Page 35 of Blaze of Our Lives

I closed my eyes. Pandora’s insult was going to haunt me forever. The fact that the vicious glare and mean words come from a doppelgänger of the man I loved added insult to injury. Whatever. Sticks and stones and all that crap.

“Youse got fifteen minutes until the games begin. Youse best use dat time wisely,” Phyllis warned as she and Heff Brobst walked back to the bleachers. Well, Phyllis walked. Heff skipped. The talking ashtray glanced back over her shoulder and left us with one more piece of advice. “Youse never know how much time youse have left until youse are shite outta luck.”

Quickly, I moved away from the Demons and got out of their hearing range. I had my own internal Demon I needed to chat with. “Did you get all of that?” I asked Pandora.

“Yes. Pretty sure you’re fucked.”

Not what I wanted to hear. “Don’t be an asshole,” I snapped. “Heff Brobst looks identical to Abaddon.”

“Is it Abaddon?”

“No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive,” I told her. “What did you mean when you said to control the narrative?”

She sighed dramatically. “This is your dream state, idiot. Change it to suit you.”

“How?” My heart raced. My fingers sparked. I had only minutes before the challenge began and I had no idea how to alter the narrative.

“I don’t know,” Pandora admitted. “What I do know is that we’ve been here for a while. Getting out before we’re trapped in this hell hole for eternity is imperative.”

I agreed completely. “You know, I think the talking ashtray knows a lot more than she’s letting on.”

“I concur,” Pandora said. “The last warning she gave was for you.”

“Do you think she’s the key to getting to the Higher Power?”

“Cecily, if I fucking knew that information, I would tell you. It’s getting incredibly old not having a body. I have a fabulous body, and I want it back.”

“Got it,” I said, glancing over at the Demons. Brolrath was beckoning me over. “I’m going to the starting line. I’ll talk my way through the obstacles and puzzles so you know what’s going on.”

“Excellent… and Cecily… don’t die.”

“Watch it,” I chuckled. “Someone might think you’re warming up to me.”

“Don’t be absurd,” she snapped. “I don’t want you to die because I want to kill you myself.”

“Right,” I said with a grin. “Good luck with that, Shitty Whore.”

“I don’t need luck, imbecile,” she assured me. “I’m fabulous.”

As I made my way to the trio of Demons, I shook my head. I knew in my heart the Grim Reaper had been correct. Hope had been the gift that had been released from the box when I’d hugged Pandora. Just like the Pandora had absorbed the swarm of evils, she had now absorbed the hope. It was showing even if she denied it.

It gave me hope. Hope for Pandora. Hope for me. Hope for the future. But mostly hope for the challenge ahead.

It was time to get the party started and I planned to party hard.

CHAPTER TEN

While I was curious about what Brolrath had to say, I was also on guard. The Demons and I had the same goal… to win. There could only be one winner. I planned to take that title.

“Bitch Goddess Cecily,” Brolrath said with a respectful nod of his Pee-wee Herman head. “We’d like to cut a deal with you.”

I raised a brow, crossed my arms over my chest and waited.

They’d been huddled together and plotting when I’d been out of earshot plotting with Pandora. Something I was sure wouldn’t bode well for me. Was doing a deal with Demons smart? Especially Demons who had an eye on my prize and wanted to win it for themselves. I didn’t trust the three brutes as far as I could throw them, which wasn’t far. They were huge.

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