Page 58 of Expose Me

“Anyway,” Philatanus turned to Zey and Doendru, “why haven’t you used your ...” He pointed to his head, indicating telepathy.

Doendru glanced down to where Zey was still holding the zap to her side and gave him a ‘duh’ look.

I summoned the gun I’d stashed under an accent chair in that storage room upstairs and pointed it at Philatanus. “Don’t even think about it.” I didn’t think a gun could kill a demon, but I was pretty sure it would hurt like a bitch all the same.

He raised his hands slowly. “No need for this to get messy. Just hand the necklace over and you can leave without anyone else knowing you were even here.”

“No,” Zey and I barked at the same time.

“Anyway.” Abraxos sounded exasperated. In the blink of an eye, he shot forward, grabbed Philatanus, and twisted so he held the other man’s back to his chest. A sharp blade the size of my forearm glinted in the fading light of the fire, held to Philatanus’s throat.

“The location of the Orb, Sky.Now,” he demanded, his patience clearly at an end.

Philatanus’s eyes widened, his mouth falling open in horror as he stared at me. “The Orb of Sinne? What have you done?” he breathed. The demon’s reaction had me worried all over again about letting it fall into Abraxos’s hands. I had no idea what that damn orb did, but I now had an idea of just how powerful it was.

I moved the gun from Philatanus to Abraxos and back again, uncertain whom to aim for. I may have pointed a weapon at Philatanus myself, but I was never going to kill the guy. Maim him a little, maybe bust a kneecap. I wasn’t willing to let people die if I could avoid it. I was positive Abraxos didn’t have the same qualms though. He would absolutely murder whomever stood in his way.

Abraxos pressed the blade harder, drawing blood as the other man winced.

“OK! Fuck,” I gritted out. “From Lapsus Manor, you need to go to the other side of the crater and keep going straight for a very long time. When you come to a copse of trees—”

“You lie!” He cut me off, digging the sharp blade a little harder into Philatanus’s throat. “Nothing grows in Dead Man’s Land.”

“She speaks the truth. I’ve seen it,” Philatanus rushed out. He looked disgusted to be confirming my words, but he also wanted to live.

“In the trees, there’s a door of crystal set into a frame of volcanic rock. The Orb of Sinne is through that door. That’s all I know.”

“If you’re lying to me, I will come back and get what I was promised, and it will not be pleasant for you, Sky,” Abraxos said calmly.

The look on Zey’s face was murderous.

“That’s all I saw. I promise,” I assured him.

“Very well then.” He slashed the blade across Philatanus’s throat, making the rest of us gasp in surprise. The large blade dug deeper with ease until it went straight through. Blood gushed everywhere, and then the head toppled off the body. Philatanus was dead in seconds, discarded on the worn carpet at Abraxos’s feet. He stepped over the body like it was an inconvenient piece of trash.

“Why?” Doendru asked, sounding shaken and confused.

“He knew too much.” Abraxos shrugged as he opened one of the French doors.

“Where the fuck are you going?” I demanded. We still had the little issue of a horde of Vuulectians to deal with.

“Our business is done. I agreed to help you attain your necklace. You never said anything about getting out of Sea and Serpentine headquarters. Good luck, Sky Serpell.” With one last scowl in Zey’s direction, he stepped into the night and flew off, the sound of his flapping wings fading fast.

“Son of a bitch,” Zey spat, his whole body radiating tension.

Doendru made a startled sound of fear, shaking where she stood and looking around at everything with wide eyes.

“Please don’t hurt me, Zey,” she cried.Too loud. I glanced at the door. “Please don’t kill me!”

Shit. They definitely would’ve heard that.

Zey was looking at her like he was horrified and hurt that she thought he’d kill her.

Time’s up.

I jammed a chair under the door handle and rushed over to them. A banging noise came from the door, the Vuulectians trying to get in.

Doendru yelled, now crying and clearly freaking out.

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