Watcher in the Darkness, Book 3: Imprisoned

Chapter 32

The steady downpour muffled the jingle of the shop door as it opened, then Gwen poked her head outside. Her eyes widened when she saw me, and her mouth formed a perfect oval. "Holy Light, you look horrible," she said as she waved me inside. "Hurry up and get in here."

I glared as I walked by, though my eyes were just about swollen closed. "You're the Princess of the Mists."

Gwen shut the door behind me. "I beg your pardon?"

"I heard an old legend today that I know it was about you and that fuck, Khalid. Seventh daughter of a great demon?" And there went my other ear. "Being enslaved to a human? That huge ass obsidian statue in his office. You're the Princess of the Mists."

"Oh, I'm not denying that," Gwen said as she split in two. "It's just been so long since anyone's called me by my royal title. Not to mention, I'm purely amazed that you made the connection." Gwen One went back to the register as Gwen Two picked up my arm. "Follow me before you scare away all of my customers."

I allowed her to pull me toward the back of the shop. "What customers?"

"I have customers," she said, as though implying otherwise had been an insult.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a disembodied shadow scuttle toward one of the wall hangings. The tapestry waved like a flag as the thing vanished.

Gwen led me through the beaded curtain, down the hall to the kitchen. There, she sat me at the table, then began to pass her hands over my face. Water hissed out of my pores, and I blinked several times as my vision cleared.

"I need your help."

"Of course, you need my help," Gwen said as she worked her way down my body. "You won't be satisfied until you're indebted to me for the next century."

"Your ex-fiancée has Karen trapped in his fancy fucking whorehouse and I need your help getting her out."

"Are you certain she's trapped?"

"No." I flexed my fingers. My skin was covered in flakey white scales, but it was dry. Movement no longer caused my joints to split open.

"I'm assuming then that you have no concept of how breaking and entering works?"

"I know how those fucking wards around the place work, and so do you. If I go in, I won't be able to come back out."

"Well, then, the two of you could die together. Have you no romance in your soul?"

My face screwed up is disbelief. "What?"

Gwen tilted her head, as though confused by my confusion. "What?"

Goddamn demons and their goddamn riddle-speak. I refused to let her suck me in. "Look, you have magic. Powerful magic, right?"

She nodded. "Most definitely."

"So, use it to help me get past those wards."

"I could." The vapor she pulled from my flesh disappeared into her fingertips. I felt a spark of paranoia as I wondered what else she was taking out of me, but I stomped it down. "However, I won't."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Of course, she wouldn't. Bitch.

"Just as Khalid is forbidden from interfering in my contract with you, so too am I forbidden from interfering with his contracts. Among my kind, there are things that are simply not done. You don't share your true name with anyone, and you never interfere with another's oath. Overtly." Gwen's long dress twirled around her as she turned to open the refrigerator.