Taste of Secrets

Chapter Twenty

"Uh...." Lilith trailed, "Maybe your parents rolled into town?" I put my hands in my hair, pacing back in forth. I couldn't stop thinking about that book. It could've helped me to try and figure this whole thing out. "Maybe you pissed off the landlord," I said. "I am the landlord!" Hamish replied, annoyed. "The only person who knows that stuff was here is your thief demon," Randall said. "She's not our, she's her own demon," Lilith responded. "But she was working for us," Jack said, "We paid her."

"Yeah, in underpants," I retorted, "You're not dealing with a healthy psyche." Lilith sighed, Hamish grabbed his vest and grunted in frustration.

~~~~

"Zecchia we command you, appear before us," our three friends said, Zecchia appeared. "Oh for fuck's sake, you again?" she retorted. I rolled my eyes and sat beside Randall on the stairs. "And you added a demon trap," Zecchia sighed, "Not cool."

"Though you didn't use that word," I said. "No," Lilith said, "You can't you use that word."

"Thank you," Zecchia replied, smirking. "Where's our stuff?" I asked and stood up from the stairs. Randall reached for me hand, trying to bring me back down. "Oh you mean, where's that stuff that passed through your possession briefly," The demon said. She sighed and looked at her nails. "Don't make us ask twice," Ham-dog said. "Oh sweet boy," Zecchia said, "You do not want to fuck with me!" I stepped back a bit, frightened of her outburst. "We just want our stuff back, please," Jack said. Zecchia turned around and stepped out of the 'trap'. "Guys," Randall spoke nervously, "The demon trap isn't working."

"Oh! It's working you hairless chimp," Zecchia retorted, "The trap only tethers me to this dump, not that circle." She waved her hand around then walked over to the bar. "So," she sighed, "now your slave, who was busy living her own damn life before you yanked her back here, is standing by to fix all your mistakes." 'Our' demon grabbed to bottles. "Till you say I can go," Zecchia opened one of the bottles, "Woo-fucking-hoo."

"We did something wrong with the summoning," Lilith said. Zecchia chuckled, shaking her head. "Ding, Ding, Ding," she laughed, "The idiots who appreciate our differences weren't present for the summoning, but were present for the assigning. So contract...null...and voice.." She grabbed both bottles and poured them into one glass. "Oh dear god, please stop," Hamish said, pushing us out of the way to get to the demon. 

"Fine," Jack sighed, "We'll get you to steal it all again." I looked at Jack, narrowing my eyebrows. "The party who acquired the artifacts from you did a fealty sacrifice that prevents me from stealing it again," Zecchia explained, watching Hamish pour her drink with the correct combinations. "So just tell us who they are," I said as I stepped forward, "and we'll sort it out ourselves."

"Oof, Mm-mm," she shook her head, "Demon-client confidentiality." I scoffed, groaning in frustration. "Again," Randall said, "Not to say 'I told you so,' but we told you guys it was gonna go like this." Randall pointed between him and I. Hamish handed Zecchia her drink, she gulped it down all in one sip. "Delish," she smirked, "Again!" 

"Hold up, hold up," Jack said, "You give us something, then you get another drink." She contemplated it for a bit before she replied. "Fine," she said, "Don't ask for the same old thing, though. Try to be smart this time."

"We're smart," I claimed, joining my friends for a group huddle. "You know, why don't we just ask for the weapons back," I said, "There's a bunch of bow and arrow stuff that we could use."

"No way," Jack disagreed, "We need it all  back. That's how we get out of the Order."

"If we can't ask who, maybe we can ask where?" Lilith suggested, glancing at us. "Like longitude, latitude?" I guessed. She nodded in agreement. "She'll still find a way to screw us over," Randall said. "No, she screwed us once, all right?" Jack encouraged, "but now we're ready."