Free The Demon Conspiracy by R. L. Gemmill Page A

growled and yelled.
But the Boss raised one hand high above his head. Between two thick
red fingers he held a tiny, white sugar cube. The place grew silent
again. A moment later, all the creatures on the floor raised up
their own sugar cubes. Travis panned the camera to take in every
creature in the underground room. The Boss dropped the cube into
his mouth and waited. He made a face and nodded agreeably. The
floor demons looked at each other then reluctantly followed their
leader’s example. Except for slurping sounds made as the sugar
cubes melted in their mouths, the room was silent. The demons all
nodded to each other approvingly. Travis licked his lips and looked
back at me.
    We haven’t ate since
breakfast! he thought to me.
    Eaten , I returned. Apparently the foster families he’d stayed with
hadn’t thought good grammar was important. I tried to correct him
when he needed it most, but not too often.
    “Give it another ten seconds,” said the Man,
checking his wristwatch as he counted silently. “There. Now
speak.”
    “What do yer want us ta say?” shouted a Gray
Demon with nine eyes.
    “Yeah, what’s the big deal?” called a Blue
Demon with two horns in its head and an extra arm.
    Travis and I looked at each other in total
shock.
    “Are you picking up
sound?” asked Jon. Travis nodded. “Good. Don’t miss any of this, Trav. This
is good stuff.” Jon shook his head. “I hate to say it, kids, but I
think we’re in deep doodoo.”
    The demons were still upset about the way
their fellow had been treated by the Boss. Apparently, it wasn’t in
good taste to help a human.
    “Why’d you defend ‘im, Boss?” cried a
Multi-colored Demon with long tusks and seven horns in its head.
“We should be cookin’ that one! He looks tasty enough!” That got
some laughs, but most of the other demons were still mad.
    A Green Demon up front pointed one of its
tentacles at the Man and got personal. “Yer a human! Why shouldn’t
I rip out yer heart and eat it in front of ya? What’s to stop
me?”
    “I say slap ‘im in irons!” cried a husky,
Blue Demon with three noses. “We need more slaves! After all, who’s
gonna brush my teeth?” The Blue Demon grinned horribly. Its
enormous mouth was full of sharp, yellow teeth. “I say get
‘im!”
    “Yeah! Get ‘im!”
    Maybe demons had really
short memories. Or maybe they just didn’t get it. They still wanted to attack
the man. I guess demons were like some people. They didn’t learn
something unless they learned it the hard way.
    After much prodding and shouting, the Green
Demon gathered its nerve. It climbed onto the stage and raced
toward the man, tentacles flapping. The Boss scowled and raised the
staff again. But this time the man signaled to the Boss to stand
down. The Boss lowered his staff and leaned on it, apparently
content to enjoy the show.
    Unruffled, the man watched the attacker.
When the Green Demon was a few feet away, the man finally did
something. He raised one finger and pointed at the demon. The
charging demon froze in mid-stride. I couldn’t believe it. It was
like watching some kind of stop action in a movie!
    The Green Demon struggled vainly against
whatever invisible force the man wielded. But the only thing it
could move was its head. It looked at its comrades in the audience,
helpless and rather embarrassed.
    Travis mind-spoke to
me. What’s goin’ on?
    I have no
idea .
    The man dropped his
nice-guy attitude. He threw the clipboard hard on the floor. It
landed with an echoing SPLACK , which got their complete
attention. Then he marched to the front edge of the stage and
looked down on the demon hoard just below him. He’d clearly had
enough.
    “Go ahead, all of you. Attack me! See if I
care. Rest assured, just like this fellow here, not one of you will
even touch me! But if that happens, I will take away from you the
most exciting bargain of the millennia!” I could feel the power of
his voice reverberating throughout the