Beetee pushed her bottom lip out and shot a tentative glance over to Elise. “Ellie, what did you do?”
For a small, minuscule moment Elise’s face morphed into something of regret, but she rallied and quickly scrubbed a hand down her face, turning on her heels away from us. Her black combat boots echoed along the floor as she started up the stairs. Beetee simply rolled her eyes and faced Dani again. “Okay, so a room for everyone?”
“We aren’t quite as difficult so we can share,” Reese answered, waving his hand towards Elise’s retreating form.
The pink haired demon gave him a small smile and clapped her handstogether. “Alrighty! Follow me!” She twirled around, making the ends of her dress propel upwards with her movement. We all trailed behind her as she led us up the stairs.
The hallway upstairs was wide enough so that Reese and I could walk side by side, making it so that we both almost completely shadowed Dani’s small body in front of us. There were copper lanterns that hung from the wall on both sides, illuminating our pathway. I kept assuming every door we passed was ours, but Beetee kept walking. I noticed the intense hold that Reese had on his bow as he walked next to me. He’d have to wrangle that energy in and let it out only when necessary.
I ran right into Dani causing me to realize that we’d stopped walking. I looked to my left and noticed Elise leaning against one of the doors that lined the walls. Beetee smiled her shining white teeth over at Elise. “Don’t worry, Ellie, your room is the same as always.”
Elise gave her a tight-lipped smile that almost looked painful.
“Wow, your friend does all these nice things for you and your companions, and you can’t even say fucking thank you. Although, I’m not surprised since you are the world’s biggest bitch,” Dani said, shaking her head at the floor.
“As much as I would love to see it, this hallway is much too small for a catfight. And my mind is far too overstimulated with our new surroundings for me to properly pay attention, if said catfight were to occur,” Reese explained, earning an eye roll from each one of us.
Beetee’s high-pitched voice broke the overwhelming tension. “It’s totally fine! Ellie and I don’t have the most conventional relationship and I don’t take her stoic attitude to heart. You really can’t take much to heart down here.” She cocked her head towards Dani, a smile ticking at the corners of her mouth. “But! My heart is so full knowing that the Soul Seether is staying undermyroof, despite the reasons for you being here. I mean what Lilith did to you was awful and you deserve revenge. I mean who knows maybe those other powers you’ve been harboring will…”
Dani’s brown eyes shot straight into Beetee’s lilac ones. I saw the way her jaw clenched as if she was grinding her teeth. “Excuse me?”
Beetee opened her mouth and then closed it, finally landing on the words she wanted. “The other powers you have, you know. Like the angelic…ow!” The pink-haired demon swung her head to where Elise was next to her and stomped on her foot.
“Beetee, shut the fuck up!”
“Woah, wait, you know?” I asked, stunned.
Beetee opened her mouth, but glanced over at Elise and quickly closed it. She awkwardly adjusted the strap of her sundress even though it lookedperfectly fine. She was fidgeting and I could see her cheeks growing a hue of red under her brown skin. Elise let out a low chuckle as she stared at the ceiling. “Here we go.”
“You fucking told her?!” Dani yelled, banging her fist into the wall. “And you just decided to leave me to just assume whatever about myself. You decide to tell your little secret friend and not,I don’t know, the person it was happening to?”
Elise pushed her bottom lip out in a pout. “Ah and what exactly would you have done if I’d told you, huh? Put yourself in a corner and cried thinking aboutwhat could have been. Don’t worry I’m sure the pretty angel boy over here has filtered through all the what ifs for you.” Elise peeked over at me smirking.
Why was she making this so fucking difficult?
Dani’s eyes became slits filled with rage and I instantly felt the need to ease that feeling for her, yet there was a part of me that knew I would just make it worse if I did. Her eyes connected with mine for just a moment before she looked back at Elise. “You really have no fucking remorse, do you? Even if I couldn’t change it, that information was mine to know, and you went and opened your fucking mouth telling everyone elsebutme.”
Beetee let out a sigh. “Dani, I can assure you that Ellie only wanted the…”
Dani held her hand up, silencing her. “I don’t want to fucking hear it.” She stalked over to Elise who crossed her arms over chest. She waited patiently as Dani almost came nose to nose with her. “I severely hope that Lilith decides to tear you apart before I finally end her, because from where I’m standing if you don’t start feeling anything soon you might as well trudge your lying ass up to her castle and go stand by her side and beg for her forgiveness.”
Elise smirked. “I really hope Lilith tears me apart as well, try as she will, just so I don’t have to hear your incessant whining anymore.”
“Fuck, you are always so fucking upfront and honest when it suits you, but when I ask you right to your face you can’t do the simplest thing!”
“I told you in Oculus and if you weren’t fucking listening then that’s on you!”
A door swung over behind us and a woman in a black tank top stuck her head out. Small horns poked out from each of her shoulders. “Can you keep it down, some of us are trying to fucking nap.”
“Stay out of it!” Both demons said to the woman, who reared back, surprised. Beetee gave her an apologetic look. The woman shook her head but retreated back into her room.
“Dani, I think we should all—” I started, but Dani gave me a look that had me closing my mouth instantly. She sucked her top lip into her mouth using her front teeth as if she was contemplating Elise’s earlier words. Elisehadsaid some things to her that would make her story make sense. Shehadsaid key points and from where I stood told Dani the factual truth.
Elise said that truth with about as much anger as I assumed was normal for her, but that particular emotion didn’t make sense with the words she had said.
“You said Lilith was going to kill me if I didn’t fall in line, so you did as she said. You also said you should have let her kill me. You sound more like Lilith’s pet than I do.”
Elise’s eyes blazed as red sparks came from her fingertips. “Watch yourself.”