It’s small and rectangular, a bit bigger than his hand, but the moment I weigh it in mine, I know exactly what it is.
“A book?” I ask, already tearing through the paper.
“Yeah.” Elliot shrugs. “I just figured you’d be starving for a good book. You know, since Kitty’s recommendations can’t be trusted?”
He chuckles, but as I look at him, the smile doesn’t reach his eyes, and I quickly decide that when we find our new “friend,” I’m going to tear his eyes out for taking that smile from him.
The book is small and green. Leather-bound, with no title on the front. Only a delicately embossed image of a woman’s figure.
“No title?” I ask.
Elliot shakes his head.
“Nope.”
“And what makes you think I’m going to like it?” I ask, flipping through the first few pages.
A small smirk inches its way across his face.
“You will…”
I smile, tears forgotten, and Elliot returns the gesture, eyes crinkling as his tail starts to wag.
“Yeah, but what if I don’t?” I say, teasing.
“How about if you don’t like it, I’ll let you walk me around on a leash for a day.”
My interest is piqued.
“Seriously?”
Elliot laughs, shaking his head.
“You’re going to like it.”
Chapter17
Fire, Brimstone, and Blood
ELLIOT
“Remindme why we’re here again?”
Dred’s accent grates on my ears as he grumbles, close on my heels.
“Because I can’t catch a scent thread,” I say, still jimmying the lock.
Breaking and entering into a cursed and condemned building is probably not the best idea I’ve ever had, but it seems ever since the grove, I’m full of bad ideas.
I would blame a particular succubus with a body so beautiful you’ll forget your own name, but we all know it’s not her fault. Blaming Iris for our predicament is like blaming the dagger for cutting you. None of this would have happened if not for Oliver.
The mere thought of his name has my dampener clenching around my throat, and I find myself wishing he were still breathing. If only so I could have the satisfaction of watching the light leave his eyes after I squeeze every last breath from his lungs.
“Right,” Dred says, bored as ever. “But if you can’t smell anything, what makes you think I can?”
“You know, for someone with such great hearing, you’re a really shitty listener.”
“So Ty tells me.”
