Chapter 36

NATHANIEL

“Do you remember Martha?” I asked Ishmael, who had a book in his hand, assembling some vials on a table.

I briefly wondered what they were for. He was always busy every time I came to visit.

He paused momentarily, a smile teasing at the corners of his lips. “Who the fuck doesn’t know Martha? She’s the crazed Nighthowler who scowls at everyone that looks her way.”

“Well, I met her today.”

He grinned at me. “What’d she do? Chase you out of her house with a broom?”

“I don’t even think she owns a broom.”

Ishmael chortled, nodding in agreement. “You’re right. Her place is a dump. What did you go there for?”

“Information on how to wake a demon from his stasis.”

Ishmael looked at me like I’d grown an extra head. “And somehow, you thought Martha holds that information.”

“She usually knows things, and during my past times dealing with her, she was never wrong. Her solution to my question this time around was rather disturbing.”

“Why? What did she say you have to do?”

“Kill Ayra. We b