“I’d say it’s a pleasure meeting you, but I’d be lying.”
That makes two of us.
“So what are you?” I ask, trying to dig for more information. Her body is strong but nimble, she’s built more like Gemma and Taryn than like Yasmeena or I. She’s soft and little.
She takes a seat next to me. “You’ll have to be more specific. My species, my act, my occupational title. What kind of answers are you looking for?”
“You’re a hybrid, I can already tell that. What’s your act?” Outside The Devil’s Carnival, I’m assuming her job is just… performer.
“I’m a dancer and cellist,” she says, and gives me a small smile. “You’re pretty ripped. What do you do?”
“I’m an aerialist,” I answer. “But I work at a bar.”
It’s not the entire truth, and Reina probably knows this. The Cathedral is a pillar in our community, sure, but it’s also a cover for some of the unhinged shit my Alpha is doing. While there are few things illegal on Hel, that doesn’t mean society just allows anything to happen. There are silent rules and expectations, and The Cathedral is the shield my father uses to get away with heinous acts—like selling atra or working for and against political organizations.
“I am a performer, of course, but I’m also an Executioner,” she says, and I freeze at that bout of honesty. There’s a gleam inher eyes, like she’s testing to see how I’ll react, but I try to school my features.
There is a high possibility that she is the one who took Tyrus’ life. The thought makes my blood rush, rage and adrenaline filling my system, but I know that my mission is more than just Tyrus. What my Alpha has ordered will not only give us the retribution we deserve, but it’ll allow me to earn my place as his successor.
“For Luc Morningstar?” I will curiosity into my voice, nothing else. I don’t want her to know how fast my heart is beating right now, or how my vision is turning crimson.
“Correct. I’m not the only one, though. Absinthe is an Executioner as well. Gemma, Draven, Yasmeena, Absinthe, and I are all a part of The Devil’s Masquerade.”
I wonder why she’s telling me this. Is it because she wants to earn my trust, or something more insidious? Maybe she doesn’t believe I’ll ever actually get to leave. Maybe it’s a threat. That she’ll do to me what was done to my cousin.
For a while, much of Tyrus’ death remained a mystery to me. It wasn’t until after some of The Devil’s Masquerade came to The Cathedral and a fight broke out that my father told me about this new organization, and even then, he did not go over each person’s individual position.
Everyone’s heard whispers of a group of underlings that work for Luc Morningstar, but very few seem to have the details right. The Executioner has always been famous, but we believed it to be a role played by Draven Orzath, not this hybrid. I have to wonder if my father is even aware that Draven wasn’t the one who killed Tyrus.
“If you and Absinthe are Executioners… what does that make Yasmeena?” I ask. I deserved to know the truth about my cousin’s death from the beginning. I understand that as Alpha, my father has to get the timing just right. If he tells the wrong person information too soon, his plans could be destroyed from the inside out. But even now, as his successor, I fear I’m being kept in the dark. Or maybe my unsaid mission here is to find out the truth.
“A Spy. Rest assured, she could still likely kill you.” Reina winks.
“I don’t doubt that for a moment,” I say and smile.
I actually do doubt that for… many moments, but it’s better to hold my cards close to my chest. No need to act cocky. They are all complicit in my cousin’s murder, so it might be for the best that I view everyone in The Devil’s Masquerade as exactly what they are—killers. When I inevitably complete my mission and execute Draven, these are the people I’m going to have to fight and escape from.
“Do you like saunas?” Reina asks, shifting the topic to something safer.
“Yeah?” I can’t recall if I’ve ever been to a sauna, but hot tubs are relaxing, so I assume I’d enjoy a sauna too.
“Well good, because I need a shower and you’re going to have to wait outside the door. Might get a little steamy for you.”
The fact that she expects me to follow her to the shower is… something else. “Aren’t there multiple showers in there? I’ll take one of my own.”
Reina shrugs. “That’s fine.”
I follow her down a dirt path until we find ourselves at the bathhouse. There are stalls with toilets and showers, and Reina abruptly takes off her clothes.
“Woah!” I say, turning around.
“Are you okay?”
“You’re naked.” My eyes are probably bugging out of my skull.
“Tempest, this is a circus with erotic and horror acts. You’re going to see naked people and blood all the time, you’d better get used to it.”
She climbs into her shower and I follow suit, stripping and getting into the warm water, letting it envelop me. I am inherently warm, more so than any full-fledged demon or half-demon, but ever since getting my rune tattoo, I’m so much colder. It’s like the ice of my magichas filled my veins.
