Page 30 of Cry for Help

The demons weren’t behind me.

I paused, my brow furrowed, before I tripped over my own feet and landed face-first into Caim’s chest.

The horned demon flashed a hint of canine teeth as he looked down at me. His arms came around my stomach, leaving my hands free. “Fancy seeing you here.” He grinned.

“Bastard.” I signed.

“What did she say?” Murmur stepped up to us both.

Caim grinned. “She’s drunk.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I… am not drunk.”

“Sure.” Caim barked a laugh. “Unless you were running away. If that was the case, you didn’t get far, did you?”

I rolled my eyes, batting his arms.

“Come on.” Caim’s smile didn’t drop, though his voice grew cruel. “You murdered people. Have some balls and tell me to my face why you were running away.”

“I didn’t kill anyone.” My chest heaved as if I’d run a mile just from trying to escape his weirdly firm grip. “I’m not a murderer. You’re a bastard. I don’t like you.”

A laugh loosened from his lips as if he hadn’t meant for itto escape.

“You’re innocent?” He let go of me, signing the words.

Murmur looked between us, confused and clearly hungover.

“Why did Stolas buy me?” My shoulders dropped. “I deserve information if I’m going to stay with you.You said you needed a maid, but no one is yelling me anything about the statues!”

“Or what?” Caim crossed his arms over his chest, rocking back on his heels. “You’re going to run away again?”

I sucked my lips between my teeth, and then I kicked him in the balls.

I took off at another run as Caim’s cursing echoed through the quiet street. My sneakers squeaked against the damp pavement. My breath exploded from my chest as another set of arms wrapped around my stomach and lifted me clean off my feet. I bared my teeth, the alcohol pumping adrenaline through my body like nothing else. This time, it was Murmur who’d gotten ahold of me. He was less inclined to let me use my hands, mainly because he couldn’t understand ASL.

Before I could protest, Murmur heaved me onto his shoulder, just as I’d seen Stolas carry him. The parallel didn’t escape my notice.

I was grateful for my jeans; otherwise, I would have flashed the empty street.

“You should be glad I haven’t heardyourvoice, Madeleine Speck.” Murmur’s words rumbled through his chest, and I felt them through the fabric of my jacket. “I have a feeling your truth is rather uninspiring.”

All the fight went out of me, and I slumped down, my long hair swinging as we walked.

If Caim and Murmur had been amused by my drunken escape attempt, Stolas was the opposite. He was very muchnotamused by my antics.

I tucked my hands between my thighs, swaying, as I sat on the couch and watched Stolas pace in front of me. His dark hair was even more disheveled than before; several tufts stood up like feathers out of place.

I was drunk, and the joyous buzz was quickly wearing off. It would have been too easy to loosen my lips, even just a giggle or sassy quip about Stolas’s hair.

But it was a slippery slope. If I spoke once, I’d want to speak again and again.

Bad things happened when I spoke.

A raven sat on a wooden perch in the corner of the room. At first, I thought it was taxidermy; the bird was so still that it appeared to be stuffed. It unlocked its jaws and let out a comndeming caw, followed by several tocking clicks of its beak. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought the raven was telling me off.

Stolas turned on his heels, pointing a finger at the bird. “Enough from you!”

My lips straightened as I held in laughter, but neither Caim nor Murmur found it funny. Malphas was nowhere to be seen. Stolas whirled around to the two demons who stood against the wall with their arms crossed over their chest. Stolas’s hair was a halo of mad spies around his face. He looked angry for the first time since I’d met him.

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