Page 89 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“Don’t you worry, tiny darling. I am at your service,” Mine says as he throws his arm over my shoulder. “Together, we will defeat the big bad that’s taken over the military base.” He furrows his brows as he pulls me closer. “We shall need a ship name.”

“A what?” I frown.

“A ship name. You wouldn’t know what it is. You’re not from here.” He winks.

“Explain.”

“It’s the combination of our names. To signal we’re a team. Since we are, are we not?” His voice drops an octave.

“I suppose we are.”

“Brilliant. How doesMinnieMinesound? It’s very melodious, isn’t it?”

I am confused.

“I suppose?”

“MinnieMine, MinnieMine, MinnieMine,” he continues, quite proud of himself. “I like it.”

From his pocket, he takes out a bandage. Grabbing my hand, he carefully cleans the blood before he wraps the bandage around my arm.

Surprise washes over me. That is…quite thoughtful of him. I forgot I would need a bandage for the wound until it heals.

But as he focuses on tying the bandage around my arm, he keeps whispering the sameshipname all over again.

MinnieMine, MinnieMine, MinnieMine.

I don’t know why he keeps repeating thisshipname, or what the purpose of it is. Then again, I have already ascertained that this Mine is an odd duck himself. More often than not, I do not understand him or what he wants to say.

Regardless, right now he is overlooking the most important thing.

“I think you’re forgetting something, Mine. We don’t knowhowto defeat the big bad,” I add in a wry voice.

He sobers. “It shouldn’t be too hard, no? You kill demons.”

“As I told you before, sin demons are a different category. They cannot be exorcised in the same manner as regular demons. It is why I would have required my brother’s assistance considering I am quite powerless at the moment.”

“I can assist you,” he protests.

I take a deep breath. “You’rehuman, Mine. And you have no idea what to do.”

He opens his mouth to argue before he closes it. He nods at me.

“You are right. We should first figure outhowto get rid of this demon.”

I narrow my eyes at him.

“You are oddly exuberant about this. Why?”

“Why would I not be? I get to team up with the hottest demon slayer and kick some demon butt. There’s hardly anything more exciting than this.”

His words echo in my brain, and I’m a bit too slow at dissecting each individual word. He called me hot.

I glance down at my body. I’m still wearing his sweater. Is that a jibe at me being too cold now and requiring his sweater to be warm? I’m well aware I’ve lost my powers and now I’m susceptible to puny things like cold. He doesn’t have to mock me for it.

“You are very odd, Mine,” I comment. “I did not anticipate you would take this so well.”

“Why wouldn’t I? I’m always ready for a fight.” He winks at me.

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