Page 55 of Deal with the Devil

“Tsk, tsk, little one,” An old crone stepped out from the shadows of the cabin. The familiar wooden hutch of a home full of fresh herbs, creaking floors, and feathers littered across the ground from the fresh chicken on the counter. Blood and viscera covered the countertop where the witch butchered the fowl thing herself. The same knife used to process her dinner was now level with Havlaina’s eyes. “We both know yousawa lot more than that!”

“No! No, please!”

“Oh, don’t you fret, little one…you’ll be cute as a button when I’m through with you.”

Havlaina’s screams filled Knox’s head as everything when dark. He woke with a gasp. Drenched in sweat, he slithered away from the lightly snoring Amelia. His feet slapped against the floor as he dragged himself to the bathroom. The door closed and lights off, in the pitch black of night, he leaned over the sink. Cool marble zapped his soul back firmly into his body. As he finally glanced up to the mirror, he came face to face with his maker.

“So, she was a liar…” he panted.

“And a thief.That little shit.” Persephone’s nose scrunched as she paced in front of a mirror deep into the Nightmare Realm.

“What did she take?” He rubbed his sweaty palms against the slick surface of the sink.

“A book, a spell book of mine I put in the Library of Madness. She took it and refused to tell me where she put it. I took her eyes so I might follow the rat back to her nest…but then I found something more valuable than her.” Persephone grinned, showing off her rotten teeth.

“She stole a spell book from you the same time that Declan kidnapped me?” Knox furrowed his brow. “Why didn’t you tell me before who she was? What she was?”

“Never show your hand until it’s time to reap the benefits, my boy.” She tapped playfully against the glass. “Besides, I still had access to her eyes. I saw the way he looked at her afterwards, he could hardly stand her anymore. Then, my little devil took his throne with blood and ink and suffering… It was all going so well, with or without that damn book.”

Knox tried to think. Tried to peel back the layers of her soul deep within him and find the book. Right where he could find it, before Persephone snatched her through a mirror and after she took it from the library. A massive red castle with spiraling staircases that led nowhere. Deep within its cracked, stone walls was a library. Shelves upon shelves of books from everywhere. Books that were burned in their homes, books that were drowned in the ocean, books that were soaked in so much ink their pages were illegible, all things ruined ended up in the Library of Madness. And there was little Havlaina.

She scurried through the shelves, a thief in the night. Many things tiptoe through its halls and she just had to be quieter than the loudest one. Up on a shelf, just an inch out of reach, was a journal. Bound in flesh with two massive fangs embedded in the front, and two crystal eyes in the back. When she opened it, the eyes bled…but when she closed it, the book tried to bite her. Havlaina dropped it, peeking around to see if anyone noticed.However, when she picked it up a second time…the memory went blank.

“Someone erased her memories,” Persephone whispered like a ghost with lips against his ear.

“Declan, he was a well-practiced wizard. A memory erasure would have been no problem. I saw him enchant a charm over the front of the casino once, to ensure people would forget anything illegal they’d seen.” Knox shook his head in disbelief. “This book, should I be looking for it?”

Persephone nodded, fading away from the mirror. “I think you’ll find the answers you’re looking for inside it.”

“Answers?” He let out a wheeze, stepping away from the sink. What answers were he looking for? Yet, he knew the moment the thought crossed his mind. Knox desperately want to know how Declan was still alive. How did he go from an elvish wizard mob boss…to an infected vampire? To this cursed existence…how did he survive being stabbed through the heart and beheaded?

Knox had many questions it seemed. And two major jobs then—Find Declan AND find the book.

Great.

Chapter Twenty-two:

Amelia

She woke as Knoxsank back into bed, and again when her phone chirped. Amelia groaned, sitting up from the bed in the hazy light. It filtered through the curtains and caught every breath of air, every speck of dust. As she unlocked her phone screen, she saw she’d missed a call by an unknown number, and they left a voicemail. She blinked groggily, putting it to her ear.

“Hello, Ms. Armstrong, I have a few more questions for you and your sister. This is Aravis Blightwood. Would you be amicable to coming into the Council Building today, around one pm for some questioning about Rick? It’s imperative that I get a call back at this number. Thank you.”

Amelia rubbed her eyes. Peeking over her shoulder, she found the bed empty. His dent was fully fluffed back up once more. There was a handwritten scroll with a purple ribbon holding it together. She rolled her sleepy eyes. Wiggling up in the bed, back to the headboard, she unrolled the paper.

Morning, pet,

You were drained, so I opted to let you sleep in. Zavros and Maevin heard from the Bonesaws, and Gael was spotted in thecity proper. As soon as I have word of when I’m headed home, I’ll call. Check my office, Denver knows which one, for a special task I have for you.

Ensure you’ve started it before I get home.

Amelia scowled, rolling the parchment back up and stuffing it in the bedside table. Hedid notwant a replay of the day before…which was fair. She’d all but screamed in terror at the sight of him. She couldn’t hate him too much for the decision. Instead, she opted for seeing what he was talking about and calling Aravis Blightwood back.

“But before that, breakfast.” She bound out of bed and scrambled downstairs. Passing Brayden in the foyer with one of the mechanics, metal parts spread across the hard wood. Denver didn’t look very pleased, but he’d rolled up the runner and was talking to a maid about how to clean up gear oil, so it seemed like a moot point. Amelia ruffled her nephew’s hair, crouching down.

“What are you up to now, mischief?”

“Am-crack! This is Eddie, he’s one of Knox’s mechanics. He said he could show me how to put an engine together.”

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