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Mel shrugged. “No one knows. Well, I’m sure someone knows, but no one outside the inner circle knows. He rarely makes appearances, he wears a white porcelain mask when he is in public. He’s the power broker of death.”
“That sounds awful. Why would you work for someone like that?”
“What he does is a necessity. This is the Underworld we’re talking about, not the human world. Bad creatures do bad things all the time, but with the Patriarch and the Chalice in charge of doling out punishments and assigning assassins to take out anyone with a marker on them, it does work to keep the Underworld safer for our citizens. And on the other hand, I do work for Adam too, and he’s as normal as they get.”
Ella laughed. “Yeah, I guess so, if you don’t count the dragon thing.”
“What dragon thing?”
“You know, the fact that he’s some sort of dragon man.” Ella mused.
Melody shook her head. “Adam is just an immortal.”
Shaking her head, Ella almost laughed again. “You don’t have to hide these things from me anymore, I already know all about it.”
Melody cleared her throat. “Ella, I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Ella blinked. “Seriously? He’s a dragon.”
“How, when?” Melody’s shocked expression definitely relayed an air of worry. “How do you know this. You said you only see him.”
“He told me.” Mel choked and coughed as soon as Ella answered. “Well, to be fair, he was telling me a story last night to help me fall asleep, and he thought I was fast asleep by the time he got to the dragon part. But according to him the wife of God, Asherah, had hidden his dragon soul deep inside him so that no one would know, and she released it for him when he was ready to give up on life.”
“That is freaking amazing. All this time. Years, centuries even, and he never told anyone?” Again, Melody shook her head in disbelief. “I’m sure some people know, his sons more than likely, but I don’t know how you keep that big of a secret down in the Underworld.”
Ella turned to look at her friend. “You’re a demon, probably immortal I’m guessing, and yet you live up here and work here doing this regular job at the Chalice. Why?”
“I love my job. I like helping people.” Giving a shrug, Melody continued, “I was a nurse demon in hell. It was my job to deliver, care for, and nurture every little hell-spawn that was birthed down there. So I have a natural affinity to help people, animals, anyone or anything.”
“But aren’t demons supposed to be badass and mean and…evil?”
“I’m pretty badass, if I do say so myself.” She laughed and squeezed Ella with a shake. “But what good would a nurse be if she was so evil she couldn’t love and have empathy for those in her care, especially newborns?”
“That makes sense.” Ella shifted uncomfortably and muttered softly. “I’ve been lying to everyone, Mel, and I know what is happening.”
Melody cocked her head to the side. “What are you talking about?”
“Today is the day… I die.”
* * *
Adam pacedthe living room of Os’s home after giving Osiris’s mate Tanya a quick wave. Os was already examining the samples he’d cut off Ella’s leg. A sinking feeling in Adam’s stomach was getting worse, and he wanted nothing more than to go back to Ella and make sure she was okay.
“What exactly are you looking for, Os?”
He waved Adam’s question off while he continued to look at the specimens. Giving up for the moment, Adam sat on the couch, waiting for his favorite lap-goddess to enter the room. As if on cue, Ammit the goddess cursed to stay in crocodile form sauntered into the room, climbing up on the couch and sliding into his lap.
Adam patted her head. “Hey, lovely lady. How you are doing?”
The goddess, known as the devourer, of souls, shot him a look that said she was a goddess who deserved respect, but clearly, she’d let it slide as long as he scratched the soft skin of her throat. After a few more minutes, Osiris looked up with a pleased look on his face.
“You figured it out?”
The god shrugged. “Truth be told, I already knew, but I figure you’d want definitive proof.”
“Fair enough. So, what did you find?”
Osiris held up one of the samples from Ella, a thick black chunk of skin, or whatever. “Osteoderms.”
