Free The Demon Collector by Jon Mayhew

solid. Stone.
    Edgy crouched down. ‘Come on, Mr Janus, don’t die,’ he muttered, cradling him and slapping his cheek.
    Janus coughed and spluttered, spraying Edgy as his eyes flicked open. He struggled to his feet, propped up by Edgy.
    ‘That was close, Mr Taylor,’ he said, his voice hoarse. ‘You need some target practice with the ossifier but thank you. You saved my life.’
    ‘We’re evens, then. You saved my life, I saved yours,’ Edgy said, extending his hand. Janus shook it weakly and nodded. ‘Now that it’s up to me if I stay or go, I’d like to accept that job if it’s still on offer?’
     
    Once more, Edgy lay on the rough bed in Sally’s room. Something had changed when he had saved Janus’s life. He didn’t feel trapped now. The demons outside had gone but Janus had given Edgy the impression that the danger was far from over.
    ‘This woman you told me about,’ Janus had said as he limped back to the Society. ‘The demons called her Salomé?’
    ‘They did, sir,’ Edgy replied. ‘They bowed to her. Is she really the Demon Queen?’
    ‘She is,’ Janus had said, his voice barely a whisper. ‘Things are shaping up, Edgy. Rumours abound among my demon sources. They say she seeks the corpse of Moloch. She already has the heart. Think of the havoc she could wreak if heart and body were reunited.’
    A prickle of dread had run up Edgy’s spine. ‘What do we do, Mr Janus?’
    ‘We find Moloch’s body first,’ Janus said, then frowned and chewed his lip. ‘But do me a favour: don’t mention Salomé to anyone. The governors won’t believe us until I have proper evidence and we don’t want anyone questioning your sanity again, do we?’
    Edgy shook his head. ‘No, I’ve had enough of people doin’ that.’
    Now Edgy rolled over on his bed and sighed. He had never been praised before. No one had ever told him he was useful and now Janus thought he was needed to stop Salomé from destroying the world. Maybe the Society could become his family, like it had Trimdon’s. Edgy smiled. I won’t let Mr Janus down .
    He flicked through A Demon a Day , trying to find any reference to Moloch. However, the book was being obstinate. Every time he turned a page, it seemed to be the same story. With a sigh, Edgy rolled on to his stomach, flattened the page and began to read.
    The Hunt
    In the early days, when the blue-green world was fresh and sparkled in the morning sun, Satan wandered among the forests, whistling and planning his next outrage against the Lord.
    As he stood in a glade dappled with sunlight, the sound of baying dogs shattered his thoughts. A wild boar burst out of the undergrowth beside him and fled through the trees. Soon the bark and howl of the pack grew nearer. Satan’s eyes glowed. There was bloodlust and excitement in that sound and in the bellow of the human voices urging them on.
    A pack of hounds surged into the glade, filling it as the sea drowns a rockpool. They leapt around Satan, almost knocking him off his feet. He laughed and stroked the lashing tails as they swished past him.
    Three men in furs came close behind. They held spears, sharp and pointed.
    ‘Forgive my dogs, sir,’ said the tallest and strongest looking of the men. ‘They did not see you in their excitement.’
    ‘You are gracious.’ Satan nodded. ‘I would have cursed anyone who dragged my dogs from the scent.’
    The man merely nodded and smiled back. ‘It is wise to befriend strangers, for sometimes they prove to be devils or angels in disguise. Join us in our hunt, sir, and share the spoils.’
    So Satan joined the hunt and after many hours of scrabbling through bushes, clambering over rocks and splashing across streams, they cornered the boar in a narrow ravine deep in the forest. The beast’s sides heaved for breath. Blood streamed down its sides and matted its fur. The men’s eyes glittered dark and deep. They held their spears as steadily as they could.
    And Satan watched in envy.
    The men