It seemed like the stupidest plan ever—run straight to the monster that had tried to kill her and would probably try again—but she was going with it.
Find Meph, find Meph, she mentally chanted as she stumbled blindly down the hallway. Her vision wasn’t working right, and she felt warmth against her temple and knew she was bleeding. Just her luck she’d been clocked on the head again in the exact same spot.
Shut up, brain, and find Meph. That’s the only thing that matters right now.
She reached the end of the hallway. No, it was only a ninety-degree turn. She rounded the corner, squinted her blurred vision, and found a similar passage lined with even more doors.
What did the demon need such a huge castle for? And, if she were a Duke of Hell, where would she keep her own pet monster?Think, damn it
Kinda hard with this damn concussion.
Valefor was going to wake up any minute. Her progress was so slow it would take him all of ten seconds to catch up to her, and when he did, he would make sure she didn’t escape again. He would make her pay for bashing his skull in—of that, she had no doubt.
She had seconds. Less than seconds. There was no time to play it safe.
So she threw back her head and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Meph!”
If he was somewhere in the castle, he would hear her and he would come. He had to come.
“Meph, it’s Iris!”
She paused, listening and hearing nothing.
“Meph, you crazy fucking freakshow! Come and eat me! I’m right here, ripe for the taking! One big, juicy, terrified witch!”
And then... there he was.
At the end of the hall ahead of her, he peeked around the corner. The first thing she saw was one of his skeletal hands reaching out around the stone. And then his head came out at a side angle, peering at her with those haunting red eyes, the bottom half of his face still hidden behind the wall.
It was... kind of cute.
Yep, that settled it: She had a serious head injury.
There should’ve been nothing cute about the goddamn Grim Reaper peeking at her as he sized her up for his next meal. Except there was.
And then the rest of his body followed, and the moment evaporated like dew in the desert.
He came around the corner, andfuck, she’d forgotten how huge he was. The saliva in her mouth turned to ash, her stomach hollowed out, and she shrank back against the wall behind her.
The monster approached, tall and slender and looming. He seemed to hover. The base of his cloak was only shadows, pouring off him like mystical smoke.
“Meph?” Her voice was like a tiny whisper in a silent cavern. Inaudible, yet somehow deafening. She wedged herself deeper into the corner. “It’s me. Iris.”
Did he recognize her at all? Did he have any clue who she was, or was she just another quivering ball of fear for him to eat?
He stopped himself before, she reminded herself.He can do it again.
His head tilted slightly, the shadow-fog shifting around him. Summoning every drop of courage in her body, she lifted a hand, reaching into the hood toward that monstrous face with its long slash of a mouth.
She didn’t want to touch him. He horrified her. Everything about him was anyone’s worst nightmare. And yet, somewhere deep inside, he was still Meph.
She whispered his name again.
The monster’s head tilted the other way.
And then his mouth opened... and his tongue emerged.
Jesus fucking Christ!A long, tentacle-like tendril slid out between his deadly teeth, and if she’d had any breath in her lungs, she would have screamed bloody murder. It snaked toward her, extending further and further. The tip was pointed. Saliva dripped onto her hands and all over her front, and she recoiled in revulsion.
