Page 107 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse
Isn’t that why you got Truesight in the first place?This fucking voice of reason was starting to get annoying.
When I let Jenna know about the plans for the evening, she was upset again. “Why couldn’t Sir Artsy-Fartsy have a daughter?”
“Wouldn’t you rather be here safe and sound?” I asked as we walked down the hall in search of Sage and Benjamin.
“Not while you and Sage are out there,” she shot back. “Maybe Grant will let us be on standby with him.”
“I seriously doubt that.”
We found Sage and Benjamin in the common room. We joined them and quickly explained everything. Sage was still mad at me for what had happened the other night. We still hadn’t talked about it. I’d tried half-heartedly a few times, but he hadn’t been receptive, so I didn’t press the issue. It was better this way. Despite his attitude toward me, he pushed to the edge of the sofa, looking energized about our next mission.
Like him, I used to thrive in this sort of situation, and maybe if my friends weren’t involved, I would still feel excited about tonight. The witchlights knew I had sought danger in the past. But all I could do now was worry about what could go wrong. Just like that night Drevan threw Sage over the balcony. The terror in Sage’s face as he plummeted was something I wouldn’t easily forget.
Of course, Grant didn’t allow Jenna or Benjamin tostand by. In fact, he said the day of the exchange, they would stay behind with supervision to ensure they didn’t do anything stupid. Jenna was furious, to say the least, but I was secretly glad she would be safe.
“We will not take unnecessary risks,” the director had said adamantly, leaving no room for discussion.
At 7 PM, the same black limousine that had picked us up to go to the Mill Neck pulled up in front of Striker Hall. Giuseppe got out of the driver’s seat to open the back door for Sage and me.
“Good evening, Ms. Sunder. Mr. Donnelley.” He inclined his head.
“Just call me Lucia,” I said to him, not for the first time.
Giuseppe just smiled and nodded once, making me wonder if he would ever listen. Sage waited for me to get in, looking serious. Inside the limousine, I was surprised to find Khargon in place of Devan. She narrowed her eyes at me without offering a greeting. When Sage stepped in, he visibly relaxed, glad not to find Drevan.
Khargon introduced herself, then continued glaring at me, a questioning look in her dark eyes. Something was different, though. This wasn’t her usual way of staring at me. Then I realized she was wondering whether or not I could see her true form. This was the reason Drevan wasn’t here, to use Khargon as a guinea pig.
“It hasn’t kicked in yet,” I said. “But it will. Soon,” I said like it was a threat.
Sage glanced between the demon and me, not quite understanding our exchange. Khargon only huffed and tapped the roof to let Giuseppe know we could go. This time, we were taken to the Plaza Hotel once more, to the same room where they’d kept Lunar. Drevan was waiting for us, wearing a black, sharply tailored suit and standing by the windows looking out into the night.
When we walked in, he turned very slowly, reluctantly. When he faced us, my breath caught. His eyes were glowing like embers, and in the light, his chiseled features looked more beautiful than ever.
Sage stumbled forward. “I want to… to…” He started but stopped abruptly when Drevan blinked and the glow in his eyes disappeared.
Looking around, confused, Sage rubbed the back of his neck.
Drevan’s guard had been down. I wondered what he could’ve been thinking about. One thing was clear, Khargon had told him my Truesight wasn’t working yet. Otherwise, I doubted he would’ve let me see him.
Without preamble, he called us to the middle of the living room where we sat on the fancy white leather couches, and he instructed us on what was to happen the next day.
He took a couple of hours to explain how things would go down, and after that, he dismissed us without a second look. I tried to catch his eye as I left, but he turned away to stand in front of the windows and stare out into the night once more.
36
“Ready?”Sageasked.Itwas midnight, and he was standing outside my dorm room door, all business.
I nodded and glanced back at Jenna over my shoulder.
She waved from her desk, looking disappointed. “Good luck, guys.”
“Thank you,” Sage and I replied in unison.
“Do you have the vessel?” I asked Sage.
“Yeah, Grant gave it to me. It’s smaller than I thought.” He patted his leather jacket pocket.
We walked downstairs without exchanging a word. We were about to exit through the front door when a strange shiver slid down my back. A premonition of some sort. I froze with my hand on the doorknob.
