Page 43 of Hell Burns Between Us

He hated that he liked the way she glared at him now.

Rolling his eyes, he leaned forward slightly and drawled, “I’ll go look for your book and get us some tea. But don’t think I’ll let you steal anything else.”

She grinned innocently. “It wouldn’t fit anyway.”

With that, she turned and strode toward her hellcat. He let out a frustrated laugh before leaving, her small bag of loose-leaf tea in hand.

Chapter

Fifteen

PERINE WILDER

Oleander had been gone only a moment when Zila’s ears perked up, her head swivelling towards the window. “Good news for the overly curious among us, something interesting is coming.”

“From the window?” Peri asked, casting a frantic glance around her.

“No. The crack in the wall.”

“What crack—” Peri barely had time to gasp before a lazuline-skinned demoness with ink-blue hair pulled herself onto the balcony and stepped into Oleander’s bedroom.

She wore clothes of once-harmonious whites and creams, now long dirtied and tattered. Her horns curved outward, long and imposing.

Laurel Brightmore.

Oleander’s mother.

Rumours painted Laurel as mad—though what kind of madness, Peri wasn’t entirely sure. Violent or harmless? She preferred not to find out.

Leaves rustled outside the open window as Laurel’s eyes turned milky, clouded, distant—before sharpening again, locking onto Peri’s wide-eyed form.

Laurel canted her head side to side thoughtfully before speaking. "You trust your parents completely."

Peri stiffened, her fingers buried themselves in Zila’s soft fur. The hellcat’s velvet voice interrupted her thoughts. “You know you can lie to people if you don’t feel like telling them the truth.”

“And if I can’t think of a spontaneous lie?”

“You worry too much. Just say something clever.”

Peri blew out a breath. Alright, this was Oleander’s mother. What sort of answer would she hope to hear from Peri? Finally, she decided on an affirmative,“Um… Yes? They are my parents, after all.”

Laurel wrinkled her nose. “And thus, you risk forgetting everything.”

A flicker of unease crept up Peri’s spine, she’d somehow answered wrong then. She forced her expression into careful neutrality, hoping this strange conversation would be over quickly. “Alright, then.”

Then Laurel murmured, “You cannot live your life in duality, Perine Wilder. Just as Wisteria cannot win her father’s love and live, neither can you live the life your family has bestowed upon you. It will not end well if you try.”

So this was Laurel’s madness—speaking in riddles and nonsense. Peri forced herself not to fidget. “How do you know my name?”

Silence stretched between them.

Eventually, Laurel sighed. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Then her eyes turned milky again, only this time when Laurel spoke her voice echoed as if they stood in a great hall. “The deceiver is trying to regain a body. You must succeed before he does. First the stars will slip their long held places. Then water will swallow the ground in one long breath. If you do not return what was stolen to the Lady of the Lake, Hellfire will close the gates of Hell forever.”

There was a brief moment of silence as Peri stared at Laurel, her chest felt so tight it was a fight to even breathe. Slowly, so as not to startle Laurel out of whatever trance she was in, Peri found a pen and scrap of paper and wrote down everything she’d just said. She knew Laurel was supposedly mad, but it never hurt to take notes just in case. Sometimes madness was merely misunderstood, after all.

Laurel eventually emerged from whatever spell had overtaken her, reality seeping back into her gaze as it slowly landed on Peri.