Page 11 of Generally Hospitable
I shook my head ever so slightly. I wanted to scream at her. She had so much left to do as a Goddess of the Darkness, but she couldn’t see it. I could. If we waited a bit longer, therewas a fighting chance that we could take the evil Demon down together. Her death wish made me ill.
Pandora waited impatiently for my reply.
Fine. I would pretend to go along with her idiocy. I’d already jumped on theyes-andbandwagon. She might be killing it in the acting department today, but I’d been getting paid to pretend my entire life. I’d played plenty of characters that I wasn’t crazy about. The character I was about to play was going to be my least favorite of all time. I’d let Pandora believe that I was behind her ridiculous scheme. I wasn’t, but she’d figure that out later. Right now, I needed to get out of here and get backup if I had any hope of saving Pandora from herself.
“I will do as you say,”I lied through my teeth.“I’ll leave, and I promise to let the Demon world know what you did for all of us.”
She stared at me for a long moment. She wasn’t sure if I was yanking her chain or being sincere. “Good,”she finally replied hoarsely.“I have one last request.”
“Name it.”
She rolled her eyes, then blurted it out.“Tell Tiny that I regret not eating sushi with him. It was the only thing in this dismal world that I was looking forward to.”
If the woman had wanted to make me cry, she’d succeeded. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I wanted to hug her and hold her tight. She was such a broken person, but her pieces had not completely shattered. There was still hope left.
“I can do that,”I said, swiping at my tears.“I will do that for you.”
I had no intention of letting her die, but I knew the saying—‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions.’ I intended to live. I intended for Pandora to live. There was no guarantee that either of us would live. That was the only given. We were both aware of that.
“Thank you,”she replied.“Just go with what I’m going to say. Don’t fight me. Don’t contradict me. If you want to live to meet your daughter, you will follow my lead. Am I clear?”
I wanted to say as clear as mud, but I didn’t. I just nodded. Although I did have a few unanswered questions.“I want to know how Chub Chub can wield death magic against our people. And I need to know who taught him so I can stop it.”
“Fine point. Well made,”she agreed.“If I can’t get the answers now, I will get them before I kill him. Be listening for a message from me.”
I nodded. Decatalian was done texting, and his focus was back on us.
“Very well,” he said, patting his phone. “It has been agreed that we shall rule the Darkness together.”
His statement confirmed he was nothing more than a puppet, and we needed to know who was pulling his strings.
Pandora was on the same page. “By who, Decatalian?” she questioned. “I thought you were in charge.”
Chub Chub didn’t enjoy being challenged. His face turned red, and his lips compressed to a thin line of fury. “None of your business,” he spat. “AndIam in charge. Iama GOD. You will never question my authority again, or you will pay the price.”
“Works for me, darling,” Pandora said breezily, lowering the temperature of the jackass substantially. “I was simply curious.”
Pulling himself together, Chub Chub smiled. “Not to worry, my concubine. But just remember, curiosity killed the cut.”
It happened without any thought. My mouth moved before my brain had the sense to stop it. “Cat. Cat not cut. It’s curiosity killed the cat,” I corrected him.
Pandora groaned. I just closed my eyes and pretended that if I couldn’t see anyone, then no one could see me. It didn’t work when I was a child, and it damn sure didn’t work now.
“And YOU,” Chub Chub bellowed. “You must die.”
“Hold on a moment,” Pandora said while yawning in boredom. “I say we leave her alive. I did kill her mother, after all. I’d hate to be responsible for killing the child.”
“Youwouldn’t be killing her,” Decatalian pointed out.
Pandora shrugged. “True, but I’d be indirectly involved. It would be a real turn-off for me to know that you ended her. I wouldn’t even be able to consider blowing you for centuries.”
That got his attention.
“Centuries?” he asked, horrified.
“Centuries. Multiple centuries,” she confirmed.
I couldn’t believe the direction the conversation had taken. She had said I wasn’t going to enjoy what was coming, but that had been an understatement.
