I stood in the king’s office, except I was next to the king, not in front of him.

This time, it was Coach sitting in the hot seat, and he was appropriately drenched in sweat. Because it was… the hot seat.

Anyway.

“Mr. Coach, I think it’s time you come clean with us,” the king’s voice thundered. He was much more suited to speak somewhere like the throne room, not a tiny one like this. If this was his inside voice, his outside one would probably make my head explode or something.

I glanced over at the royal hell spawn, but they seemed fine with it. They probably had hearing damage from just being around him. Violetta looked clueless. Lyili didn’t seem bothered either. Then again, it was hard to tell with her. She looked annoyed most of the time.

“I’m… not coming clean about anything,” Coach said.

“You dare speak to the king in such a manner?” Lyili’s body immediately erupted into flames. “If you do not spill your guts, I will spill them for you.” Holy shit, it really was going to be the hot seat.

“P-Please!” Coach flailed his clawed hands in front of him. “Just let me go!”

Lyili looked like she was ready to rip him apart. “You think you’re getting off that easily?”

“Ms. Lyili, please calm down.” The king waved his hand and her flames disappeared.

Lyili didn’t take her eyes off Coach. “You are lucky our majesty is a man of patience,” she snapped. “If he were not here to save you, I would be having roast chicken for my dinner tonight.”

“Yummy,” Yaika whispered under her breath, apparently to no one. It did sound pretty good. I hadn’t eaten anything since the storeroom hotdogs this morning.

“Mr. Coach, I will be frank.” The king leaned forward in his chair, resting his muscled arms on his desk. “We both know what was inside your safe.” Coach tensed up.

“The centipedes?” Violetta asked, but then threw her hands over her mouth. “Oops, I’m sorry. I was just thinking out loud.”

“Oh no, you don’t have to worry about things like that. Speak freely,” Minzfel said, his eyes pointed directly at her breasts. Jeez, it really was obvious, wasn’t it?

In any case, even if the guards had managed to get most of the centipedes back from the audience, I doubted they were enough to really incriminate Coach. No, if he was this worried, it could only mean one thing.

“There was something else in the safe, wasn’t there?” I asked.

“Indeed, there was, Sir Allard.” Lyili flashed me a smile that made more than just my back stand erect. “We also found detailed instructions.” In one fluid motion, she grabbed a stack of papers on a nearby table and then dropped them in front of Coach with a slam. “Instructions on how the bocce matches should be fixed.”

Coach’s beady eyes made it hard to tell where he was looking, but he sat silently for a few moments before finally answering. “I’m… not talkin’.”

“Who wrote these for you?” Lyili crossed her arms. “Talk, and I may allow you to live.” Wow, it must have taken a lot for her to say that. I mean, it was obviously a lie, but still. Big first step.

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“Don’t you get it?” Coach gripped his armrests. “If I tell you… they’ll… they’ll kill me.”

“And if you don’t tell me then I’ll kill you!” Lyili shouted.

“Please! Don’t make me say it!”

“Alright, listen up, old man,” I sighed, taking a step forward. I was going to have to lay on the pressure. “You do realize that you’re speaking to the head of the execution squad, right? This woman chops off the heads of guys like you for breakfast.”

Coach narrowed his eyes. “B-Breakfast?”

“Yummy…” Yaika mumbled again.

“That’s right.” I nodded my head. “So if you don’t cooperate, even I won’t be able to keep her from giving your neck a day off. But that’s only if you don’t cooperate with me. I’m the one who can save you.”

“Let us help you, Mr. Coach!” Violetta added. Unlike me, she seemed like she actually wanted to. I was just telling him what I knew he wanted to hear.

Coach eyed me. “What… do you mean ‘save’ me?”

I moved behind him, pacing back and forth. “Let’s face it, whoever paid you to do this probably thinks you’ve already told us who they are. Even if they don’t think that, you’re a liability to them now,” I said. “In other words, if we let you out of here, they’re going to kill you.”

Coach didn’t say anything. I was on the right track. Just a few more pushes and he’d crack. Man, I was totally badass right now.

“So if you don’t tell us, you’ll die. Either alone in an alleyway or strapped in a guillotine in front of a live audience.” I put my hands on the back of his chair. “But if you talk… then I can arrange for your protection.”

Coach glanced back at me, his breathing ragged. “Pro… Protection?”

“Umm… protection?” the king asked. Couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut?

“L-Listen, Sidkik is currently being held here in the castle dungeon,” I said. “In terms of safe places, I don’t think you’ll find a better one.” I walked back out in front of him. “Tell us who did it and you can stay there.”

Coach squirmed in his chair. “…the family…” he choked out. “The Acula family…”

It was about time.

“The Acula family?” The king sounded even more confused than normal. “Nonsense. They would never do such a thing.”

“But it’s true!” Coach cried. “I’m not making this up…”

The king held his apple murdering hands up. “Accusing a noble family of something is quite a serious offense.”

“Quite a serious offense indeed,” Lyili agreed.

“Enough of this. Take him to the dungeon.”

“W-Wait a minute,” I spoke up. “Explain to me what’s going on.”

“Mr. Allard, it’s late.” The king looked at me with heavy eyes. “We will deal with this in the morning. Return to your home for the night.”

Clearly, I didn’t have a choice. Before I could even gather my thoughts, Coach was removed from the room.

Violetta and I left the castle, walking down stone road toward home. It was dark, and the street was empty. Looking up at the street lights, I realized how exhausted I was. Was every day going to be this busy?

“You okay?” Violetta’s voice next to me brought me back to reality. Demon reality, anyway. “You don’t look so good…”

I could ask her about what Coach had said, but I didn’t feel like it. I just wanted to sleep. “It was just a long day,” I sighed.

“Yeah.”

We kept walking, the sound of our steps echoing through the buildings. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but it was late enough that no one was out. Surprisingly, there didn’t seem to be much of a demon nightlife. Go figure.

We reached the courtyard where we had met Suza yesterday. I stopped, taking a moment to look at the fountain of lava flowing in the middle of it. What was I doing? Was this… my life now?

Then I saw it, and a chill ran down my spine. A car. There was a black car sitting parked in the courtyard just twenty feet away. The engine wasn’t running, but somehow, I just knew. There was someone inside of it looking back at me.

Violetta turned back up ahead of me. “Ryley?”

Before I could answer her, I heard the car door open. My head snapped back to see a tall man in a black suit walking toward me.

“Mr. Ryley Allard,” the man said, his walk slow and deliberate. It was dark, but I could make out his face. He was a pale man in his twenties. His wavy black hair bounced with every step he took.

“One of your friends?” Violetta asked. Obviously he fucking wasn’t. What the hell did this guy want?

“Can… I help you?” I asked, trying to keep from sounding like I had shit my pants.

The man stopped just a few feet away. “I’d like for you and your assistant to come with me.”

Oh fuck. Was I… getting kidnapped?

The man’s eyes met with mine. “I see the rumors are true. You really are impervious to magic.” The man reached into his pocket a pulled something out. “But I wonder… if you’re impervious to these.” He held out a silver gun, pointing it right at me. “If you’d rather not find out, then I’d recommend getting in the car.”

“Ryley,” I felt Violetta move closer to my ear to whisper. “Is this one of your friends?”

No. No it wasn’t.