Page 46 of Deal with the Devil

“Wait? Oh shit!” The woman laughed hysterically. “Dragon’s fucking balls, you came to him?”

“Well, okay, that’s…” Amelia made a whiney non-committal noise.

“Knox!” the woman barked.

“You can reprimand me later, Hellen.” Knox waved off her concern with a flick of his wrist. “We need to see Gael. Amelia wanted to know what was going on.”

“Dressed like that?” Hellen cocked a brow. Amelia blushed, looking down at herself then back up to the healer. Hellen rolled her eyes, “You have to bribe it out of him or something?”

“No, I just…wanted to look nice.”

“Oh, well, I can see I’m just fucking up this introduction real nice. Hi, my names Hellen, I’m the head healer for this motherfucker, and I’m apparently a judgmental bitch.”

Amelia snorted, leaning into Knox. “Hi, I’m Amelia.”

“Oh, yeah, I know who you are,” Hellen teased with a playful wink and motioned grandly for the pair of them to follow her. Amelia wanted to ask Knox a million more questions since having met Hellen. But he said ‘we need to see Gael’. And that seemed more ominous than it should have been. Who was Gael and why did she need to see them? Was Gael connected to the vampire at the heart of all this?

The three ended up at a door that had metal bars brandished across it and two armed guards outside of it.Welp, this is what you get. Getting what you ask for.Amelia suddenly regretted being a nosey motherfucker.

With a hefty crank and grunts of effort from the muscley guards, the door creaked open. Into a well-lit, but closed off room, the three stepped inside. A square room, it was warm because of the fake fireplace against the wall, a cozy four poster bed, a kitchen nook, all the makings of a single apartment. However, distinctly no sunlight. There were no windows and no natural light. Just the dancing flames in the fireplace and a few dangling lights along the wall.

A skinny, teenage elf sat on a couch, curled up with a blanket and a book, drinking from a massive plastic cup the size of her face. The straw was stained crimson and suddenly, Amelia knewit was blood. The stench of iron permeated everything. Gael—the teen, she assumed—peeked up from her book and chirped, “Mr. Zrazduel, Hellen, hi!”

She dabbed her lips with a napkin before snapping the book closed. Knox slipped his arm from Amelia to accept a high five from the girl. The elf stopped and let him inspect her hands and fangs, clearly used to the treatment by now. That’s when Gael’s ruby gaze dropped onto Amelia and she gasped.

“Oh. My. Dragons. Are you Amelia? You’re so hot, you’ve gotta be!” Gael gabbed between having her gums checked and face inspected by Knox’s intense stare. Finally, he nodded to Hellen and stepped away from Gael.

“Gael, this is Amelia.”

Knox was unable to stop the girl from flying across the room. Not even Hellen could intercede. Amelia was defenseless as the green bean teen flew through the air and engulfed her in a flurry of limbs. She squeaked as Gael squeezed her tight, hoisted her off the ground, and shook her ragdoll style left and right.

“Nice to meet you, Gael,” Amelia wheezed.

Gael dropped her. “I’m such a huge fan of your books. Knox let me read them, they’re so good. I can’t wait for your new one!”

“Oh, that’s not appropriate for you,” both Amelia and Knox confessed in a single breath.

“Pah-leeeaassse!” the teenager rolled her eyes and waved off the comment. “I’ve read dirtier books on the internet for free. I’m interested in the murder mystery aspect. But also, it would be kinda funny to know how kinky Mr. Zrazduel is—he looks like the kind to put you in a collar.”

“Whoa, what!” Hellen stumbled back a step as if she’d been slapped in the face.

“That’s not…” Amelia’s mouth flapped open and shut but words didn’t form on her tongue.

“Gael, would you please sit back down,” Knox shook his head, clearly ready to leave already.

Gael shrugged, flouncing toward the couch. Amelia’s gaze darted toward the girl then toward Knox. “So, the secret is the vampire is a teenage girl?”

“No…we found her trapped in Kyle the bookie’s basement. She’s been bitten by the vampire who means to ruin me.” Knox motioned at Gael softly, his voice low to keep from filling the room.

Amelia’s eyebrows knitted down on her face. “And Kyle’s not still walking, is he?”

“Kyle’s dead.” Hellen crossed her arms under her chest, watching the teenager with a sad, pitied expression.

“She’s maybe thirteen,” Amelia exhaled.

“And she’ll be thirteen forever,” Knox answered with a hardened scowl.

“So, why is she locked down here?” Amelia eyed the both of them.