RSE CH 23 (Patreon)

Leo turned over the heavy cardstock envelope in his hands. It was a creamy white and decorated with all kinds of whorls and swirling calligraphy. He’d heard about invitations like these before, but had never seen one.

The designs had a purpose… a meaning.

He’d wondered what it was when Shuri had stopped him in the hall and bowed fully at the waist while presenting the small envelope to him on a silver tray. She had only smiled when he’d asked what it was.

He’d taken it from the tray and lifted it to his nose. There was an enchanting scent on it, one he’d smelled before but couldn’t place. He only knew it wasn’t the jasmine perfume that Shuri was wearing.

When he’d arched an eyebrow at the Japanese beauty after taking a sniff, she had given him a smirk and a wink before bowing again and walking away.

Amidst the whorls and designs on the front of the envelope were three words—two in English, and one in Sanskrit. The English words were his name, and the Sanskrit was निमन्त्रण—nimantraṇa.

Back in the Vatican, Leo had learned to read Sanskrit. It was the language most often used by devils in formal communications and spells. Literally translated, nimantraṇa meant ‘invitation’. Specifically, nimantraṇam was used for more formal invitations, like to a specific event. It was an invitation one could not refuse without creating an incident.

If it had been an invitation he could decline or ignore, whoever sent it would have used आमंत्रण—āmantraṇa. An āmantraṇam was still a formal invitation, but one that didn’t necessarily require attendance.

Given that Shuri had delivered the formal invitation to him and the almost familiar scent, Leo had a good idea who had sent it. He sighed.

Before opening the envelope, he studied the whorls and designs decorating the outside. Though he’d never received one before, he’d learned in the Vatican what to look for. Amidst what appeared to be decorative artwork, he noted designs which roughly translated to sorrow, an apology, and a debt owed.

Why did Rayne Mephisto feel sorry about that she owed him an apology for? And what was this about a debt owed?

He checked the symbols again… make that a minor debt owed.

She’d given him a lot to think about—and he had yet to open the envelope.

Grimacing, Leo looked around. There were a few groups of girls sitting in clusters on blankets over the now brown grass of the quad. Several of them were checking him out.

To be fair, he’d gotten used to the stares. There were so few guys on campus that it was almost to be expected. The key, he had learned, was not to stay in one place for so long that the bolder female students took it for an invitation to introduce themselves.

He’d been on his way to the library when Shuri had appeared in front of him, bowing with the envelope on a silver tray. Now, though, he wanted nothing more than to open the envelope. But he wanted to do so away from prying eyes—mundane or otherwise.

Waving to the group of girls who kept darting glances his way, Leo turned and headed for the gate. He would head home where he could not only enjoy some privacy, but where Lucy could help him understand any nuances he might miss.

***

“Well, if it isn’t Asa’s little boyfriend!’

The words brought Leo out of his thoughts. Blinking, he realized he was halfway home already. That wasn’t good. He knew better than to lose situational awareness like that.

Despite knowing he was stronger than just about anything that might want to harm him in this town, he knew his father, his old mentor Nico, Vittore, and even Lucy would rip him up one side and down the other for zoning out like that.

A tall man with slicked back dark hair leered at him from across the street. Without looking either way, the man sauntered across the street towards Leo. When a car screeched to a halt before plowing into him and laid on the horn, the man simply flipped the driver a one-fingered-salute.

It was Asa’s idiot brother, Duane.

“Can I help you?” Leo called out politely as he studied the man’s aura.

As he’d noted before, the man’s soul was a sickly white streaked with slashes of dark gray. Unlike before, though, the gray bands that marked his sins were much darker. Leo could almost smell the blood on his hands. It seemed the idiot had really messed someone up since he’d literally bumped into Leo.

Just because the nephilim was Asa’s supposed ‘brother’, didn’t mean that Leo owed him the time of day. But Leo’s mother had drilled manners into him, and it never hurt to be polite.

“You better stay away from my sister, punk!” the nephilim snarled, once he got closer.

Leo rolled his eyes. “Please… Duane, right? We both know you aren’t siblings.”

“What did you say?!”

Leo shook his head. “Your ‘sister’ is barely five foot nothing, has pale skin with green eyes and straight, pale blonde hair.” He smirked at the lanky man. “You, on the other hand, are well over six-foot. You are swarthy, with dark, curly hair. The only thing you have in common, is that you both have green eyes—though it isn’t the same color green.”

The taller man scowled.

“Genetics alone gives the lie to your story, man.”

“Asa’s… uh… she’s my step-sister,” Duane mumbled, then narrowed his eyes at Leo. “What is that in your hand?”

Leo hadn’t realized the nimantraṇa was still in his hand. Casually, he slipped that hand behind his back and tucked the envelope in the small of his back under his jacket.

“Don’t bother hiding it,” Duane snarled. “I recognize a devil’s invitation when I see one. It fairly pulses with their revolting power.” He poked Leo in the chest, hard. “What is a fool like you doing with a nimantraṇa?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Leo said. “And my business is my own, not yours. Keep your hands to yourself.” He squared his shoulders, standing taller. “That is the first, last, and only warning I’ll give you.”

“Yeah… right…” Duane half turned before spinning and throwing a punch at Leo’s face.

Leo had kept his eyes on the man’s hips and saw the moment he wound up to strike. Snorting, he leaned back far enough that Duane’s fist passed less than an inch in front of his nose.

Not waiting for another attack, Leo stepped into the nephilim when he lurched forward after hitting nothing but air. Grabbing the angelic’s extended arm, he dipped and spun so that his hip knocked the other man even further off balance. Straightening, Leo threw the taller man over his shoulder.

Duane crashed back first onto the concrete sidewalk, which knocked the air out of him. Not letting go of the idiot’s arm, Leo stepped on his shoulder before giving the man’s forearm a violent twist.

Snap!

In one motion, Leo not only broke the man’s tibia and fibula—the bones in his forearm—he also dislocated Duane’s shoulder.

Leo released the shattered arm and pressed down with his big toe into the fallen man’s shoulder.

“Grrrrr… Unnnnnggh!” the nephilim groaned.

“Stay out of my business,” he warned the man on the ground. “And if I hear you’ve so much as made Asa frown, let alone cry, you better keep one eye behind you—because next time I’ll break both your legs and your jaw.”

He kicked the man in the ribs.

“And if I learn you broke the law and actually killed an innocent. I will find you and I will kill you.”

Leo could barely contain the fury that raged in his gut. If he wasn’t trying to fly under the radar and keep from drawing too much attention to himself, he’d have ensured there was one less oxygen thief in Spartanburg.

He worried about what trouble Asa had gotten herself mixed up in the rest of the way home.