“Loose-ass bitch,,” the demon scowls at her.
“Cuntfaced, microdicked manwhore,” she shoots back before shoving him out of the way.
All this flirting is making me sick,Maven huffs through the bond.
Bael frowns.Um…are we hearing the same things, Boo? They fucking hate each other’s guts.
Demons flirt through insults. It’s a turn-on for them.
Baelfire does a double-take at the demons, obviously seeing their past interactions in a new light. I didn’t know that about demons, either, but that does explain why Melchom is not so subtly adjusting himself as he checks out his girlfriend’s ass.
The demoness focuses on Maven again, grinning with sharp teeth. “So! What d’you think of the haul? Took a couple of days to hunt down all these little fuckheads, but sure as sin, there should be a dozen or so here for you.”
Maven glances at the pile of dead changelings. “I said to bring them alive.”
“Did you? Damn! That communication spell you sent to us was fucking hard to hear through clearly,” Eisha sighs. “Oh, well. I’ll send these idiots to go round up some more.”
“Don’t,” my keeper decides, glancing at me briefly to say we’re moving on to her more extreme yet reliable version of the plan. “We’ll make it work.”
Eisha notices Maven’s glance at me, and her black eyes widen before she bursts into laughter. “Fucking hell, I forgot how ballsy you are! I got the feeling you’d pop back into the mortal world,telum.It’s not like that mother of yours would’ve really taken you to the Beyond, even if she is the crypt keeper.”
Actually, I’mthe Crypt keeper,Maven corrects smoothly through the bond, glancing back at the Nightmare Prince.
Crypt grins.That you are, love. Well played.
Baelfire laughs at her wordplay, drawing confused looks from some of the demons as Everett shakes his head, also smiling.
Maven looks back at Eisha. “Now for the information.”
The demoness grimaces, stepping away from the other demons to lower her voice so this is a more private conversation. “Right, that. I managed to get Mel’s twin cousins to squeal, but even they don’t know much shit about that vamp.”
“A vampire?” I frown, looking at Maven. “What vampire?”
Bertram,Everett realizes through the bond. He’s the one who killed Engela.My parents were using him to communicate with the Entity before he disappeared.
Baelfire growls. “Then Bertram’s the jackass we’re going to burn to a fucking crisp.”
“Cool your jets, dragon boy,” Eisha chuckles, reaching up to scratch near one of her horns. “That vamp’s a real sticky one. From what I’ve gathered, he’s popped in and out of the mortal realm for centuries, doing the Entity’s bidding or just stirring up shit. He’s crazy good with hypnotism—almost undetectable. Rumor is, he even got inside Zuma’s head a long time ago.”
Maven considers that. “If he could hypnotize a member of the Immortal Quintet, he would have had no trouble hypnotizing someone in the Sanctuary to let himself and Engela out of it.”
The idea of a vampire’s abilities being strong enough to overcome the significant protective charms that most of my old mentor’s acolytes wear is concerning.
“Where exactly is this vampire now?” Crypt demands, vengeance written all over his features as his remaining markings light up.
Eisha shrugs. “Couldn’t track him. My guess is somewhere back in that fucking citadel, but who knows? Anyway, your demigoddess said the changelings were the bigger priority.” She kicks one of the corpses aside. “Hope these fuckheads help, but we’re gonna bounce before any Reformists attack us. And you know, Mav?—”
“Don’t say my name,” my keeper warns, her expression enough to make several demons move further away.
I adore how frightening she is when she chooses to be.
It’s also wise of her to keep any of these infernal beings from saying her name in her presence. From my studies of banned demonology spellbooks within the Garnet Wizard’s library long ago, I found that demonology relies heavily on namesaying. Quite a few of their spells begin with a name and end with soul scrying, claiming an eternal debt, striking an infernal deal, or worse.
Even if these demons support Maven, it’s best not to trust them.
Eisha snorts. “Right, well—Syntyche’s daughter,then. Maybe if you survive whatever shitshow comes next, you ought to consider putting an end to all the demon hunting that goes on in the mortal realm. We may not mix well with humans, and maybe we have different hobbies?—”
“Morals don’t exist to demons. You also enjoy cheating, stealing, and watching the innocent suffer,” Maven clarifies.
