Page 79 of Death Trap

Also true.

Man, I wish Eli were here. I had a slew of new questions to ask. Censor be damned. I’d have him act the answers out in a terrible game of charades, if I had to.

That was, if he ever decided to talk to me again after this stunt. He was probably going nuts looking for me, wondering where I had gone to. There was no way Marla would be able to keep him distracted this long.

Then, another thought struck me, sinking like lead in the pit of my stomach. I could only ask himifI managed to get out of here. And that was looking like a bigif.Especially with the bridge gone and the spirit door thing Azrael had entered in through the ceiling now gone.

I had gotten myself in real shit this time. Some I wasn’t sure I could get myself out of.

“What do we do now?” Tamara asked. “How are we getting out of here?”

I paused, thinking, running my finger in between the choker and my neck. Had it become tighter?

“What about a spell of some kind? Is there anything we can use?” I asked.

“Why do the non-magical think there’s always a spell to solve all their problems?” she said flippantly. Almost defensive.

“Because there usually is?” What was with the attitude? It was a simple question. “If not solve, then at least help.”

Tamara said nothing, but I could see the wheels turning in her head. She was trying to come up with something to say but couldn’t.

“Didn’t you say you would bring magic and interrogation skills to the table?” I asked. When her brows pinched together, something dawned on me. “You do have magic still, don’t you?”

Again, she said nothing.

“You lied to me?” Did anyone tell the truth anymore? What the fuck.

Tamara sank down in her seat, unbothered. “And? You were going to leave me there in that line with those other mindless zombies. I had to say something to convince you to let me come with you.”

My head pounded, and I rubbed my temples with my thumbs. Of course she’d lied. Of course. Look who I was dealing with—a witch who had dealt with demons and dark magic all her life.

“And what about the confidence boost spell before? Another trick?” I asked.

“Have you ever seen any heartfelt children’s movie?” She cleared her throat and made her voice higher to mock it. “‘You had the power inside you all along.’ Or whatever it is.”

Wow. I’d never wanted to strangle someone so much in my afterlife.

It made sense that they had stripped her powers after death. This was Hell. She shouldn’t be given any luxuries, or anything that could make her time here easier.

If only I had thought of that before.

She had probably tried to hex me before when we’d first met, but once she realized she couldn’t, she just continued to pretend like she still had her magic. To seem more useful to me.

Come on, Jade. You’re smarter than this.

Apparently not. We were in this Hell hole to prove it.

No Eli. No magic. No exit.

All because I had fallen headfirst into Azrael’s trap.

“We need to figure out something.” With her heeled boots on the coffee table, Tamara leaned into the couch and picked at her nails again. “We’ve only been here an hour and my skin is already crawling.”

And for the hour, I’d paced in front of the box television so many times, I was making a permanent trail in the carpet. My mind was foggy with failed ideas. For the hundredth time, I checked my watch on my wrist and pressed Simon’s panic button, but like all those tries before, nothing happened. The screen didn’t even light up. A blank screen stared back at me.

“Why do you keep fiddling with that thing?” she asked.

I glanced at her, annoyance jabbing me in the side like a pestering child. Twin or not, Tamara was no Marla, that was for sure. If I had to spend eternity here with her, I’d definitely be pitching myself out that door and into the black pit just to get away from her incessant talking.

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