Page 56 of Cry for Help

“Behem is not stealing humans,” Murmur said gravely. “He is trafficking theSídhe. He has utilized their magic to glamour the whole mansion. Stolas could not see through it, but I could. I see the truth. Stolas tried to distract Behem, so I could get the women out, but…” Murmur let the sentence hang ominously.

“Perhaps Maddie should come after all.” Malphas offered. “She may be able to protect us from Behem.”

“How utterly humiliating,” Caim admitted, shaking his head and smiling to himself.

Chapter Sixteen

When Aimee showed me the map of Red City, she told me about the suburban mansions, which acted as a buffer between the city and the walls.

Though she had told me about their opulence and the importance of the demons that occupied them, I hadn’t understood what that meant at the time.

I was from Portland. My idea of wealth, as a teenager, was being able to visit Starbucks without worrying about the cost of your order. As an adult, I’d spent the majority of my time behind bars—where wealth meant being able to use tampons instead of pads.

Without the SUV, we’d had to hire a taxi, and the driver wouldn’t go past the fancy iron gates at the edge of the property. The gates were wide open, but the demonic sigils on the gate had left my skin covered in gooseflesh and the eerie feeling of being watched.

Sprawling, luscious lawns, peacocks in full plumage, and rolling hills greeted us, with a single paved road twisting and turning to the house in the distance.

None of us spoke as we walked to the house. The sprinklers activated several times, soaking my jeans. Caim tried to fight a peacock for dominance, and we had to run the final stretch to the house. All in all, it took close to an hour and made me feel even more ill at ease.

A quick escape wouldn’t be possible. Not unless Murmur could carry me across the lawn—and based on the wingspan of his vulture, if I had weighed less, it might have been an option.

The mansion was much bigger up close. A perfectly symmetrical behemoth of a building, with two boxy towers on either side, like arms stretched out on a lazy-E-boy chair. A rounded tower sat in the middle of the building, undoubtedly housing a fancy spiral staircase. However, it made the entire property look like it had been built around a lighthouse. Uniform stone and rows of windows smaller than the ones in prison.

The mansion didn’t screamGluttonyor luxury. It was justthere.

With every step closer to the mansion, Murmur hung back, standing behind me and Malphas. I didn’t know if it was from fear or the expectation of being attacked from behind.

Caim strutted forward, wearing his signature confidence like a cape, hopping up the stairs like Willy Wonka with horns. He didn’t bother knocking or ringing the doorbell before he tried the handle and found the front door unlocked. Caim held it open and ushered us through.

A wave of music and the smell of unwashed bodies and rotten food hit me as I stepped over the threshold. I took a moment to remind myself that I had begged to come along on the rescue mission, though the odor made running away all too appealing.

Murmur put his hand on my shoulder. “Caim, Malphas, search the lower levels. Behem spends most of his time in the pool, so avoid the courtyard. Maddie and I will search upstairs.” Murmur commanded.

“Shouldn’t we check the basement?” I signed, but Caim and Malphas had already left our group.

Besides his silence and ability to see the truth, I didn’t know Murmur well. Neither of which made for a good conversation starter.

My eyes burned as we strode further into the mansion, and it became harder to walk as the sea of fast food wrappers and other garbage grew around our feet.

Aside from the occasional demon staggering past, the mansion seemed almost empty. It was as if the party had ended long ago, and no one had bothered to clean up.

As we walked up the stairs, I couldn’t help but side-eye Murmur. I had no idea why he wanted to team up with me. I couldn’t fight a demon, and based on what I had observed with Caim and the others, their time in Lucifer’s statue garden had left them little more than human.

I was virtually powerless unless someone died. My decision to come appeared more foolish by the minute, and the wild-hair thought about gaining freedom by joining up with theFlockwas growing more unlikely by the second.

I thought it was fear at first. Freezing my heart in my chest. Murmur nudged me forward, but I couldn’t walk.

My senses hammered against my body, begging me to run away.

Though the mansion was more giant than I’d ever imagined, Murmur and I were faced with a single door. My hand itched to open it as much as my feet screamed to run.

Murmur took the decision from me, pushing down the handle with a silenced, practiced motion, and he pulled me through, out of the open.

Darkness claimed my sight for a moment until my eyes adjusted.

The door led to another corridor around a bend, with a dim glow of light around the corner. Whimpering sobs echoed through the hallway.

If I was watching a horror movie, this would have been the moment I threw popcorn at the screen and told the heroine not to be an idiot.

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