Page 9 of Midnight Kingdom

“What the fuck is going on?” I hiss, irritated that the three of them are keeping secrets from me. Eilish should know better...

She mumbles incoherently as though she’s searching for a lie.

“I thought he knew,” I hear Dragan curse. I glare at him and he raises his hands in mock surrender, but still offers nothing. Cambion looks right at Eilish and she nods her head, giving him permission to speak on her behalf, I assume.

“Variant usedcompulsionon Eilish when he first called for her when all of us were imprisoned.”

“Compulsion?” I repeat, shaking my head to say I don’t follow. “Compulsion for what purpose?”

Cambion clears his throat. “He forced her to... pleasure herself while he rutted against Anona and then killed her.”

I’m quiet with my own rage as I allow it to simmer within me. Why didn’t Eilish tell me this before? Why is it fucking Cambion who tells me now? I turn to face her. “We aren’t supposed to keep secrets from each other,” I say icily.

“It wasn’t that I was trying to keep it from you,” she starts.

“Yet Dragan and Cambion already knew?”

“Cambion saw what happened in a vision,” she argues as she shakes her head. “And Dragan came to me to ask what happened so I told him.” She swallows hard and then clears her throat. “What happened in Variant’s bed chamber isn’t something I enjoy revisiting,” she explains.

“We must all be above board with one another,” I say angrily. I expected more of Eilish than this. I thought we were close enough that I would be the first person she came to with such information. The fact that it was these other two bastards eats at me.

“We need to focus on finding the Midnight Queen,” Eilish says in a soft voice. “We can’t let anything else get in the way of that.”

“FUCK THE MIDNIGHT QUEEN!” I yell at her.

“Hey!” Cambion responds.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Dragan adds as he takes a step forward.

I’m fuming. I can’t help it. “Either the three of us have open communication or I’m done with this fucking suicide mission,” I seethe.

“I’m sorry, Revenant,” Eilish says in a mouse voice. “I should have told you.”

Dragan takes another step closer and pins me with a stare that says this conversation will end in blood if I don’t settle down. Part of me is curious to see which of us would win.

“Do you want to alert the soldiers to our presence?” he demands.

“We need to wait for Pyre and go from there,” Cambion says. “Everyone just simmer down and wait for sunset.”

***

FLUMPH

After sunset finally hits, Shadow King demand we leave an’ head to the castle before it get too late an’ I agree.

We back to movin’ through the alleys like rats, gettin’ closer to the far end o’ the castle. Pretty hangin’ her head real low an Vampy still gots on the soldier armor he stole from the downed soldier. The two o’ thems are real angry with each others and it look like they ain’t talkin’ to each others no more. As if Vamps weren’t scary enough, now I gotta look over my shoulder an’ keep wonderin’ if he one o’ Variant’s men.

When we gets ta the far end o’ the castle, I see me a whole lotta Variant’s men walkin’ ‘round like they’s patrollin’ the place an’ doin’ them a fine good job o’ it. Pretty give me a look that say she real scared an’ I’m glad I ain’t the only one with the heebie jeebies.

We hidin’ in the shadows near the rear entrance to the castle when this loud asswooshpush all the air down to the ground. It go real silent like an’ I can barely breathes ‘cause the air suddenly gets real thick an’ heavy. Red light flashes through the sky, right above them soldiers, damn near burnin’ my eyes out. Then everythin’ go even quieter an’ the guards not movin’ no more. They’s looks like they be passed the fuck out.

“That ain’t right,” I say as I inhale real deep an’ try ta get some o’ the air back in me lungs.

The gargoyle glare at me. “Pyre’s spell should be triggered by those red flashes,” he say to the others. Then he look at me again. “Flumph, fly over to the soldiers and report back.”

It ain’t like I wants ta fly over to them soldiers an’ report back, but I don’t argues. I jist do as I’m told an’ fly my sorry ass over to one o’ them soldiers an’ looks him in the eye. He jist stare past me like he be dead. I wave a hand front o’ his face, but nothin’. No reaction.

“They can’t see me! It fuckin’ work!” I call back an’ Gargoyle swat at the air in front o’ him like he tellin’ me ta keeps me voice down.

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