Page 122 of Anathema Codex

He falls forward in a frantic attempt to get to his feet. It’s nice to know that at least one person here is taking me seriously enough to do what they’re fucking told the first time.

“Ah, ah, ah!” I say holding up a finger toward the kid when he tries to follow the Sun Fucker. “Stay. Daddy has a special surprise for you and if you leave, you’ll miss it.”

He gives me the evil eye which I find endearing. Maybe if I was in the same galaxy these morons have managed to smack themselves into, I might even feel proud. But as it stands, my feet are on the ground here on Earth and I’m not in the least bit interested in understanding the fucked-up way they think.

I glance down at Red and nudge her. She looks up at me with that faint adoration in her eyes and I grin. “Hang in there, kid. We’ll get you fixed up here in no time.”

“Seriously?”

I turn my attention back to Aftyn and raise an eyebrow. “Hm?”

“You’re actually worried about her? What aboutme? You never once gave me a chance. You never once gave Willa a chance! You just wrote us both off as soon as you could, and kept her around?”

By the time he’s done shouting his diatribe, I find myself becoming bored. I roll my eyes, reach over, drape an arm around Red’s shoulders, and shrug.

But I don’t say anything to what he’s been babbling about because I refuse to let someone else call me a liar.

I already had enough of that bullshit at home. No need to bring it into the wastelands since doing that will only make me lose my mojo.

“Anywaaaayyy… while we wait for him to hippie his way back and forth, I got a question for you, Trixie,” I begin as I start to sway side to side. I’m starting to get tired of her closed eyes bullshit and if she doesn’t open them soon, I’ll cut the lids off her goddamn skull. “Don’t make me say it again, girlie,” I growl at her.

She opens her eyes slowly and I turn my face away for a moment. For no other reason than I’ve finally gotten to the point in my life where I can’t stand looking at her and I’m so over her hierarchy bullshit that I’m liable to snap.

“Lakyn,” she says softly as her eyes come into focus.

I click my tongue against the back of my teeth and roll my eyes again. “Ichabod is fucked up over not seeing you again. I promised him that I would bring you back for a little feelings-fuck-circle. Then, when I got home, and you weren’t there, know what that made me look like? A liar. Know what he called me? A liar. Now, what’s the one thing I never am or have been?”

Aftyn snickers and I give him a withering stare. “Don’t you worry, mistake of the century, I’ll get to you shortly.”

He blanches, his shoulders slump a little, and I smirk. If he hasn’t guessed that I give zero fucks about his existence yet, then that’s his problem.

“Well, bitch?” I snap at Trixie.

She shakes her head as she lets go of Aftyn’s arm and clasps her hands together in front of her.Here we go with the demi-god delusions.

“I’m doing my best to recall my past life,” she begins slowly. Trixie reaches up and rearranges her pointy crown, then runs her hands through her hair before she chews her lower lip thoughtfully. “And try as I might, I don’t recall anyone by that name.”

I somehow manage not to let my mouth fall open. I don’t know why I thought she would have answered differently this time, but the fact that she’s so fucking out of it that she can’t remember the man whose life she stole, ruined, then sold off, absolutely boggles my goddamn mind.

“That isn’t even remotely close to what I wanted to know,” I say after I swallow the rage back down. I let go of Red and give her a gentle shove away from me. I’m barely holding onto the little bit of control I have left, and having my number one fan feeling me up, thinking I don’t realize the subtle bullshit she’s doing, is going to send me over the edge.

“Daughter!”

I turn to glance over my shoulder, the grin returns, and I’m starting to feel better already.

The Sun Fucker looks so damn scared and frantic that I know he’s finally stumbled on the little gift I’ve left for Trixie. But he’s emptyhanded, and that won’t do.

“Before you open your mouth,” I say to him in an even tone. “Where’s the shit for Red?”

He falls to his knees and starts to blubber again, and I shake my head.

“You know, Trixie, when you were on your quest to become Satan’s Superstar, you hung with a far better crop of wannabes. All these do is cry and drink druggie water. I guess having a cult isn’t as great as you thought it would be, eh? At least there would be non-stop fucking in mine.”

“What ails you, Sun Wolf?” she asks, ignoring me completely.

“They’re dead,” he manages to spit out between his heaving sobs. “I went… t-to the… Cactus… and…”

“Tsk, tsk.You ruined the surprise!” I chide him in a cheerful tone.

---