I’d gotten so used to ignoring his quips that I almost didn’t pay attention to his remark. But then his words sunk in and I stopped moving.
“What?” I asked, quieter.
“Nothing.”
“Repeat what you said.”
Faust scoffed.“Why should I? You’ve been ignoring me since we passed Dustin’s Donuts.”
“Because all you talk about is donuts. It’s annoying, dude!”
“Oh, please. I have the power to be a hundred times more annoying. Is that what you want?”
I groaned in frustration. “No! Please, just tell me what you said.”
In the depths of my mind, I felt him grinning. All of his teeth were sharp and pointed.“Let’s make a deal. I repeat what I said in exchange for one donut.”
“Fine!”
“Thirty feet behind you, on the right—one assailant with a long-range weapon. A bow, I’d guess. Then another human forty feet behind us in the other direction, armed but not wielding, watching closely.”
My blood ran cold as Faust’s intel washed over me.
How did he know all that?
And why was I being watched by people with weapons?
As indecision gripped me, my body turned to stone. I didn’t know whether to run or yell for Sagitta louder. Did he know there were assailants in his temple?
“Oh, you sweet summer child,”Faust cooed.
The demon in my skull was no help at all. I glanced to the exit, the same way I’d come in. I could make a break for it.
A second later, Sagitta emerged from behind a thick wooden pillar holding up the slanted roof. Although his expression was guarded, I felt a rush of warmth when I saw him. And I wasn’t thinking about it on purpose, but I couldn’t help remembering our kiss.
“You came,” Sagitta said in a clipped tone.
“Not yet, he didn’t,” Faust interjected.
“Will you shut up already?” I hissed under my breath.
Sagitta tensed. He clicked his tongue, then slowly folded his hands behind his back.
“Chase. You made a wise decision visiting the temple,” Sagitta continued. Even from a distance, his black eyes pierced me like knives. Then he shot a brief glance across the courtyardbefore pinning his gaze back to me. “What do you remember about last night?”
“Uh, Jared’s shitty party.”
Sagitta’s eyes narrowed. “What happened at the party?”
I blinked back at him. He was fishing for information, but what was his angle? I didn’t know him well enough to get the hint, so I went with my favorite event of the evening.
“Our kiss?” I offered.
Sagitta stiffened. His gaze blew wide open before he coughed and composed himself.
“Not that,” he ground out through his teeth.
I shrugged. “You weren’t very specific. And everything else that happened sucked. Like Jared trying to sacrifice a fish for a stupid demon summoning ritual.” I furrowed my brow. “By the way, that’s why I’m here. What happened to the betta?”
