DD 302 Ch 18

We were all still a little shaken up by what had just happened.

“What was that?” Des turned to me. “Was that a threadspawn?”

I nodded gravely. “It’s not the worst part. Did you notice the tub?”

“Yeah, it was a sweet bathroom, Ken. I think that’s beyond the point,” Des said flatly, and I knew she hadn’t noticed the most important detail.

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “That wasn’t a jacuzzi, Des. There were no jets on. That was a tub full of thrashing threadspawn.” I shuddered.

Des’s eyes widened with disbelief. “That tub was full of worms?” she sputtered.

I nodded and looked to the others for confirmation.

Penny nodded along. “It was disgusting. I only realized it when I was a few feet away and then that noise.” She shuddered.

I looked around at them. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I need to tell someone—preferably someone strong enough to go in there and squish the whole tub. Maybe the whole building.” I waved vaguely toward where the portal had been. “Do you actually know anyone that can deal with that?” I asked Misha.

Even Crimson might not be able to deal with that woman and I shuddered to think what that fight would’ve been like if the threadspawn had been prepared.

Misha frowned. “Well, not personally. But I could go to my parents’ pod. They might be willing to do something, especially given how concerning the threadspawn are for the dungeon as a whole.” She hesitated, her brows drawing together. “If I knew where they were.”

For the first time since I’d met Misha, she looked despondent at being separated from her people. As far as I understood, the Whaleryn often traveled the dungeon for long stretches without seeing each other, only to reunite later as if no time had passed.

“We’ll figure something out,” I said, doing my best to sound like an emotional rock. “Besides, Crimson might be able to help.”

I knew another option was the Orkai, but I doubted the president of the UG would take kindly to me bringing Orkai to Earth to deal with the threadspawn. He’d already made it perfectly clear this was a problem for humans to solve on their own.

The sudden image of the destruction of a safe zone overlapped with the New York skyline, no I needed another option.

“Crimson’s really the best option,” Charlotte nodded, holding onto Bun Bun, who was shaking his head back and forth, chittering something at the druid.

“Is he going to be alright?” I asked, nodding toward the distraught Bun Bun.

“He’ll be fine,” Charlotte dismissed my concern. “He just said they made a weird noise. Something about that tub was very uncomfortable for him.”

“You and me both, buddy,” I said to the monstrous rabbit, holding out a fist to bump for him.

Bun bun responded by headbutting my fist hard enough to make my knuckles sore.

“Alright, so… is that a plan? I’ll do my best to track down Crimson. The rest of you can rest up if you want, because I have a feeling the Headmistress and Bellaire won’t let us stop this whole PR tour even if the world comes to a halt.” I stated.

Des snorted. “Damn right they won’t. You go on ahead and find Crimson. I’ll get in contact with Bel. Hopefully she’s found Ametto and we can portal our…”

She trailed off, turning with a look of distaste to the petrified infected humans. “Cargo,” she decided. “Yeah, we’ll just call it cargo. We’ll get rid of our cargo while you’re gone.”

I looked over all of them and smirked. “Just do me a favor and don’t get in too much trouble, Des.”

She laughed. “That is rich coming from you. Now shoo.” She ushered me away.

I ripped open a portal to Star City to start my search for Crimson there. We shared a place in the city, and if she was going to stop anywhere for a break, it would be there.

I stepped through the portal and into the apartment, where a black-winged, leather-corseted angel looked up from the glowing screen she’d been reading.

“Hello, Ken,” she said from her perch on the island stool.

The angel, Ambrosia, was something of an outcast among her kind, favoring black when the rest of her race wrapped themselves in white and gold. Even their hair tended to shimmer with metallic luster, like living sunlight.

“Hello, Ambrosia. I hope you’re doing well,” I said, glancing around the apartment. “I popped in looking for Crimson.”

She shook her head. “The last I saw her, she appeared briefly for a shower and then said she needed a drink. I assumed she left via portal for I did not see her depart.”

I nodded. If Crimson was out snagging threadspawn-infected hosts and hauling them back for the UG, I could understand why she’d need both a shower and a stiff drink.

“Well, thank you. I’ll see if I can drag her back here.”

Ambrosia inclined her head. “Is there anything I can do for you, Ken?”

I paused, considering if there was anything she could help with would take longer than just charging forward and finding Crimson myself.

“No, but if I think of something, I’ll let you know,” I said. “We just have a small issue. One the powers-that-be would rather keep among humanity.” I tried to explain gently, making sure she didn’t feel excluded.

The angel nodded in understanding. “You have a problem, and you don’t want to show the other races weakness. There’s no fault in that.”

She turned back to her reading, giving me a clear dismissal that I took. I needed to keep moving. Ripping open another portal, I stepped through, this time heading for the bar.

Even if Crimson was several drinks deep, I’d still take her at my back over most others.

However, the one who greeted me wasn’t Crimson. Instead, a peppy, pig-tailed succubus snapped her head up the moment I appeared.

“There you are,” she said, planting her hands on her hips and scowling at me as I approached.

“Is something the matter?” I asked carefully. I’d been doing my best to avoid her, and every other demon in Star City, for weeks.

“Is something the matter?” she repeated with a laugh that was anything but amused. “Yeah, there is. The powers-that-be want to check every demon in the city, and you haven’t shown yourself.”

I frowned. “My bad. I’ll do that as soon as I can.”

Her eyes narrowed immediately. Clearly, my answer wasn’t going to be good enough.

“Nuh-uh,” she said, wagging a finger at me. “I told them I knew you, and now that sucky demon lord is up my ass. They’re worried we could all be threadspawn, so you’d better stop avoiding her or there’s gonna be problems for all of us.”

The way she said those words almost made it sound like she’d been put in charge of me.

“I don’t suppose asking for another few days is going to do me any favors?” I asked with a smirk that I hoped was disarming. Judging by her unimpressed glare, it wasn’t.

“Yeah, no,” the succubus said flatly. “If you don’t go now—” She started to make a threat, then stopped mid-sentence, throwing up her hands. “You know what? Not my problem. If she can’t find you, I’m just going to say you’ve been acting a little weird lately.” The succubus shrugged, as if the whole thing truly wasn’t her problem, which to be fair, it wasn’t. It was very much mine now.

“Fine, I’ll go deal with it now.” I answered, barely biting back a grimace.

She smirked. “Good. If you go up to the second floor of Star City, the bitch is holed up in that big building with the glowing red beacon on top. You can’t miss it.” She twirled back around, clearly expecting me to leave and report into the demon lord immediately. When I didn’t sprint out the door, she paused and glanced over her shoulder.

“In case you didn’t get the memo, people acting weird just disappear,” she said pointedly. A hint of mean-girl cattiness peeked out from behind her usual perky, youthful tone. “That means scram.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, waving her off. “I was just looking for Crimson. Same as you. Making sure all my ducks are in a row.”

The succubus frowned. “Can’t say I’ve seen her for a couple of days. Then again, everything’s been absolutely wild here. First the Demon Lord arrives, and then the Orkai straight up clear out three safe zones.” She gave me a wide-eyed look, clearly expecting that to land. “So you can understand why I’m telling you to get a move on.”

One of her nearby Orkai called something over the din, too muffled for me to catch, but she definitely heard it. She spun around, her tone instantly turning intimate and warm. Whatever she said made the Orkai in question blush furiously as the others around him burst out laughing and began ribbing him.

I pushed that aside as the rest of what she’d said sank in.

The Orkai were clearing more floors. That could only mean that the Threadspawn issue wasn’t being contained.

Paired with people disappearing across the city, it became painfully clear what this Demon Lord was going to want from me, and I already knew I couldn’t offer it.

The other option was to avoid them, at least until they inevitably came for me with a violence-first mindset.

I took a deep breath and started walking like a man marching toward his own execution. I vaguely remembered the building the succubus had mentioned and ripped open a portal to get there faster. I genuinely enjoyed getting to move more quickly from place to place with my ability.

Still, it was always a little disorienting to move that fast. I barely had time to blink before a massive, six-armed demon grabbed me by the shoulder as I appeared.

“Name,” he growled.

“Ken Nagato,” I said coolly. “And I’d prefer it if you took your hands off me.” I glared over my shoulder.

The towering demon smirked, unbothered. “The Mistress has been looking for you,” he said, his expression carved from stone.

I gestured to myself. “Well, here I am. How can I be of service?”

Apparently, he wasn’t one for jokes. His expression didn’t so much as twitch. “She values timeliness above many other traits,” he said. “I would recommend you keep that in mind.” The demon stepped aside, motioning for me to enter.

I took a breath, straightened my jacket, and walked past him. 

As soon as I stepped inside the large, ornate building, a bespectacled demon looked up from his paperwork as though I were a stain on his floor.

“Name and purpose,” he said, managing to make both sound like a personal affront.

“Ken Nagato,” I replied, doing my best to smile.

He glanced down at a small device, then looked back up slowly, peering down his nose at me.

I leaned forward and cleared my throat. “Apologies. I’ve never met her before. What would be the best term of address for the lord?” I added a polite smile, hoping to thaw the stiff demon in front of me.

“Lady Frey will see you. Should you serve her, you will call her Mistress. Should you not, ‘Lady or Lord’ will keep your head on your shoulders. Use her name at your own discretion.” He delivered the words like a death sentence, and I wasn’t entirely sure what exactly ‘at your own discretion’ meant in this case. Still, I nodded and walked past him.

A number of frolicking, half-naked demons filled the hall. There were succubi laughing, lounging, and draping themselves across the furniture. One of them, a curvy succubus with shimmering violet hair, waved me over and began ushering me through the building.

“Oh, wow,” she purred, grabbing my bicep as we walked. “You’re a cute one.”

I flashed my best smirk. “Comes with the territory,” I said, trying to play along. So far, most demons I’d met were confident to a fault; the last thing I needed was to come off nervous or suspicious and end up headless for their convenience.

The succubus laughed and leaned into me as we walked, her tail flicking lazily against my leg. When we reached a large double door, she straightened up, instantly becoming the picture of discipline. She cleared her throat before opening the doors.

“Mistress, Ken Nagato is here to see you,” she announced, bowing low before vanishing in a flash, leaving me alone with Lady Frey.

I took in this lord. Lady Frey was a succubus much like the others, but her presence filled the room with effortless authority. Even seated behind her desk, she radiated power. When her eyes lifted to meet mine, it felt like the air thickened; every idle thought in my mind snapped shut like a bear trap under the weight of that gaze.

“I see,” she said slowly, studying me. Then, like a switch flipping, her expression shifted from sharp and commanding to playfully predatory. She stood, dragging a finger along the edge of her desk as she circled around it.

“You’re far different than what I expected,” she murmured.

“Oh?” I managed, frowning slightly. “I’m sorry?”

“Don’t be,” she said with a dismissive wave. “Expectations are silly things. They mean nothing without substance to back them up.” She stopped in front of me, her presence heavy and intoxicating. “Ken,” she said, tasting the name. “Do you have substance enough?”

The room suddenly felt several degrees warmer.

“I like to think I’m capable at what I put my mind to,” I said, giving her a deliberately cautious answer.

“Capable is good,” she said with a small, knowing smile. “Every Lord needs capable hands. But your belief in your own strength and my judgment of it have yet to align.” Her pout deepened as she stopped inches away from me. She was taller than I’d expected. She wasn’t towering over me, but she was imposing.

And unlike Des’s metamorphosis, Frey bore a crown of twisting horns upon her head. I had a brief thought to wonder what that meant for her rank or power, but I didn’t get the chance.

She leaned forward and gripped my chin, forcing my eyes to meet hers. Her gaze bored into me, searching for something I couldn’t name.

“Now,” she said, voice low and honeyed but laced with danger, “tell me. Do you have a worm inside you?”

The bluntness of the question hit me like a slap.

“No,” I stammered. “I—”

Her eyes didn’t blink, didn’t waver. They searched mine like a hunter dissecting prey.

“Then why,” she said, her tone sharp and measured, “are you pretending to be a demon? And you even have the gall to stand before me thinking your act will work?” Each word landed with the precision of a dagger. She was absolutely certain in this moment that I wasn’t a demon.

And the only thing that came out of my mouth, in the most unhelpful, instinctive way possible, was, “Ah, fuck.”