Page 58 of Devour the Dark

I’m all right, is what I want to say, but she would know it’s a fucking lie.

The shadow hides nothing.

A half-dozen carriages are already lined up, waiting for their occupants to depart at the portico as we clatter up the drive.

“Let’s go over the plan one more time,” I say.

“We stay together until we identify the witch,” Winnie says.

“Then we separate,” Asha adds. “And stand as backup.”

“Once I’ve completed the task, you find Malachi to confirm. If he doesn’t have the hat on him, I will yank his insides out his fucking nose.”

“No, you won’t.” Winnie pats my thigh. “Because once he’s dead, we won’t know where he put this magical hat.”

“Then I’ll force the hat’s location out of him and then yank his insides out his fucking nose.”

Winnie gives me a look. It’s not a threatening look. There is nothing menacing about it. It’s just cold and distant and detached, like she’s inside her own head plotting all the ways she will torture me until I beg for forgiveness.

And for her, torture isn’t blood and gore and guts. It’s psychological warfare.

“Do you want to go over the actual dispensing of a Myth?” Asha asks. “They aren’t easy to?—”

“Kill. Yes, I know. But I have the dark shadow. And what better way to fight darkness than with something darker?”

“So you plan to kill her how? You never did tell me.”

“The shadow moves between us,” Winnie explains. “So I’ll push it toward Vane.”

“And at full power, the shadow can tear arms from bodies, muscle from bone. It will be messy, but thankfully not my mess to clean up. I’ll leave that to Malachi.”

“How will you get her somewhere private?”

This is the part I hate the most and explaining it is akin to ripping out my own insides through my nose.

Winnie lowers her voice and leans across the carriage like she’s about to share a secret. “I’m not sure if you noticed, but women have a hard time ignoring Vane.”

“So you’re going to seduce her?” Asha’s voice rises with incredulity.

“I have a less than ten percent fail rate,” I reassure her.

“You don’t think the Myth will see you and immediately be suspicious?”

“What are the myths well known for?”

“Manipulation. Persuasion. Compliance.”

“Yes, and their hubris is often their undoing. She may be suspicious of me, but there is an opportunity to exploit it, because the suspicion is also a challenge to bend me to her will. She won’t, of course. I cannot be persuaded.”

“Hah!” Winnie shouts. “I can persuade you to do a great many things.”

“I don’t need to know,” Asha says.

The carriage pulls forward again. We’re next in line to disembark.

“To pull it off, of course, I need to keep my hands to myself,” Winnie says. “It will be the most difficult task, but I’m willing to power through it.” She smiles innocently at me.

That look, the brattiness…fuck, if we were alone right now…

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