Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped (The Guild Codex Demonized #3) - Annette Marie Page 0,41

was he still at it now?

I opened a new archive tab and searched for unsolved missing women cases in the Vancouver area within the last six months. Only a few hits appeared and they didn’t seem related. The women were neither young nor Arcana mythics.

“I’ll have to do more research, I guess,” I said gloomily, the prospect of reading up on murdered women holding little appeal. “But at least we know Claude and this sorcerer were up to no good twenty-two years ago. They must be up to something now too.”

Abandoning my laptop, I rose to my feet, stretched, and headed over to the kitchen, craving a sweet snack. Unfortunately, Zylas had eaten all the cookies ’n’ cream brownies I’d made yesterday—which was a shame, because they’d been delicious.

I investigated the fridge but found nothing appealing. As I closed it, I spotted a box tucked in the corner—chocolates Amalia had picked out for Zora. We’d decided to leave her flowers and a card instead, seeing as she might not be eating solid foods for a while, so the chocolates were fair game.

Feeling vaguely guilty, I ripped the plastic off.

“What is that?”

I jumped. Zylas stood behind me, looking over my shoulder.

“Chocolates,” I told him. “I’m having a snack.”

“Smells good.”

I rolled my eyes. “I haven’t even opened the box yet.”

Squeezing past him—and out of the corner where I couldn’t escape his hickory scent—I set the box on the breakfast bar and slid the lid off. Zylas hovered close as I lifted a card off the top, revealing the small delicacies underneath.

“Hnn.” He leaned over the counter. “So many?”

“They’re all different.” I referenced the card, which had a legend of flavors printed on the back, and selected an oval chocolate with a swirl on top. “This one has strawberry cream filling.”

He took it, eyes gleaming at the prospect of trying new food.

“You have to chew it,” I warned him. “All the flavor is in the middle.”

He popped it in his mouth and bit down. He gave it several chews before swallowing.

I arched my eyebrows. “Good?”

“Sweet. Good. These are all different?”

Giggling at his wondering tone, I checked the legend again. Hmm. Did I dare?

I did dare. Picking out a square one, I offered it to him. “Licorice caramel. Try it.”

He took the chocolate, peered at me suspiciously, then put it in his mouth. He chewed once, chewed again—

“Guh! Why did you give me this?”

I fought back a laugh. “Some people like licorice.”

“Disgusting.” His jaw worked. “It’s in my teeth! What is this zh’ūltis food?”

As he swallowed with a grimace, my laughter broke free. He scowled, waiting while I regained my composure.

“Give me a good one, vayanin. More like the first.”

“Okay, okay,” I panted, wiping a tear from my eye. “How about … orange cream? That’s like the first one.”

I passed it to him. With another suspicious glare, he bit it in half. When it wasn’t offensive, he tossed the second half in his mouth and chewed it up.

“Better.”

“Now it’s my turn.” I perused my options, then chose a large oval chocolate. “Vanilla caramel! This will be good.”

As I raised it to my lips, Zylas leaned in, his chest brushing against my shoulder. “But vayanin, you said each one is different.”

“Yes.”

“I want to try it.”

“There’s only one.”

His scowl returned. “You can eat these again sometime, na? There is nothing like this in my world.”

“Are you guilt-tripping me?”

“I do not know that word.”

I tried to frown but just laughed again. The big bad demon, pouting that he wouldn’t get to try every flavor of chocolate. More giggles built up in my throat.

“Okay, I’ll have half, and you can have the other half.” Snickering at his immediate nod of agreement, I bit into the chocolate.

Liquid caramel spilled over my fingers.

“Mm!” I exclaimed, trying to catch the escaping filling. “Here!”

As caramel ran everywhere, I stuffed the chocolate in his mouth. My fingertips pressed against his lips—and I realized what I’d done. I snatched my hand back, my cheeks burning with instant heat.

Zylas stared at me, eyes wide and shocked as though he couldn’t believe what I’d done. His throat moved in a slow flex as he swallowed the messy chocolate.

His tongue slid across his lower lip, running over a smear of caramel. “Vayanin?”

Was his voice huskier than usual? No, I was imagining it.

“Um. I … uh …” I wrenched my gaze off him and looked at my sticky fingertips. “That wasn’t … I mean …”

With no idea what I intended to say, I gave up and faced the