Page 48 of Soulless Deeds

Echo snatched my elbow, pulling me into his chest. “Fucking fix this.”

“How could I possibly,Master? I’m only a lowly maid, after all,” I said, my voice the epitome of innocence as he snarled at me.

Melonie managed to stab herself in the thigh with a gigantic needle before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

Echo and I watched on.One second. Two seconds.Then, her chest deepened with a wheezy inhalation.

I ripped out of Echo’s hold and aimed for the exit. “Looks like the medication is kicking in.” I spared one last glance over my shoulder. “Don’t ever bring her or any of your other bitches into this apartment again. Next time, I’ll finish the job.”

“You’re fucking crazy,” he said, expression livid and, dare I say, turned the fuck on.

I winked. “I’m your own personal demon, and I’m here to stay.”

XIX

Spencer

Ientered the doorway of Hangman’s Clinic, catching my breath at the stale, putrid air. Cautiously, I skirted around obstacles and musty furniture to avoid suffering the degradation of poverty, silently hoping I would be free from any contamination.

My nose scrunched up on instinct as I inspected the place Emerson considered a second home. It was one large open hall; a makeshift kitchen on one side, a few medical trolleys on the other and a casual lounging area at the back. Colourful graffiti splayed the walls, which they no doubt tried to pass off as ”’art”.

As I thought it couldn’t get any worse, a homeless man came to stand beside me, his two teeth munching away on his one meal for the day. My mouth curved into a grotesque grimace as he offered up his muffin for me to take a bite.

“I’ll pass,” I said.

“You don’t know what you’re missing, honey.” He cackled, then slipped through the exit.

“Can I help you?” A beautiful black woman with hypnotising purple eyes approached me, her face trying and failing to hide her amusement. Recognition sparked immediately.

“Chai, isn’t it?” I remembered her from the Caverns, when we had gone on a rescue mission to save Micah. She had inadvertently become my sister’s “friend”, or whatever definition we were capable of maintaining with our fucked up commitment issues.

“I’m looking for Micah and Emerson. Have you seen them?”

Her eyes shifted, and her pristine teeth pressed into her lower lip. It would have been hot if she wasn’t planning on lying to me.

“I don’t know who those people?—”

I crowded into her space, forcing her attention back on me so she had no room for misinterpretation. I got it, she didn’t recognise me due to the changed face, but I didn’t like fucking liars. “My sisters were here, and you’re going to tell me where they are.”

“Sisters?” asked a young, teasing voice from below. I cranked my neck to look down at the boy hanging off Chai’s leg, the same purple eyes sparking with mischief. “This ismysister,” he continued, looking up at Chai as if she was some holy saint. Poor boy didn’t know his older sissy got on her knees, alright—just not for the saintly musings he envisioned.

“Run along now, Casey,” she shushed, protectively steering him away.

I clucked and got down on my hunches to be at eye level with the handsome boy. “Yes, I’m looking for my sisters. Surely, you remember Emerson. She’s here all the time. Do you know where she is?”

The cheeky devil cocked his head in contemplation and tilted a half smile. “What’s in it for me?”

“Case—” I cut Chai’s reprimand off with a hard stare, and as she went to open her mouth again, I lost patience.

“Lily, I’m in negotiations here.” An embarrassed blush raised on her cheeks, and her eyes steeled with hostility.Bring it on,baby. You have no idea who you’re dealing with. Family friend or not, I’d fuck anyone up who got in the way of me and mine.

“Who’s Lily?” Casey asked.

“No one of consequence,” I dismissed before slipping a one hundred dollar bill from my pocket and holding it up between two fingers. “It’s yours if you take me to Emerson.”

His purple eyes popped open in disbelief. “Deal.” The note was snatched from my grip before I could blink, and a wide grin on my face.

“Deal.”

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