Agnes has been around for a long time. When she finds a place she can comfortably exist, she makes it a second home. The Café proves a delightful atmosphere for reading and savoring her tea. But Agnes doesn’t mind the occasional distraction. When an old acquaintance requests her help in mediating a dangerous meeting, Agnes agrees.
Because when you’ve lived as long as Agnes has, and a legendary demon hunter asks for your assistance, the only entertaining answer is yes.
AGNES AT THE CAFE is available for free until the 1st of February. For readers who would prefer to read on a device of preference, or who would like their own personal eBook of this story, you can find it here.
***
AGNES AT THE CAFE
by Kat Simons
Agnes Waters had been on this planet for a very long time. Longer than most people would think possible. Even the lovely witch proprietor of the café, Nina. Maybe even her familiar, the Maine coon, Boo, would have a hard time believing how long Agnes had been alive. Nina herself was quite a bit older than she let on, of course. Maybe in a hundred years, she’d be able to understand Agnes’s existence.
Most didn’t, though. And that was for the best.
Agnes had also had many names over the years. Monikers that fit her surroundings, her era, her presentation. She was quite fond of her current name. It felt a bit antique to her, and she liked things that other people considered antique as she’d been around when those things were not.
She also loved Nina’s little café attached to an adorable independent bookstore and had been coming here regularly since it opened. This was her happy spot. The tea was good. The bookstore stocked plenty of erotica and erotic poetry books—though Agnes suspected the proprietor of the bookstore got in fresh publications especially for Agnes at this stage. And when Agnes tired of erotica, there was a substantial section of yummy Romances to choose from. A delightful genre. She’d been happy to see it’s evolution over the centuries. This modern incarnation was quite entertaining.
Nina got in a selection of very nice teas as well. Getting nice tea could sometimes be complicated. And Agnes had been addicted to the stuff since her first cup in China, where she’d been when it began to emerge as a drink and not just an addition to soups or part of medicinal concoctions. She didn’t talk about that time of course. There were very few beings alive who would remember that period. Maybe some of the older dragons? But most of them were asleep. Few others would be able to trace back that far.
Occasionally, Agnes felt her age, and the fact that she couldn’t talk about certain things with anyone who might understand, who had actually been there. That was the side effect of aging anyway, though. Even humans experienced that. So she didn’t dwell on it. Life was a buffet of choices and interesting things to experience. No point in crying over things that could not be changed. Time marched in one direction for most of them, and she was bound by that forward momentum as much as everyone else.
On that particular afternoon in the café, though, her peaceful reading and excellent tea were disrupted by one of the few humans on the planet who understood Agnes and her age. Aidan still didn’t know what Agnes Waters was because Agnes wasn’t inclined to discuss that with her. But Aidan was no ordinary human and her understanding of things, even when she didn’t know the thing, was rather impressive.
Aidan was not impressive to look upon, however. She was as ordinary as a woman could be in these times. Her brown hair was neither long nor short, not too dark, not too light. She was a middling height, maybe a little above average but not so much as to be noticeable. She was neither skinny nor fat. She was not attractive enough to turn heads but wasn’t notably ugly either. She had no tattoos, no piercings, no moles, no birthmarks to latch onto as a distinguishing feature.
She dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt this fine spring morning and blended in so well with the other women scattered around the café as to be entirely easy to overlook.
Aidan was so absolutely perfect at blending into her surroundings that no one took any notice of her. And if Aidan wished to take that even farther, she could literally will people not to see her. Which, even Agnes had to admit, was a lovely trick. One she’d practiced herself a few centuries ago and gotten quite adept at before abandoning the effort. She, personally, couldn’t be bothered.
Aidan’s ability to be so absolutely ordinary and unremarkable, though, was truly awe-inspiring. And if one didn’t look too closely at her eyes, didn’t notice that hint of red in the depth of the brown—or wrote it off as a trick of the light—one might not ever even remember Aidan after encountering her.
Agnes, for her part, had never forgotten her first encounter with the demon hunter.
“Well, well, well.” She smiled and nodded at the chair across from her. “What brings you to my current favorite hangout?”
Aidan sank into the comfortable wooden seat and smiled. “You say ‘hangout’ feels like an anacronyms.”
“One must use modern language. It’s important.”
“Of course. One must try at least.”
Agnes snorted, rolling her eyes at the hunter. “Well with that said, what does bring you to my corner of the world? I don’t imagine this visit is purely coincidental.”
“It’s not. Mores the pity.” Aidan glanced around. “This seems like a very comfortable…hangout. Nice place. Bookstores well stocked and friendly, too.”
“You can see why I enjoy my time here, then.”
“I do.”
“And why I might not want anything to happen here that would make it difficult for me to come back.”
“Not here to upset the apple cart as they say. Things go to plan, you should be able to return tomorrow with none the wiser.”
“In that case, I believe an explanation is in order. Would you like a coffee? Tea?”
“Don’t suppose they have sodas? I could do with a Coke.”
“Ah. You’re on a hunt?”
Aidan gave her a slight nod.
“Someone here?”
“Not yet. Arriving soon, though.”
“A meeting you arranged.”
“No. But this…person is an old acquaintance of yours.”
“Ah.” Well. Wasn’t that inconvenient. “He’s violated his terms of sanctuary.”
“He has.”
“That hardly seems credible.”
Aidan shrugged. “Nevertheless. Here I am.”
“Yes.”
Aidan wouldn’t be here if Agnes’s former acquaintance hadn’t done something to earn the demon hunter’s attention. There were rules for a demon claiming this planet as sanctuary. Rules that had to be abided—and really, they weren’t that difficult—or the sanctuary contract was violated and the hunters began hunting the demon again.
A complicated and tiresome process, really. She’d seen it in action. Hunters might die. The demon might be banished. Really, it was easier for the demon to just abide by the rules of sanctuary. There were so many freedoms afforded. More than Agnes thought truly deserved. They were demons after all.
“Are you here to recruit me into the hunt?” Agnes said. She tried to stay out of demon and demon hunter affairs because they were always messy. But eventually, Agnes got drawn in to most things. Impossible to avoid all the things when your lifetime spanned millennia.
“Not necessarily,” Aidan said as Agnes signaled for Nina. “I’m here because my quarry will be here soon. Finding you present is…an interesting twist. Especially given this particular quarry.”
“Mm. Interesting.” A complicated word, that one. In whatever language it was used.
Nina joined them and Agnes asked if she had any sodas.
“Not diet,” Adian added. “Regular Coke would be great.”
“I actually happen to have some regular Coke on hand,” Nina said, and her eyes narrowed at Aidan. “I had a shipment delivered on accident yesterday. Decided to keep them just in case. Never know when someone might want one, right?”
“I’d be very grateful, thank you,” Aidan said, her smile neutral and the slight red in the depth of her eyes dancing.
Nina glanced at Agnes. Agnes could see the half-question, half-understanding there. She probably did know what demon hunters were. Might even know the legendary hunter sitting across from Agnes. At least she’d know her by name if names had been exchanged. But like all the best proprietors, Nina kept her speculation and questions to herself and got Aidan’s drink without any further comment.
She didn’t ask if Aidan wanted anything to eat, though, and it was her usual habit to offer a pastry with the drinks she served. Which confirmed for Agnes that Nina knew what was about to happen.
Most hunters didn’t eat right before a fight with a demon. There could be…smells involved and visuals that would cause the unwary hunter to, as they say, toss up their cookies. The less there was to toss up, the better.
“While we wait, perhaps you’d tell me a little story,” Agnes said, cupping her tea mug in both hands, her book abandoned for the moment to one side of the little round wooden table. Bookmarked because she couldn’t abide bent pages.
“What kind of story would you like?” Aidan asked, her gaze dancing to the door once before she settled her attention fully on Agnes.
“A tale of two demons, perhaps.” Agnes smiles. “A violation of sanctuary.”
Agnes didn’t bother limiting what she said for fear those around her would overhear. Aidan would will the café patrons not to hear. It was probably better Aidan didn’t expend much will just then, even for the sake of their privacy. But as Agnes had begun to think of this place as her place, and there was going to be a demon fight here soon, she wanted answers.
Especially since this involved someone Agnes had once spent time with.
“He killed a hunter,” Aidan said. “One who…was new enough that this particular demon should have known better. The hunter wasn’t coming for him. The hunter was issuing a warning. And instead of just taking the warning. He killed the hunter.”
There had to be more to the story because this particular demon had been on Earth, availing of sanctuary, for several centuries now. The rule about not killing or interfering with demon hunters should honestly have been the easiest of all rules to follow. Why bother when you essentially have the run of the place?
So to kill a hunter, an egregious act that would absolutely lead to banishment from this realm, Agnes thought her former acquaintance might have been pushed into a corner.
Not that that made things better or earned her sympathy. Her acquaintance was an asshole, and she wouldn’t mourn him being banished back to a demon realm. Still…
She didn’t like that Aidan was being evasive.
Maybe she wasn’t. Maybe this was all she knew about the situation.
Agnes doubted that, though.
“And his twin?” Agnes asked. “What of his sanctuary?”
“He isn’t the one involved in the killing. His sanctuary hasn’t been violated.”
And wasn’t that also, as they say, interesting. Because the brother was the very reason the twins had asked for sanctuary. The brother was…not a demon made for demon realms. Artistic, weak—for a demon—and not at all bloodthirsty. Unlike his asshole brother. Who was happy to kill and torture and torment like any ordinary demon. The twin, on the other hand, fit in perfectly in a human world. Less intent on torture, more intent on…climbing ladders, as they might say. But artistic ladders. Not power ladders. Other demons moved along those assents and were happy to run their little corners of the human realm. The twin, though… His ambitions lay in the realm of the arts.
It had always struck Agnes as mildly ironic. A few centuries ago, this twin was well known for producing religious art.
Demons weren’t what certain current religions claimed them to be. Not fallen angels rebelling against a god. Not mysterious elements of nature out to get humans. They were beings from different realms, horrible realms with horrible beings populating them. Very few redeeming qualities to those places that Agnes could ever see. Lots of death and torture. And the human realm was such a ripe place full of creatures that feared death and torture—fear that fed the demons as surely as the physical bodies—that demons loved being summoned here. At least most of them did.
At any rate, they were, like most other beings, driven by their hungers and their hungers were destructive and violent and evil. But they weren’t part of a particular human religion.
They did like to use religious beliefs to their benefit, though. The twin had used those beliefs in his art. And had won many accolades and wealth because of it. Not that the wealth mattered. He was always and only after the accolades.
His brother, the one more…demon presenting, as the kids might say, liked the wealth. They’d actually made a very fine team here. Because the artistic twin could survive this place. He was not long for survival in any of the demon realms. Even with the muscle and violence of his brother to protect him.
That was why they’d sought sanctuary here. Here, the artistic twin was not “weak” compared to humans. Here he wasn’t the prey.
That the asshole brother would risk sanctuary, and his twin’s life, by violating the rules truly was a mystery.
One Agnes intended on solving before the hunt was concluded.
“Interesting,” Agnes said.
“Yes,” Aidan said. “I thought so, too.”
And so, the hunter wasn’t saying as much as she knew.
Agnes wondered if Aidan would have said more, had they been given more time. But just then, her former acquaintance, the asshole twin demon, stepped into the café.
***
Demons with enough power, and with the intention of remaining in the human realm, did not show themselves as demons when walking around. That would surely bring the human world down upon them. Hardly the point.
No. Demons who claimed sanctuary and walked among humans freed from the bonds of a summoning contract presented themselves as human. The type of human façade they choose depended on the demon, their vanity, their desire for camouflage or display.
In this, both twins were of a single mind. They chose display.
Remarkably handsome, young and healthy façades that blended into current ideas of attractiveness. Last time Agnes had seen her acquaintance, he’d been favoring the dandy display, full of big white wigs and embroidered, velvet clothing, and high heels and glittery jewelry. There were lace handkerchiefs and heavy gold rings with imbedded precious stones to add even more glamour to the outfits. His jaw had been narrow and his features sharp and full of cutting beauty. The image of the elegant, nobleman.
He had changed that look for this century. His features were still sharp, and beautiful, but he’d adopted short, black hair and blue eyes and pale skin to go with his finely tailored black suit and tie. Everything sleek and minimal. Even the thick silver pinky ring he wore was elegantly understated. A display of casual, modern wealth. Not old school money.
And he did not look a day over forty.
Agnes rolled her eyes. None of them appreciated the benefits of an older, mature appearance. The way one could…blend in when perceived as “older.”
But she knew that would defeat the purpose for both twins. Their point was to stand out. And they did.
This one, the asshole, the money-making, power-climbing, violent one, went by Charles Richard Holmes the Third the last time she’d met him. She had no idea what name he’d adopted in this century.
Like Agnes, he went through multiple names and multiple identities. Those who lived long, and didn’t want to be noticed for it, were forced into identity changes very few decades.
He spotted her first, his smile almost a smirk. They’d parted on reasonable terms but with the intention to never see each other again. This wouldn’t be a pleasant reunion. But they hadn’t parted enemies. Agnes had simply decided she wanted nothing more to do with either Charles—whoever he was in this century—or his brother. Who’d gone by Patrick O’Brien last they’d met. Though the two demons looked quite alike in their demon form, they never presented themselves to the human world as twins and therefore always looked quite different, even when taking on guises from similar backgrounds for the purpose of their latest scheme.
Charles’s gaze jumped to Aidan and his smirk fell. But to Agnes’s surprise, he didn’t snarl and scowl or even grin. His expression went neutral.
He didn’t hesitate to approach their table, taking a seat to one side, placing himself between Aidan and Agnes.
From the corner of her eye, Agnes was aware of Nina quietly ushering people out of the café with some quite interesting excuses—flash book sale, don’t want to miss that; small water leak in the back, no coffee for a bit; heard there’s a film being shot down the street, probably want to go see what’s happening.
Agnes had a feeling Nina was tailoring her excuses to suit the individual patron, and wasn’t that a very neat trick. She wondered what excuse Nina would have tried on her, had she not been involved in the imminent demon fight.
Charles gave Agnes a nod and raised his brows at her.
“Agnes Waters,” she introduced. She couldn’t even remember what name he might have known her by the last time they’d spoken. Something befitting the era, she was sure.
“Charles Lewis,” he introduced.
“Charles?” Still? How unusual. But then, he’d always been the less creative brother. At least when it came to this sort of thing. His creativity for torture on the other hand…
“It’s a family name,” he said by way of excuse.
“Of course. I understand you’ve done something to complicate your family situation, though.” Agnes let her gaze move to Aidan.
Aidan hadn’t bothered to speak yet. She just stared at Charles, her expression bland and unreadable.
“I wanted Agnes…Ms. Waters here as a neutral third party to our negotiation,” Charles said to Aidan. “That’s why we’re meeting here.”
“I had wondered about that,” Aidan said.
As had Agnes.
“Why do you need a neutral third party?” Aidan asked. “And what do you think we’re here to negotiate?”
“My violation of sanctuary rules is not what it seems.”
“Everyone says that.”
“No,” Charles said with a little head shake. “Everyone does not. If they violate the rules, they’ve done it thinking they can simply kill all the hunters that come for them.”
Aidan nodded her head from side to side, a half acknowledgement of that truth. “Some of them. Yes. Some of them… The weaker ones always have an excuse. A reason why they shouldn’t be sent back.”
“I’m not one of the weaker ones.”
“Your twin is,” Aidan said. She raised a hand when Charles opened his mouth to speak. “But his sanctuary isn’t void. He’s allowed to stay.”
Charles let out a sigh that. If Agnes were the generous sort, she’d all relieved. He hadn’t been certain his brother would be able to remain. That was interesting.
“I am…grateful for that.”
“As I understand it,” Aidan said, “you purposefully asked for individual contracts for you and your brother. Purposefully ensured your sanctuary and his would not be bound up together. Had you always intended on violating yours?”
“No.” Almost a scowl, quickly controlled. Aidan had hit a soft spot.
Agnes found that interesting, too. In fact, all of this was quite interesting. Even better than the book she’d been reading.
“But there was always the possibility that this realm wouldn’t suit… And we’d have to go different ways.” Charles’s expression tightened, his mouth flattening into a line. “Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that wouldn’t be possible until too late.”
“Meaning?” This from Agnes. She leaned forward on the table, cupping her hands under her chin. She was riveted.
“They’re twins and they can’t be separated in different realms,” Aidan supplied.
“You knew all along?” Charles asked.
“No. You just said as much.”
“What does this mean to his violation of sanctuary, then?” Agnes asked. That the twins couldn’t be separated in different realms was not something Charles had ever admitted to her. She wondered if he’d even known back then. Perhaps not.
“You’re hoping the fact that you can’t be separated, but your brother’s contract hasn’t been violated, that you’ll be able to stay?” Aidan asked.
“Not…” Charles’s nose twitched.
A tic Agnes couldn’t quite interpret. He didn’t smell of brimstone or sulfur, as one might assume a demon did, but of very expensive cologne. However, in that moment, some of the façade slipped. A little flare of red in the eyes. A little hint of something burning crept in around the edges of the expensive cologne and tailored appearance.
“The hunter I killed,” Charles said, more quietly, “threatened my brother and I.”
“How?” Aidan didn’t immediately deny the charge.
“He said freed demons were an abomination, and he was there to banish us.”
“He couldn’t have, not unless he had the voided contract.”
“I was aware.”
“Then no need to kill him.”
“He… The hunter attacked my brother.”
Aidan shrugged. “Your brother is strong enough to fend off a human attack.”
“Not a hunter attack.”
That might well be true. Agnes wasn’t sure. She’d seen the hunters do impressive things. Especially Aidan. A hunter’s will was their superpower. The thing they used against a demon. The fights were often just a clash of wills and the strongest will won. That a hunter could survive those fights, win those tests of will, with a demon was a testament to their strength. Will beyond what most humans could conjure. Their ability to wield their wills often resembled magic. And to be a living hunter, one had to have a will that could best a demon.
It was entirely possible this hunter had such inner power.
“Your defense is…self-defense?” Aidan asked.
“No. My defense is protecting my brother from a hunter gone rogue.”
Aidan leaned back in her chair. Her half empty glass of Coke now ignored. Agnes couldn’t remember Aidan even drinking any of it.
When the hunter didn’t immediately react to the charge of a hunter gone rogue, Agnes started to grow suspicious. What did Aidan know that she wasn’t admitting to? She hadn’t outright denied the claim or even told Charles to fuck off with his excuses. Which is something Agnes might have done, and certainly would have expected from a demon hunter.
That Aidan was considering him, her expression contemplative and not hostile, even though he was a literal demon, had Agnes considering the situation closer too.
She knew the rules for sanctuary. She knew of the contracts and the bargains made for a demon to remain free in this world. She knew the hunters had rules around all this too—and everyone knew that was for the hunters’ safety.
Why would a hunter break those rules, and then choose to go after one of the least objectionable freed demons? There were plenty doing much worse things than creating art and then selling it for exorbitant prices. Plenty doing the things Charles would probably do more of if not for his brother.
Why go after Charles’ twin?
“Was it revenge for something you did?” Agnes asked. “Your brother confused for you?” Even though the twins never presented as looking alike here in their human forms, a hunter would know the relationship. She supposed there was an outside chance for confusion between the two.
But Charles shook his head. “The hunter claimed all freed demons were an abomination and wanted them all banished.”
“But why your brother specifically?” Aidan asked, taking up Agnes’s line of questioning. “He’s not as strong as you, but he’s also not doing anything particularly harmful except taking full advantage of a capitalist system to sell his art. Can’t blame him for that. There are human CEOs who commit actual crimes in the name of capitalism. You’ve done worse things than your brother.”
“I can only assume he went for him because he assumed he’d be easy. Assumed he could banish him, despite not having a broken contract.”
“There are weaker freed demons claiming sanctuary,” Aidan said.
“Some very weak as to be almost human,” Agnes added.
There were some freed demons walking this earth who just wanted to avoid the demons that would kill them. They were the reason sanctuary had been created—or at least they were the ones who served the purpose of sanctuary. They lived quiet, human-like lives, got jobs, paid taxes, some even got married. There were no children from most of those marriages. Demons rarely reproduced with humans, and when they did, the result for the human was rarely good. But those quiet, weak demons otherwise harmed no one and just lived their lives.
Over the last few centuries, Agnes had even met two of those freed demons. Lovely people, really. Keeping their heads down and keeping their evil impulses to themselves.
If Agnes were being mercenary, she’d have said those demons were the perfect ones for a rogue demon hunter to go after. One less freed demon, even if the demon had done nothing to be banished back to a certain death in the demon realms.
“I need to know why this rogue went after your brother if I’m to judge this case properly,” Agnes said aloud. “It is the part of your tale that is most illogical and leads me to believe you or your brother actually did violate sanctuary.”
Charles let out a huff, and with it came the faintest scent of brimstone. A tell that he was growing frustrated and was upset.
“I can’t tell you what I don’t know,” he snapped.
“Then I can’t rule in your favor or take your word the hunter actually had gone rogue,” Agnes said. “We may be old acquaintances, but a hunter’s word must be taken over a demon’s when considering how excellent demons are at lying.”
“Hunters lie too.”
“Of course. Everyone lies.” Even her. Maybe especially her. Her name wasn’t even really Agnes Waters. “My point is still valid. Given the natures of the two parties involved, the more reliable narrative will come from a hunter. Even though that hunter is dead, he was still a hunter who specifically went after your brother for a violation of sanctuary. This is more believable than that he just went rogue.”
Now Charles ran a hand up through his hair, a gesture that ruffled the previous smooth style. It was probably the most discombobulated Agnes had ever seen the demon.
“He…was not a good hunter,” Charles said.
“You’re not helping your case. Of course a demon would think that.”
“Objectively. He was a bad man.”
“Again—”
“Yes,” Charles interrupted with a hiss. “Alright, alright. Just…” He looked between Agnes and Aidan, who’d remained silently watching the exchange.
That Aidan still hadn’t contributed a comment on whether the hunter was good or not was fascinating to Agnes. She’d known Aidan hadn’t been completely open about what she knew of the situation. But Anges’s curiosity about what the hunter did know was rising with every passing moment. Oh, she’d love to get a look into that woman’s head.
But that violated Agnes’s rules for herself, so…
Charles let out a long breath and said, “The hunter chose us because we’re linked. Two demons with one stone, so to speak. Send one back, the other would have to go back. Get one of us to violate our sanctuary, both would be banished.”
“And?” Agnes said, finally picking up her tea to sip. Here came the good stuff.
“And, he wasn’t alone. He was sent.” Here Charles glanced at Aidan. “You have a problem building inside the hunters.”
Aidan stared back without comment.
Charles continued. “There’s a faction who do not want any freed demons here, no matter how harmless we are.”
Agnes snort-laughed into her tea, which brought Charles’s scowl and Aidan’s raised brows.
“Forgive me,” she said. “But harmless and demon really aren’t words that go together in the same sentence.”
Charles had enough awareness to look chagrined and nod. “Nevertheless,” he said. “Some of us have been scrupulous about abiding by our deals with the hunters.” Aidan raised her brows again and Charles allowed, “Some of us push the limits of those deals to breaking point, but we still remain firmly inside the boundaries of our agreements. I would never have killed a hunter. Never. Because it would risk my brother’s sanctuary here.”
“Then why did you this time?” This from Aidan but asked quietly.
“The faction that wants us all banished… They sent in that young hunter knowing he’d fail. They sacrificed him to get me to break sanctuary. He…he was prepared to sacrifice a human, to blame my brother for that sacrifice. He stood there with a knife to a…to a young woman’s neck, prepared to kill her and blame us.”
“So you killed him to save the woman?” Aidan asked quietly. “Not to save your brother?”
“No. To save my brother. He’d have been sent back if the hunter had succeeded in framing him.”
Agnes considered Charles closer. He was a demon. He was evil at his core. She was pretty sure he hadn’t cared about the random human woman’s life all that much. Agnes had spent time with him during an era when human life was…expendable, and he’d shown no particular interest in rectifying that state of affairs. And, if she were being honest with herself, human life was often quiet expendable, even to other humans, in most eras of human existence.
Still, Charles had never shown any signs of this bothering him. A single woman’s life ended would be just one of thousands he’d witnessed. Hundreds of thousands over the centuries. Probably in the millions, now she considered it.
So she thought he was probably being as honest as a demon was capable of, saying that he hadn’t killed the hunter to save the human’s life but instead to save his brother’s. Yet the outcome had been the same. He’d killed a hunter and saved an innocent human.
That very much complicated things if true.
“Any proof of this life you saved?” Agnes asked, really curious if he’d actually kept a human woman alive, or if he’d killed the hunter after the hunter had killed the woman.
Charles, looking as uncomfortable as Agnes had ever seen him, raised his hand.
A woman who’d been sitting at a table near the front window of the café stood and came over to them. The only person left in the café who Nina hadn’t managed to usher out.
Tall, robust, red hair in a riot of curls around a dark tan complexion. Freckles across her cheeks. Probably in her mid-thirties. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with a glitter dragon on it. She had been sitting in that seat by the window since Agnes had arrived, sipping her drink and watching the pedestrians. Old habits for Agnes to take note of all the people in the café, but she hadn’t spotted this woman as anyone she should pay attention to. And the woman hadn’t appeared to be following the conversation. She hadn’t looked up when Charles had entered the café. She’d shown no signs of acknowledgement.
“My name is Jessica,” the woman said. “Jessica Vasquez. I understand Charles is in trouble for saving my life.”
“Do you know who Charles is?” Aidan asked, her expression kind and neutral. No accusations but no instant sympathy either.
“I know who his brother is. I’ve worked for Winston, as a model, for the last three years.”
“More than a model?” Agnes asked.
Jessica flicked a look to Agnes, but then turned her full focus of her attention back to Aidan. “We grew more personally involved over the last year.” She glanced down before firming her lips and looking up at Aidan again. “I knew he was a…what he was before we got personally involved. I learned Charles was his brother and not just his manager not long after.”
“What happened with the man who came to confront Charles and Winston?” Aidan asked.
“He said they were evil, accused me of being enthrall to Winston, and claimed he was going to set me free.”
“How?”
“By killing me.” She blinked hard a few times but held Aidan’s gaze.
Agnes found this impressive and brave because she could practically feel Aidan’s will now, pouring off of her as a physical thing… Willing the young woman to tell the truth. Honestly, the hunter’s will was so strong, Agnes felt the urge to reveal truths as well. Very impressive.
She watched Charles shift a little in his chair, obviously feeling the compulsion of Aidan’s will as well. Agnes wondered what truths he was trying not to reveal in that moment. She smirked at him and sipped her tea when he scowled at her.
“I’m telling the truth,” Jessica said.
“Yes.” Aidan nodded. “The man who came to ‘save you’ from Winston intended on killing you.”
“He did.”
“And then what happened?”
“Charles killed the man.”
“Did any other people come in after this happened?”
“No. No one else was there. Just the…man with the knife.”
“Hm.” Aidan held Jessica’s gaze a moment longer. Then she looked to Agnes and raised her brows.
“Are you asking if I believe the child? Of course. How could I not after that…display?” She waved her hands vaguely at Aidan.
“Charles picked this place for our confrontation so you could be the impartial judge,” Aidan said, smiling a little. “What say you, impartial judge?”
“I say he killed a man who was a serious threat to innocent life. Maybe not for any good or decent reason as we might know it.” She gave Jessica a nod. “I don’t mean to be cruel, but I don’t think he did that for your sake.”
“He didn’t,” Jessica said with a shrug. “It was for his brother.”
“Well. It’s nice to know you haven’t been blinded by…love?”
Jessica’s expression went through a series of emotions, all of which ended in a sort of confused mashup of conflicting feelings. “I wouldn’t call what I have with Winston that.”
“Really?” Agnes sipped her tea. This was turning into a delightful afternoon. “At any rate. It seems obvious to me Charles was acting in the right, and wouldn’t have violated sanctuary if not pushed to protect a human life.”
“I agree,” Aidan said, meeting Charles’s gaze.
His head turned to her so sharply Agnes could swear she heard his neck muscles twang. “You believe me?”
“I believe Jessica,” Aidan said. “And Agnes has been around long enough to be a good judge of character.”
“So…” Charles looked between Agnes and Aidan again. “What does this mean?”
“We don’t need to test our wills against one another,” Aidan said. “This time.”
Agnes hid her amusement in her cup when Charles actually looked relieved at that comment. She’d known Charles for a very long time and knew exactly what kind of demon he was. She wouldn’t have put money on him beating Aidan in a fight of wills either.
“What will you do about this faction of hunters?” Charles said. “How do I know they won’t come after my brother again?”
“They won’t,” Aidan said. “You’ve my word.”
Charles blinked hard at this, sitting back in his seat. So did Agnes.
Hunters only gave their word rarely because it meant something very serious to them. They never gave their word casually. Certainly not to demons. Not ever.
Aidan let out a long sigh. “This…faction? Is not as secretive as they think they are. Let’s put it that way. But they attempt to be careful. And now that I’ve been brought into this situation, the others, who don’t realize I know who they are, will attempt to remain under my radar. They won’t be able to do that if they come after you or your brother again.” She shrugged. “And I will let it be known that I gave my word you would be safe from threat unless you violated sanctuary on your own. Without a nudge. That should give you cover. For a few decades anyway.”
Aidan grinned at that. And so did Agnes.
While Aidan’s lifespan was nothing like Agnes’s, Agnes actually didn’t know exactly how old the hunter was. She looked mid-thirties, but she’d been around, her name whispered by demons, for decades already. Hunters could will a lot of things, including their own bodies to not age very fast. And Aidan had a very strong will.
“Winston is safe?” Jessica asked.
“And so are you,” Aidan said, “as much as you can be.” She raised her brows at Charles.
“I’ve no intention of violating my sanctuary,” Charles said.
Which didn’t precisely answer Aidan’s unspoken question, but that was demons for you. Tricky, tricky.
“Since we’re settled here,” Charles said, “I’ll just go let my brother know not to pack his bags. So to speak.”
Charles stood and held a hand out for Jessica to proceed him. He stopped at the counter on the way out and paid for Agnes’s and Aidan’s drinks. Which Agnes thought only right since he’d dragged her into all this without any warning.
But to be fair, it had been a very enlightening and entertaining interlude.
Once the demon and his brother’s lover had left, Aidan turned to face Agnes. “Thank you for serving as impartial judge. I’m sure we would have come to an understanding without a fight anyway. But he was less…aggressive about the whole thing with you here.”
“You knew?” Agnes asked, smiling up at Nina as she gave Agnes a fresh cup of tea and set another class of Coke down for Aidan.
Aidan waited until Nina had left before saying, “I suspected.”
“Hmm. Will this be a problem for you going forward?”
Aidan glanced toward the bookstore and pulled in a deep breath. “For me? Not in the way you think. But it is going to make the next couple of years…interesting.”
“Oh good. One wouldn’t want to get bored.” Agnes raised her cup in a little solute.
Aidan followed suit with her own glass, finishing her drink before bidding Agnes goodbye and wandering into the bookstore.
Agnes went back to reading her book and sipping her excellent tea. Content with her day’s entertainment. Happily returning to her peace.
***
Thanks for reading Agnes's story! I hope you enjoyed it. As a reminder, if you would like your own personal eBook of this story, you can find it here.
If you are interested in more about the demon hunters, and Aidan in particular, check out the novella ANGER MANAGEMENT, and the Demon Hunter series, starting with BONE LANTERN WITCH. Aidan also makes a guest appearance in the Cary Redmond novel, THE TROUBLE WITH GHOULS AND SERIAL KILLERS.
Be sure to visit again at the beginning of February for the next Cafe story!
AGNES AT THE CAFE Copyright © 2025 Kat Simons
All Rights Reserved. No part of this story may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This story is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.