Adventures in Summoning

Chapter 7

"So, why do your parents want to kill you?" Quin asked, sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the bed. Her attitude seemed nonchalant, but it still seemed like an odd question for her to ask. Even Dee turned to look at me, obviously wondering the same thing.

"Does it matter?" I asked softly. "Do all demons ask why they're told to do what they're summoned to do?"

"I'm not a fan of people who summon me for suspect reasons, so it would be good to know if I need to pay them a visit when we're all done here," she explained with a half-smile.

"I'd like to know too," Dee said softly. "Why are they doing this to us?"

I couldn't say no to Dee. She at least she deserved to know why she was in this shitty situation. "They're just greedy. Two weeks ago, my grandmother told them they wouldn't have anything to do with the company anymore. She gave them each a final check and told them I'd get the company after I graduate college. After high school I was going to go see her and learn the ropes of how to run it. My parents and Karen want the company. Well, they just want to sell it and get the money so they can keep living the life they've been living without having to run it. If I die, then my grandmother has no choice but to turn it over to them. It isn't a public company or anything, so they could just take the whole thing," I finally explained.

"What does your family business do?" Dee asked.

"Honestly, I have no idea. My grandmother has always told me she'd tell me when I was older, and my parents never talk to me about anything, so it never comes up," I told her.

"Do your parents know what the company does?" Quin asked, an edge to her voice like she was gritting her sharpened teeth.

"I assume so if my grandmother trained them like she was going to train me. I never really thought about it," I reasoned. Truthfully, that would have been done ages ago, before I was born, so I wouldn't have been aware of it.

"And what about your grandfather?" Quin asked, her eyes narrow.

This was an odd line of questioning, she was certainly acting as if there was more to the situation than I knew, and that she might now about it. How did she even know about him, let alone ask about him? "I don't know. According to my grandmother, he was gone before I was ever born. I've only seen pictures of him, I never met him."

Quin breathed deeply, and visibly relaxed. Even Dee was looking between us as if she could tell something was up. "So, we're all going to pretend that there isn't an underlying tension here?" Dee finally asked, the frustration showing in her voice.

"Quin, what do you know?" I asked her. "It seems pretty obvious that you know something about my family's company."

She stood up and started to pace, as if thinking about how to answer the question, then cocked her head as if listening. She held up a hand, and extended a slender index finger, signaling us to hold on for a minute. Moments later, my mother appeared at the doorway.

"They're still alive," my mother stated with scorn dripping from her voice. "You don't seem to be good at your job," her attitude was very cold.

"Thanks mom, I love you too," I added with some sarcasm. Why on earth did I ever give them the benefit of the doubt with their bullshit 'we're going to be better parents' charade?

"They require food," Quin stated.

"Why should we feed them?" My mother was confused.