Page 280 of Mayhem and Minnie

She kicks my leg.

“It’s not the time to be funny, Marlowe.”

“I’m telling you I don’t know. What more do you want?”

“To know what you are,” she says. “And who sent you.”

“No one sent me.” I roll my eyes. “We’re getting into conspiracy theory territory here and I don’t like it.”

“Because it is a conspiracy,” she cries out. “Of course it is. They probably knew I’d come here, after you, and they laid me a trap,” she continues, not making much sense.

“Who is they, Minnie?”

“The House of Moirai. They control everything. They must have…” She closes her eyes to think. “They must have done something. I know it.”

“Minnie, this is getting out of hand. I’m the same person as before. And I’m human.”

She tilts her head to the side.

Taking the sword from my neck, she swipes her hand over the flat surface of the blade and chants something in a low voice. Then she presses it against my skin again.

I wince at the sudden searing sensation.

Her eyes widen. “No, it can’t be…”

“What are you talking about?” I ask, more confused than ever.

“I don’t know,” she whispers. “I don’t know anymore. But this… Whatever this is…” She takes a deep breath.

I cover her hand with mine, lowering the blade.

“Trust me that I don’t know anything about this. I swear it to you.”

She presses her lips together as she regards me.

“Those demons were sent to capture you. Alive. The question is why.”

“Hey, maybe I have some funky mutation that makes my blood poisonous to demons and they wanted to study me?” I add jokingly. Although that doesn’t seem too farfetched considering what transpired.

She stares at me. Then she brings the blood-stained blade to her lips. She licks the blood off it, smacking her lips together as if trying to determine if there’s something wrong with it.

Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, I grab her by the neck and switch our positions. Pushing the back of my palm against her hand, I kick the sword to the side. It falls to the ground with a thud and disintegrates.

Minnie’s eyes widen as she gazes up at me.

“You know fully well who I am, Minnie,” I murmur. “Does it really matter what’s in my blood?”

She licks her lips.

“Aren’t you the least curious?”

I shrug. “Maybe. But I’m more concerned with you believing me rather than knowing what’s wrong with my blood. And frankly, I don’t appreciate your lack of confidence in me.”

She shakes her head. “No. You don’t understand. They’re not to be trusted.”

“Fuck them and fuck everyone else,” I grind out. “Does it look like there’s anyone here beside you and me?”

Her lashes flutter.

---