Dusk Avenger (Flirting with Monsters #3) - Eva Chase Page 0,99
us a strategy to encourage the boss out of his home. The main impression I get from his use of the pen is boredom. He used it for writing numbers into boxes in some sort of game? And also words in other boxes in a different game. Nothing he felt very strongly about.”
Yeah, I didn’t think Sudoku or crossword puzzles were going to be our ticket to luring the boss man away from his protective walls so Ruse could work his voodoo. “That’s okay. What about those?” I tipped my head toward the other two items without a huge amount of hope. Maybe we were waiting to launch our grand plan until our charmed guard could take out another haul of trash.
Snap picked up the ketchup-y napkin gingerly and tested all around it. A hint of a smile curled his lips, but not for the reasons we’d have wanted.
“He had a very delicious meal,” the devourer reported. “One of those burgers of ham, very juicy with seeds on the bun.” He paused. “And he became frustrated because of a call that interrupted his meal. But he put the napkin down when he answered. I don’t know what it was about.”
At least Snap had gotten some second-hand deliciousness out of that one. I restrained a sigh as he picked up the torn packaging.
It was the largest of the items, so it took several minutes before the devourer had checked it over thoroughly. He lingered on one spot, his tongue flicking here and there around a seam in the plastic. A glint of neon flashed in his eyes.
I straightened my posture, watching him. Something had caught his interest, and in a different way from the burger.
“It was a long time ago,” Snap said, slowly and softly. “But he remembers it sometimes at odd moments. He didn’t realize how much this set would look like the one she showed him…”
“Who showed him what?” Antic demanded, practically tap dancing across the table in her eager impatience.
I waved her silent. Snap took another taste of the impressions attached to the packaging. “A young woman he cared about a lot. He had asked her to connect her life with his—he gave her a ring.” He glanced at me.
“Humans exchange rings when they get engaged to be married,” I said. “It’s basically the highest form of commitment any person offers anyone else.”
The devourer hummed to himself. “Yes. That. But there is much sadness when he thinks about her. I think it must have been a very long time ago, years and years, but it still hurts him a lot. And—there is anger too. Something dark and large with vicious teeth… Blood…” His forehead furrowed. “I think perhaps she was killed by a shadowkind. That could be why he would want to kill us, couldn’t it?”
“Not that I think one murder excuses attempted genocide, but yeah, that could do it.” I rubbed my mouth. If this guy still thought so much about his long-lost fiancé, she might help us prevent that genocide. “Did you see anything else about her? What she looked like, her name…?”
“Yes. Yes, there was—” His tongue flicked. “Carmen. That was her name. Her voice is very soft in his memories… She called him ‘Isaac’.”
The pieces were starting to interlock in my head to form a rather impressive picture, if I did say so myself. Ruse leaned in and tugged on my ponytail. “I like that sly look on you, Miss Blaze.”
Snap peered at me hopefully. “You can use that?”
“It might be perfect,” I said. “The ring you saw… Was the impression clear enough that if you went to a store with lots of rings, you could recognize which one was the most like it?”
The gleam came back into Snap’s eyes. “I think so.”
“Is there anything else you’d require, m’lady?” Thorn asked.
“A wig,” I said. “Since he’s probably been warned about a redhead running with the monsters by now. With that and a ring—we can make this happen tonight.”
The wig wasn’t the most comfortable thing I’d ever worn. My shadowkind companions—who were becoming as adept as thieves as I was, with the additional benefit of being able to sneak into just about any building without any need for tools—had found me a good quality one, thick black waves that looked natural once my real hair was all tucked underneath. But the edges still itched at my skin. I didn’t want to fix it on completely until it was actually time to head out.