“Obviously, he’s not dead,” Dr. Steinbeck assesses, quickly glancing at Lynx before going back to his tablet.
“Glad to see you’re okay, Lynx.” Mayor Abernathy smiles and nods his hello before turning to Chief Cloak. “Why don’t you giveyour report, Jessup?” he suggests as he gets more comfortable in his seat.
Grabbing a chair from the table, Chief Cloak turns it around so he’s straddling the back of it and faces the group.
“All demons are gone from the premises. It seems they were here for one thing, and once they couldn’t find it, they left.” His gaze settles on me. “Have any idea what that could be, Miss Taylor?”
I feel the need to hold his gaze, but Knox and Lynx both let out a deep, menacing growl, and Chief Cloak arches an eyebrow at the warning. “Understood, boys. It was just a question,” he relents.
“Not all the demons were going after Rez. One in particular was going after Levi,” Knots interjects, breaking the slight tension in the room.
“What?” Moni asks, zipping around, leaving white streaks in the air.
“Yeah, can we get back to the whole Emer taking Levi as a hostage part?” Chester interjects, pushing up his glasses, and when Chief Cloak glares his way, he mumbles, “Please,” dropping his eyes to the floor.
It irks something inside of me that Chester feels like he has to submit to Chief Cloak when he’s part ofmyfamily, but I’m not in any condition to do anything about it.
“Can you tell us what happened, Leviathan?” Chief Cloak turns his gaze on Levi.
“When the portals opened up, the harpies put a knife to my neck and told me to cooperate, and they would tell me what they did to Rez.” Levi moans and doubles over, falling off the chair and into Dean Caldron’s arms.
“Oh, my God. What’s wrong with Levi? Is he dying? Why does he look so pale? Is he turning into a ghost? Is that possible? Can we all turn into ghosts without dying? Is that in our studiesthat we missed because we were in Hell? Are you sure we’re ready for The Gauntlet? I feel like we don’t know anything!” Moni turns to look at everyone right as her eyes roll back into her skull, but Chester’s there to catch her when she drops out of the air. He quickly pulls her against him and sits down to gently wake her up with a kiss. She pops back up, her bark a bright pink.
“I did it again, didn’t I?” she hedges, looking into Chester’s bright eyes.
“Yeah, but I love waking you up,” he flirts, pushing a vine back over her shoulder. I feel like a Peeping Tom the longer I watch them, so I focus back on Levi’s situation.
Dad and Dean Caldron help settle Levi on the other sofa and gasp when they remove his corset to look at his chest.
“Is the pain only coming from your chest?” Dr. Steinbeck asks, jotting down his notes.
“She said there would be pain until Rez is out of my system and I’m truly hers, but until then, any memory, talk, or thoughts of Rez will trigger pain,” he manages to get out between his gasps of shallow breathing.
“Wait…” I say, sitting up straighter, trying to see him better. “You mean Emer gave you something because of me, and it’s causing you pain right now?” I ask, my heart constricted with barbed wire as it dawns on me that I’m the reason Levi is suffering. How could I allow this, and how can I make it stop? Only a monster does this to someone else and calls it love or affection. Unshed tears burn my eyes as I hope just being in my presence isn’t causing him excruciating pain. I don’t know what to do if we can’t find a way to fix this, whateverthisis.
Dad lets out a long and low whistle as Levi’s corset falls away to expose his left pec and the bright red three-inch circle of raised, angry-looking flesh above his nipple.
“It looks worse than it feels,” Levi murmurs, but as his eyes meet mine briefly before pain hits and he looks away, that’s answer enough. Yes, it’s me.
“It looks like a pregnant mushroom exploded on your chest,” Moni shrieks as she zips back and forth in front of him in her preferred miniature size.
“That’s one hell of a curse,” Dad says, looking at the edges that seem to ripple as if they are moving on their own. It’s like they are waiting for the magic words to spread their disease further along Levi.
“It would help if we knew what you took,” Dr. Steinbeck says under his breath as he pulls out a vial of salve from his S.I.N. box.
“If you can trust what Emer said, I took a combination of the demon memory potion and Condonial.”
“Hmm. It’s been a while since I’ve heard that mineral being used. I’ll have to look that up, but this salve should help dull some of the pain for now. I’ll be able to get more information this weekend once your mother gets here.” Dr. Steinbeck makes a quick note on his pad before handing Levi the salve and showing him how to apply it gently. We all watch as it slowly dissolves into his skin, hissing and turning black as Levi sighs in relief.
Then dark brown eyes meet mine as Dr. Steinbeck turns back to me.
“Now you, young lady. What are we going to do with you?” He stands, looking between Levi and me, and blows out a frustrated breath. It’s one of the first times I’ve ever seen this man looking weary and somewhat lost.
“Well, we can at least answer what the knife that stabbed her was coated with,” Knots speaks up, pulling everyone’s attention off of me.
Grateful for the reprieve, I finish my drink, setting it down and leaning into Ryker’s side as my stomach finally settles somewhat.
“It seems that Asmodeus has possession of the Eternal Flower, and I don’t know how he got his hands on it, but it was coated with God’s Trumpet,” Knots explains, and the room goes silent.
