Page 26 of Demon Sworn
“Thank you,” Van says sincerely, dipping his head in gratitude.
As Biel leaves, our queen smiles sharply, folding her hands on her lap regally and spearing us with her expression.
“I wonder who we should interview next. One of the demons that Van fucked and left?” she questions, ignoring his groan of dismay. I’ll bet he’s damn glad that Katrina isn’t here to witness this. It’s not even a walk of shame—it’s an entire room full. “Or maybe the man Kastros gouged the eyes out of? Or the demon Akor carved his name into and then decorated with penises? Or the—”
“We get it,” Raz interrupts, his words a guttural growl, barely distinguishable. “We have a fuck ton of enemies.”
One of the hellhounds bares his teeth at Raz’s curt tone, but Lucillania only laughs.
“Oh, this is going to be fun.”
I’m beginning to think her definition of fun and my definition are completely different things.
But if this gets me closer to finding our attackers and Adam’s kidnappers, then so be it. I’ll face a million of my enemies if it means keeping my family whole and safe.
“Bring on the next fucker,” I say simply, flicking a speck of dust off my shoulder.
And then I prepare myself to settle in for a very long, very tiring day.
11
Katrina
A call interruptsmy excuse for eating my feelings. Joy had set me up in her epic, green and red kitchen at a barstool with a plate piled high with confections. Her frosted sugar cookies are my absolute favorite, and I’ve been steadily culling my herd of reindeer-shaped cookies, unable to do the smart thing and save the best for last.
While Akor shrugged off the treats in order to look at the workshop, Kastros reclines in a chair in the corner of the kitchen with a red plate in his own lap, half his cookies gone in under five minutes. Meanwhile, I’m leaning on the counter, drinking my milk when the phone buzzes.
Goodbye, milk mustache. Hello, milk goatee. Fuck.
Phones work between realms? Huh. Apparently so.
I fumble to grab a towel and clean off my fingers as quickly as I can. Maybe it’s the guys. Maybe they found something during their questioning. That was quick.
But my fingers halt before swiping because I don’t see any of my demons’ names on my phone. I see William Washington’s.
A vague memory of him pops up in my head, like a picture from an elementary school yearbook or something. He seems removed, distant, part of my old life. The before. The innocent era of Katrina. Why the hell is he calling me?
I swipe. “Hello?” I ask, the question clear in my voice.
“Katrina! Oh, thank goodness! I’ve missed you!”
“What? Missed me?”
“You haven’t been at school in like a week!” William exclaims. “At first, I thought maybe you were sick, but your house! It’s gone!! I just went by there…”
I’m so lost. I can’t even process the fact that he went by my house. I’m still stuck on the fact that he called in the first place. Slowly, my mind catches up with his words, and I sputter, “What do you mean I haven’t been in school for a week?”
Joy puts a flour-coated hand over my phone and gently lowers it, covering the speaker with her palm. Her pretty eyes gaze at me. “Is that a human?”
I nod.
“Time’s different between the realms,” she says softly.
Oh. Oh shit. That means Adam’s been gone for a week?
Every news program I’ve ever heard about missing persons searches screams inside my head at once. The likelihood of survival after the first forty-eight hours goes down with each day.
Are we too late?
