Page 34 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse

Drevan turned his head in my direction, a wicked, wicked smile shaping his chiseled lips and a spark of fire glinting in his eye.

“We did.”

12

“What?Whatdoyoumean ‘we did’?!”

Was he saying that he was responsible for Lunar Hudson’s kidnapping?

“Let’s head back,” Drevan said. “I’ll explain on the way there.”

I blinked rapidly, trying to dispel my confusion and regain my bearings. For a moment, the car might’ve been a spaceship. Then I got over my shock, remembered how to operate the stupid thing, and got us on our way. I didn’t know why I was so shocked. I should’ve guessed that Drevan had something to do with what had happened. He had orchestrated so many convoluted plots when he was working on redeeming me that this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Trying to grasp the thread of what was going on, I started talking things out loud. “So… you think that kidnapping Solar’s sister is going to help redeem him?”

“Yep!”

“How exactly?”

“I’m sure you were able to surmise from his conversation with Lunar that he’s in some sort of trouble.”

“I was. He’s into something bad. What is it? Drugs?”

“If it were only that easy. No, it’s not drugs. He’s involved in something else. I’m not quite sure what yet. I’ve only just started working on this last week when I was so rudely interrupted by being kidnapped myself.”

“How come you knew who it was before Jophiel and LeBeau did?”

“Part of the rules. Sometimes, we’re given a small advantage before the task begins. But any advantage I might’ve had was stolen by Jophiel, and the fact that I need… human involvement to really get the ball rolling, though I got a few things organized.”

“You mean you needed me?”

He nodded.

“But you were about to organize Lunar’s kidnapping.”

“I was. It was just a plan that I couldn’t set into motion until you were on board. Everyone was on standby while we waited on pins and needles for you to make up your mind. Though, I told them not to worry.”

“Don’t sound so cocky, Drevan. The only reason you were able toconvinceme,” I made air quotes, “is because, deep down, I really want to be a demon hunter.”

“If I sound cocky, it’s not because Iconvincedyou, but because I knew what was in your heart.”

Holy shit!

That was probably the hottest thing any guy had ever told me, and it wasn’t even hot. What was the matter with me? I was turning into a big softy. I cleared my throat as I checked the nonexistent traffic on the left in an effort to hide my blush.

“So you were able to… do some things without me. That’s good,” I stammered, still trying to recover.

“There are a lot of rules, but there are also loopholes.” He leaned forward in his seat and pointed. “Turn here.”

“Why? That’s in the opposite direction of the league.”

“We’re not going to the league.”

“Where then?”

“You’ll see.”

Drevan ended up guiding me all the way back to the Upper East Side and to another fancy hotel I thought I would never visit: The Plaza. Counting the time he’d taken me to The Mark Hotel and breakfast today, this was the third time he’d taken me through posh New York in my ratty clothes. As we walked in, I got dirty once-overs again, but they didn’t bother me as much. It was true what they said… one can get used to almost anything.