Page 20 of Hell Burns Between Us

“You know,” he said. “You’d be really pretty if you used a potion to straighten your hair. It always looks so crazy.”

Peri reached up instinctively to touch her hair, her fingers catching on the tangles that had once been a neat braid. Her father’s flower was gone, lost in the wind, and she bit back the sting of tears. “Ah, okay,” she said tightly. “Thanks for the idea, I guess.”

He gave her another once-over, his eyes lingering just long enough to make her skin crawl. Then, with a burst of laughter, he said, “All I hear is how brilliant you are, but I wonder how brilliant a demoness can actually be if she forgets to wear shoes to an important ceremony.”

She grimaced, then forced a laugh. “I know, how silly of me, right? I’ll go see if I can find somebody to borrow a pair of shoes from.”

Valus shot her a look of annoyed disbelief. “Where would you find shoes here?”

“Someone is bound to have brought an extra pair with them,” she glanced at Irit for courage and then added. “They may not look all that nice, but it’ll be better than nothing.”

“Sure.” He drew the word out long, his voice filled with unfiltered disdain. She ignored this, taking small steps away from him.

He rolled his eyes and said, “I need to take Irit to the stables, anyway. We can meet later after you’ve found some… shoes.”

She gave him a weak smile, waiting for him to turn his back and guide his gryphon away. The gryphon pulled free from his grip and instead came over to her, and nudged her hand with its beak. Then, with her hand resting on the gryphon’s beak, Irit bowed low and regal.

Irit’s voice was a rasped whisper. “I cannot do much, but I believe that the gorgons can help you find the item you seek.”

A disbelieving laugh escaped her. “Are you trying to get me turned to stone?”

“You’ll be fine. Now listen,” Irit spoke quickly. “Long ago they lost their favourite dice in a bet. The dice wound up in the Arcane Vaults. If you returned them… they’d be more inclined to help.

Peri made a sound that was almost a laugh, but was mostly an indignant scoff. “Oh, another impossible task? Thank you ever so much for this wildly helpful idea.”

Irit nipped playfully at Peri’s face and Peri gave a laughing groan as she pushed the slightly terrifying beak away from her.

Valus made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. He grabbed the reins and yanked the gryphon away from where Peri stood. The pair of them strode away, Irit turned back towards Peri and gave her an eagle-eyed wink, which helped to calm her nerves.

The moment they were out of sight, she was on the move—sprinting toward Brightmore Manor.

Peri paused at the edge of the clearing and studied the manor’s grand structure. Warm light shone from the vast windows, likely the many ballrooms where demons would be gathered in a crowded frenzy. But what she was looking for were the smaller, rounded windows further up, nestled among the thick branches. That’s where she needed to go. While the Brightmore siblings no longer lived here, they were bound to keep the odd change of clothes here in case of emergencies. If not, she would just have to find Oleander and bully him into helping her.

Her gaze darted around until she spotted a tiny entrance, just big enough for gremlins. She crouched down and slipped through.

As soon as she entered, the thick, sweet smell of cinnamon enveloped her. The hallway she entered had a ceiling tall enough for her to stand and was lit by sconces with blue flames, casting an eerie glow. She crept forward, not quite certain where to go next.

She didn’t have to ponder this long before a gremlin dashed by her, reflexively, she reached out and tapped its shoulder. When the gremlin turned to face her, Peri recognised her immediately. Namble’s disproportionately large ears were adorned with golden rings that jingled merrily with every movement.

Her fur was brushed and neat, and her massive eyes narrowed as they settled on Peri. Gremlins typically wore variations of green and gold, and Namble was no exception, dressed in an emerald vest with golden buttons over a cotton button-down shirt.

Peri bowed her head, placing her fist to her chest in a formal greeting while she waited for Namble to acknowledge her.

The gremlin growled low, her voice dripping with impatience. “What do you want?”

Peri’s lips curled into a grin. “Hello, Namble! Oh, I was hoping it would be you I’d find. I need your help. Do you know where Br—” she faltered. “I mean—Oleander Brightmore’s room is?”

She dug into her satchel, pulling out a worn, mahogany book. “I’ve got a novel for you as a thank you, if you can point me in the right direction.”

Namble eyed the book warily, her large eyes narrowing as she considered the offer. “Very well. Which book is it, then?”

“It’s a mortal realm novel I... borrowed from someone,” Peri said with a calculated shrug of indifference. “It’s called Murder on the—”

Before she could finish, Namble snatched the book from her hands. “Sounds grand. There’s a door that leads directly to Oleander’s home at the top of the tree.”

“His home?” Peri had only wanted to raid his childhood room. “I thought he lived with his brother in some sort of smaller treehouse situation… I didn’t know he still lived here.”

Namble gave her an odd look. “Do you not know how magical doors work?”