Page 8 of Living Legend

She’d brought something with her, hoping no one would notice. The handcuffs shut down most, if not all, magic, but they don’t make magical objects undetectable. She was smart for hiding it, but not smart enough not to get caught.

“Explain yourself,” Jonah ordered.

Ariel took a deep breath. “I went to retrieve the Soul Seether. I absolutely despise going to that abhorrent place run bythatwoman, but I did what you asked. This is the South Seether.”

“Isn’t the Soul Seether a guy?” Reese asked, causing Jonah to raise an eyebrow at Ariel.

“Yes, Ariel isn’t the Soul Seether a male?” Jonah repeated.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the female give a tight-lipped smile, as if she was holding in a laugh.

“Sir, you sent me to exactly where they would be and all I found was her.” He pointed to the female with the high boots and curls.

Jonah balled his hands into fists at his side, flexing his fingers as he slowly turned his head. “You are the Soul Seether?”

I saw her lift her eyes to him. I couldn’t make out her body language, but she looked him dead in the eyes, as if she was prepared to make him wait,squirm.

“At your service,” she finally answered. She sounded powerful, but she didn’t have a deep voice. It was airy, as if the words floated on a cloud as they left her lips, but as if every word held thunder among the clouds.

She spoke again, this time with more sass. “Although, I’ve never liked being called Soul Seether. First impressions, am I right?” She looked over Jonah’s shoulder and winked at me.

I shifted in my chair.

Without looking away from her, Jonah pointed to a chair. “Sit, Soul Seether. We have much to discuss.”

The sentry angels grabbed them by their elbows and lead them to the other end of the table. They placed their arms on the colorful tabletop, the handcuffs sparkling in the refracted light. Jonah sat again, followed by Ariel, who I could’ve sworn was about to shit his pants.

“Misconceptions aside, I only requested one demon, Ariel,” Jonah began, leaning back against his chair again.

“Of course, sir, but the Soul Seether requested she come. I assumed it wouldn’t do any harm.”

I finally opened my mouth. “You took a request from a demon? Just like that?”

Ariel side-eyed me with a look that was supposed to ground me -- it seemed I’d spoken out of turn. “Anything to get her here.”

“Remember your place, Nicholas,” Jonah ordered, turning his focus to the demons at the table. “Now, I know the Soul Seether, but may I ask whoyouare?”

The female with the short black hair had her head tilted back against the seat, almost as if she was bored. “You can ask, but I probably won’t tell you.”

“What if we added a please and a cherry on top, would that suffice?” Reese countered, sarcasm oozing from his voice.

The female turned her head to the side, challenging his stare. Her eyes were a gray I’d never seen before. “Blondie, I pop cherries, I don’t eat them, so I’d say hard pass.”

Reese slowly turned his head to catch my eye and mouth awowat me before shaking his head.

“It’s Elise. Her name, I mean,” the Soul Seether answered. She perched in the chair with her back straight, but her shoulders were rounded. “Soul Seether is honestly a fucking stupid name, so call me Dani or take me back. Better yet, tell me why thehellI’m here.”

Jonah placed his hands under his chin, intertwining his fingers, as if in deep thought. “One of your kind has passed through a portal. They are detained, but it is quite troubling.”

“So, what, you think we had something to do with it?Typical,” Elise countered.

“Not quite,” Markus snarked back.

Jonah cleared his throat. “We can only do so much. We aren’t privy to the inner workings of demons and your realm.”

“So, you want us to solve your problem for you? I don’t know anything about your rogue demon. You aren’t really selling yourself here, especially since a few minutes ago, you thought I had a dick.” Dani shrugged, stretching her neck out. I kept having to force myselfnotto look at her. “I’m getting bored.”

“I’d watch my mouth if I were you,” I stated, not glancing in her direction, though I could feel her eyes penetrating the side of my head.

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