Page 142 of Infernal Secrets

“No, it didn’t bring a lot of luck.” I motioned toward the entrance. “I mean, you see what I’m dealing with for a boss?”

She nodded in understanding.

“I wanted to ask where the book came from.”

Maybe if I established a source, it’d give the guys somewhere to look.

At first, I wanted to help them so they wouldn’t hurt me. Now, I wanted them home so the attacks would end, and they could be where they belonged instead of stuck with me.

It would hurt in the short term, but I’d recover in time and get back to my life.

“Why would you need to know that?”

I blinked in response to her calm redirect. “Um… I just need to know. Can you tell me where you got it?”

“It is a bit of a long story. I think the better question is, what does the book do?”

“What?” I rubbed my temple. Why ask me that?

“Do you remember what I told you about the book? Or anything inside?”

I shook my head.

I couldn’t remember anything on the page with the ritual. I struggled to recall the conversation we had the day she gave me the book. Everything around that time felt foggy. But I blamed it on the events that followed and Grandma’s death.

She smiled, angling her head. The candlelight flickered, reflecting off her peridot eyes, making them glow. “If you spun the wheel of destiny, then whatever happened gave you the answer to your soul’s need and heart’s call.”

My lips parted and my brows bunched. Wheel? All I remembered was playing a game that turned my life upside down.

Her head tilted. “Was it wrong?”

Something cracked inside me, and a sudden, sharp pain unleashed a flood of words I couldn’t contain. I’d had enough.

“My soul’s need? Heart’s call? The night I played that stupid game, I invited four men into my home out of nowhere. And they weren’t normal men either. Oh no, not at all!” My laugh sounded unhinged as my voice rose. “Demons! Infernals! Shyrlivi! Whatever the hell they are!”

I squeezed my eyes shut and dropped my head back.

“And my god—which isn’t even real, by the way—I’ve gone stupid by letting them stay with me. Now, I’m starting to fall… No. I’m losing my mind. For real this time.” Opening my eyes, I threw my hand out to the side. “And while I played that game? My grandma was dying. Dying! Since then, it’s been one thing after another, and I’m so damn tired.”

When I finished, it felt like a thousand pounds lifted off my shoulders—until I realized what I’d said.

I met the woman’s eyes, expecting the worst.

She didn’t appear the least bit surprised. She wasn’t reaching for her phone to call security.

I blinked several times.

Why was she smiling at me?

Her smile fell as she breathed a soft sigh. “I’m sorry about your grandmother.” She sat upright. “But you aren’t losing your mind. You know that.”

“Do I?”

“Of course you do.” She pulled a lighter from beneath the counter. “Now, I fail to see the issue with the book. It delivered what you asked for.”

“I didn’t ask for four men.”

“If that’s what the book sent to you, then you did.”