Page 24 of Cursed Shadows

Anona.

“How do you know this?” ask the elf king when Eilish is done tellin’ him what she saw in her dream. The elf look pissed, probly ‘cause he weren’t the first to get it in.

“Eilish had a vision,” Dragan say.

“Eilish had a vision,” Cambion repeat back. He sound like he mockin’ the big, bad gargoyle. “How do we know it wasn’t just an inconsequential dream?”

“Because I saw it, too,” say the gargoyle.

“AndIsaw myself buried deep inside her, but last I checked, that hasn’t happened,” Cambion spit back, real pissed-off-like. The way he say it, an’ the way he lookin’ at the angel, make itseem like he don’t believe the vision he saw was real. Like he think it was somethin’ she planted in his head.

“Regardless what you saw,” the demon prince start off, his voice real low an’ tight. “The vision Eilish and I saw was real.” Dragan clamps down his teeth an’ I’m wonderin’ if he gonna launch at Cambion. These two gotta real nasty relationship ‘tween ‘em, an’ they’s always at each other’s throats.

“It could be a dream and you happened to channel it when you touched her,” Cambion suggests.

Dragan shake his head, real annoyed-like. “She couldn’t have dreamed it; she doesn’t know what the inside of Variant’s throne room looks like.”

“We don’t know what she knows,” the elf king say. His eyes narrow.

“We should trust her and the vision,” Baron or Revenant or Ball-Sucker or Taint-Fingerer or whatever the hells we’re s’posed ta be callin’ him say. “The vision she saw of me was real and true.”

The angel look at him an’ nods, like she real pleased he standin’ up for her. He don’t look back at her, though.

I don’t care if Pretty Boy is mad; all I care ‘bout is findin’ out where Anona is an’ makin’ sure I’m somewheres far away from wherever the fuck that place is.

“So, Variant an’ Anona ain’t got no clue wheres we are?” I ask. Facin’ Anona again ain’t somethin’ I’m lookin’ forward to. Fact is, I could live the rest o’ my days very happy never seein’ that foul bitch agin.

“I don’t know,” Dragan starts. “The scene Eilish and I saw could have taken place days ago, for all we know.”

“It was light,” Eilish say to Dragan as she tap his hand. He glance down at her fingers an’ then at her face, an’ it’s like his whole expression change. It’s like he ain’t mad no mores. I’m really hopin’ this angel be on our side ‘cause if she a bad angel,she got Dragan playin’ right into her little plan, pretty as she please.

Dragan nod an’ face everyone in the room. “That’s right. It was daytime in the throne room, so the vision couldn’t have taken place in real time.” That’s ‘cause outside, it be darker than a night hag’s tit. An’ it ain’t jist ‘cause we in the Shadow Realm. Night is still the darkest time, whether you be in Shadow, Fae or the Mortal Realms.

“But whether it’s a vision of the future or the past, we don’t know,” add the angel.

I gulp, ‘cause I scared. Last time I got on Anona’s bad side, she was two seconds away from rippin’ my wings clean off. My right one’s still torn from where that son-of-a-bitch Dravon pulled it.

Anona’s an ugly bitch, but she asmartbitch. An’ usually when she want somethin’, she get it.

Everyone gits real quiet-like.

“Shouldn’t we stay here, then?” I ask King Shadow Butt ‘cause he the biggest one outta all of ‘em. “I mean, they ain’t found us yet, right? That gotta mean somethin’?”

The vampire answer. He spook me, ‘cause he move real fast an’ he got this darkness ‘bout him that don’t seem right. Like the shadows surroundin’ him are part o’ him. Like they be one an’ the same. Yeah, Dragan’s got shadows, too, but his are different somehow. They ain’t quite so dark. An’ Dragan don’t go ‘round drinkin’ people’s blood… well, that I know of, anyways.

“You can’t stay here,” the vampire say like he’s king o’ the fuckin’ universe.

The dumbass elf nods like the vampire just said somethin’ way wise. He musta said whatever the wise part was real quiet-like, ‘cause all I heard was him suggestin’ we leave the one place where Anona ain’t been to find us.

“We need to get you out of shadow, anyway,” Dragan says as he look down at Li’l Miss Muffet. “You can’t stay here much longer. The darkness is eating at you, little by little.”

“Any o’ youze know what a tuffet is?” I ask but no one even look at me.

Dicks.

“I’m thinkin’ it be some kinda dessert,” I answers myself. “Like one o’ them custard-filled things.”

“He’s right,” Baron say.

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