The Demon's Lexicon Read Online Free Page A

back, why don’t you tell us why you’rehere and what you think might be wrong,” he said, still smiling. His eyes creased up behind his glasses when he smiled, until they were nothing but gleams of vivid blue.
    It was Dad’s smile, and Alan used it to the same effect Dad always had.
    Mae was apparently not immune to the smile. Her face softened and her back straightened as she smiled back.
    â€œWell,” she said. “I’m psychic myself, you see.”
    Nick snorted. “Oh, of course you are.”
    Mae looked offended. “It’s possible that I’ve grown out of it, but very strange things happened around me when I was younger. Little objects used to smash by themselves, or fly through the air. I didn’t know what was going on, but I’ve researched and I’ve looked for people who might know something, and I’ve heard things about magicians and the demons who give them power. And it’s true, isn’t it? That man you—he’d turned himself into a bird! He was a real magician. It’s all real.”
    Sounded like some of the Market people had been talking. Nick wished they could learn to keep their mouths shut, or at least learn not to take advantage of Alan’s soft heart, and stop sending the problem cases his way.
    â€œIt’s real,” Alan said, “but I don’t think—”
    He looked worried about distressing the lady, so Nick came to his rescue. He leaned forward, looked at Mae, and said, “Let me put things simply so you will understand them. You’re not a magician. You’re an idiot. A few people in this world are born with a certain amount of magic, but they don’t grow out of it. They either learn to control it and keep it a secret forever, or they try to do something with the magic. Which means that most of them become magicians and callup demons. It’s the safest and easiest way to get more power, but there’re also rituals with the dead, and—”
    â€œRituals with the dead,” Jamie repeated in a faint, stunned voice. Nick turned and looked at him coldly. “I mean,” Jamie said, and swallowed, “how interesting and not at all creepy! Please go on!”
    Nick was tired of this. They’d been attacked, they were going to move again, and he didn’t need these people witnessing what a mess his life was. He hated it that they were from his school: that Jamie had seen him trying to read, and now they were getting an illicit peek into his weird world. Afterward they’d go home, safe and warm, and they would think that they’d had an adventure.
    He leaned forward and caught Mae’s eyes again, giving her the kind of look that made most people flinch.
    â€œThere are the magicians’ messengers, and people who can enchant others with music, and people who can make magical objects,” he explained, his voice low. “But funnily enough, there are no people who grow out of having magical powers. If you had them, you’d know about it. But you don’t know anything, and none of this concerns you. Go home and stop bothering me for no reason.”
    Mae did flinch and immediately looked furious with herself. “I have a reason!”
    Nick was ready to snap back at her when Alan leaned forward and touched his arm. His grip on his sword tightened, but he fell silent, and Alan said in a much kinder voice than any Nick could’ve achieved, “What’s your reason?”
    Mae looked at the floor and said, “I told you. It’s Jamie.”
    â€œIt’s crazy, is what it is,” said Jamie. Nick turned to look at him again. Jamie did not seem overjoyed to have capturedhis attention. He swallowed and made a face, as if someone was forcing something bitter down his throat, and then continued, “It all started with—these dreams. I thought they were just dreams, strange dreams, of someone beautiful outside my window, asking to be let