Page 118 of The Demon's Pet

“An accident,” the creature finally hissed. “I was forced to open a void to the hell realm, in a small home where no one would see my portal. The fire blew back and obliterated the family living there. Not my fault.”

“Hellfire killed them?” Sam asked.

The creature did something like a nod.

“Who made you do this?”

The creature vibrated, almost becoming human again, then stopped. “I can’t tell you, celestial.”

Sam rolled his eyes, looking to the heavens for patience. He put a hand on his katana. “You aren’t leaving me any options.”

The creature stayed silent.

“Cleo, you stay here. See if you can get anything out of him. Griffin, you watch out for Cleo. I’m going to try to get to the bottom of this. Someone is going to tell me the truth, even if it’s on the end of a sword.”

He strode away, and Griffin and I watched him until he disappeared out of sight.

“Is Sam always like this?” Griffin asked. “Did he hesitate to kill you?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “This is the third execution I’ve come to with him. Other than mine, which didn’t happen. I mean, he doesn’t mind killing, though. I’m just not sure why he’s hesitating.”

“Why did that thing call you the Morningstar?” Griffin asked, looking nervous.

“What? I think it was just confused.”

“You’re right. It’s just confused. And why not? It’s stuck in this cage, its powers confined.”

I eyed it with distaste. “It still led to the death of fae. Including children.”

“Right,” Griffin said.

I moved closer to the cage, then a little closer.

The shape immediately moved toward me.

“Let me out, queen. Let me out to serve you.”

“He’s trying to trick you, I bet,” Griffin says. “He probably says that to everyone to make them let him out.”

But I wasn’t sure.

Though his eyes had been dark and empty, I hadn’t sensed any insincerity in his words, and I was a pretty good reader of people.

This wasn’t a person, however.

“I can tell the Morningstar my story, no one else,” the creature rasped.

Griffin looked at me, and I nodded, so he stepped back with his hands up. The swarm watched him warily as he continued until he reached a stone bench about twenty feet away and sat down on it.

“Why do you want to talk to me?” I asked. “I’m just… I don’t have anything to do with that thing you mentioned.”

“The prophecy,” it rasped. “You are wrong. Queen, release me. I wish only to serve you.”

“They say you’re demonic,” I muttered.

“I am,” it said. “Proudly so. I am aligned with the abyssal realms and everything in them, as any true void walker would be.”

“Why won’t you tell Sam what’s going on?”

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