Foster Mother shrieking.
Rubbing at my wrists, I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed roughly through my nose.
Pop. Pop.
Silence.
They were dead.
Achilles clapped slowly.
Not the time.
“What did they say?” Patro asked.
“That they were alone exploring, and they got lucky,” Kharon answered calmly as he stalked through the water toward us. “They said their boat is parked on the other side of the island. I’ll find it and get rid of it.”
“I could have questioned them,” Patro said. “You know, without all the stabbing.”
Kharon grunted. “Where would be the fun in that?” He spoke casually like he was discussing the weather, not the two men he’d justmurderedin cold blood for taking a picture of me.
All three men laughed.
I took a step back, trying to separate myself from the three killers.
Kharon stepped closer. His white blouse was covered in gore, and locks of dark hair fell messily in his eyes.
He saw me looking and smiled with teeth, then he slowly licked the flat edge of his bloody dagger (that can’t be sanitary). Glacial blue eyes flashed with mania.
“Oh yes,” Nyx sighed dreamily on my neck. “He’d be a devoted lover.”
She needed an exorcism.
Kharon took a step toward me.
I took another step back.
“Scared, little girl?” He reholstered his weapons, powerful thighs flexing. “Or is our world too frightening for your delicate female sensibilities?” He laughed like he’d said something hilarious. “You don’t have to pretend with me. Iknowwhat you are.”
I shuddered with horror.What do you do when a monster wrongly thinks you’re also one?
Patro chuckled loudly, and Achilles’s eyes crinkled like he also found it funny.
I grabbed my wrist.
Neon-green lights flickering—the sputtering hum of electricity—an old metal roof—rope attached to a spike in the dirt.
A long moment passed.
The devil glanced down at where I cradled my hands protectively, and he clenched his sharp jaw.
Then he turned and stalked away, a slight limp in his gait.
Did he get injured?
BOOM.
Kharon disappeared in a billow of smoke, probably to go look for the dead men’s boat or go on a murderous rampage for fun. You could never tell these days.
