Page 137 of Finders Reapers

“Charon is doing an internal investigation of Beelzebub,” Ollie explained. “I take it, Mr. Bub wasn’t too happy about the investigation?”

I glanced over my shoulder. “Should we be doing this here?”

Ollie followed my gaze and painted a smile on his face. “Should we go back to the bar in NYC? Have a cocktail?” He asked, forcing a joyful tone into his voice, but I could tell his heart wasn’t in it.

“I don’t know,” I stepped back, taking him in again. Ollie was in a silk kimono, and he looked like he had just rolled out of bed.

Ollie laughed when he caught me eying up his outfit. “I was in the hot tub when you called.”

“We could go to Quietus,” I suggested. “Maddox is about to confront Mr. Bub and get himself killed like Richard did.”

Ollie’s face blanked. “Sure.” He held out his arm, and I took it, waiting for the world to shift as Ollie laced the fabric of the world together and shifted us across miles of desert.

My stomach dropped as we Laced, and I didn’t think I would ever get used to the sensation.

I didn’t know what I expected, but when I pried my eyes open, we were in the strange red room that I had first met Ollie in—the walls and the ceiling were carved with demonic runes. The magic pulsed like a heartbeat.

If it was Ollie’s office, I supposed that it made sense that he would bring me here first.

“Should we go up to the elevator?” I asked.

Ollie cocked his head to the side but ignored my question as he stepped away from me and walked towards his desk in the center of the room. The only piece of furniture.

Ollie brushed his hand against the front of the desk. “I’m sorry, Valentina.” He exhaled deeply.

“Why?” I frowned. “If we hurry, we can catch Maddox and the others before he confronts Mr. Bub.”

Ollie laughed, but the sound had no humor in it. He said nothing.

“Whatever Beelzebub is going with those contracted souls; we can tell Charon, and then he can sort it out,” I continued, twining my fingers in front of me as an erratic kind of nervousness squeezed my heart with every expression that crossed Ollie’s face. Something wasn’t right, but every interaction with demons generally left me with the same feeling, like interacting with a powerful creature wearing a person costume.

“Mr. Bub is the one that’s been collecting contracted souls, isn’t he?” I asked, keeping the question open-ended as I watched Ollie turn his back to me and look down at his desk.

“Do you know which circle I’m used to belong to, Valentina?” Ollie asked delicately.

I blinked but said nothing. Because I didn’t know the answer.

“The First Circle is, by and large, home to the mirrored city. Pride and vanity go hand in hand.” He continued, looking into the middle distance as if he was somewhere else. “But not many people know that in the center of Hell itself lies the home of Treachery. Dante compared it to an icy cage, but that isn’t exactly true. Although it’s cold, snow does not fall from the sky... Ash does.”

“Okay,” I nodded, wide-eyed as I considered bolting for the door.

Ollie turned. “Do you know who I am? What the Bible and the Key of Solomon say about me?”

I shook my head.

“I am a master of metamorphosis.” Ollie continued. “It's why I am in charge of changing the souls into Reapers.”

I knew that, so I nodded.

“Quietus has become the home got banished people.” Oriax sniffed.

“Like Charon?” I replied.

“Sure.”He shrugged. “And me.”

I stepped back. “Are you okay, Ollie?”

He ignored me. “Many years ago, the Devil asked me to change his broken wings into a woman. A wife.” He turned to me. “I did a magnificent job. I created a wife from his burnt feathers, so exquisite and so similar to his first love, Lilith, that I was to be celebrated!” Ollie flung himself forward, his teeth gritted, as he slid his arms across his desk and knocked everything to the floor with a crash.

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