Page 14 of Not Today, Satan
I lift my head and study my best friend. Atty’s always been someone I can trust, the one person to have my back. And despite everything that’s changed between us, our history is something that never will.
I take a deep breath. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.” He turns on my bed to face me, resting one foot under his knee.
I run my finger along the rim of the glass. Bubbles of scarlet float to the surface of my drink and burst open, perfuming the air with strawberry. “Do you think Father’s ever wrong? Like, when he’s judging, I mean. Do you think it’s possible for him to judge someone incorrectly?”
He scrunches his face. “Your dad’s been doing this for-literal-ever. He could judge people in his sleep.”
“That’s just it,” I say. “He’s been doing this so long. He’s bored. So much so he’s retiring. Maybe he’s not trying as hard as he used to because he doesn’t care anymore. Do you think it’s clouding his judgments?”
Attero gives a small shrug. “Maybe? But if you’re having questions, you should talk to him.”
I down the last of my drink and place the empty glass on my end table with a clink and frown. “You really think he’d listen?”
“I think if you explained that you aren’t questioning him, but that you want to know so you can do his job well, he’d be stoked you’ve come around. He’ll probably even do a couple of judgments with you so you can see how it’s done.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” My shoulders loosen for the first time since Nathan Reynolds burst into my room. If Father shows me how he judges, maybe I can slip Nathan Reynolds’s photo in and he can have a second look. Then I can finally move on from handsome Joke Boy. No, not handsome. Not anything. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Thanks, Atty. You’re a great friend.”
I lean forward to hug him, and this time he hugs me back. The pillow I’d been sitting on slides out from under my butt, but I don’t break the connection. I’ve missed him too much. I close my eyes, and Attero’s body goes rigid.
He bolts to his feet so fast I fly backward and hit my head against the wall. “I have to go. Souldier stuff to attend to. You understand.”
“Oh, sure.” I frown as I rub the bump starting to form on the back of my skull.
His sudden change in demeanor also caused him to lose track of his human disguise. Atty wears his costume so often, I’ve almost forgotten the demon that exists beneath. His scaly baby-blue skin, lined with indigo edging. Those black eyes that pool into an endless void. The jagged teeth sharp enough to tear me apart. And the forked tail, beating against my floor so violently that my nail polish bottles vibrate on my dresser.
I take a shaky breath. “Is everything okay?”
Attero blinks at me, and his human form reappears. “Yup. Just gotta get somewhere.” He clucks his tongue against his teeth. “Good night, Your Highness.”
“Atty?” I reach for him, but he pulls out of my grip. He doesn’t meet my eyes.
I drum my fingers on my thigh.
How did we go from a hug to this?
Attero doesn’t even take our tray of empty glasses. He half bows before sprinting out of my room, a small piece of paper clutched in his hand.
When I make out what he’s holding, all the blood rushes from my feet to my head.
It can’t be.
“No, no, no!”
I toss my pillow off the bed and rip the duvet from the mattress. I search the sheets, the box spring, the floor. I tear my room apart, praying I’m wrong. But there’s no doubt about it.
Nathan Reynolds’s photograph is gone.
VII.
Attero doesn’t return to my room.
I wait over an hour before inquiring about his whereabouts, but none of the other souldiers will tell me where he went, and he’s not in his quarters when I check them.
I try to sleep, but my body is a giant knot. When I lie on my mattress and close my eyes, all I see is Nathan Reynolds on top of me, pleading with me to help him. I roll onto my side and shove my pillow over my head, but it does nothing to block out the inner monologue reminding me I’ve lost my best friend and pissed off my father all in one go.
My alarm goes off as I’m staring up at the ceiling, waiting for the galaxy above to swallow me whole.
