Page 105 of The Demon's Pet

I glared at him. “I was fine. We were just—”

He put his hands on his hips. “Don’t talk to it. Promise me.”

I shook my head. “I can talk to who I want. You never said I couldn’t when I agreed—”

“We can’t talk about it here,” he said sternly. “Go back to your room and just read, Cleo. Can you promise me that at least?”

I resisted the urge to glance over at Zadis. “I can’t.”

Sam sighed, folding his arms. “I’m just trying to keep you safe. You get that, don’t you?”

“Said every man who has ever tried to control me,” I hissed back.

“What’s going on over here?” Zadis asked, smiling as he looked down at me. “Surely, this angel isn’t upsetting you, Cleo?”

“No,” I said, flushing deeply at being caught between the two of them. I looked up at Sam, who had his hand on his black katana as he stared at Zadis with rigid posture.

Zadis merely flicked his eyes down to the sword and back to Sam, his stare mocking. “I’m not afraid of you.”

“Then you’re stupider than you look,” Sam retorted. “Which is saying something.”

“Guys, guys,” Os said, stepping between and pushing them back. “Stop this. We can all get along. We—”

“He doesn’t believe that thing over there killed an entire family,” Zadis said. “He should have completed the execution the day he came.”

“What I don’t get is why you have a void walker in a cage,” Sam said. “How did he come to be in your community in the first place? He claims he was kidnapped.”

Zadis went slightly paler. “He lies. He lies to save his life, after he killed others. Perhaps, since you can relate to him, you’re willing to give him leniency and go against your longtime allies, but—”

“You listen here—” Sam lunged past Os to grab Zadis by the front of his black tunic. “You could be the one I execute—”

Zadis pushed back as Os grabbed Sam and pulled him off the fae. “Be careful, celestial. There are things that can kill you.”

“I know,” Sam said, glaring as he put his hands on the hilts of his swords. “I’ve already met two of them.”

Zadis paled slightly, looking down at the swords. “I knew about the one, but…” His eyes met Sam’s. “You’re a monster.”

“I do what I have to,” Sam said. “Now, I’ll kill that thing for you, if it needs killing. But first, do you need killing? How do you have a void walker here?”

Zadis frowned. “You were going to talk to the villagers—”

“After hearing you and your brother out, I’m pretty sure it’s just between us now. The rest of the village doesn’t even know what happened that night.”

Zadis whirled away from him, his black hair flying in an elegant arc as he strode away, back to his brother. He wasn’t wearing human clothes today and looked more fae-like with his large, almond-shaped green eyes.

He still sent me a wink over his shoulder as he went.

Zadis appeared to be complaining to his brother about Sam, and Zarris appeared to ask him where else they could find something that could slay void creatures.

“A lot of this world seems to be about killing,” I muttered to Os and Griffin as Sam went back over to continue the conversation, following Zadis.

“About what you can kill, yes,” Os said. “Listen, Cleo. I’ve been wanting to talk to you because I feel Sam isn’t doing a good enough job preparing you for how different the world is on the other side of the veil.”

“To put it lightly,” I muttered.

“Come on,” Os said. “Let’s you and me go for a walk. Griffin, can you keep an eye on things? Make sure Sam and Zadis don’t kill each other or start war in the mid-realm?”

Griffin nodded, though he looked reluctant to leave our sides.

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