He looks down at himself as if to imply that’s the most preposterous thing he’s ever heard. “I look nothing like a demon. Have you seen one? They’re hideous! I am an Imp. And yes, he’s my master, but that doesn’t mean I have to like him.”
He flutters closer to sniff at me. “I can feel her. How?” He gasps. “Did she send you here to kill me? I’ve been trying to get her out. I have. But it hasn’t been easy, no, no it hasn’t been easy. I got banished to the Otherworld and I’ve tried to convince my new master into retrieving her, but he doesn’t listen—“
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. The only person that’s sent me here is my father.”
His brow wrinkles. Feeling slightly ridiculous, I find myself explaining the predicament of my marriage to this creature.
His eyes gleam. “But you came from the Wastelands. Shehassent you.”
I shake my head. He’s no longer even paying me any attention, sniffing at the air before he lowers himself to my plate and begins devouring it in a way that doesn’t seem possible for his size.
“Hey! That’s mine!” An idea strikes me, and I heave the plate out from underneath him, holding the knife out in front of me once more. He looks so aghast I almost feel bad for doing so. “You want this food?” He nods obsequiously.
“Then I need answers.”
He leans back against the coffee table and props a leg up on his other knee as he peers at his fingernails…no black pointedclaws. “What do you want to know?”
“Tell me about him. The prince.”
He huffs. “Pff, he’s awful.”
Not like I didn’t already know that. “Did he lock you in that chest?”
He nods gravely.
“Why?”
He snorts again. “Have you met him? Does he need a reason?”
I have, unfortunately. “Where does he go during the day?”
He opens his mouth to speak but only gets out a garbled grunt before bursting into flames. I startle back with a sharp gasp. The flames are already petering out. He appears from behind them unscathed.
Well, that explains the smell.
“He has forbidden me from speaking of it.”
“How long does he stay gone?”
“He’s always gone. He only comes back to sleep.” Lifting himself into the air, he settles on the plate and I relent placing the knife and plate on the table before dropping on the sofa with a sigh, now that I don’t seem to be in any immediate danger.
“What do you think they intend to do with me?”
He breaks from snarfing the plate of food. “Nothing good. He killseveryone around him,”he says darkly. “You should leave.”
“Yes…but how?”
He turns his oversized eyes on me, blinking. “The door?”
“He’s locked it with his magic.”
He raises his brows and cocks his head. “Unlock it?”
“I can’t. I don’t have magic. I’m a…nought, as they call it.”
His forehead wrinkles as he looks me up and down like he’s never even heard of such a thing before.
“Do you think you could help me? Find a way out of here?” My desperation truly has hit the bottom of the barrel if I’m asking for help from this…creature.
