Finally after hours of intermittent chatting and staring dramatically off into the middle distance I felt the telltale lurch in my stomach that let me know our descent had begun. I tried not to draw any parallels between that phrase and the fact that we were going to be entering a school to learn demon magic. I failed at that task. I could see the verdant green of Salems surrounding area as we plummeted smoothly toward the nearly empty airstrip where the jet would be abandoning us to our fate like a dragon from a story dropping the hero in its nest before soaring off to attend some unknowable business.

The pilot and the driver of the private car that came to get us unloaded all of our bags into the black town car that idled next to the hangar at the end of the runway. The driver introduced himself as Jeremy and mentioned that he would be our Valet while we were in the city, and before we knew it we were off and headed for the place that would be our home for the next four years. I found myself in awe of Salem as we drove, I’d been to big cities before but there was something…different about Salem, a sense of importance, like it was a focal point in the world and had been for years.

It didn’t take long to arrive at the towering glass and chrome high rise that played host to our new penthouse apartment. The family actually owned the whole building, one of dozens of similar places of varying scale and luxury in all the largest parts of the country. It’s much easier to keep a large group of traveling demon hunters off the grid if you have convenient legitimate places for them to stay that don’t have to leave a paper trail. Viridian Heights was the nicest of these in the area, and actually rented several apartments to wealthy tenants as a way to keep people from noticing it was a front.

Dad had mentioned several of our fellow classmates lived in the building, though weather any of them were infernals had yet to be determined. In any case getting to know some of them would be an easy way to establish our credibility and cement our characters before school even started. Jeremy opened the door and popped the trunk so the door man could retrieve the luggage for us. I chatted with Steve, the door man for about ten minutes and tipped him three hundred dollars (because it was in character and he was a nice guy and door men are surprisingly hooked in to the local service community) before finally slumping down onto a plush couch to battle my jet lag.

Ali slumped down across the spacious living room in a cushioned recliner. Sunlight spilled in through through the clear windows, bathing the room in luminescence. The place was definitely swank, I had to hand it to dads decorators. The colors were all dark woods and chrome, except the plush white carpet, which I personally felt was an unfortunate choice for a penthouse owned by demon hunters. Several plush recliners and several well stuffed couches littered the room, strewn about just haphazardly enough to make it obvious their placement had taken hours of some decorators time.

The TV was wall mounted above a marble ledge holding several dark racks of blu-rays, DVDs and several different platforms of video games. The flat screen was easily two hundred inches and dominated the large, open room, even with all of the casual wealth on display. Huge speakers were set back into recessessed spots in the wall, ostensibly to look unobtrusive but really to subtly remind visitors that the owners of this place didn’t do anything so pedestrian as set their speakers on the floor or a table.

All in all the place was beautiful, as I’d expected. Based on the size of the building there were probably a dozen rooms in here I hadnt seen yet, all of them just a luxurious. I knew there would be at least two pools, one outdoor one in, and could see a well crafted ebony pool table in the other room, which I was excited about as Ali and I both loved to play and had our own cues. Yeah, I could get used to this.

After a brief conversation we decided that as party kids we would be better served taking in the night life, so we decided to catch a few more hours sleep before hitting the town. We both silently agreed not to bring up that we were just tired and wanted to sleep some more as we dragged our tired bodies and our suitcases off to find rooms for ourselves. Ali went out, preferring windows, and I headed inward, enjoying the dark and the solitude.

The spot I found was perfect, down a set of dark wood steps and past a wine cellar I hadn’t known was there but probably should’ve guessed at. The room was dark and tucked into a corner, the bed was large and padded and the carpet was dark, the entire place had this intense feeling of safety and security, and I knew I’d found my sanctuary. I dragged my stuff to the walk in closet and dropped my bags there, not even bothering to consider packing before I dragged myself over to bed and slumped down.

I felt my bed sink next to me and looked over to find Ali face down on the mattress. I laughed at the sight, so familiar since childhood and pulled her against me, reveling in the smell of home. Ali’s voice was muffled by the comforter, but it was easy enough to hear her say “Don’t get any ideas perv, I’m just doing this because I feel like it. If you grab my ass or motorboat me in my sleep I’m going to shove a lightbulb up your ass and punch you in the stomach.”

I snorted “I cant touch your ass or your tits? You’re not giving me a lot of room to sleep in. I mean theres a finite amount of space on the bed I feel like the laws of physice should be taken into account.” I probably would’ve gone on but I was cut off by the wheezing and loss of oxygen as Ali sucker punched me in the goddamn solar plexus.

She looked up to reveal a peeved glare “I know you aren’t suggesting that my proportions are anything less than absolutely perfect, or that you would have any problem avoiding perving on my delicate slender self on this humongous bed. Before you respond please remember that undercover ops can be dangerous and I’ve seen several places here to hide a body long enough to find a good spot to dump your corpse.”

I gave her a wry grin and scooted a bit away from her, realizing I had strayed a bit close to mocking her about her weight to be safe “Of course not, you’re a beautiful delicate flower so slender you barely effect the space in the bed, I was simply commenting on my tendency to sprawl like an uncouth savage while I sleep.” The warning eyebrow lowered skeptically over narrowed eyes but after a minute she gave a satisfied “Hmph” and planted her face back in the blankets. Demon hunter or not, some things are just too scary to risk.

I couldn’t help but smile at the familiar warmth and weight. Naps together were far from new territory for us, all teasing aside. I always slept better with my best friend next to me. Her presence always gave me a measure of peace I just couldn’t get anywhere else. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I saw her back rise and fall in steady measured breaths. As always five seconds after she hit the mattress she was out like a light. Once in a moment of honesty she’d confided to me that she only ever fell asleep that easily when she was next to me. She said it was the only place she really felt safe. I’d never told her how much that knowledge meant to me. It was just one of those things you never have a chance to say.