The demon, now a quivering puddle of obsidian sludge within the salt circle, croaked with a voice like nails scraping on slate. "Your payment... the old account... check it."
Falcon, still buzzing from the adrenaline of the fight, knelt closer, his brow furrowed. "Old account? What are you talking about?"
The sludge twitched. "Shadowfall Bank. Dormant for years... awakened."
A flicker of memory sparked in Falcon's mind. An account he'd opened during his teenage stint with a demon hunting guild, abandoned when he'd walked away from that life. It had been dormant, untouched, a relic of a past he'd hoped to leave behind.
"And the payment?" he pressed, a sliver of curiosity slicing through the fog of suspicion.
"For information," the demon rasped. "About your... Lapis Valley girl. About the Shadow Clan."
