Page 63 of Villains Never Die

I hope you’re keeping it somewhere safe. That book is dangerous.

j-aust13

It’s safe in my warehouse. What else do I need?

veilknight

Once you summon her, you have to trap her energy to keep her corporeal long enough to kill her. The instructions should be in the grimoire. And the knife, of course. How long do you think it will take you to do the ritual?

j-aust13

It’s in a lot of items I received. I’m still parsing through them.

veilknight

Be careful.

I had to find the perfect knife, something dramatic for the occasion. Blood would be easy, but I hadn’t cried since my mum died. I’d find a way to squeeze out tears. I would not fail.

Gray showed up to check on me around lunchtime, interrupting my sad attempts at translating garbled lore in Ancient Greek. Part of me wondered why I was going to all this trouble if the grimoire was nearby, but the past hours had turned to obsession as I absorbed everything I could about the monster who took my mother.

“You should take a break,” he said, shoving a wrapped sandwich and a bottle of water in front of me.

I nodded and closed my laptop. Reaching for the sandwich, I asked, “What did you do last night?”

Gray stared at me for a long beat.

“What?” I asked.

“You’ve never asked me that before.”

“Yes, I have.”

“No, you haven’t.”

I stopped unwrapping the sandwich and took a sip of water instead. “You said we’re friends. Friends ask each other what they did last night.”

Gray chuckled and sat down in a spare chair. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and said, “I hooked up with a girl I met at the last gala. Christina. This was the second time. She’s not clingy, and I hate clingy, so she’s perfect for me.”

“So a steady fuck buddy then?”

“It’s a situation that works for us.”

“Have you ever considered a relationship with any of these women?”

He barked out a laugh. “After my wife? Fuck no. What did you do last night?”

“I worked—”

“Go figure.”

“And then I hooked up with Rook.”

He smirked. “Yeah, what do you call that? You’re not friends with benefits.”

“‘Allies with benefits’ is his preference. He’s got a loud fucking opinion about everything.”

“That’s good for you. No one pushes back at you anymore. You need someone to keep you on your toes.”