Page 43 of Mending Mayhem
“You can offer your protection in exchange for their services. You could make agreements with the entire town.”
This time, her laugh resounded from deep in her belly, the musical sound a symphony to my soul. “A: Ninety-five percent of the people in Salem are clueless about real magic. And B: We’re not the mafia. Hold on…”
She leaned toward the windshield, squinting. “What the hell?”
With her thumb and forefinger, she grasped a small piece of rolled parchment. Imp slime oozed from the page, and she held it away from her body, shaking it, the offending goo splattering to the pavement. “Is this a normal thing for an imp to carry across the veil?”
“It’s not normal at all. Imps can’t read or write, and they only consume paper when meat isn’t available.”
“So this was either his lunch or a message from someone in Hell.”
14
EMBER
“Ash, get downstairs,” I shouted as I flung the door open and stepped into the kitchen. “And bring paper towels.”
I darted down the steps and met Mayhem in the library, where he held the rolled parchment over a trash can, saving our floors from imp slime. A minute later, Ash and Chaos joined us.
“Is everything okay?” She tore off two towels and handed them to me. “I told the guys to stay upstairs in case…”
“It’s fine. We talked.” I waved a hand dismissively. “Look at this.” I held out the paper towels, and Mayhem laid the parchment on them.
“What is that?” Ash peered at the scroll. “Where did you find it?”
“On the van. I think it might be a message from someone across the veil.” I rubbed a towel over the parchment, soaking up the slime.
“And they sent it with an imp?” Her arched brow conveyed her skepticism.
“Remember Miles’s friend Wendy saying Adrian sent messages back and forth with the lesser fae? Do you have tweezers?” I sank into the chair at her desk and turned on a lamp.
She opened a drawer and took out a fabric bundle before laying it next to the parchment and unfolding it. A set of silver tools shined in the lamplight, complete with scissors, a scalpel, and three different sizes of tweezers.
I chose the medium pair and a blunt instrument and carefully unrolled the parchment. Ash watched over my shoulder, and Chaos and Mayhem stood across from us, leaning forward to read the elegant script. I recognized the handwriting instantly, and my pulse quickened as I read the letter.
Ash and Ember,
I’m afraid the imp might devour my message before it gets to you, but I have no other way to send it. Halloween will be here before we know it, and the veil has already become too weak to bear its natural thinning. We’re doing everything we can to keep it intact, but even the goddess can’t hold it forever. There’s an amulet somewhere on your side. You have to find it and summon Discord so he can return it to its rightful owner. I can’t come home without it.
Blessed be,
Cinder
Ash laid her on my shoulder. “She’s alive.”
I released the parchment, letting it curl into a loose roll, and placed my hand over hers. “And we can bring her home.”
“Did you find the amulet’s missing piece?” Mayhem asked.
I smiled up at him. “We sure did. Let’s go put that baby back together.”
I wrapped the parchment in the paper towel and put it in Ash’s desk drawer before leading the way upstairs, with Mayhem behind me and Chaos and Ash following. The moment I opened the door, Miles and Shade shot to their feet, their energy teetering between fight and flight.
“Mayhem has something he’d like to say to you before we put the amulet together.” I started for my room, pausing at the hallway to listen.
He stayed in the kitchen, a safe distance away from the guys. “I no longer wish to kill you.”
I crossed my arms. “That’s not an apology.”