Page 53 of Hellbound

Marian would have to wait until Wednesday to wring some answers out of her. Which left her with the text from Vale to confront.

VALE:

BE CAREFUL.

As if he’d known what she’d done, what she’d seen.

She didn’t have to reply at all, and yet she felt compelled to. She’d lost the key—the knife he’d sent her to find. It was clearly no inert artifact like the others; she ought to interrogate him about it, but she didn’t know how to do that without admitting that it had vanished. Or the events that surrounded its disappearance.

Marian wasn’t so sure telling Mr. Vale that the Remnant had breached the veil in Inglewood was a good idea. No demon knew what the Remnant was; some claimed it was lie divers made up to excuse their failures.

She needed to do something, but she wasn’t sure what. Exhaustion rotted her brain, turning her thoughts into a congealed mess.

So, she clutched her teddy bear comforter around her like a shawl, drank her terrible coffee, and ruminated on her saggy futon.

Her stomach growled, hungry and sour all at once as Marian padded into the kitchen in search of something appetizing. She may have won yet another battle with death the night before, but her reflection told another story. Bruises colored the column of her throat where Lloyd’s hands had tried to wring the life out of her. There was a large purple one clouding up her hip too from where she’d slammed into the garage floor.

Her body’s warning lights all flashed on; she knew she’d need weeks to recover from this, but she couldn’t afford another break. There was no knife to sell, no artifact. Even if she wanted to betray Mr. Vale to Verinne, she didn’t have the thing either of them wanted.

Something nameless festered in the back of her mind. Something fuzzy and loud and altogether indecipherable while every other memory from that dive came through sharp and raw. It lurked in the recesses of her mind out of focus.

Her phone chimed, forcing her out of her thoughts. Another text from Mr. Vale, who apparently didn’t like being left on read.

VALE:

ARE YOU ALIVE?

Marian considered her reply for a long moment. She typed slowly.

MARIAN:

NO I’M DECEASED

Mr. Vale’s response was immediate.

VALE:

HOW UNFORTUNATE. AND THE KEY?

Marian rolled her eyes. She didn’t trust herself in her current state to come up with a convincing lie, so she evaded.

MARIAN:

IT’S COMPLICATED.

Again, his reply took no time at all.

VALE:

THAT IS A MEANINGLESS RELATIONSHIP STATUS AND A NONANSWER.

She could almost hear his annoyance through the screen.

MARIAN:

THEN PLEASE ENJOY YOUR MEANINGLESS RELATIONSHIP STATUS/NONANSWER.

VALE: