Page 18 of Cry for Help

I was startled at the sound of his voice but didn’t answer.

“You’re eying that cheese like the second coming of Christ.” Malphas frowned.

I quirked a brow at his verbiage, and he snickered.

“You think demons don’t know about Christ. About Yahweh?”

I shrugged, eying him warily.

Malphas sighed. “Look.” He brushed his hair out of his eyes. “Stolas didn’t tell us he was bringing a human home. We’d talked about it, but nothing was concrete. Yes, we need someone to take care of things around the house. We can’t stay in the Human district without at least one human in the household—” Malphas interrupted himself. His sharp teeth snapped shut before he revealed much more. “Our Flock isn’t prestigious. We aren’t part of a royal court anymore. We are Purebloods, but being born in Hell doesn’t mean much when you’ve been blacklisted. As long as you keep the house clean and do our laundry and shit, we’ll protect you.”

It took a moment to digest his words. I nodded slowly, eying him as I waited for the other shoe to drop.

Malphas reached into a grocery bag. “Look at this.” His smile wasn’t freely given, not like Caim’s. Malphas smiled like a man afraid of punishment for showing any hint of softness.

My brow pursed as I stepped forward. Malphas pulled a wrapped brown parcel out of his bag, untying the string.

“This is Pule Cheese. It’s made from donkey and goat milk.” Malphas said proudly. “I’ll share it with you. It’s very rare. So you better enjoy it.”

I took myself back to the guest room after eating. Full of crackers and strange goat cheese. I definitely didn't object to the food, but if I stayed longer than a week, I’d need a vegetable of some kind.

The demons needed a maid?

That wasit?

They needed a maid and silent, forgotten Maddie was the cheapest human at the Meat Market.

I shouldn’t have been offended.

I’d almost been shuffled off to the human district anyway. At least this way, I had some sort of protection.

It was more than I deserved anyway.

Being a foster kid meant I was used to being forgotten. I hadn’t expected that to change, not really.

It was better that way.

Stolas, Caim, Malphas and Murmur weredemons.

They had bought me, but maybe we could be friends.

After all, anything was better than failing another appeal and waiting on death row to die.

Being in prison meant I was no stranger to wearing the same clothes for multiple days in a row.

It seemed my nose wasn’t as strong as a demon's, though, because the following day, as I emerged from the guest room in the same shapeless black dress from the auction, I caught Malphas make a face before he quickly cleared his expression.

Stolas sat at the kitchen island, flicking through a thin leather book so old the title had worn away. His nose wrinkled as I entered the room, though he didn’t look up.

I hadn’t seen Murmur since my first night, and Caim had made himself scarce after he’d succeeded in scaring me with his Jekyll and Hyde routine.

“Are you going into the city?” Malphas asked Stolas, eying the much taller demon with a suspicious squint.

Stolas sighed, closing his book. “I have business in Lust.”

Malphas sniffed, his button nose wrinkling with distaste. “Maybe you should take Maddie to get some new clothing.” He suggested.

“Why?” Stolas frowned. “We have a washing machine.”

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