The Creative Bookworm

“How’d you manage to convince Jacks to let you do retrieval?” Yancy asked as he sifted through soot in search of files that hadn’t been destroyed by flame. “I know youse, Mav, and I know youse hate pokin’ around rubble.”

“He needed to talk to his Bond,” Marvin replied, waving his hand to command shadows to move a stack of papers. “Those humans clearly have no idea what Jackie and Madsy were planning at the start, and they need to trust them if Mad’s plan is going to work.”

“You’re lying,” Yancy spat, setting salvaged files aside to be brought back to Murdock’s house. “You need Jacks and his Bond to reconcile because if they don’t, you’ll have to pick up the pieces when the Bond breaks.”

“Breaking the Bond will kill him,” Marvin scoffed, tossing files carelessly into Yancy’s pile. “If Jackie dies then I die, too. Honestly, I’d prefer to stay alive.”

“Is that Knight-in-training still shadowing you?” Yancy asked, smirking when Marvin’s cheeks darkened. “You know, if you don’t talk to him soon, I’ll tell him about your sketchbooks filled with his face.”

“Like I can’t see your bite on that human Murdock’s neck,” Marvin shot back, smiling when Yancy went quiet. “If Madsy can Bond with a human, nobody’s going to kill you for taking your own. I just wish you’d told me, Yance.”

“He’s the cousin of the most notorious Hunter known to anyone, Mav!” Yancy threw an impressively large book with a few char marks into the pile. “They’d kill me for treason without question! If you tell Maddy,” he hissed, appearing beside Marvin in a blink, curling his fist into Marvin’s shirt, “I will make your life miserable to the point you would prefer death.”

“Mad’s got a Bond with the Hunter’s son,” Marvin whispered, melting into the shadows out of Yancy’s grip. “And Jackie’s the same. They wouldn’t hurt a hair on your head because they’d be killed, too.”

“Not Maddy,” Yancy muttered, scratching absently at his neck. “He’s a Prince. Host would have anyone’s head if they tried to hurt him. He’s got nothing to lose by turning me in.”

“You’re an idiot,” Marvin chuckled, collecting the final files and tucking them into a shadow pocket. “Madsy’s fighting for peace between Hunters and demonkind. He probably knows about you and Murdock anyway. I’m going to search the other rooms in this dump. Come find me when you’re ready to leave.”

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“There’s an abandoned college campus north of here,” Murdock suggested, pointing to a spot on the map. “You’ve got the resources to make it up as a new Academy.”

“Marion is convinced he can bring peace between humans and demons,” Night murmured, resting his chin on his hand. “He’s certain that Madrick can help him. Considering how close he is to Phantom, the odds of them helping me set up a new Academy are slim.”

“Madrick is a high-ranking demon,” Host stated from the corner of the room, standing pensively as he listened to the humans. “He has influence; however, his command will be questioned due to his Bond. May I propose an alternative?”

“Go ahead,” Murdock replied, peering at Night over his sunglasses.

“Set up your… Academy,” Host began, stepping forward to motion at the map, “Let Madrick and Jackie carve out an area for sanctuary. Any demons who wish to listen to Madrick can stay there and help your hunters in research. You can discover the demons who wish for peace and the ones who don’t.”

“Why are you suggesting this?” Night asked, looking at Host’s face as though trying to see his eyes.

“My service is to Madrick and his safety. It is in my best interest to provide him with somewhere to seek asylum should the need arise. Set up a demon sanctuary in the gallery marked on your map, station Marion and Phantom close by, and I believe the efficiency of your surviving hunters will improve.”

“It could work,” Murdock hummed, studying the map while Night continued to stare at Host. “I’m not sure about the efficiency thing, but the labs are near the gallery, and the courtyard beside it would make a perfect training ground for Phantom’s work.”

----

“So… do we just start hitting each other?” Jackie asked, hands tucked into his hoodie pocket as he circled Phantom. “What do you need to know?”

“Show me some of the Umbral shit,” Phantom muttered, hands behind his back as he watched Jackie move. “Start small; try to knock me over.”

Jackie frowned, then nodded and got into position, standing with his feet shoulder-width apart and arms out for balance. Slowly, he lifted one hand and waved two fingers in a quick motion, tugging at the shadow under Phantom’s feet to unbalance him before dashing forward and kicking his legs out from under him, knocking the human to the ground. “Like that?”

“Something like that, yeah,” Phantom grunted, standing up slowly and flashing Jackie a look when the demon tried to help. “Tell me how you did it. Show me step-by-step.” Pulling a small notebook from his back pocket, he opened it and readied his pen.

“Well, it’s all discipline, really,” Jackie started, kicking at dirt on the ground. “They taught us about balance and our stances before we began handling shadows. Once our form is correct, we choose our target and manipulate it.” Reaching out, he made a motion like pulling on reins and the shadows around Phantom pushed him forward.

“Explain that,” he murmured, stepping away from the shadows. “How do you manipulate it?”

“It’s like, atoms,” Jackie began, holding his hand out with his palm facing up. “There are these tiny things inside the shadows that I pull at, telling them what I want to do. There’s this… connection inside me that I can use to communicate with the shadows and make them do things.”

“Like magnets?” Phantom asked, tilting his head as a shadowy ball emerged to hover above Jackie’s outstretched hand. “That kind of push-pull thing? Or is it something else, like a sixth sense thing?”

“Kind of both? I don’t know how to describe it other than…” he trailed off before snapping his fingers and pointing at Phantom. “Twins. Maddy said it before, about Mare not smelling whole. Mare’s a part of you, right?”

“I guess?” Phantom frowned, trying to understand where Jackie was going.

“Twins have a connection, this link,” Jackie started. “We share a soul, and in that connection we can sense things about each other. The shadow magic is the same. We can tug against the connection to use the shadows how we want.”

“Show me more,” Phantom demanded, tucking the book and pen away and instead drawing a collapsible rapier from his other pocket. “How does the shadow magic work against weapons?”

“Shields,” Jackie answered, holding his arm in front of him in a mimicry of a shield, waiting as the shadows immediately formed a solid block to stop Phantom’s strike. “Phan, this isn’t about the fighting, is it?”

“You should have told me,” Phantom growled, hesitating before dropping the rapier. “Why didn’t you trust us enough to tell us about your twin? Why didn’t you trust me?”

“We were going to,” Jackie began, dropping the shield and stepping toward Phantom. “Maddy and I wanted to know more, then everything happened with the Bondings and your Academy blowing up and we just ran out of time.” He grunted when he suddenly found himself pressed against the wall, meeting Phantom’s broken gaze with sympathy.

“Mare was in deep with Mad by the time I met you,” Phantom whispered, arm braced against Jackie’s throat to keep him pinned. “You should have told us. We wouldn’t have told Night. We had to find out from him showing up.”

“I’m sorry, Phantom,” Jackie reached a hand up to brush Phantom’s hair out of his eyes, surprised when the human let him. “We should have trusted you, you’re right, and there’s no excuse for that.”

“There isn’t,” Phantom snarled, pressing harder against Jackie while moving his free hand to hook fingers into the belt loops of his jeans. “We let you Bond us, Night hates us, and you didn’t think we were trustworthy enough to share your family? If the Academy hadn’t gone up in flames, when were you going to introduce him?”

“Madsy was going to give the okay after the Bonding,” Jackie answered, resting his other hand over Phantom’s on his hip and leaning forward so their faces were inches apart. “Give Mare time to recover, then let you know about our twins. Things got in the way.”

“Would you have Bonded with me if I’d met Marvin earlier?” Phantom asked, tilting his head to feel the space between them against his lips. “Would I have needed to ask for his blessing? Scared I’d fall for him instead?”

“He’s got a Bond,” Jackie mumbled, following Phantom’s lips as his eyes slipped closed. “I wanted to Bond with you for so long, I’d have done the Bonding at that warehouse if you’d let me.” With a soft growl he closed the gap, claiming Phantom’s lips with his own as his fingers pulled against the human’s hair, turning them so Phantom was against the wall.

“I’m still mad at you,” Phantom panted, moving so his arm was around Jackie’s shoulders as the demon hooked a hand under his thigh to coax his leg around his hips.

“I know,” Jackie whispered, barely pulling his mouth away from Phantom’s as he practically tore his pants off. “I’ll make it up to you.”

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