Free Exodus (Imp Series Book 8) by Debra Dunbar Page B

sarcastically, but the idea was sound. “Good plan. The other thing you need to know is that humans generally don’t believe in magic here. I’m not even sure most of what you do in Hel is going to work.”
    “How do they get far distances? Walk? I thought that metal thing that nearly hit us was some kind of magical horse. It’s not magic? And how do they communicate if they’re not close to each other? How do they prepare foods and control their weather and plant growth and manage waste? That house we just passed seems like a hovel. I had assumed humans had evolved a bit further than living like animals.”
    Oh how to explain this in the fifty feet we had left before reaching my house? “Humans have their own sort of magic. If migrating elves don’t recognize it or learn to use it, they’ll never be able to survive here. You’re not just my spy, you’re the Klee test subject. If you can’t deal with human ‘magic,’ then you need to let the others know not to come.”
    He scowled. “I’ve seen humans do magic. Yes, a well-trained sorcerer is a force to be respected, but only one in a few thousand is truly capable of that level of craft. I can’t imagine them having any sort of skills that would be beyond our ability to easily master.”
    I pulled out my cell phone and showed it to him. “I can communicate with anyone on the planet with this. The humans have put satellites in orbit that transmit signals across the globe. I can write someone and they see it instantly. I can speak with them. I also have access to an enormous library of information through this device—all at the touch of a finger. And if I wanted to, I could kill someone with it. Just one button.”
    Okay, that was an exaggeration, but he didn’t need to know that.
    Bob took the device from my hands, cradling it as if it were the Holy Grail. “This is the mighty cell phone that the demons have talked about. I thought that surely they must be lying. The amount of energy required…how does it work? Is it like our mirrors?”
    I had no fucking idea how it worked. Like ninety percent of the humans, I just bought it, charged it, and hit a bunch of buttons until it did what I wanted. I don’t even think I’d ever read the directions. Come to think of it, I don’t even think it came with directions.
    “Magic.” It was the best explanation I could come up with. “The special human magic I told you about. You’ll be able to use these devices, just as we demons do, but only the humans can create them and provide them.”
    Just then we walked around the corner in the road and saw my house. Bob stopped dead and gaped. “That doesn’t look like the house we just passed.”
    “That’s mine. It’s really not all that big of a deal. I’ve seen humans with far more impressive houses. I’ll warn you I’m not sure where you’re going to sleep. I’m pretty much full up and as you can see, that structure off to the side isn’t completely done yet. That’s the guest house I’m building. Being the Iblis means I wind up with all sorts of guests who come and never leave.”
    “I’ll sleep anywhere.” His voice sounded distracted as he slowly continued forward, still staring at the house. “I’ve slept in the woods before, or in the stables. I can see you have stables.”
    “Three horses, one of them a hybrid. I’ve also got a hellhound, but lately he sleeps in the house.” I wasn’t happy about that, but Nyalla insisted that Boomer was part of the family and needed to be inside. I relented, hoping the extra air fresheners covered up the smell of dog and dead stuff.
    “Honestly, I’m good anywhere,” Bob assured me. “I’ll even sleep in that unfinished structure over there.” He pointed to the framed out guest house—the guest house that suddenly burst into flames.
    We both stared wordlessly at the inferno, then Bob brought his index finger close to his nose, paling slightly. At least I think he paled. It was hard to tell with