Page 88 of Kiss of a Hellish Prince

Why hadn’t this been torn down? Phoenix and its suburbs were expanding in every direction, and right off the 17 would be prime real estate. Instead of a new office building or another suburb of McMansions, there was a building covered in tacky graffiti, trash all over the place, the windows mostly broken, and sand and weeds spilling out from the window frames. Nature was taking the building back.

This place gave me the creeps.

I grabbed my phone and sent the location pin in a chat with Sarah and Rune.

I was guessing Sarah had already filled them in since Rune replied immediately.

Rune

On our way. Do NOT move. That is an order.

You are not my king; I am not your subject.

Rune

You are half demon; I am your prince. STAY PUT AND WAIT!

Eh, it wasn’t like he could get more pissed off. Right?

It’d take them probably an hour to get here. Sif likely saw me pull up. I didn’t have an hour.

I got out of the car and walked around the building, avoiding rocks and bushes that might’ve hidden rattlesnakes, scorpions, or meth heads.

The desert could be dangerous.

When I made my way inside the building, it was dark and reeked of urine and other things I did not want to think about. There must have been several squatters here at some point.

Most of the plastic chairs had been torn from the metal rails and were strung out in pieces across the tiered floor. There was no one here. Just a door in the back.

That way, I guessed.

Tiptoeing around the debris covering the floor, I tried to make my way there.

I got about halfway when Sif walked out of the door sneering. “You know, I knew you were fucking stupid. But I didn’t think you would be dumb enough to actually show.”

22

Villains Monologue So They Can Explain Why YOU Are the Monster

Itook a step away from Sif. The large doors closed behind her, with a loud click of the lock sliding in place.

I eyed the dagger tucked into her belt by her hip. It was long enough; the sheath went about midway down her thigh.

Why the fuck didn’t I bring a weapon? I was supposed to be a literal weapon master. I had an advantage if armed.

FUCK!

Why the fuck didn’t I grab some type of blade? Even a pocket knife at this point would be useful! But no, I was a newly discovered halfling that had known about all this shit for thirty seconds, so it didn’t even occur to me to bring a weapon with me.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm my racing heartbeat and ignore the cold sweat breaking out over my back.

Nothing I could do about it. I was here, Sif was here, and a sinking feeling in my stomach told me only one of us was going to leave.

Sif had years of training on me. She had also kicked my ass a few days ago in a matter of seconds.

I had to keep reminding myself—I didn’t have to beat her; I just had to stall her.

All I had to do was not die until someone got here. It would take at least thirty minutes for Rune to get here, assuming he disregarded all speed limits, stop signs and red lights. Who knows where the angels were on their drive to Phoenix. If they were taking the 17, then they would drive right past us.

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