I’m in a dream. That’s all this is… no… a nightmare. Yes. A nightmare.
CHAPTER SEVEN
ELLISON
When I open my eyes, I find Asmodeus sitting upside down in a chair. The position is quite… odd. So odd, I assume I’m still sleeping, but nope. His back is where his ass is supposed to go and his legs are up on the wall as his head hangs off. Seeing me awake, he perks up.
“Ah. Ellison. I see you are a survivor.”
“What’s that mean? You knew I lived,” I say, glad I’ve been moved to a different room. This one is a little bigger and has a window so I don’t feel like I’m trapped in a small box.
“I assumed Landon would pull the plug on you first chance he got.”
“I’m not a computer that can just be unplugged. Why are you sitting like that? Sit proper.”
“So I can better assess your breathing.”
I give up. I’ve tried not to, but giving up is what’s happening because nothing in my life has made sense since I met this group.
A chill rushes through me, and when I look down, I discover it’s because Zacia has been completely swaddled in my blanket. All that is poking out are two ears while her happy purrs fill the area around me.
“Are you cold? I asked the nurse for a blanket for you like an hour ago but she never returned. When she does, I will inflict a curse upon her for not being prompt. I also don’t want anyone else to see your tattoos but me. I examined them at length while you slept,” Asmodeus says before he does a back flip out of the chair and pulls his shirt off, which he lays over me. He starts removing his pants, which is when I figure out that he’s planning on keeping me warm by giving me all of his clothes.
“Stop! You’re not just… getting naked! Put your clothes back on!” I demand, but since I can’t get out of the bed, I have no control over him as he removes his pants and lays them over me before the door opens and a group floods in.
I freeze when I see them. I’m wearing Asmodeus’s clothes like one of those paper dolls that you swap clothes on while the room suddenly fills with people.
“What is this?” I ask in dismay as I realize that the familiar faces are all part of Landon’s knockoff supervillain group that his parents run.
“Oh wowie, I think we came at a bad time,” Landon says from the front. “August. Shield your eyes, you shouldn’t see such R-rated things.”
“Should I shield my eyes too?” Brandon, Landon’s brother, asks while he shields Baker’s eyes by nearly gouging his eye out with a stray thumb.
“My boy, I would like to die with both eyes firmly still in place,” the older man says as he bats Brandon off.
I sputter. “It’s not… I was cold… because you took my blankets for your cat and then Asmodeus decided he should cover me to keep me warm and just no.”
Landon stares at me for a moment before getting a wicked look on his face. “Oh no… Ellison, should I call the doctor? Your face… it looks like all of the blood is rushing to it.”
“Why don’t you take your cat and go home? That would solve a lot of my problems because I would at least be warm!”
“Nonsense. The SAVCGEM is here to heal you with the power of magical words and mischievous—aka senseless—deeds,” Landon proclaims as he waves to them.
Brandon holds his hand out. “I didn’t know what we were here for, so I got you a balloon,” he says, giving me one that reads, “Congrats on the baby girl!”
“Aww, you’re having a girl?” Landon asks as he looks between me and Asmodeus. “Which one of you is carrying?” He cups Asmodeus’s stomach and rubs it before looking at me. Clearly, the expression on my face tells him that if that hand comes anywhere near me, he might not have it any longer.
“If Deus is carrying anything, you know it’d be a demonic baby,” Lex says.
“I would gladly carry your baby, Ellison,” Asmodeus declares.
“How did we get here?” August asks. “Just… how?”
“You probably took the elevator. It’s how I got here,” Asmodeus says.
Landon seems mildly interested in getting this thing back on track. “Anyway, the SAVCGEM heard about you getting hurt and wanted to come make you feel better,” he announces, and I don’t know if this washisidea, but we obviously need to have a talk about what would make me “feel” better.
“Wait, what? I… thought he was coming out as a villain,” Landon’s father, Mark, says.
