You didn’t get to know him; you didn’t take even an ounce of interest in your supposed friend.”


    Jenny whipped a finger upward, pointing it at Thom.


    “Don’t tell me what my Daddy would have wanted. Don’t pretend to have known him. You knew nothing about him!”


    She did not wait for a response; she merely turned and stormed out of the office.


    She would have to apologize; she now realized as she sat down in the grass. Uncle Thom had been good to her, and so had Auntie Andrea. She picked a white flower, poking at it with a finger.


    “I miss you,” she whispered, hoping her words would somehow reach her father.


    Instead, they were lost upon the wind.


    “I could help, you know, little girl.”


    Jenny jerked her head up in surprise, scooting away. Before her was the devil from before. The one her Daddy had made a deal with. He wore a suit of burnished red over a vest of tawny gold. His eyes were like a vipers, a dark, glowing yellow. Horns peaked up through the red fedora he wore.


    His grin was light, easy.


    “Wha-What are you doing here?” Jenny stammered out.


    Her cold heart fluttered like a wingbeat in her chest. A tingle ran down her spine, and her hands clenched fistfuls of grass.


    The devil, Misaq, was his name, she remembered a second later, holding up a hand.


    “I am not here to harm you, little one. Quite the opposite, in fact.”


    His smile widened, and the light of the sun made his viper''s eyes gleam.


    “How would you like the power you so seek, hmm? I can provide it, you know.”


    Jenny’s throat was constricted, and a ball of moisture was building. She tried to clear it again before speaking,


    “Why would you help me? I thought you liked Ambrose.”


    Misaq threw his head back, and his laughter caused Jenny to shiver. It wasn’t insidious; it was simply inhuman. It rang against the trees, moving the very leaves. Jenny recalled their last interaction; it would have ended with her nearly dying if it hadn’t been for her father.


    “Oh, child. I don’t like anyone. I’m a deal maker, a wish granter, and a door opener. You want power? I can open that door for you.”


    Jenny still felt the cold tingle of fear but crossed her arms, stilling her heart to calm.


    “Can you bring my Daddy back instead?”


    Misaq’s grin vanished, his eyes grew serious, and he shook his head almost solemnly.


    “No, dear child. If that is a power that exists, it is not mine to call. Even if I could, what came back from those doors of the great beyond would not be your father.”


    The hope she had kindled within her sputtered and died.


    Ruthlessly, she spread the coldness of her heart, freezing the sadness that threatened to build.


    “What do you want for it?” She whispered.


    Misaq’s grin returned in full force.


    “Why, nothing at all! I merely wish for you to be yourself.”


    Jenny narrowed her eyes at the beaming devil.


    “I don’t believe you. You wouldn’t just give me something for nothing.”


    Misaq placed a hand on his chest, expression hurt.


    “Ah! You sound as if you don’t trust me, little one. Truly, I say to you, you wound me! I don’t know if I can go on!”


    Jenny said nothing, and Misaq tsked.


    “I am as trustworthy a devil as they come! I do not wish anything of you other than to pursue your desires, dear one. I mean that.”


    Jenny didn’t believe him. She had seen the devil use deals against people before, and her Daddy would have told her not to trust or sign with him.


    But she had no other way to get what she wanted. The Knights wouldn’t take her to the mainland. There were no monsters to fight here. No way to grow other than a useless profession she didn’t want.


    Her Daddy falling to the ground, so much blood pooling around him. His eyes, lifeless before her. Her body tightened, her jaw clenching. She never wanted to feel that way again.


    “I can give that to you, child. You will never have to be powerless again. You will never have to sit back and watch someone you love die ever again.”


    Jenny took a breath.


    Never again.


    “You have a deal, Mr. Misaq. Where do I sign?”


    Misaq’s eyes shined, and his answered grin was a chesire smile in her mind.