Page 28 of Soulless Deeds

I barged into Remi’s room at Playhouse, halting in the entryway as the door clicked shut behind me. Lights were dimmed,replaced by a blue, ambient glow, accompanied by airy, alien music.

“Welcome to the genie’s lamp, where all your wishes will be fulfilled,” Remi’s voice boomed, ethereal and weird as fuck.

“Cut the shit, Remi, and come out from the divider.”

Bright illumination flickered to life as the man himself came out of hiding.

My jaw dropped, completely gobsmacked. Remi was entirely covered in baby blue paint, a black wig tied in a high ponytail atop his head that had the striking resemblance of hay.

“Do I know you?” he asked, his stance aggressive.

“It’s me, idiot,” I managed to splutter. He pitched an eyebrow, and I waved a hand over my face. “Don’t tell me you don’t recognise your best friend?”

His gaze roamed over my frame, clocking the red hair, green eyes and changed face. My body was the same, though.Surely, he remembers that.

“Spencer?”

“In the flesh. Now, can you put something on? Your get-up is distracting me.”

He coughed, then coughed again—the only reaction he gave to my true appearance. I was sure he’d seen far more sinister than my Variant. “You booked me? Requesting the genie?”

Sitting on the edge of his bed, I leant back on my hands, smirking. “It was a joke.”

“Not a funny one,” he said, ripping off his atrocious wig and flinging it at me. “Why are you here?”

“I’m going to kill Echo.” My eyes blazed with seriousness.

Remi ran a hand through his blonde adonis hair. “I need a smoke for this.” Pulling out his pipe, he lit the end.

“Phenomenal performance, by the way. I was proud to call you a friend that night. If I wasn’t in hiding, I’d definitely have screamed your name from the rooftops.”

“You could have fooled me. I haven’t seen you since.”

I raised a clear bag full of candy. “I come bearing gifts.”

He snatched it out of my hands and upended the contents in an empty bowl, stuffing his face and groaning at the various treats.

“Why’d it take you so long to see me?” Remi asked with a pout.

“Echo and I fucked… Then, he stuck a knife in my chest,” I blurted, unable to keep it a secret anymore. I had to tellsomeone.

His face remained impassive, though I could see the wheels churning in his head. Then, his features shifted into concern. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“When am I not?”

He rubbed his jaw. “I told you you’d get dickmatised. He has a magic cock no woman can move past.”

I shook my head at the ridiculous notion. “I’ve had better.” Remi spared me a sceptical glance. “Okay…that was a lie. But he’s not the primary reason I’m here. I need to get in contact with your mistress.”

“I’m confused. Do you want to kill Echo or see Mistress?”

“Both. But more pressing, I have to have a meeting with Aster, and she’s been in hiding.Pleasssseeee?”

“I don’t want you to die, Spencer. If you threaten her, you won’t come back from that.”

“I don’t want to kill her. I want to ask for her help.”

Silence stretched between us.

---