Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“It is strange,” I say.
“Get some food into you, and you’ll feel better,” Mrs Crocombe says, presenting a big platter of scones, jam, and cream.
They want me to swallow their angel bullshit along with whatever they serve. I can’t trust anyone here, no matter how friendly they might seem to be. But I do have to keep up the appearance of being somewhat convinced. I don’t want them to be suspicious of me, or to suspect just how delusional I believe they are.
As far as I am concerned, I have just been kidnapped by a cult. Like my generic expectations of cults, they’re overly friendly and apparently very concerned with my wellbeing. It’s best to play along for now.
“Ah, there you are.”
Cosmos appears, apparently unharmed by his arch cult-rival. He smiles at me, but I don’t smile back.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Anita says sticking her hand out to Cosmos. “I’m Anita. I’m Thor’s whatever.”
“Hello, Thor’s whatever,” Cosmos says. “Nice to meet you.”
Just as Cosmos takes Anita’s hand to shake it, a massive blond man comes racing into the kitchen, sweeping Anita up off her feet and away from Cosmos. He looks worried, as if he’s afraid Cosmos will hurt her. That’s concerning. If the men here don’t trust him, then he might be dangerous to me after all.
“What’s…”
Cosmos looks at his hand, then at the monstrously-sized blond man. “So we’re just a demon nest now.”
“Bryn has come to accept her, and you told us you were never returning. If you harm so much as a hair on Anita’s head, I will crush you. And then I will summon you back from the hell you so desperately deserve, and I will torture you for the entire span of my life.”
The threats are made viciously, in a deep voice tinged with an unmistakable Norwegian lilt. They’re serious too, though they sound outlandish. These people truly believe in their collective madness.
“’Ere! That’s no way to talk among the ladies!” Mrs Crocombe has fisted a rolling pin, and her jocund expression has turned to one of intense ire. “If you boys have a problem, you know to take it downstairs.”
“Yes,” Cosmos says. “Let’s take it downstairs.”
Now everybody seems angry and I’m not entirely sure why, except deduction tells me that offense has been taken because Anita has been designated demonic in their worldview.
Nina and Anita watch as the blond man and Cosmos head to the back of the kitchen and then down the stairs.
“What’s down there?”
“Oh, it’s like an arena. Full of weapons,” Nina says.
“And a prison,” Anita adds. “With cells.”
“This place has a dungeon?”
“Dungeon. That’s a better word,” Anita says cheerfully. “Anyway, that’s where they’re going. To the dungeon. To fight.”
“Over you?”
“I’m not the angelic type,” Anita says, as if that explains something. She looks like the unemployed type, if I am to be judgmental. She’s wearing black jeans and a dark blue hooded sweater. Her dark hair is tied up behind her head. She has the air of someone who doesn’t work for their money so much as scam for it. I am making a lot of snap judgements about her, but when you have no context, snap judgements are all you have. Nina is delicate and refined, very pretty. It makes sense she would be married to the head of this mess. She hasn’t said that she is, but I would put money on it. She has that ephemeral quality that probably makes her irresistible to men. This is a cult with some very good-looking people in it. Maybe I should be flattered I was picked to join.
“So you have to have angel blood to live here?”
“No, but it helps,” Anita snaps sassily.
“There are all sorts here,” Nina says in a way that is supposed to be comforting, I think.
There are dull thuds coming from downstairs. They’re very muffled, suggesting that if one were down there, one would find them very loud. Given what I have seen Cosmos to do his enemies, I worry for Thor’s safety.
“I hope being Thor’s whatever doesn’t mean you’re overly attached to him,” I say. “Because from what I’ve seen, nobody has a chance against Cosmos.”
“I think Thor can take care of himself,” Anita smirks knowingly.
“Well, from what I have seen, nobody has a chance of survival once Cosmos attacks.”
“You’ve probably seen very little,” Anita replies. She seems a tad defensive. Do I seem a tad defensive? Are we doing the adult female version of the schoolyard my dad could beat up your dad argument? It would seem so. I’m not going to continue it on, I can already tell that I am making something akin to an enemy here in the cult.
“Where are Cosmos and Thor?” A masculine voice interrupts our conversation. It comes from a man with a heavy presence. I can actually feel the energy in the air change as he walks into the kitchen, and scientifically that’s not possible, so that’s how much of a complete downer he is.