Page 77 of Wings of Destiny

He flicked my nose and it vanished. “Out of it, girl. You continue to zone out like that, it will be the end of you. Your enemies will notice and take advantage.”

My voice shook, “I’m fine. I’m fine.”

He flicked my nose. Snooty Pants actually flicked my nose.

His eyes flicked between mine, searching. “Good. Now, Miss Snow, I need you to work with me on this. You do not need to conjure your powers unless I specifically request you to. I’ll illusion what is needed to keep the Demon in line as I did before. I need you to cooperate if this is to work. Do you understand?”

He’s right. The asshole is right.

I need to keep it together.

Or it won’t just bemyass on the line.

I nodded in agreement, irritating curiosity nagged at me. “What did you show him earlier?”

Josh smirked. “I had him seeing you as you were during our escape, but more. Covered in flame and lightning. Truly a Goddess of the flame and skies; the two elements bending at your will.”

I scoffed at him. “Exaggerate a bit much?”

He shrugged. “The dramatic tends to benefit more often than not in interrogations.”

“Whatever, just give me some type of heads up if you’re going to go all slasher on me, please. I don’t feel like puking, again.”

I really have no choice in any of this anymore.

He gave me his hand and pulled me to my feet. “I’ll do my best, Miss Snow.”

He sauntered towards the Demon, the dagger once again moving between his fingers as if it were a snake, caressing each finger as it flitted across. He ran the blade along the shoulders of the Demon and Artremias halted his screaming. His mouth clamped shut and milky eyes darted around the room as if he faced countless terrors before him. With nowhere to run and without a means of protecting himself.

“Now, let's try this once more, Artremias,” Josh paused, his dagger caressing the Demon’s neck as if it were a lover. “Where are the humans?”

The Demon’s voice trembled. “I…I don’t know.” He shook.

Josh removed the blade and stuck it into the Demon’s side, down to the hilt. The Demon yelped in pain as its black blood seeped from around the blade. I went to turn away but Josh caught my eyes and held me in place; urging me to continue watching. I gulped down the bile building in the pit of my stomach and refocused my attention on the Demon in front of me.

Josh pulled the dagger from the Demon’s side, painstakingly slow. He reinserted it into the Demon’s thigh, driving it through to the metal seat, a slight clang vibrated in the thick air. The Demon screamed.

“Okay! Goddammit. Okay!” He panted. “The others. They took the humans. They’re being held in the mountains. I wasn’t present for the exact drop off location,” the Demon snarled as Josh wriggled the blade in its thigh, causing blood to further pool. “That’s all I know! I was with the others as we burned down that building. I was not a part of the extraction itself.” His facescrunched in pain, sweat slicked his forehead, tears trailed down his face. “Please. That’s all I know. Please, let me go.” A whimper escaped its thin lips.

Josh twisted the blade once again then slowly pulled it out, scraping against bone. The Demon panted in relief. “Who led your operation?”

The Demon shook his head, unsure. Repeating that was all he knew; he wasn’t told who was leading the whole thing.

Josh turned his back to the Demon. “Very well.” He whipped around, driving the dagger straight through the Demon’s neck. Its head bounced on the floor, inked blood spraying from its headless body. The fleshy cranium landed, rolling to a stop at my feet. The milky eyes cleared and a bright, white, borderline-iridescent shine took their place before fading to onyx pits. Black blood seeped from the corners of its eyes, coating them. The dead fish stench hit my nose, and I fought the urge to double over.

“What the hell, Josh?!”

He pulled a handkerchief from his pants pocket and began wiping down his blade.

At least he didn’t lick the thing clean this time.

“If I allowed him freedom, he would have ran back to his pack of Demons and dispelled everything. My building, location, whereabouts, and the intel that’s been gathered. Which would have enlarged the target on your back, as well as mine, Miss Snow. They would’ve come for us before we were ready. The only feasible option was to dismember the Demon and be done with it.”

I pinched my nose between my fingers, attempting to keep the stench from gagging me. “You could’ve warned me at least, asshole.”

“Very true, my apologies, Miss Snow.”

I looked down. My sneakers and bottom of my joggers, as well as my sweatshirt, were now covered in Demon blood. I shivered. No amount of showering was going to wipe this little experience from my skin. I fought the nausea as it threatened to make another appearance. “I’m going to need thirty showers, at least, to get this gunk off of me.”

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