Page 34 of Princess of Hell

The guy I released knelt next to the dead Demon and took the dart out of her neck, sniffing it.

“Arsenic and mercury. That kills a Fear Demon. The Harpie has been flying around here for a few days.” He talked to himself, but I was listening. He was not a Demon. Nothing about him told me he could be. Still, he had considerable knowledge of our kind. Nothing seemed to faze him, not a little bit.

“And you’re not shocked that a Harpie killed a Fear Demon?” It was my turn to be surprised.

“No, I’ve seen worse.” He put both his hands on her large belly. I had a feeling something was happening, something I couldn’t understand very well. The guy nodded.

“What have you done?”

“I tried to find out more. We should go. They will look for her soon.” He took the arrow out of her neck and put it in his pocket.

River stood next to me, stunned by what was going on.

“Have you never seen a Harpie?” mental guy asked River.

Did River feel threatened because mental guy was as gorgeous as him, only with dark, deep, haunting blue eyes that made my core melt and my insides shiver?

“What next? Why did you release him?” River pointing to the guy that walked down the corridor.

“Call me Preach. I know a shortcut out of here.”

I shrugged at River. “Let’s go.”

“Wait, are you going to follow a crazy guy out of an asylum?”

“He lived here, so I assume he knows his way around.”

Preach walked down the corridor in silence, and we reached a huge kitchen. The light was off. Huge pots stood on the stoves. Preach opened a fridge and took out an ice cream cone. He held it towards me.

“Want some?”

“What is it?”

Preach looked at the cone. “Chocolate.”

“Do you have vanilla?”

He leaned into the fridge and picked out a new cone.

“Really? You guys stopped for ice cream?” River acted like a kindergarten teacher in charge of us.

“Want some?” Preach offered him an ice cream cone, too. I started to unwrap it and took a bite.

“Mmmm, good.”

“You eat ice cream?” Preach asked,

“Yeah. Why?”

“Considering who you are.... Does he know?”

My stomach churned now. How did he know… what did he know about me and who I was? I wasn’t keen on advertising who I was.

“River knows I’m the daughter of a high-ranking demon.”

Preach licked his ice cream and nodded. Why was that we had an understanding going on? He knew things he shouldn’t.

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