Page 33 of Cry for Help

He eyed me with a mix of pity and exasperation. “Your headache is caused by dehydration.” He gestured to the water.

I nodded, remaining still as he rounded the bed and put the glass on the nightstand. I expected the demon to make excuses and walk away, but Murmur sat down. His black eyes watching me like a gun about to misfire.

I reached out and drained half the glass, holding my hands out for the pills before I finished the water. I eyed Murmur expectantly, waiting for him to say whatever it was he wanted to say.

Maybe he’d try and explain why he’d gone to Lust to smoke demon blood and get high. I was used to it. People in prison did all sorts of things for any kind of buzz.

Honestly, I didn’t care what Murmur did and why.

I hadn’t made many friends since coming to Red City.

I’d pissed Stolas off.

I’d eaten all Malphas’s cheese.

And I’d kicked Caim in the balls.

It was only a matter of time before I managed to rile up Murmur, too.

My mom always used to say I had a particular way of pushing just the right buttons.

Murmur cleared my throat. “I want to tell you a story.”

My brow pinched, and I cocked my head to the side.Ok...

“Have you heard about the Devil? The angels falling. Hell’s creation?” Murmur asked, smiling apologetically when he realized I couldn’t answer, at least not with my voice.

I shrugged because everyone knew that Lucifer had betrayed God. He’d fallen from heaven and taken over Hell—as judge, jury, and executioner. The devil was the Big Bad. Everyone knew who he was.

Red horns, forked tail, hard on for torturing sinners. That kind of thing.

No one had seen the devil, not even after the golden gates of Hell had opened—but that didn’t mean he didn’t exist.

Murmur knitted his fingers together, his heavy brow furrowed as he searched for words. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“How did you meet Stolas? Caim? Malphas?” I signed before lowering my hands, my chest burning with frustration.

Murmur bit back a smile. “Caim gave me the gift of understanding in exchange for television privileges. He gets to pick the movie on movie night for three weeks in a row.”

I laughed, stifling the sound with my hands. “The gift of understanding?”

“One of Caim’s abilities, though he cannot use it often.” Murmur rubbed the grain of his short hair. “You should feel sorry for me.” Murmur rolled his eyes. “That demon won’t stop going on about theTerrifierseries. It’s utterly terrible, but he loves it.”

I had no idea what that was.

“That’s what Caim did to Stolas last night?” I asked. “Caim made you pay for the knowledge but not him.”

Murmur rubbed his thumb over his bottom lip. “Caim and Stolas have a complicated relationship.”

From what I'd seen, Caim seemed to irritate the heck out of Stolas, but I remained silent.

Murmur cleared his throat, getting back to his story. I knitted my fingers together and sat on my hands, restraining the urge to sign.

“We were angels,” Murmur stated plainly, his mirth dripping away, leaving cold, hard facts. “Stolas, Caim, Malphas and I. Not high enough up the food chain to rub shoulders with God, but we had a purpose. We gifted knowledge to those who summoned us. We hoarded books, scrolls, wisdom.”

“Angels.” I signed, repeating his words.

“Then we fell.” He shrugged. “Lucifer had dominion over us. Kind of like a department boss. When God kicked him out of heaven, we got swept up with the lay-offs and dumped in Hell along with the other angels that joined his rebellion.”

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