Devour the Dark (Devourer #2)

24. Asha

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

ASHA

“There’s a look on your face.”

I know Winnie has been watching me.

We have drinks—a signature concoction for the night called Bloody Twilight. It tastes like licorice and cherry. I’ve barely sipped mine. Winnie’s is already gone. She’s assured me that the shadow makes it nearly impossible to get drunk. I’m not so lucky.

“What kind of look?” I ask.

We’re tucked in a back corner partially hidden by a potted calycanthus Aphrodite bush, its bright red blooms perfuming the air around us.

“Like you’re trying to undress Malachi with your mind.”

“Meh. Not my type.”

“Okay, but—wait, what is your type?”

Despite my objections, I am watching Malachi closely. But Winnie asked me a question, and when data is requested, I sometimes have difficulty denying it. “The twins have the kind of body I like. Solid and stocky.”

Winnie smiles wide. “So solid. So stocky.”

“I tend to like my men a little more detached, though. I don’t do emotion well.”

“So a Bash body, an emotional state like Pan. How do you like to be loved?”

“I would tell you if I knew.”

She watches me quietly for several seconds. “I understand,” she says. “More than you know.”

We scan the ballroom again. The party is well underway, with the room very close to capacity. The dance floor is in the middle of a choreographed number, the rest of the room crowded around the perimeter to watch.

“We got off track,” Winnie says. “That look you had on your face…what were you thinking about?”

I’m still eyeing the ballroom as I explain.

“Something isn’t right here. Notice there are no fires? No candles? I know Darkland likes its darkness, but the women are all wearing shawls or shivering from the chill. The number one rule of throwing a party is to make guests comfortable. None of this is right.”

I glance over at her briefly and find a familiar expression on her face: one of curiosity and respect. Of me? By all rights, she’s the more powerful one here. If there were a hierarchy, I’d be at the bottom. And yet she’s regarding me like an authority figure. Like I’m the one with the answers. Truthfully, I usually am. I am almost always the smartest person in the room. But even though I know it as a fact, I don’t go around flaunting it. Or at least, I don’t try to.

“You have a theory,” Winnie states.

I narrow my eyes, examining the room again.

“There’s no reason not to have a fire in any of the numerous fireplaces dotted around the manor. Having no fire is a choice. So…”

Malachi raises his glass to drink.

He’s using his right hand.

In the warehouse, I noticed the outline of a dagger on his right arm, which usually means someone is left-handed.

This Malachi has been using his right hand tonight, not his left.

And then it clicks.

My mouth drops open.

Winnie squeezes my arm and then quickly pulls away. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed you were okay with physical touch. I got excited. You figured it out. I can tell.”

A smile cracks over my face. “I think so.”

“Let’s hear it, smarty pants.”

I frown at her. “I’ve never heard that phrase before.”

“It’s something people say where I’m from. Sort of. It’s dated, I’ll admit. Meant as a compliment, of course.”

“Thanks? Anyway, there are several monsters in the Seven Isles that are wary of fire. They can be burned or killed by fire. But so can we, so having a fire is not the same as completely avoiding it. Only one creature avoids fire, not only because it burns, but because it reveals .”

“How so?”

“Flame has two characteristics: its light is inconsistent, constantly moving, but it’s also heat. That’s why fire is a common component to purification spells.”

“I wouldn’t know,” she admits. “I barely understand my own power, let alone anyone else’s.”

Malachi makes his way across the ballroom, drink still in hand. “There is one creature in the Seven Isles that would avoid fire because of what it reveals.”

“And that is?”

“A shapeshifter.”

“ Oh . That’s…not good.”

“No. I don’t think that’s Malachi.”

“Fuck,” she breathes out and scans the crowd. “We need to find Vane.”

I can tell the instant she goes inward, her eyes glassy and far away. “But of course, I’m having trouble connecting with him. It’s been like that since we left Neverland. He’s been shutting me out.”

“Can you break through it?”

“Possibly. It would require calling the shadow back to me, but if he’s in trouble, I don’t want to leave him powerless.”

Her gaze goes unfocused again, and then she grumbles. “I have nothing. I’m just going to follow in his footsteps and hope I catch something. You’re more than welcome to stay. I don’t want to drag you on a goose chase.”

“I’m coming. If he’s run into a trap, he’s going to need both of us.”

“I bet Vane never imagined a day when he’d need to be rescued by two girls. I’m never going to let him forget it. As soon as he’s safe, of course.”

She starts off across the ballroom toward the arched doorway where Malachi just disappeared.