Page 159 of Jinxes and Drumsticks

“Wren. Aemon is a demon,” I say.

“It was just a kiss. I’m not gonna fucking marry the guy. Also, he’s not a demon, remember? He’s a familiar.”

“Is this why you wouldn’t go with Satoshi on tour?” I ask.

“I wouldn’t go with Satoshi on tour because he’s been avoiding me, and I’m not going to reward that behavior by being his walking, talking fleshlight waiting in his tour bus or hotel room while women of the world drool all over him.” Wren’s expression gets serious. The gold in her hazel eyes flashes hot and frustrated. “I’m tired of this back and forth with him.”

“Maybe he just... I mean, maybe he just really likes you, and doesn’t want to fuck it up.”

“Well, he fucked it up,” Wren says, her tone hard—almost warning. I know her well enough to sense I’m pushing too much.

So, I relent. Even though something tells me I really, really shouldn’t.

“I just want you to be happy, Wren,” I say.

“The thing that will make me happiest right now is making sure you’re safe,” she says. “Even if I wasn’t at odds with Satoshi, I wouldn’t be leaving with them. I’m not going to go off galivanting while your life’s in danger. Not when I can be here and helping.”

I heave out a slow breath and lean my head on her shoulder. “Fine. I guess it’s alright that your higher priority is making sure I don’t wind up bound to a mysterious eldritch demon.”

She chuckles and kisses the top of my head. “You’re welcome.”

After that little blip, we carry out Bastion’s plan. We eat the stew he made, and then we read a truly obnoxious amount. For hours we do this. Read and read and read, and it seems like we barely move the needle when it comes to the massive stacks of books and grimoires surrounding us.

We take turns, reading one book for a long time, declaring frustration and trading off with someone else’s. We pause each other’s reading to dissect a challenging passage, or parse out whether a certain ritual might be written in code. We tent books across our faces when our eyes begin to hurt.

Eventually, Aemon returns and joins in on the torture. Eventually, my phone chimes with a notification from Damien.

Can you take a call?

“Guys, you mind if I have a call with Damien?” I ask the room.

“Go ahead. We should probably take a bigger break, anyway,” Bastion says as he pulls a timepiece out of his pocket and clicks it open. “We’ve been at it for... eight hours now?”

“Time flies when you’re facing the possibility of having your life force siphoned out of you,” I say dryly, as I stand and stretch the stiffness out of my body. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

I leave Bastion’s study and go upstairs, finding a little alcove of privacy in the reading spot Bastion favors next to his hearth. Once I’m settled with my legs tucked off to the side, I call up Damien.

“Hey, Sweetheart,” he says when he picks up the call, and the tension wound up in my body unspools by half.

“Gods, it is nice to hear your voice,” I sigh, leaning my head against the side of Bastion’s wingback chair.

“Tough day?” he asks. There’s a crackle of movement from the other side of the line, like he’s settling into a bed. “Tell me everything.”

“I don’t ever want to read a book ever again.”

He chuckles, it’s muffled for a moment by something. A pillow? Then his voice clears again. “Learn anything?”

“A lot of stuff that could be helpful, but nothing conclusive,” I say. “I don’t want to talk about that though, tell me how everything music is going.”

“I’d really love to know if my girlfriend is in danger still,” he says, gentle but firm.

“She is,” I say, “And the moment that changes, I’ll let you know. For now. Your girlfriend needs to not think about the demonic parasite in her bloodstream and focus on the competence porn that is her sexy drummer boyfriend.”

He laughs. “Alright. Fine,” he says. “If competence porn is what you’re after, I have so many good words for you. Stuff like drum technician, and in-ear monitors, and BPM.”

“Mmmn, I love it when you talk dirty to me,” I say.

He laughs again, this time a little more earnestly. “Honestly, it might be boring. But basically, we went to the venue, I met with the drum technician and kind of ran him through my usual setup. The label sent some new monitor equipment, some of the most expensive in-ear monitors I’ve ever used, honestly. They sound dope.