Read Online twice cursed mage 05 - claimed by j a cipriano - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: j a cipriano
Tags: Fantasy
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revealed a set of diamond encrusted golden teeth.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mac Brennan,” he said in a voice that made me think he ought to run for president or be a professional rapper. Given the state of things, he could probably do both. “I am Mammon.”
“Mammon?” I asked, raising my eyebrow. “Am I supposed to know who you are because, I’ll be honest, I’ve forgotten a lot of stuff.” I tapped my temple with my right index finger. “Fringe benefit.”
He chuckled, and the sound rolled over me like warm sunshine. It made me want to grab hold of it and keep it for a rainy day. “Of course you don’t remember me. We’ve never met.” He put his hand to his mouth and spoke conspiratorially. “I won’t hold it against you.”
“Good to know,” I said, surprised that was the case. Most demons I’d met were petty bastards. “So why have you gone to all the trouble to,” I gestured around us. “Whatever this is?”
“I’m glad you asked, and the answer is quite simple.” He spread his arms wide and the tip of his cane nearly touched my nose as he did it. “I want something.”
“Okay,” I said, drawing the word out as I spoke. “What do you want?” I left the “and why are you coming to me for it?” part of the question unsaid.
“See, Asmodai and I are involved in a border dispute. He seems to think Las Vegas is his because it falls under the purview of lust.” He made a disgusted face. “You know hookers and the like. It’s why I keep donating to the local politicians to try to get them to make prostitution illegal. Unfortunately, it hasn’t quite worked out the way I wanted.”
I could see this was going to go on a while, so I made a “hurry up” gesture with my hand because the last thing I wanted was to be stuck here talking to Mammon all day. Even if he had stopped time. “Okay, so you want Las Vegas and Asmodai owns it…”
“Precisely. See, I knew you were smart.” He grinned like a used car salesman. “While I cannot help you directly, I could offer you some assistance with your ‘council of seven’ problem provided you do a couple things for me.” He moved closer to me, put his arm around my shoulder, and pulled me close. “It shouldn’t be a big deal since you were going to do it, anyway.”
“Is that so?” I asked, wondering what help he could possibly be. Admittedly, demons had been pretty formidable, and having one’s help was usually a good thing, but at the same time their deals tended to suck. Still, he had stopped fucking time. If there was ever a useful power, it’d be that one.
“Yes, I merely want you to kill the council of seven, and yes, despite what you may have been told they ALL can be killed.” He patted my shoulder. “And, you know, I want their boss dead too. He’s a tricky devil, that one.”
“You want me to kill Asmodai?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. I mean, okay, I’d planned on doing both of those things, but if dealing with Sargent had taught me anything, it was that Asmodai was going to be hard as fuck to kill, and while my demon had proved to be quite formidable, she was a fucking cat. Asking her to do anything she didn’t want to do would do about as much good as a winter coat in the Sahara.
“Yes, and I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking ‘but Asmodai is one of the seven kings of Hell and the demons I’ve dealt with aren’t on that level’ and you’d be right except for one tiny thing.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden twenty-sided die. “You don’t have this.”
“I don’t have a twenty sided die?” I asked, shaking him off of me. “What the fuck am I supposed to do to that? Challenge him to a game of D&D?”
“This is not an ordinary die. For one,” he tossed it on the carpet between us and it came up on twenty, “it always rolls twenties.”
“Awesome,” I said, scooping to pick up the gilded die. It was heavier than I expected. “Now all I need
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mac Brennan,” he said in a voice that made me think he ought to run for president or be a professional rapper. Given the state of things, he could probably do both. “I am Mammon.”
“Mammon?” I asked, raising my eyebrow. “Am I supposed to know who you are because, I’ll be honest, I’ve forgotten a lot of stuff.” I tapped my temple with my right index finger. “Fringe benefit.”
He chuckled, and the sound rolled over me like warm sunshine. It made me want to grab hold of it and keep it for a rainy day. “Of course you don’t remember me. We’ve never met.” He put his hand to his mouth and spoke conspiratorially. “I won’t hold it against you.”
“Good to know,” I said, surprised that was the case. Most demons I’d met were petty bastards. “So why have you gone to all the trouble to,” I gestured around us. “Whatever this is?”
“I’m glad you asked, and the answer is quite simple.” He spread his arms wide and the tip of his cane nearly touched my nose as he did it. “I want something.”
“Okay,” I said, drawing the word out as I spoke. “What do you want?” I left the “and why are you coming to me for it?” part of the question unsaid.
“See, Asmodai and I are involved in a border dispute. He seems to think Las Vegas is his because it falls under the purview of lust.” He made a disgusted face. “You know hookers and the like. It’s why I keep donating to the local politicians to try to get them to make prostitution illegal. Unfortunately, it hasn’t quite worked out the way I wanted.”
I could see this was going to go on a while, so I made a “hurry up” gesture with my hand because the last thing I wanted was to be stuck here talking to Mammon all day. Even if he had stopped time. “Okay, so you want Las Vegas and Asmodai owns it…”
“Precisely. See, I knew you were smart.” He grinned like a used car salesman. “While I cannot help you directly, I could offer you some assistance with your ‘council of seven’ problem provided you do a couple things for me.” He moved closer to me, put his arm around my shoulder, and pulled me close. “It shouldn’t be a big deal since you were going to do it, anyway.”
“Is that so?” I asked, wondering what help he could possibly be. Admittedly, demons had been pretty formidable, and having one’s help was usually a good thing, but at the same time their deals tended to suck. Still, he had stopped fucking time. If there was ever a useful power, it’d be that one.
“Yes, I merely want you to kill the council of seven, and yes, despite what you may have been told they ALL can be killed.” He patted my shoulder. “And, you know, I want their boss dead too. He’s a tricky devil, that one.”
“You want me to kill Asmodai?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. I mean, okay, I’d planned on doing both of those things, but if dealing with Sargent had taught me anything, it was that Asmodai was going to be hard as fuck to kill, and while my demon had proved to be quite formidable, she was a fucking cat. Asking her to do anything she didn’t want to do would do about as much good as a winter coat in the Sahara.
“Yes, and I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking ‘but Asmodai is one of the seven kings of Hell and the demons I’ve dealt with aren’t on that level’ and you’d be right except for one tiny thing.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden twenty-sided die. “You don’t have this.”
“I don’t have a twenty sided die?” I asked, shaking him off of me. “What the fuck am I supposed to do to that? Challenge him to a game of D&D?”
“This is not an ordinary die. For one,” he tossed it on the carpet between us and it came up on twenty, “it always rolls twenties.”
“Awesome,” I said, scooping to pick up the gilded die. It was heavier than I expected. “Now all I need
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