CHAPTER 77

It was the way Velvet wanted to be treated, and Abella already had it. She would be damned if she gave it up.

"Do you have an asshole?" she asked. "Because that's where you can stick your offer."

Those crimson eyes flashed, and the figure vanished. When he next spoke, his voice came from all around her.

"We could have made this work," he told her in a whisper. "I could have used a powerful ally such as you. In your final moments, I want you to know that I intend to rip your beloved human to shreds and feed him to the Nirumbi."

Before Abella could react, he snapped his fingers. The shadows tightened around her legs and yanked her through the forest. She crashed through the foliage with gradually increasing speed. The shadows were like giant elastic bands that somehow yanked harder the further she traveled. She managed to sit up just as she crashed through a copse of trees and then skidded out onto the icy surface of a small lake.

The shadows were gone now. She coasted nearly sixty feet from the shore, her wings spread wide in an attempt to distribute her weight. Beneath her, the ice groaned in protest.

"Asshole," she muttered. Even if the ice broke, the cold was no danger to her, and she didn't need to breathe. It would take her some time, but she could make it back to shore. With her current energy levels, she could spend a few days at the bottom of the lake before she was in any real danger.

Beneath the ice, something moved. She looked down, then used her hand to rub away the snow, revealing a clear window into the murky depths. Instead of darkness, she was treated to the sight of scales shifting against the other side. The scales slid beneath the surface, their patterns shifting until an eye the size of her head opened. The pupil narrowed in the light of day, then focused on her.

"Merde."

When the ice shattered, she felt thick coils wrap around her body as she was dragged into the cold depths below.

The temperature in the house was dropping, and Beth wondered if it would get cold enough to need a fire in the fireplace. The house relied on hot water registers down by the floor, but without Naia or her spring, there would be no way to heat the whole house.

When Beth stepped into the kitchen, there was a noticeable chill in the air. The cupboards were all open as if someone had gone rummaging through them, and the basement door was closed. She closed all of the cupboards, then rubbed at her arms. The hair on the back of her neck was standing up, and she didn't know why.

"Hey." Lily stepped into the kitchen from the dining room and hopped up to sit on the counter with her legs crossed.

"Well? Is she okay?" Beth had asked Lily to check on Tink, seeing as dreams were her domain.

Lily nodded. "It's a sleep spell. She's currently trapped in a dream, but a far better one now that I've made a few tweaks. You would be absolutely astonished at the shit inside that goblin's head. It's like MC Escher got drunk with the Marquis de Sade! Anyway, it's not something I can easily break, which is worrisome. The process itself could hurt her."

Beth sighed. At least Tink would get better, whatever the problem was. She rubbed her arms again. "It wasn't even this cold outside," she grumbled. "How the fuck is it so cold in here?"

"I have one idea." Lily pointed at the door to the basement, which was now open. Beth inhaled sharply at the realization that the door had opened itself. "Maybe whatever got out of the Vault is sapping the energy out of here? Exorcist Barbie does a similar trick before she manifests, right?"

"I guess, but—Tick Tock!" Beth ran over to the kitchen table and picked up the large backpack that was sitting in a chair. She was relieved that the mimic had made the transition with them.

"Hey there, little clock." Lily approached and playfully tugged at one of the zippers. When she let go, the zipper undid itself, making the flap look like a grinning mouth. "You still carrying precious cargo?"

"Let me check," Beth said, then stuck her hand into the bag. Her fingers closed on the edge of the Grimoire and she let out a sigh of relief. "Go ahead and keep it," she said, then zipped the bag shut. She slid the bag onto her shoulders and the straps adjusted themselves.

"Looks like he's got a crush on you," Lily teased. "Maybe you can introduce him to that suitcase you've got. Do you think magic luggage likes to fuck? Instead of tops and bottoms, they could be ins and outs."

Beth ignored Lily, but her cheeks burned with embarrassment. Maybe it was time to store her collection somewhere else since everyone seemed to know about it. Not that she had even really looked at it since moving in. Her monster infatuation was currently well fed.

At the top of the stairs, an icy gust of air blasted her hair away from her face. She covered her eyes and closed the door.

"Guess I'm getting my coat," she told Lily, then ran to her room to get it. When she came back, Lily was wearing a colander on her head and holding a spatula.