He chuckles as he comes forward, but his shadows beat him. They come off his skin and slither over my wing, helping to unwedge it from being half around, half behind me. Echo grips my arms while his shadows wrap around the other wing, and then he manages to pluck me out like I’m a difficult wine cork, placing me on my feet with my pants around my ankles.
I would be embarrassed, butI didn’t pee myself, which means I’m counting this as a win.
“Okay, I need a little privacy, otherwise I’m gonna squirt in a way you guysdon’twant,” I say, reminding Crux of the delicious things he and Echo taught my body how to do.
Crux and Echo smirk, while Jerif cocks his head. “Wait. She can squirt in a way wedowant?”
Crux grabs the lava demon by the shoulder and spins him around, pushing him on the back so the three of them can walk out. “Yep. Echo and I will tell you all about it,” Crux says with amusement before shooting me a wink and closing the bathroom door behind them.
I sigh and sit down on the porcelain throne again, quickly finishing my business. I’m able to empty my bladder and wipe this time before any more demons interrupt. I quickly wash my hands but take a minute to look in the mirror and digest Taz’s announcement.
My mother.
He knows a way to find out who my biological mother is.
I’m filled with trepidation, but also with burning curiosity. The other Abdicated made it seem like I’m this strange purple creature with mysterious unexplainable origins. And the scythe...no one seems to know what the scythe is all about other than to toss out the Grim Gatekeeper theory.
But maybe now I’ll finally find out exactly what I am and where I come from. I just hope this truth isn’t going to be a bomb that blows up my new life more than the demon bomb did. I’ve only been living the Hellgate Guardian life for less than a day, but I’m already loving it.
I make my way back to the dining room where the guys are congregated once more. Tazreel not only has a full glass of demon spirits that Strut poured for him, but the Pride Abdicated is also eatingmyChinese chicken salad.
My stomach growls angrily at the sight, but Iceman cocks his head to the side, showing me a new place he set aside for me. With a grateful smile, I walk over and take a seat beside him and Echo before quickly shoveling food into my mouth. I know that when Taz tells us what he came here to say, I might not get another chance to eat or might not even want to.
“So…” I say nervously, trying to broach the subject and make it past that humiliating moment in the bathroom. “Are you going to tell me about how you can find my mother?”
He sniffs loftily as he picks at my food with his fork, shoving some of it aside on the plate like it’s not good enough to grace his Abdicated mouth. “I’ll tell you when I’m good and ready,” he says. “You were very rude upstairs. I’m not sure if you deserve to know.”
I’m unable to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Now he’s going to sulk and withhold his discovery because things didn’t go his way. He probably wants me to beg for information now. Fucking Pride.
The guys eat calmly, drinking some demon spirits themselves as we wait out the Abdicated asshole. “Don’t you have any regular old human wine?” I plead to Iceman. Because I could really use some Moscato to help all thissulking sperm donorcrap just slide right off my back. My nerves are suddenly feeling fucking shot, I wouldn’t even scoff at a red or a cringe-worthy chardonnay at this point.
“Apologies, we don’t stock human liquors here,” Iceman tells me.
“Try the demon spirits again,” Crux offers, leaning his tanned, muscled arm forward to push an empty glass in my direction.
I grimace. “No way. I’ve tried that stuff twice, and it was awful both times.”
“Yeah, but we think your demon side was still a little blocked before you went to Nihil. Try it. We have a bet going about whether you’ll like it now,” he urges with a wink.
I bite my lip, hesitating for a second, eyeing Grumpy Lurch as he comes around and fills my glassallthe way to the brim, like he’s very excited at the thought of me having to choke down this glass full of ashy ammonia shit.
“Thanks,” I say dryly as he finishes topping me off.
“I aim to serve, mistress Delta.”
Oh, it’s mistress Delta now instead ofthe help, huh? I give him a knowing smirk, because this bastard is good in front of the others, I’ll give him that.
“Thanks, GL,” I tell him with a wink.
I slide the cup toward me, noticing that it’s so damn full I won’t even be able to pick it up, not without spilling it. Which, of course, was Grumpy’s MO. He wants to make this as difficult on me as he can so he has another reason to be pissed at my messiness. But he has a huge error in his way of thinking. He thinks because anAbdicatedis here, I won’t slurp this stuff like a toddler learning to eat chicken noodle soup for the first time, and he’s wrong. So wrong.
As soon as the cup is at the edge of the table, I lean down, press my lips against the edge, andsluuuuuuuuurp!
Taz and GL look like they’re going to have a heart attack.
Echo smirks, Crux snorts, and Jerif looks at me with his arms crossed in front of his chest like he loves how antagonistic I’m being. Iceman winces a little, but I shoot him a wink, silently reminding him that Taz won’t do shit to me.
Distracted, I’m all ready with my fork, poised to shovel chicken salad in my mouth to get the taste of the drink out as fast as possible, but then the taste actually hits me.
