Page 50 of Speak No Evil
Vengeance is why I didn’t see Veruca in that room, bleeding on the floor.
Vengeance is the reason for every choice I’ve made since Em’s murder.
Vengeance…
It’s not as simple as it seems.
I was more than ready to exact retribution. To take the life that took my sister’s.
Until it turned out to be AJ.
I bolt out of bed and head to the shower, barking orders into the minds of my demons.
Do whatever it takes, whatever political subterfuge is needed to get in contact with the fae city.
Of course,Vrahs replies instantly.
And when we have?Ryker asks.
Leave the rest to me.
As the water heats, I throw a ward around the door—with a fraction of the effort I’m used to—to keep any frisky or overbearing demons from interrupting me. As I scrub myself clean to the brink of raw, I give in to the urge to play with my new magic.
I still don’t know what the fuck happened to me, or why I died and now have a demon body, but that, along with all my other questions, have to wait on the back burner.
At least until I’m done washing my hair.
And playing with portals in the shower.
Turns out, I have a significantly larger and stronger well of resources to pull from.
More than even what Vrahs’s stolen power allowed me.
I barely have to think of a place before a portal opens, and in moments, I have seven portals opened, waiting and stable.
I poke my head through the first and survey the damage in my old apartment.
Shit. I’m gonna need to hire a clean-up crew to fix this. I open another portal in what’s left of my bathroom and poke just my head through it to peer at my front door.
Yes, I double portaled myself. So what?
As I suspected, the landlord taped a sheet of paper with a thick red border to my door. Can’t really blame him for evicting me.
If blowing up a unit isn’t solid ground to evict someone, I don’t know what is.
And while the eviction is understandable, I’m pretty bothered that my landlord hasn’t called to see if I’m even alive. He just slapped the notice on the door and called it a day, I guess.
I mean, I guess we weren’t all that friendly, which is definitely my fault, but still. Even a text would have been nice.
I pull myself out of the front door portal and the ruined bathroom portal, and I’m back in my steamy shower.
“Right, let’s check on V.”
And this is where shit gets interesting, because I don’t know where Ryker and Thorne put my friend.
But I know she’s in the basilica, and I figure with my new and improved (hopefully permanent) power, I can focus on her and the portal will just take me there. Right?
A new opening in the shower shows me my sleeping friend, looking peaceful and comfortable.