Page 31 of Death God

“Your eyes are glowing, Lady Pip,” a guard said in alarm.

“You’ll get used to it,” I said. “The glow will fade in a minute.”

“What’s inside?” Spaghetti eyed me warily. “What happened in there?”

“If I tell ya, I’ll have to kill ya,” I deadpanned.

“Very funny,” Spaghetti said drily. “Do you know you also have a reputation for telling bad jokes? Even Prince Shade, who’s mostly fond of you, couldn’t stand your jokes.”

Shadows passed overhead. The sound of hundreds of ravens flapping their wings echoed in the hallway. The guards who were quicker crouched and ducked, their hands shielding their heads instinctively.

Then suddenly, all was quiet, the only sound the guards’ heavy breathing.

“A bad joke,” I said and reined in the spirits.

The guards straightened but traded nervous glances.

Spaghetti darted his wild glance at the door to the library, which had vanished into the wall, then at the hallway, which had no trace of any screaming birds, then at me.

“What have you done, Lady Pip?” Spaghetti asked grimly.

I chuckled. “Something bad, Spaghetti. Something very bad.”

“Don’t call me that,” he said, but he restrained himself from saying “bad jokes” this time. “If the king learns about this—”

“I’m glad you brought it up, Guard Spaghetti,” I said, then I scanned the rest of the guards. “You’ll keep your big fucking mouths shut about what happened here if you want to live. The Alpha King won’t kill me, but every one of you is disposable. If he knows that you came to this place, even just following me, he’ll put you all to death. But if you’re dumb enough to leak it, then be my guest and head to your early grave.”

The guards traded another wary look, their faces hard, their eyes fearful, but then they nodded.

“We need to get the fuck out of here before anyone sees us!” Spaghetti hissed, giving me the evil eye, as if I were trouble.

“You guys are lucky there isn’t anyone else on this level,” I told them.

Just then, a voice boomed, “What the hell is going on here?”

Going-gray rounded the corner and strode toward us with angry, powerful strides.

The guards darted a glance at me before snapping to attention in the presence of their superior. I grinned at them, not a nice smile but full of warning.

They might be loyal to their commander, but they also knew what was at stake since they’d stupidly followed me, who had a penchant for getting folks into trouble, and stumbled onto something formidable to all of them.

“We tried to catch…Lady Pip, Commander,” Spaghetti said. “She’s playing a hide-and-seek game, sir. She’s immature.”

“Don’t we all know that?” Going-gray glared at him briefly before fixing his fiery eyes on me. If a look could burn a hole in my head, his would do. “This floor is off limits, even to me. You just had to stir shit so soon, Pip girl.”

“Yet here you are, Commander,” I said meekly. “There’s some attraction here.”

“There’s no attraction here but trouble!” he yelled at me, hating my meekness even more. He looked around restlessly. “Something isn’t right here.”

“The air is oppressive, isn’t it?” I flashed a white smile at him. “Like this floor is full of ghosts, angry ones.”

“Stop saying that. You’ve caused enough trouble,” Spaghetti hissed, as if he was afraid what I said would come true. He was lucky that he couldn’t see spirits, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t feel them. And it was interesting to see his facial hair stand on end.

“I’ll unleash all the dark angels and let them feed.” I chuckled.

“Now, get the hell out of here before anyone sees you,” he barked, his tone threatening.

“Yes, Commander!” Spaghetti answered. “We were never here.”

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