Page 85 of Fated to the Grotesque

I blinked as the image in the glass shifted as the demon morphed into a gorgeous, bearded man, his long blue-black hair styled into a messy man bun. He laughed heartily, bending in half and wheezing for several seconds. “Fuckity-fuck, this is godsdamn fantastic,” he said happily. “Rueppy! You gotta fuckin’ see this! You guys could be related.”

I jerked back as an opaque creature popped into view, clinging to the edge of the gilt frame on their side and tapped on the glass with a clawed paw, sighing sadly.

“It’s not a portal, silly zalvie.”

Huff and I stared at the figures, frozen like mute statues.

The man, er demon, smirked, scratching his chin. “How in the fuck did you end up there? The last mirror was destroyed; nobody should be there except for the lingering demons.”

I held up the molded bit of brass. “Um. I have a key.”

He raised a brow and chuckled, his deep voice practically vibrating the surface of the mirror as he shook his head. “Fuuucking witches. I swear, wait till I tell My Sugar about this.”

I cleared my throat. “Where did you say we are?”

“The Shadow Realm,” he offered, bouncing on the balls of his feet causing my heart to ache. The action reminded me so much of Bane. “I’d get the fuckity-fuck out of there if I were you. The King of Hell,” he rolled his eyes and made quotation marks with his curved fingers as he said the title, “left a lot of demons behind when he vacated that realm.” He shrugged, pried the translucent creature from the frame, and walked away. “Good luck! Looks like you’ll fucking need it,” he hollered over his shoulder as the mirror returned to a regular reflective surface.

“Yes. Let’s do that,” I grumbled.

Huff shook out his fur as if he was trying to rid himself of the entire encounter. “We should quickly check in with Witchy first.”

“Good idea.”

I sat on the ground near the fireplace, ignoring the barely there lavender shadows as they flickered across the pages when I opened my journal. Sighing, I read the string of written messages.

SugarSprout: Starting this magically fucking fantastic chat off right with a message from your stunning and thoughtful witchy sponsor…

SugarSprout: I LOVE THE SHIT OUT OF YOU! You got this, Meeks *hugging emoji* *pink heart emoji* *blue heart emoji*

SugarSprout: Now, I almost came in here and scolded you *angry face emoji* for being late for check in, then I realized you’d have no way of knowing how much time has passed there or here *face-palm emoji*

SugarSprout: For your damn information, it’s already been THREE FUCKING DAYS *sun emoji* *moon emoji*

SugarSprout: Are you two okay!? *worried emoji* *crying emoji* If you aren’t, I’ll cut a hoe *knife emoji* *blood drop emoji*

SugarSprout: Does the key work alright?

SugarSprout: Please write soon. I miss you, Fated B <3

Huff released and amused puff of air. “Persistent Witchy. I really likes her.”

I snort laughed. “No shit. I better write back before she has an aneurysm.”

BabyCakes: Hey, Monswan. We’re alive. I know, you’re overjoyed. Take a deep breath.

BabyCakes: We ran into some complications. And no, I don’t think we’re in immediate danger, but I haven’t been able to successfully open a portal any closer to Bane.

SugarSprout: *STRING OF EMOJIS HERE*

SugarSprout: Thank fucking fuck!!!

SugarSprout: Do you know where you are now? *emoji with monocle*

BabyCakes: Somewhere called the Shadow Realm

SugarSprout: *STRING OF EMOJIS*