As soon as we reach the room where the voices are comin’ from, I hear, “What the fuck, Nefta?”
The three of us stop in the open doorway, and I suddenly feel so damn country standin’ here in their mansion in my frayed shorts and sneakers, purposely eavesdroppin’.
Alder and Flint don’t look awkward or nervous though. Nope, they look pissed. “Yes, what the fuck is exactly what we were thinking too,” Alder says, makin’ everyone in the room jerk around at the sound of his voice.
A girl around my age with bright violet hair and matchin’ wings spins around, her gray eyes sweepin’ over us. She’s got four hot-as-sin demons standin’ around her. My guess is that this is the famous Delta.
“Alder, what are you doing here?” a large blue demon with horns asks as he takes a step toward us.
Alder answers, but I don’t hear what he says, because my eyes are fixed on Probably-Delta’s face. There’s somethin’ strangely familiar about her.
“Who are you?” she asks curiously, starin’ straight at me.
I swallow and then give an awkward wave, because I don’t know what the hell else to do, and I’m feelin’ a little guilty for bargin’ in here like this with no warnin’. “Umm. I’m Medley Bell.”
The moment my words come out, it’s like I dropped a bomb in the middle of their rich room. Every single one of them flinches, and Probably-Delta’s face drains of all color as she gapes at me like she’s starin’ at a ghost. “Holy fuck.”
“No fucking way,” a blond guy next to her says. He looks pretty human, but then again, so do I. “Did we summon her somehow?” he asks, his features and tone bewildered.
Probably-Delta just looks stunned. She has her hands over her mouth like she’s tryin’ to hold her surprise in for some reason. I look over to find a too-beautiful-for-his-own-good lookin’ demon with blond wings and a scowl. He looks ready to pitch a duck fit. His gray eyes are enraged, but they’re not aimed at me. They’re aimed at another beautiful woman in the room with rich purple eyes, royal purple hair, and wings the color of the amethyst my mama wears around her neck.
A shiver runs up my spine at the way she’s lookin’ at me. At the way they’re all lookin’ at me.
“Well, if you’d returned any of my phone calls, you’d know what was happening, Rafferty,” Alder says to the blue demon. “What the fuck has been going on?” he demands, angry as all get out. “Why haven’t you called?”
“Alder, you don’t understand. We’ve been dealing with a lot here,” Rafferty begins.
“No,” Flint interrupts. “You don’t understand. We heard you assholes on our way up. You left us in the dark when we should’ve been warned about a threat. Medley was almost taken twice, and y’all knew this whole time that this Morax prick was out there hunting her,” he growls.
“Now wait a minute,” a big black demon with fiery hair and eyes cuts in. “We just found out about her three fucking seconds ago,” he defends, those flame-filled eyes cuttin’ over to me. “We had no idea that she was out there, or we would have tracked her down and kept her safe.”
“Oh, so you think you can keep all the Gatekeepers for yourself, Jerif, is that it?” Flint accuses with a pissed off sneer.
“What?” the large lava lookin’ guy asks irritably, steppin’ closer to us.
Flint and Alder both move in front of me protectively. Flint’s skin has taken on that darker tone that happens when he goes all indestructible, and Alder’s plucked a flower from behind his ear and holds it ready in his hand. The move should be innocent, silly even, but it’s not. I don’t know what the hell he can do with that flower, but I instinctively know it’s nothin’ good.
I thought these other Gate Guardians we were visitin’ were friends, but from the way Alder and Flint just reacted, I think I might have missed somethin’. Not one to be unprepared, I open my hand and call my scythe. If this leads to a fight, I don’t want to be caught off guard.
The wood and metal staff appears in my hand as the arguin’ escalates, and both blades pop out with a shink sound. I have no idea what’s goin’ on, but if Alder and Flint are ready to go, I will be too.
The sound of my scythe openin’ up makes everyone suddenly go quiet. Alder and Flint turn to me in question, and I see Probably-Delta’s brow furrow.
My nerves spike as my grip tightens around the staff. I’m half expectin’ someone to retaliate against me for callin’ to my weapon, but instead, Probably-Delta steps forward. “How’d you do that? I can never get mine to cooperate that easy,” she tells me, her bright purple wings twitchin’ behind her like they want to know the answer too.
My brows pull together in confusion, and I watch as she holds her hand out and concentrates on her palm. Her eyebrows dip down as she stares at her hand, and her lips purse as she puts everythin’ she has into it.
Nothin’ happens.
She lets out an exasperated huff. “See? The Queen of Hearts has a mind of her own,” she tells me with exasperation, but I have no idea what that means.
“Umm…”
All at once, everyone seems to start talkin’. If I had to guess, I’d say standin’ beside Probably-Delta is another one of her Guardians. He has black eyes and pale skin, and he seems to be pettin’ her with his magical demon shadows in a real friendly manner. I stare at what appears to be a comfortin’ stroke down her side before the dark shadow moves back to the demon’s arm and settles there like it’s once again just ink in his skin.
Well, that’s pretty cool. I nudge Alder in his side and mutter to him. “Why don’t your tattoos move?” I ask, eyein’ his multi-colored blooms. He gives me
