John Wolfstone-The Book

Demons, can't live with them, can't live without

An hour later, John and Janelle drop through a portal that had taken them to John’s land.

“Thank you for using Hell Portals,” said a deep, male, conductor-like voice. “It’s the only way to travel between Earth and Hell. We hope your trip was pleasant.”

With that, flames shot out of the portal, forcing John to cover Janelle, as the portal closed.

“Remind me to sue that guy next time,” John said, as he got off of Janelle.

“Well, why did he shoot us with those flames?” Janelle asked.

“Let’s just say that I broke his nose when he tried to increase the price from thirty pieces of gold to the souls of two innocents,” John said, looking at Janelle.

At this, Janelle asked, “Where did he expect you to get even one of those?”

“Where do you think?” John said, gently placing a hand on her belly.

Janelle gasped, and asked, as she looked at him, “You hit him for the sake of our children?”

“Yep," John said, with a chuckle. "Although when he saw who my brother in-law was, he decided not to press the issue.”

“Well, who is Steve to those people in that place?” Janelle asked.

“Well, if no one messes with someone of noble blood there, no one even dares to anger those of his blood," John said, with a smile. "The guy is royalty.”

“You mean that your brother in-law is a prince of demons?” Janelle asked, her eyes bulging.

“Hell, the guy’s next in line for the thrown,” John said, with a chuckle.

“You mean that I had lunch with royalty, and you didn’t tell me,” Janelle said, with a bit of a gasp.

“To be honest, when we were in collage, after I found evidence that he wasn’t cheating in this one English class we took together, he told me who he was, but asked that his title be kept a secret, as he wanted to get through collage on his own abilities, not because he was of royal blood," John said, with a smile. "Personally, I respected him for it, enough to the point I offered to help tutor him in math, when he told me that he was doing poorly in it.”

“Well, still, why didn’t you tell me that the guy was of royal blood?” Janelle asked, as she gave John a certian look that many women make when they have the feeling that someone is keeping something from them.

“Well, calling anyone Stevenlongchangenry, The High and Mighty Prince of Hell and Demons, The Burner of Souls, The Lord of Misery, and so on, is not only too formal, and intimidating for mere mortals to say, there is no way anyone could write it all on one piece of paper, so, he asked me to just call him Steve, after I mispronounced the first part of his name the first few dozen times," John said. "Now, I know his whole name, but even when you know it, it’s still a very difficult tongue twister to say, believe me.”

“Well, how does your sister handle the heat there?" Janelle asked. "I was sweating the whole time.”

“Well, either she’s got some demon in her, or Steve found a way to make sure she can handle the heat," John said, knowing that his sister was less than 1/32 parts part demon, or some such small fraction. "Either way, I don’t plan to ask.”

“Why?” Janelle asked.

“One, one’s race was not important to my parents," John said, with a smile. "Two, Steve cares for her, with all of his heart and soul, as it were.”

“I didn’t even know demons had souls,” Janelle said.

“True, but don’t tell them that, or even call them saints," John said, with a smile. "Steve nearly busted my jaw once, when I told him that he had the soul of a saint in him.”

At this, John chuckled, as he rubbed the spot where Steve had hit him back then.

“However, don’t let his talk of fire and brimstone make a fool of you," John said, as he thought about his brother-in-law. "He really is a good man, who just happens to be a little quick to anger.”

“Well, what about that werewolf, in that one cage, who kept pleading with you, to take him home?" Janelle asked. "He seemed to know your name.”

“Well, Paul would," John said. "He’s my cousin, on my father’s side of the family. Steve’s just keeping an eye on him for a while.”

“Why?” Janelle asked, wondering what sort of caring person would turn their own blood over to a demon, even if the demon was an in-law.

“I guess you could say it is a bit of payback," John said. "Guy tried to eat a friend of mine for his wedding dinner, ten years back, and he busted my nose yesterday.”

“I was wondering why it was crooked. Did he knock some of your teeth out as well?" Janelle asked, as she had noticed a few empty spaces in his smile. "You seem to be missing a few.”

“That was from Joseph’s part, in their double punch on my face," John said, as he gave Janelle a kiss on the lips. "Now can you help me up? James may have turned my broken bones into a sprain, but my leg still hurts like crazy.”

With that, Janelle placed an arm under John’s shoulder, helped him stand up, and the pair walked over to an awaiting crowd.