Page 108 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse

“What is it?” Sage asked.

I took a step back. “Wait for me. I’ll be right back.”

“We’re gonna be late,” he called back as I ran down the hall.

Jogging, I made a beeline for Grant’s office. It was well past office hours, so he wasn’t there, but his office wasn’t locked as he’d promised. Quickly, I marched to the bookcase with the seven sins’ tomes on its shelf.

It was Tuesday, so I pulled the third book down. Gluttony. Leafing swiftly through the pages, I went to chapter three and read the third sentence out loud.

“Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags."

Wood groaned and the bookshelf retreated, revealing Striker’s Queller,Blazebringer.I’d never referred to it by that name, but at that moment, it felt appropriate. I took the sword from its ornate stone pedestal and ran back out.

Sage stared at the sword in my hand. “What…?”

“Don’t ask,” I said. “It’s just some peace of mind.”

“O-kay.”

Outside, an inconspicuous sedan was parked at the curb. I pulled a fob from my pants pocket and clicked a button. The sedan beeped, and its lights flashed.

“That’s us,” I said. Drevan had given me the fob yesterday. He and Grant had taken care of everything. If only they could take care of the rest.

Without another word, we climbed in and drove off.

“Take a right,” Sage instructed me as I drove down a narrow street in Queens, not one of its finest, for sure. “The building should be on the end of the block.”

I did as he instructed, putting on my turn signal.

“That one.” He pointed at a red brick, three-story structure. The lower windows were shuttered, and the façade was in considerable disrepair. Of course, Solar would pick a place like this. I slowed down and parked several yards away from the entrance. Drevan had said to go to the side door and knock three times.

I glanced around. The street was deserted, with only a beat-up 70s Ford sitting on blocks across from us. I peered at Blazebringer under my seat. It wouldn’t do to walk in there wearing a sword, so why have I brought it?

For that useless bit of peace of mind that you mentioned.

Though maybe it wasn’t so useless—not if knowing it was here gave me the courage to do what I had to do.

Rubbing the palms of my hands together to get rid of the sweat, I stepped out of the car. Sage joined me on the sidewalk. He cracked his neck and took a deep breath, a sign that he was nervous too.

“It’ll be all right,” he assured me.

We went around to the side door. Sage knocked on the metal door three times as we’d been instructed. The clanks echoed, resonating like a bell announcing our doom. I resisted the urge to look around and search for any sign of Drevan, Khargon, or Grant. They were somewhere here, ready to act if need be.

Steps sounded on the other side of the door before it opened a crack. I recognize Solar, his blond hair peeking from under a black beanie.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, putting my acting abilities to the test.

He narrowed his blue eyes at me. “What areyoudoing here?”

“I’m accompanying my boyfriend,” I said as I hooked a finger in Sage’s direction. “Maximilian Fernsby.”

Solar’s eyes darted from side to side, making him look like a trapped rodent in need of an escape. Drevan had been right. My presence here was ratcheting up his anxiety. I had argued it would be a bad idea for him to see me with Sage, but Drevan said we wanted Solar as stressed and paranoid as possible.

“He’syour boyfriend, but you—”

“Do you plan to make us wait out here all night?” Sage asked in his fake British accent, looking as haughty and irritated as I imagined a hoity-toity heir would.

Solar deliberated for an instance. His mouth twisted with dissatisfaction, but he let us in anyway. We crossed the threshold, and Solar slammed the door shut. We found ourselves in a room with no windows or furniture. A couple of bare light bulbs offered the only illumination. Old papers littered the floor, which consisted of an ocher carpet as ancient as the building itself.