Page 10 of Cursed Shadows

“You just ate,” Dragan reminds him.

“Don’t change the fact that I’m still hungry,” Flumph retorts with a squished expression. “An’ who the hell know when we gonna eat again.”

He has a good point.

“Sleep is more important,” Baron responds. “You have, perhaps, twenty minutes.”

“Twenty minutes!” Flumph shakes his head. “I’m hungry, I’m ass tired. I almost died because o’ some hairless fuckin’ cat with a tail that’s as broken as Shadow King’s dick,” he continues, and I have no idea what he’s going on about. Then I realize he’s talking about the manticore… and Dragan? I stifle a smile at that.

“You weren’t anywhere near the manticore,” I point out. “We were in the tavern the whole time.”

Flumph turns his angry eyes on me as Cambion covers his laugh with a cough.

“My life was easy,” Flumph continues with a heartfelt sigh. “Yeah, it was borin’, but it was safe.”

“Flumph,” I start with a sigh, knowing no one wants to hear this.

“Know what I did all day?” he interrupts but doesn’t wait for anyone to answer his question. “I filled Anona’s wine glass when it got empty. That’s it! An’ sure, she was a bitch, but she never sicced no fuckin’ demon cat on me!” Then he faces Dragan. “I risked my easy life to tell you ‘bout this angel’s wings an’ what do I get for thanks? Backwash soup an’ a kitty with a temper. I shoulda kept my big mouth shut!”

“I’d like to see that,” Cambion says flippantly.

Flumph flies over to the foot of the bed and puts his hands on his knees. He’s panting slightly.

“The angel has wings?” Baron asks, his voice slow with disbelief. He stops walking through the door and turns around, entering the room again and closing the door behind him. Hiseyes find me and his gaze lingers, as if he’s seeing me for the first time. I can’t read his expression.

“That’s debatable,” Cambion answers and glares first at me, then at Flumph and, finally, at Dragan.

Baron’s eyes are still locked with mine. “Is this true?” he asks me.

My mind catches when I try to conjure a memory of my body, and whether or not I had my wings amputated. There’s nothing there. Nothing at all. Flumph says he’s seen my wings, but my memory starts three days ago and it’s mostly filled with large blank spaces where theAtacomitenumbed me.

“I don’t know,” I tell him honestly. “I woke up in the woods outside of precinct five three days ago with no memory of who I was or what came before.” Speaking is still difficult, and my voice feels hoarse from disuse, but the emotion I feel propels me forward. “I was running from something, I don’t know what. All I know is, whatever it is, it was bad.”

“And now we have Variant to worry about, as well,” adds Cambion darkly.

Baron’s head snaps away from me to look at the Seelie king. “Variant knows you have her?” Variant’s name on Baron’s tongue sounds like a curse. His eyes are sharp with hatred.

“We don’t know what he knows,” supplies Dragan. “But our guess is word has reached him by now. He’s probably looking for all of us.”

For once, Cambion doesn’t jump to disagree, he just nods solemnly.

“And you know nothing about who was chasing you or what they wanted?” Baron asks me. His direct gaze makes me feel flustered and I shift my weight slightly, Dragan tense beside me.

I shake my head. “Someone put the markings on me and they were convincing enough to fool Anona. Or maybe they’re real and I really don’t have my wings?” I shrug. I notice Draganswallowing hard and Cambion frowning. “But before waking up in the forest, there’s nothing. I didn’t even know my name until…” I trail off, realizing none of them knows about the voice in my head.

After her apparent excitement at seeing Baron, the woman’s voice quieted down, but I still feel a presence there. As much as I trust Dragan, I’m not eager to share the fact that I’m hearing voices. Luckily, no one seems to notice my lost train of thought.

Cambion furrows his brow. “TheAtacomitemust still be in your system.”

I think of the man lying on the cot and of my own heinous journey in ridding my system of the poison.

Baron interjects, “Atacomitecan powerfully dull the mind, but full memory loss isn’t a side effect of the drug. Whatever the source of the angel’s amnesia, it isn’t the work of any poison.”

“My name is Eilish,” I nearly interrupt him. Baron looks at me in surprise. “Don’t call me the angel… please.”

I notice Dragan smiling, though I’m not sure why.

Cambion faces Baron. “I’m a master healer. I think I know the effects ofAtacomitewell enough.”

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