DROPDEAD,GORGEOUS
SUYIN GOT LOST IN THE WORDS SCRAWLED INMURMUR’Schaotic penmanship. It was fascinating to follow his notes and see how his mind worked.
She’d never tell him to his face, but he was a bona fide genius. Sometimes he’d go off on a seemingly unrelated tangent for pages, only to jump back to the original subject, tying everything together in a way she never would’ve guessed otherwise.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying about the procreation ritual here,” she said aloud after a while. “I get that Cambion conception isn’t possible without doing the ritual first, but does it actually have to occurduring—”
She broke off as she looked up from the book and over at Murmur.
His head rested on the couch cushion behind him, and strands of pure-white hair that had escaped his braid were fanned out around him. His eyes were closed, his lips slightly parted, his chest rising with steady breath. The smoky outlinesof his souls moved so little, they were nearly invisible. Even the barbed tip of his tail lay still.
Damn, he looked good.
He was so big, and his tail and horns and skin were strange enough to keep her uneasy. Why that made him more attractive, she couldn’t say. What that said about her, she couldn’t say either, but it probably wasn’t anything good.
“Occur during what?” he mumbled.
She frowned, completely forgetting what she’d asked. The silence lingered on. He still hadn’t opened his eyes or lifted his head. Seeing him relaxed was such a bizarre sight that she couldn’t tear her eyes away.
“You’re staring,” he said, and she tensed.
“Well, you’re kinda freaky to look at,” she said quickly to cover her tracks.
His half smile disappeared, and she immediately regretted her words. She’d gotten pissed when he’d commented on her appearance—calling herlittle, the bastard—but she’d essentially done the same to him. And she’d made it sound like she found him repulsive, which wasn’t the case at all.
“I know how I look.” His voice was low. “The last time I encountered humans, they recoiled at the sight of me.”
“Well, you’re a demon and they’re human. They’d probably never seen—”
“They were blood-born witches, and they had come to Hell of their own volition. I found them in the tunnels of this lair, in fact. They had seen demons before. One of the twins was even in love with one. She came here to rescue him, and I helped her.”
Twins?Blood-born witch twins were so rare, a prophecy had foretold Iris and Lily’s birth. But he couldn’t be speaking about them, obviously. This must’ve been a memory from long ago.
“That was uncharacteristically nice of you,” Suyin said, hoping it would encourage him to elaborate.
“Oh, I didn’t do it for free.” His lips curved. “I got a new lair out of it, and then a load of gold when I sold them out to Valefor and had him steal your book for me. I arranged it all very carefully.”
“Wait.” Suyin straightened. “Valefor?”
“Mmm.”
“But he’s the one who’s after Lily and Iris.”
“That’s what I just said.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Lily and Iris wouldn’t come to Hell torescuea demon. They hate demons. Valefor killed their parents.”
“Yes, but he’s dead now, and Iris and Lily have evidently gotten over their hatred. Just ask Mephistopheles and the Hunter.”
“Who? What? That’s not—” She shook her head. “How do you know all this?”
He opened his eyes and turned his head over to meet her gaze. She knew he was being intentionally vague—she’d already learned that he enjoyed dangling information in front of her like a carrot and making her jump through hoops to get it. It was fucking annoying.
“You’ll have to ask your witch friends when you get back to Earth,” he said. “You three should have lots to talk about.”
“Nuh-uh.” She jabbed a finger at him. “I’m not letting this go that easily. What the hell do Mephistopheles and the Hunter have to do with—” She broke off, and her eyes bugged. “Meph.”
Murmur smiled as she put it together.
