Page 122 of Death Bringer

“It was close at some points, but we made it.”

Feehan stood at the door, gesticulating to someone. “Come on, Sam! We haven’t got all day!”

Sam appeared, carrying a greasy paper bag that smelled suspiciously like fast food.

“Dudes!”

“Do you have fries in there?” Ella reached over and poked the bag. “Can I have some? You can’t get a decent meal in Otherworld to save your life.”

Sam tossed her the bag. “You can have them all. It’s so cool that you’re okay!” He turned to Vadim. “And I hear that you’re, like, some awesome winged black devil, man.Sweet!”

Between mouthfuls of fries, Ella managed to mutter, “Trust me, he’s more chicken than devil.”

Feehan shut the door and sat down, his expectant gaze turned toward her.

“So tell us what’s been happening.”

Vadim opened his mouth, but Ella hastily swallowed down her fries and started talking.

“We killed Adam and I got my face back. That’s it, really.”

“I’m sure there’s more to it than that, Ella.” Feehan said encouragingly. “Can you elaborate?”

“Adam was the leader of an ancient Fae sect that liked to collect things. One of the things he wanted was three humans with blond hair, so that he could steal their faces.”

“Which is why he targeted Brad, Ms. Phelps and you.”

“Exactly.” Ella nodded. “Morosov went ahead of me to Otherworld to liaise with his family members about Adam’s whereabouts. With our combined information, we tracked Adam down to a palace where the sect had its headquarters.”

“So how did Vadim end up on trial?”

Her partner sat forward. “Well?—”

Ella cut across him again. “It was Adam’s doing. He convinced the Fae council that Morosov was responsible for a murder.”

Sam chuckled. “Like Vad would hurt a fly.”

“That’s when Mr. Feehan and I were called as character witnesses.” Liz frowned. “How the hell did you get out of that? With Spencer moderating, I thought you were both goners.”

“Morosov managed to convince the jury to commute the murder charges into combat to the death. Adam agreed.”

“You’re making all this up and leaving a hell of a lot out. Why?”

Ella ignored Vadim’s sharp question. “He was totally nuts. I think he really wanted to kill Morosov with his bare hands for messing up his trophy hunt. He also blamed me for coming after him. I wasn’t supposed to do that, and I’d spoiled his fun.”

“So what happened then?” Feehan asked.

Ella tried to look convincing. Even if Vadim wasn’t buying it, everyone else was.

“We were taken to the sect’s stronghold, and the four leaders, including Adam, went after Morosov in a weird game of deadly hide-and-seek.”

“Four against one?” Sam shook his head. “That’s, like, so not cool, man.”

Ella smiled at everyone. “You’d be surprised. Morosov easily destroyed the first three, and when Adam tried to use me to get away, I helped kill him.” She sat back. “As soon as Adam died, my face changed back to normal.”

“Wow.” Sam whistled.

Liz stared at Vadim. “You’re Death Bringer.”

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