Page 61 of Cry for Help

I wasn’t fed, but I hoped that meant Behem didn’t plan to eat me just yet. Surely, if he wanted to eat me, it would be a Hansel-and-Gretel situation, trying to fatten me up.

Unless he thought I was already fat enough.

Great. Now, I was frightened and insulted.

I wasn’t sure how long I stood, pacing the concrete cell before the door at the end of the corridor swung open with a metallic groan.

Barely the whisper of a footstep as the two demons approached.

Stolas and Behem.

Had Stolassold me out?

The moment the Tailor had said the words ‘Bean Sídhe, ’ I bet Stolas and Seir had been tallying up how much my head would go for on the chopping block. Sídhe, it seemed, were a delicacy amongst demons. Which explained why my kind did not leave the Aos Sí often.

Stola’s hair was unusually flat, his dark eyes were without emotion, and he wore his body as if trying to appear smaller. His Victorian-style long coat seemed to be wearinghiminstead of the other way around. Stolas didn’t greet me; he hung back by the strange skeletal creature’s shoulder like a good little henchman.

I narrowed my eyes, hoping that Stolas caught my glare.

He blinked slowly and looked away, every inch the bored sidekick.

The other demon hunched over, his head almost touching the ceiling. His body was unnaturally skinny, making him look like a man made of burned, gnarled twigs. His eyes were too big for his face, and his teeth unnaturally square, like poorly fitted veneers. He bent over at the waist, folding like a piece of paper, as he scanned the cell. Pressing his face close to the bars, like a child at the zoo. His wide eyes were yellow with jaundice.

He licked his cracked lips, and his tongue was too long and flat.

My nose wrinkled in disgust, and I stepped away from the bars.

“You came to my home, little snack. Were you desperate to be eaten, or did you undertake the foolish errand of trying to save your kin?”

I remained silent.

“You have to expect these things, little snack.” The demon blinked his round eyes. “Especially when you are so delicious. It is the way of things.”

I gathered the saliva and launched a wad of spit at the bars.

By sheer luck, the loogie missed the iron bars and landed on the demon’s gaunt cheek.

His eyes shone with delight as he wiped the spit from his hollow cheek and licked his fingers. I held back my gag as bile crawled up my gullet, ready to make an appearance.

“You’re kind are difficult to procure.” Behem looked down his nose at me. “We used to spend our whole lives hunting Sídhe, just for a taste. The Red Cities have been a boon. Sídhe are easy to find if you know what to look for.”

The look he gave me was a disturbing mix of lust, hunger, and longing.

Where were Caim and Malphas?

I didn’t know if Behem understood ASL, but I had to risk it.

I lifted my hands and began to sign.“Where are the others? Why are you with him? What is going on? Is he going to eat me?”My fingers moved from sign to sign too quickly, but I hoped Stolas understood.

“What is it doing?” Behem snapped, striking the bars. “Is it trying to fly?”

Stolas shrugged but didn’t elaborate.

I repeated the signs but slower.

“What is it doing?” Behem repeated, growing steadily angrier.

Stolas stepped up to the bars, ignoring the Gluttony demon. “New drug. Made of Sídhe blood. Demons eating Sídhe. Caim and Malphas in the cell next to yours.”

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