Page 9 of Fallen Angels

I bare my teeth at the vile creature, which only amuses him further. “My claim on her wasn’t temporary.”

“Hmm, funny way you have of showing you care then.”

“You know why I can’t give in to my urges, you prick,” I glare at him with clenched teeth.

“No, actually I don’t,” the asshole says.

“What’s the point of this conversation?” Cambion interrupts. “Need I remind you both that Eilish is probably being subjected to death at this very moment? The least you can do is show some compassion.”

His words weigh heavy on me and I can’t bear them. It’s easier to argue with Revenant because then I don’t have to envision what could be happening to Eilish. And whatever her fate is, it’s a truth I can’t swallow.

“Eilish is Succubus,” I force the words out. “That’s reason enough for me to keep my distance from her.”

“Why?” Revenant continues. “Because you had a bad run with your first Succubus, and it scarred you forever after?” His tone is syrupy, overloaded with sarcasm.

If he were in this cell with me, I’d kill the fucker.

“You don’t understand what it’s like to live your life, day in and day out, subjected to the whims of someone else.” I take a breath, even as I wonder why the fuck I’m bothering to explain this to him. He doesn’t care and I don’t care if he cares. “You don’t understand what it feels like to be robbed of your life force and your sanity, to be forced to fuck not just one demon you detest, but three of them.”

“No, I don’t,” Revenant responds, his tone of voice icy. “I just know what it feels like to be forced from the grave with no idea why or how.”

“Will the two of you fucking stop feeling sorry for yourselves, for Chrissakes?” Cambion interrupts. “You both had it bad, okay? But now we need to focus on how the fuck we’re going to get out of here.”

I laugh at the absurdity of Cambion’s comment. “You think we’re getting out of here? Where the fuck is your brain?”

Flumph sits up and looks directly at me. “What you gonna do ‘bout the angel?” His voice sounds pained and jagged. That magical blast he suffered clearly did a number on him.

“There’s nothing to be done,” I say with a sigh as I retreat to the back of the cell. I need to get away from the lot of them, but there’s nowhere to go. Maybe that’s Variant’s plan—to force each of us into our own hell—a hell entirely devised around being unable to escape each other’s company.

“For the love o’,” the sprite continues. “Never mind… one o’ yous gonna have to do somethin’. We can’t just sit here with our thumbs shoved up our butts, waitin’ for King Dickhead to kill us.”

Revenant speaks up. “There’s nothing to be done.”

“Soze you just givin’ up?” Flumph insists. “Just like that?”

“We are sitting ducks,” Revenant continues.

“The magic at work in this place is much stronger than I would have anticipated,” Cambion agrees. “Yet, every enchantment has a failsafe,” he continues. His voice grates on my nerves.

“What you talkin’ about?” Flumph insists.

“In case the caster is killed, his or her handiwork must be able to be undone by someone within his tribe,” Cambion continues. “It’s a rule in magic that all accomplished sorcerers live by.”

“Then we gotta find us that failsafe!”

“Dragan...” Cambion says, clearly expecting my help.

I think it’s a waste of time but I don’t utter a word. It’s not as though there’s anything else to do, other than wonder what the fuck Variant is doing to Eilish and if she’s experiencing pain in the process. It’s a thought that absolutely wrecks me so I extend the feelers of my shadow magic, allowing them to leach out of me and surge forward. Each tendril of shadow snakes around the prison cell, inspecting every crevice for any sign of the antidote to the magic at work here.

I feel nothing. I open my eyes and see Revenant contenting himself by leaning against the wall, clearly doing nothing. It’s as if he doesn’t care if we get out of here or not. “Don’t you feel the need to escape?” I demand, irritated with his existence.

“I don’t feel anything,” he responds.

“Well, do the rest of us a favor and look for the failsafe.”

“What’s the fucking point?”

“Getting out is the fucking point.”

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