the purple statue altogether.
“Have the others returned yet?” I wouldn't admit it, but a tiny seed of concern bloomed when I hadn't seen any of them.
“Trace did. He just took another group to the portal room,” she answered, and that seed shrank a bit. “I haven't seen Kian or Axton yet. I—”
“Excuse me,” Purple interrupted.
Despite being hidden within my hood, I turned my head to glare at him. I didn't care who he was or why he stood there. Cutting into a conversation was rude as fuck. So, I flipped up a finger to signal him to wait. By the way he jerked back and his shocked gasp, it didn't seem like he approved of which finger I chose to use. Pot licker.
With a smile on my face, I gestured to Grace. “You were saying.”
“Oh, yes. Well, It's probably not my place to say this, but Trace asked me to relay a message to you. He said, 'Tell Zella to go fuck herself for that. I know she stuck that asshole in my group on purpose. She's lucky I decided that killing someone on the first trip would look bad, but I fully reserve the right to do so later. Use my exact words, too.'” She halted and began mouthing words as she stared at some spot above my head. Finally, she spoke again. “Yeah, that was all of it. Would you prefer me to give him a reply?”
“Thanks, but I'd like the pleasure of delivering my message myself.” I twisted and dropped my hand. “How may I help you?”
The guy jerked when he realized that I addressed my question to him. “The King has requested your presence.”
Oh, how I wanted to tell him I declined the invitation, but we all knew that a request really meant that he demanded it.
Of course, I couldn't resist messing with the royal suck ass. “Okay, I'll stop by when I have a moment. Thanks for the invite.”
The expression on his face only changed a fraction, a testament to how he'd survived so long within the palace. He jerked his chin down and floated off.
When I swung back to Grace, intending on telling her I would return, her gaping mouth made it quite clear how she felt. I just patted her arm and twisted away, switching to my Soul form at the same time.
I wasn't stupid. Whether I found a few laughs in my response or not, I couldn't allow Purple to reach the palace before me. If he relayed what I'd said, it would only result in a lot of trouble for me. Likely for the OMIEB as well.
So, I flew through the crowd, and when Purple opened the door, I hurried outside. In what seemed like seconds, I stood at the side gate, the one that required a code. Grace had provided the number she claimed Corin had given her, but even though I'd grown a bit more comfortable with her, my insides still bounced around as I tapped the numbers in. My shoulders rose, and the muscles in my back tightened as I waited for the beep.
When the box prompted me to place my hand on it, I sighed and let out a nervous giggle. I hadn't quite trusted that Grace had given me the right one, and while it matched my palm to my file, I berated myself. She hadn't shown me any reason to doubt her. At least, not for something like this.
So she's an Angel. So what? And yes, I've only known her for a little while, but I didn't see anything worrisome in her memories. Maybe I need to relax more.
The gate buzzed, drawing me out of my head, and it creaked when I shoved it open. The side entrance had fewer Guards around it, but a few stood in a clump near the rear of the building. When one of them spotted me, he broke off and marched towards me. Since I did not feel like getting caught up in any more shit than I had to, I walked a little faster. I entered the palace only moments before he would have reached me. Despite knowing that I had every right to be there unattended since I had both the code and my fresh Master status, a bubble of laughter bounced around in my chest where it was forced to stay.
Though perhaps I should have just dealt with the Guard outside. I still had to find one, so I could be announced and watched while I