“Don’t upset yourself. I figured this had something to do with these two.” I stepped around Beatrix and crossed my arms, glaring down at the two ashamed twins before me. “Isadora, Odessa… long time no see.”
“You never answered our call!” Odessa sniffed.
“I don’t remember receiving one?” I questioned.
Isadora elbowed Odessa, making her hack from the force of the blow. “You were supposed to take care of that, you moron!”
“Do something yourself once in a while!”
My left eye began to twitch as their arguing grew more intense. My hands followed the action, turning to bone as my agitation grew worse. Evris and Beatrix gulped and side-stepped away from me, seeing I was seconds from losing it, and not wanting to be in the blast zone. “I have hadenoughof you two arguing like five-year-olds!” I slammed my fist down on the table, which made them cut off and tremble at the smoke pluming frommy eyes. “You have been nothing but trouble from the moment we met. Who gave you any right to release demons frommyRealm, especially so close to Humans. Do you know what kind of damage you would have caused, how many lives you would have stolen?”
“Quota was down in our Layer! We were trying to hit productivity markers is all!” Odessa pleaded innocently, batting her long lashes.
“Quota? You think I give a shit about your quota?” I jabbed my finger into her chest. “You were told to wait for me before making any decisions in that Layer, let alone before you could call shots like head honchos. Beatrix and Evris are the only two beings permitted to make calls, and they are who you answer to, regardless of if you like it or not.”
“How fair is that?” Odessa interjected, her blood-red eyes pooling with anger. “You expect us to wait around like two lost puppies when our Layer is suffering? These two don’t know their heads from their asses, and you expect them to run a Layer we have helped govern for centuries?”
“Watch yourself, bitch,” Beatrix snarled.
Odessa hugged herself with a playful scoff. “Oh, goodness, am I scared! Whatchya gonna do, fatty? Eat me? I sure am quaking in my boots!”
“That’s it!” Beatrix changed into her demon form and shrieked like a banshee, posing to hurl herself towards Odessa.
I jumped in between the two and threw my arms out, which did make Beatrix fall back slightly. “Enough, now. Beatrix, Evris, why don’t you go seal the Layer and make sure nothing else gets out while I deal with these two?”
“You’re lucky he’s here, or I’d swallow you whole…” Beatrix hissed as she changed back to normal and followed her sister out of the room.
I sighed in relief before turning back to the fuming twins to my left. “As for you two: instigating the people you intend to work with is not going to gain you any points, with themorme. If you want any kind of chance at the Layer, you need to start proving yourselves, now.”
“And how exactly do we do that? It’s not like you’re giving us objectives or something?” Isadora pointed out.
I pondered her words before nodding stiffly. “I see what you mean. Here’s the deal. Meet at the Inn this time Monday afternoon. I will converse with my father and put together some trials for you to complete. In the meantime,” I pointed at each girl as I spoke, “don’t cause any more trouble, or you will be disqualified from the race immediately. Understood?”
“Fine, fine…” they said simultaneously.
“For now…” I slid my sunglasses back on and conjured a portal back to Italy. “Don’t bother me for the rest of the day. I’m enjoying my vacation whether the world wants me to or not.”
Chapter eight
Violent Delights
Atlas
The muggy wetlands of the Florida Everglades were far from a place I wanted to be in long, but a necessary part of my journey this evening. I floated above the dense swampland, making sure the ends of my cloak weren’t dirtied by the mud and sopping wet grass as I moved. “So, you really think you’re going to find some sign of him here?” Vincent asked as he popped up beside me, his hands in his pockets.
“I know that man better than anyone. He has an infatuation with hiding portals in undesirable places, and this happens to be his favorite dwelling.” I flicked some moss off my boot. “Why he chose this swamp is beside me, but I’m not here to judge his tastes.”
“For someone so proper, I’d think he’d like to hangout in lavish mansions and hotels,” Callaway commented, zipping through the air to hide behind my back. “If we see any panthers or crocodiles, I am so out of here!”
“You are such a pansy,” I laughed, ruffling his hair before an odd sensation overcame my senses. It was a rhythmic beating coming from a hollow hole in a tree, which, upon further inspection, seemed to have a magical barrier around it. The tree gleamed under the setting sunlight, reflecting a crystal-colored light that refracted off the rays. To a normal Human, this would be invisible to the naked eye, but any highly trained Elemental could sense this well enough. I placed a hand inside the tree and felt around, pursing my lips. “Huh. There’s something here for sure, just a matter of how to trigger it.”
“Maybe a spell?” Hannah offered.
“It has to be simpler if he intends to let others in this way, too. Damnit, why can’t anything be easy for me, for once?” I placed both palms against the trunk and flashed black eyes, concentrating all my energy into the hands I had on the tree. Smoke plumed from my eyes, and my veins turned a sickening black, but I kept at it until I heard what sounded like a lock open.
“If you wanted to see me, all you had to do was ask…” a voice echoed from the center of the tree as the body split open, revealing a winding staircase into the depths of the Earth.
I scoffed once and flattened my cloak out. “It’s not like you’d let me in so easily,” I commented as I peered down the winding corridor.
