Page 45 of Death Wish

It was my turn to almost drop the box. I fumbled with it for a few seconds, trying to hold on, and as I did, something fell out and flopped onto the floor.

I bent down and picked it up. It was rough and dry between my fingers, but almost as thin as a piece of paper.

Turning it over, I noticed the strange cluster of symbols painted onto one side. Maybe not painted, exactly. The ink appeared to have sunk deeper into the paper. But wait—what were those? Wrinkles? Hairs?

My breath caught. This wasn’t paper. It was skin. Either human or animal skin.

I dropped it again, my stomach coiling in disgust.

Sean was quick to scoop it back up. “What is it?” he asked and flipped it over to the written side.

“Skin,” I choked out, wondering who in the world would use someone’s skin as a writing implement. Even as old as it seemed to me, wouldn’t wood or leaves be efficient enough?

His lip turned up in repulsion, too, but he didn’t half throw the thing like I had. Just examined it further.

“These symbols seemed to be tattooed also. And look, there’s yours at the top.”

He pointed at the one matching the mark on my chest, and I stared at it in disbelief.

That was weird.

“Let me get a look at it.” Cole continued to struggle against the magical restraints of the demon trap on the armchair.

“You shut up,” Wyatt barked at him.

Cole let out an aggravated sigh. “Come on, Wyatt. You know me. You’ve known me for years.”

“That’s what makes this feel more like a betrayal,” Wyatt snapped.

“Pop,” Sean began, more calmly. “If he wanted to kill us, he’s could have done it many, many times.”

Cole smiled. “He’s right. I could have.”

I rolled my eyes. From the anger still on Wyatt’s face, it was clear Cole wasn’t making his situation any better for himself.

“I don’t like the demon part of me. I want to get rid of it. You know I’ve been trying to find Xaver forever.”

“What is that saying? ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’?” Sean said.

Wyatt’s eyes narrowed—an old man stuck in his ways.

As much as I didn’t trust Cole, I couldn’t deny that I was going to need his help to get Kay’s cure. Especially if that meant confronting Xaver or more Halflings again. My weird magic light fingers had saved us before, but now that I was bleeding and breathing, things were more complicated. Those blessed bullets and guns would come in handy. He wanted my help for some reason, and I needed his.

Guess we were stuck together.

“If it makes you feel better, you can hold your gun,” I suggested to Wyatt. “If he tries anything, I won’t stop you from blowing his head off.”

For the first time, Wyatt’s lips split in a grin. His teeth weren’t the straightest and they were tinged yellow from decades of what looked like a bad smoking habit, but it was nice to see him get some joy out of something. Even if it was the thought of murdering Cole if he turned on him.

Without hesitation, he snatched his shotgun, walked over to the armchair, and scuffed the demon trap markings on the carpet just enough to break the magic. Before Cole could even rise to his feet, Wyatt had his gun cocked and aimed at Cole’s noggin.

I didn’t know why exactly, but I admired this old man’s gritty spirit and toughness.He took no shit. From anyone. And I liked that about him.

Ignoring Wyatt’s gun and threatening glare, Cole strode over to us and reached out for the piece of skin. Hesitantly, Sean handed it over.

“Do you recognize any of these marks?” Cole asked, holding it up for Wyatt to see with ginger hands. His eyes were wide with excitement, as if we had just stumbled across an ancient map leading to El Dorado and its treasure. “I’ve never seen them before.”

Wyatt lowered the barrel a smidge. “Again, they seem similar to the language in the Celilian scrolls, but not enough for me to decipher any of it. At least not now. Maybe if I studied it, I could come up with a general idea.”

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