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“I guess,” I say, eyeing the cat sitting passively in the box. “That was very quick though. Do they just hand animals out to any random person who walks into the place?”
“I compelled the attendant,” Ethan replies. “We don’t have time for filling out paperwork and whatever other nonsense they likely would have put me through.”
I shake my head at him. “Of course you did.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you always take the easy way out,” I snap at him.
He laughs harshly. “I don’t know where you got that idea.”
“Um, maybe I got it from the fact that you’d rather vilify me than to actually think about a situation and realise that no one was to blame. We were all victims in our own ways.”
“I thought we agreed not to talk about this anymore,” he sighs, cutting me a sideways glance.
He’s right, we did, but I’m feeling guilty about sending this poor old cat to hell in order to save my dad, so I’m taking that out on Ethan.
“Is everything alright with you two?” Edwards asks, glancing back and forth between us.
“Yes,” we both spit out at the same time.
Chapter Nine
I Always Hang Myself With The Same Rope
The rest of the drive to Sycamore Strand is strained at best, excruciatingly uncomfortable at worst. The tension between me and Ethan is even more heightened now that Edwards has pointed it out. We park as close to the cave as we can and then get out, assisting Edwards with the various bits and pieces he insists are required for the task at hand.
I use the flash light on my phone to light our way, though it seems I’m the only one who needs it. Both Ethan and Edwards appear to have perfect vision in the dark. I, on the other hand, am tripping over stones and getting my feet tangled in clumps of seaweed at every turn. The salty sea air fills my nostrils. The waves are high tonight, the sounds of them filling my ears.
Inside the cave I place my phone down on the ground, propping it up against a rock to light the space. Edwards pulls off the small satchel bag he’d been carrying and puts it carefully on the bed of the cave. Then he zips open his suitcase, and quite outrageously, begins undressing right there in front of us.
I shoot Ethan a questioning glance, but he just shrugs and seems like he’s holding back a grin.
“Um, why are you taking off your clothes?” I ask, seeing as Ethan has no intention of explaining what’s going on.
“They are unnecessary for where I’m going. The key is for me to fit in and go unnoticed. If I were to show up in human attire I would be spotted immediately.”
I keep my eyes trained on the upper half of his body, not feeling the need to see the private parts of a seventy year old man, half demon or not.
He pulls out a bottle of Lucozade, of all things, unscrews the cap and downs it in one go.
“The sugars speed up my change,” Edwards explains.
“Your change?”
“Yes, the change into my demon form.”
“Oh,” I breathe. When I see his face transforming and becoming abnormally long, I swear, “Oh shit.”
Extra skin begins to cover his grey hair and the back of his skull juts out into a horn. His chin elongates to a sharp point, his brown eyes go orange and his hands curl into claws. His skin is no longer the pinkish hue of a human, it’s now a speckled royal blue, contrasting starkly with his orange eyes. Instinctively, I shiver and step back, clutching onto Ethan’s arm. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t, and all that.
When his transformation is complete, Edwards lets out a deep sigh. “Ah, it feels good to be in new skin. This body is younger than my human one; the only problem is that it ages the longer I stay in it. That’s why I keep from changing as much as I can. I only take my demon form in situations of great need, such as this one.”
My eyes are still wide, taking in the oddity before me. “Well, I can’t thank you enough for what you’re about to do. Really, I’m forever in your debt.”
Ethan coughs. “You may need to take back that last statement, Tegan.”
I glance at him in confusion. “Why?”
