Thorn by Joshua Ingle

Xeres’s death because it meant Thorn could take his place as the greatest demon on earth. But Thorn found himself unable to hold the group together. The massive horde of followers had disbanded, each member searching for his own glory, or for another leader to follow.
    At least the woman did, in fact, eat some squash.
    To this day Xeres’s demise haunted Thorn. What had happened to him? And was it happening to Thorn now? Xeres had broken neither of the Rules, nor even the Third, but his aloof demeanor was so taboo that he was killed, and no one but Thorn cared.
    Thinking about such matters, Thorn realized he felt sorrier for Xeres now than he had when he’d died. He missed Xeres and his companionship.
    “—my own party. Just because I’m having a good time doesn’t mean I want some ho recording me drunk. Seriously.” Thorn knew Lexa’s voice a hundred yards off. Amy was with her, dressed to impress, wearing much more makeup than usual, and sporting a skirt much too tight for comfort. She fidgeted with it constantly.
    Disturbingly, Shenzuul drifted above her, whispering softly to her as she walked. Is she truly his now? Thorn hadn’t seen Amy since the day Shenzuul had confronted him in her room.
    “Light it. Light it. Light it.” Shenzuul’s repetition made sense once Thorn saw the cigarette in Amy’s hands. Lexa was already smoking, so to fit in, Amy lit up and took a puff. She tried to downplay her coughing.
    “Anyway, I’m glad the card got erased,” Lexa said. “I seriously didn’t want anyone to see me like that.”
    Lexa’s expression soured when she saw Kelly approaching from a nearby parking lot. “Why didn’t you answer your phone when I called?” Lexa asked her, and popped a new stick of gum in her mouth.
    “I was meeting with my professor.”
    “Over break? Ha. Well, you should have answered. Amy, this is Kelly. Kelly, Amy.”
    “Yeah, we met,” Amy said. She nodded at Kelly. “Thanks for the gym pass, by the way.”
    Amy at the gym? This was ludicrous. What is Shenzuul doing with her?
    Lexa was also taken aback. “What? How did you meet?”
    “You introduced us? We had a whole conversation in the car a few days ago.”
    “And then you met on your own and she gave you a gym pass? Why didn’t you go through me? Kelly is my friend.”
    Amy opened her mouth to respond, but couldn’t answer the awkward question.
    Kelly jumped in to save her. “So we gonna be your wing gals tonight?”
    “Hell yeah,” Lexa said. “Antonio Ellis is supposed to be here. He’s seriously one of the top casting directors in the south, and—” She giggled mischievously. “He’s hot, too. Not even forty yet. So if we run into him, you have to give me a minute to make an impression, ’kay?”
    “Totes. Amy and me are gonna get some hookups too, right Ames?”
    Amy politely nodded. Thorn would have had her half-ready to run home and cry by now, but Shenzuul pathetically said nothing. Thorn kept his distance as he entered the club with them.
    A week ago, back when Thorn had been bolder, when every hole on the human body had opened at his whim—when he wasn’t so worried about being murdered by Marcus—he would have loved this place. Literally underground, it was S&M themed, and casual sex was everywhere: in the pulsing red lights, between the gyrating bodies on the dance floor, on Lexa’s mind.
    “You think I could fuck him?”
    Even Kelly didn’t know how to respond to that. She stammered a while before Lexa turned to Amy.
    “Amy. What do you think? Should we go for it?”
    Amy nodded to appease her.
    “Awesome. Let’s go get drinks.” Lexa adjusted her ample breasts and pressed toward the bar.
    Behind curtains in a private booth in the back, Thorn noticed a couple with their tongues deep in each other’s mouths. Ah, hedonism. It was simple and usually quite dull, but many demons used it as comfort food, just as Thorn used Amy. Plenty of debauchery-loving demons were here: in the booths, on