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“What the fuck,” he growled. “Drake!”
My half-demon boyfriend came barreling down the hall, his shoes slamming on the tiled floors until he came to a stop at our side and cursed. Another dead body was waiting for us.
“This one is supposed to look like you and Hiro,” Drake guessed. “Son of a bitch, this means Vane was not working alone. They also probably know it was Hiro who took his life. I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“We knew he wasn’t, but now at least we know someone has taken over?” I questioned in a fake-positive tone they both rolled their eyes at.
“They’re getting bolder. The fact that they just sent this elevator up with a corpse inside is beyond fucked up. Seems like a risk to me,” Roman said. “More than a risk, it’s downright cruel.”
“Maybe that means it’s not even a human he was working with, but a demon. Or the adviser and warden. They didn’t just come here because they were going to sit back and do nothing. Hel’s not letting us in on her plans, but I guarantee this was part of it. We likely threw a wrench in it when we killed Vane,” Drake added. He spoke through clenched teeth and I almost worried he’d break them if he didn’t breathe. “Now they’ve sent us another warning.”
“Well, think about it,” I said. “Vane had video cameras on this floor, so now whoever he was working with is probably watching us too. They might have been this whole fucking time. I doubt that secret apartment was the only place that had access to the feeds.”
“True, but I don’t fucking like it,” Drake growled as he slammed his fist into the wall, cursing since the cinderblock had no give.
Not wanting to look at the body any longer or make Drake angrier, I yelled out for my demon. “Monty!”
He was likely tired of us calling him, especially because he always popped in expecting the worst, but he knew we wouldn’t call for trivial things.
“Another one?” Monty bit out as he appeared next to me, the familiar chill creeping up my spine.
“Yeah... and apparently it’s Hiro this time,” I deadpanned. I may have used dark humor to cope but inside, I wasn’t taking this well. My stomach churned and I felt cold all over. The thought of someone else watching us was unnerving enough, but throw in look-alike corpses and it was far too sinister to ignore. Knowing that someone, somewhere, had eyes on me, was unsettling. It took everything in me to keep my face neutral.
It made no sense why they were even taunting us with these bodies. We already knew what was at stake, we knew what was going on, but the patients didn’t deserve this. Then again, I doubted the fucking demons involved cared about them. The patients were a food source, nothing more than cattle, especially the lower demons. I’d noticed they were fueled by instinct, hunger, and the desire to cause pain. They drink it in like a fine wine, savoring the flavor of our emotions.
It was beyond fucked up.
“I’ll take care of it,” Monty said as he stepped into the elevator. His shadows exploded out, so it was like looking into the void for a moment before they disappeared, body and all.
Things have been escalating and I felt like I was drowning. I was this supposed chosen one of Helheim, yet I was kept in the dark. If they truly depended on me to figure it out, then we were all fucked.
As if they were my personal cheering section, the shadows were back, adding to my stress. They pushed closer and closer until it felt like I couldn’t breathe.
The demons clearly thought anger would urge me to work harder. But I couldn’t work with something that didn’t fucking exist. I couldn’t just pull answers out of thin air. Neither could Hel since she relied on a fucking seer to give her the future.
Yet she kept it from me.
The more I learned about the Queen of Helheim the more I hated her. She was using me and my men like we meant nothing, and that would be her downfall.
I needed something to happen, an answer to come to me, anything. I couldn’t do an internet search to figure out how to close a fucking portal to Helheim. All Hiro found in his mythology books was useless.
It wasn’t like we weren’t fucking trying.
“What’s going on?” Layne asked as her and Crew appeared behind us. I’d been so distracted by Monty taking off with the body, I hadn’t even noticed them coming up. They’ve been keeping to themselves more lately and I wasn’t pushing it. My life was dangerous now and being around me could mean their death. I hated to think that way but it was reality. Vane and whoever had replaced him wanted me to fail or wanted to use me, and I couldn’t let either happen.
“Another body,” Drake said without holding back. Layne frowned but Crew threw his hands up, pacing back and forth as he fought for the words.
“I just want to leave,” he admitted. “Not worry about demons or murder.”
Layne froze at his words. “I don’t have anywhere to go. This is home, it has been for two years. Where am I going to go, live on the streets? I’d rather live with demons.”
Crew let out a long sigh. “My family wouldn’t want me either. They’re done with me after the last fire. I wish I could have explained to them that I didn’t mean to, it just got out of hand.” The pain in his voice had me fighting back my emotions.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured. “We know what it feels like to have everybody reject you. We’ve always been misfits and now it’s on a whole new level. I’m sorry I brought all this to our doorstep.”
Crew stopped and stared at me. “It’s not your fault,” he said. There was confusion in his tone, and I was honestly relieved he didn’t blame me.
“It kind of is,” I argued. “None of this was happening until I arrived.”
