Bad Company (Seven Deadly Sins #1) ✅ Completed

Chapter Thirty: Showdown at the Gift Emporium

Showdown at the Gift Emporium 

"Aunt Celeste…uh…how long have you been standing there?” I asked, swallowing back my heart that had decided it no longer cared to be housed in my chest cavity and was trying to find a nice home in my throat.

She came forward a little bit, but not in her normal granny shuffle. She sort of glided forward, like she was moving on roller skates. Given the fact that I didn’t think the old bird would be on a pair of skates in her own shop, I was more than a little freaked out by the overall effect. Her smile widened and it was all toothy and did absolutely nothing to relax my jangled nerves, “Long enough to hear all about your plans for tonight. You know, that boy’s no good for you Eliza. Especially not when you consider what all I got planned for him.”

“Er…what are you planning to do with Chase?” I asked, swallowing past the lump of fear in my throat. It was a lot harder than it seemed. Being brave in real life was nothing like the way people portrayed it on the screen. Curse you again Hollywood!

“Tsk tsk,” she said, waving her gross crypt keeper finger at me. “Don’t be acting like I don’t know what you’ve been up to. Sneaking around, talking to Spring Dawn…trying to turn Dante away from me. And for what? A boy you don’t even know? Girl, you can’t even begin to guess what sort of hornet’s nest you done kicked up this time.”

There was so much violent mojo coming off my aunt it made the fine hairs on my arm and neck stand up. Whatever was happening, I knew without a doubt she was doing it. She was the reason the air had grown so thick and heavy inside the shop, it felt like I was standing inside a funnel cloud. And one helluva storm was about to hit.

There wasn’t any doubt I was scared, but I was also really ticked. She’d used me – there was no way she would’ve been able to get close to Chase had I not been there. And that was a fact, as my aunt liked to say. I backed away from the counter, trying to give myself some room to maneuver. There was no point in pretending with Aunt Celeste anymore. We both knew what was up. “Leave him alone. Chase didn’t do anything to you.”

Well, ok, at least I knew “something” was up, if not exactly what that something was. Still, she didn’t have to know that I didn’t really know anything, but was only pretending to know something so she’d give up something and then I would know everything.

God, even my own internal blubbering was freaking me out.

“I can’t do that, Eliza Rain. Not know anyway. I’ve done marked that boy – he belongs to Asher now.”

Asher? Again, with the scary dude in the bad Jedi robe. What was it was this guy? First Dawn, then Dante, now Celeste – he was like that distant uncle people always warned you about that you never wanted to meet in person. What was the big deal?

Aunt Celeste must’ve seen some of my ignorance over the whole Asher question on my face, because the next thing I heard was a loud cackling. Man, even her laugh was all sinister and bone chilling. She could give one of those Masters of Horrors a real run for their money.

When she finally came up for air, her eyes twinkled dangerously, “Goodness gracious, you really are stupid, Eliza Rain. You don’t even know what you’re messing with.” She sneered at me. “You can’t save that boy. He’s on a one way ticket to hell, and that’s a fact.”

Then, like something out of a bad freaking movie, she attacked. Not like flying at me, old lady ninja style sort of attack, but like a real evil witch sort of attack.  She raised her wrinkly hand and a puke green sort of lightning flashed out of her palm. She was aiming right above my head, and she hit the shelf behind me, sending shards of broken glass and debris raining all over me. Little pieces of knick-knacky crap cut my face and arms, and sent me ducking under one of the display tables. I wiped my forehead and found blood covering my palm and I could only imagine how many cuts I was now sporting on my face.