Belly of the Beast

Chapter 19

I hated to make Christoph wait for Vincent to have his way with me. It felt rude and naughty, but that was life with my lusty gollum. A life I wouldn't trade for anything. When Vincent and I relocated to the bed, both whippets followed us up, and I made the call to Christoph. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey."

"Hey, Christoph. You good to talk?"

"Yep."

"Will they check your call log and ask why you've been talking to me so much?"

"They don't know we talk. I've got you listed as Lucy, a girl I...hang-out with sometimes. And Vincent is Robin."

"Oh." I hid the blush trying to color my cheeks as I shook my head disapprovingly. "Well, now that that awkwardness is out there, let's get down to business. Vincent is with me and you're on speakerphone."

"I figured."

I took a breath, steeling myself for the task of putting Christoph in an awkward position. "It turns out there's a way everyone can work together to take care of this cursed cube problem. The domus would be willing to give Hadria the cube if she provides proof that she intends to remove the curse, or destroy it, whichever comes first." Christoph was laughing before I even finished. "Really, Christoph? I'm not done."

"It won't make a difference. Even if Hadria gave you this proof, you wouldn't take her word for it. Hell, I wouldn't take her word for it."

"Do you think she might be up to no good?" I asked.

"I honestly couldn't tell you what she's up to, although I don't know why she would hold onto an object with a demon curse attached to it. She knows how dangerous it is to our kind."

I glanced at Vincent, hating how nervous he made me and praying he couldn't tell. "Your involvement in the queen's guard could play a positive role here. You could use your position to infiltrate her inner circle and learn her true purpose for the cube. Then we'd know for sure."

Another chuckle echoed from the phone. "You want me to spy on Hadria? You watch too many cop shows, Reese. The queen gave me the position of queen's guard for one reason only. To keep better tabs on me. I figured that out shortly after I came back with my commitment tattooed on my skin. If I do anything that doesn't follow protocol, I'm brought in for questioning. I know that's why Hadria asked me back. Dale and his big mouth reported my meeting with Vincent."

"That's on me," said Vincent. "I'm the one who insisted we talk face to face."

"And I agreed to it. So, I guess I'm heading to the hive without the cube, huh?"

"Not necessarily," Vincent said. "You told Reese the demon who removes the curse is chosen by a random name draw. What happens after that? Is the task carried out immediately, or will the unlucky bastard have time to think about it for a while?"

"I have no idea how that will play out, but I did learn something useful since we talked. Fredrik brought me into the loop about the resource Hadria has him scouting for. It's a book of spells that apparently contains the method to lift the curse. Fredrik asked me to do some research in the city, but not much is known about the necromancer's paraphernalia or where it went after he died."

"What's this spell book called?" I asked.

"The Art of Demon Necromancy."

"That doesn't sound like a book you'd find in your local library," Vincent offered darkly just before he pushed off the bed and walked out of the room. I heard him inside his office before he returned with a thick-bound book in his hand. "If the gollums know about it, I'll find it in here."