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Waiting
Tank
Tank and Otis paced around the wagon parked by the mausoleum, waiting for Gorgo and Evangeline to return from King Victus’s lair. When Tank couldn’t go inside with Eva, he felt like he had failed her. And if anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself.
Evangeline had fought many battles and had always come out on top, but a den full of blood-sucking creatures was a whole different story.
Tank kicked a pebble and watched it soar to the sky and disappear. He wished he could kick Sam just as hard. Sam, guarding the front of the wagon, wouldn’t stop glaring at him.
Sam had best watch his manner. Tank towered over him and could crush him with one punch and break his already crooked nose.
“What’s taking them so long?” Otis approached the horses tied to the wagon and took out an apple stored somewhere within the gathered feathers of his wings. He took a bite and stopped chewing when Sam stepped in front of him and hiked an eyebrow. The other nine demons stared at Otis and licked their lips.
“You’re eating an apple?” Sam narrowed his eyes.
“No, I’m eating a carrot.” Otis took another bite and chewed with exaggeration.
An odd sound squeaked out of Tank, but he stopped the rising chuckle that almost escaped his mouth. Otis’s weird obsession with apples cracked him up.
Sam shook his head. “Crazy bird.”
Tank growled, his hot breath hissing behind Sam’s neck. “Crazy? Yes, I am, but who you calling bird, demon. I could straighten your crooked nose with my fist. How about it?”
The nine demons circled behind Tank, snarling and ready to attack.
“No need to get so mad.” Otis opened his wings to their full width and apples dropped to the ground. “Here. Help yourself.”
The demons snatched up the fruits and bit into them. And just like that, all was fine, thanks to Otis. Tank didn’t feel like eating, but he picked one up and sat on the back of the wagon.
He stared at the mausoleum gates. Any second now Eva would walk out. He waited and waited. No luck.
As Tank focused his attention on the shiny red thing in his hand, he decided to try one. Otis loved it so much, perhaps it didn’t taste so bad. But just when he opened his mouth, the gate opened and Gorgo sprinted toward them. No Evangeline. His pulse raced.
Tank jumped off the wagon and stiffened beside Otis.
Panting, Gorgo said, “Evangeline will be staying a bit longer with King Victus. She’s trying to convince him to take her to Asmodeus. She told me to tell you both …” His gaze went from Tank to Otis. “To follow me and wait at Asmodeus’s castle. We’ll meet her there.”
Tank grabbed Gorgo’s throat, tight enough to put pressure but not hard enough to cut off air. “You better not be lying, or I’ll kill you.”
The demons didn’t drop their apples, instead they sank their teeth in deeply and held the fruits to free up their hands. Tank shoved Gorgo and put up his arms and his soldiers backed away.
“I’m on your side, big guy.” Gorgo rubbed his throat. “If you kill me, I won’t be able to take you to Asmodeus. Hurry, you’re wasting time. Make up your mind. You either trust me or not.”
Tank took a step back and flung the uneaten apple over the headstones, anger boiling through his veins. Ssi-bal! He didn’t mean to waste an apple or be disrespectful to the dead. But he didn’t know what to do. He had no choice but to trust Gorgo, right?
Tank couldn’t get inside the vampire lair and ask Eva.
“You better not be lying to me. I don’t like to be played.” Then he leaped onto the wagon with Otis, and Gorgo slid into the driver’s seat.
Chapter Seventeen
My Prison
Evangeline
I gasped for air and sat up on a stone floor. I bit my lip to suppress a scream, pain throbbing from my stomach where Victus’s soldier had stabbed me with a spear. Gold blood soaked into the fabric of my dress.
My wound healed somewhat but the hematite cuffs around my wrists would delay my recovery. How many days had passed? What time was it? No window to tell me the sun’s position.
