Risen (Haunted Series Book 22)

As curious as she was, Mia withheld seeking out his memories.  She didn’t want to offend him as she had Abigor.
Altair released her.
“Why are you here?” Mia asked.
“I’m one of the ones who exiled Ruax.  If he were to find that out, Mia, he would destroy me.”
“How?” Mia asked.
Altair tipped his head sideways and said, “Think.”
“He’s a mind eater and a mind reader.  He knows your secrets.”
“You could have also read my secrets, but you didn’t even try.  Should I be offended?” Altair asked.
“I value your friendship.”
“Nah, you’re in love with me,” Altair said.  “For the record, I’m not interested.”
Mia sputtered, “I am not!”
Altair laughed.  “Sorry, Mia, I had to get your spark back.  The fallen are not going to respect a compliant misfit.  They want to see controlled chaos.”
“Am I headed to a demon court?” she asked.
“No.  But you’re going to be questioned privately by Lucifer and his generals.”
Mia paled.
“And if they find that you planned this, they will punish you.”
“I didn’t plan this.”
“From what I could see, you did everything you could to not get involved, and when it was impossible not to, you behaved responsibly but foolhardily.  You should have killed Lamia.”
“I thought I could save her.”
“She’s here.”
“What?”
“Not in her beast form.  Evidently, she went looking for Ruax.  She assumed he was on the boat, maybe inside of you.  She didn’t know about your penchant for green chalk.  The people on the boat thought she was attacking.  Murphy killed her earthly body by exploding a large amount of C4.  The island is basically gone.  It’s just a shoal with a burning hole in the middle.”
“The boat?”
“We don’t know.”
Mia unzipped her Kevlar vest and sighed; the tattoo was still there.  “Ted was on the boat.”
“You really didn’t adequately thank me for that interdimensional communication device.”
“You want my firstborn?” Mia asked, lifting her eyebrow.
“No!” he said, acting horrified.  “Not until he’s had his vocal chords removed.”
“I guess that’s his superpower.”
“He asks too many questions, and he’s so dogged about it.”
“He’s with my parents and godfathers right now.  I miss him and Varden,” Mia said.
“I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll do my best to get you sprung.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Do you want to wait here or in Aby’s apartments?  There, you can practice your Demon by conversing with his 108 concubines.”
“I’ll stay here,” Mia said.
“Mia, Aby is a lot of things, but he rarely has ever lifted a hand to a female of any species in thousands of years.  You must have really pissed him off.”
“I’m sure he’ll get over it,” Mia said.
“I’m going to leave this door unlocked.  The bathroom is down the hall, second door on the right.”
“One doesn’t think about bathrooms in Hell.”
“No, they don’t, do they?” Altair said thoughtfully and left.
Mia walked around the cell for a few minutes.  She walked out the door and down the hall to the bathroom.  What she found wasn’t what she was used to in the western world.  She used the facilities and walked to the ornate dresser and poured water into a washbowl.  She washed the saltwater and residue from the pink fog off her exposed skin.
A Cambodian woman walked in wearing golden robes.  She stopped and stared at the mess that was Mia and clapped her hands.  “Take her, wash her, dress her, and deliver her to me, with shoes.”
Mia was too tired to protest.
~
The storm raged overhead.  Ted had lost some of the tinnitus and was able to modulate his voice better.  Burt and the Callens were once again pouring over the collected information.  They were making plans to continue the treasure hunt as soon as the Azure could make port.
Ted was typing into his laptop.  Kevin looked over his shoulder and asked, “Is that code?”
“Symbols mostly.  You see, now I’ve been informed there are twelve dimensions, I need to see if I can prove it mathematically.”
Mason looked up.  “Dude, it’s magic not logic.”
“If it exists, it can be proven,” Ted said stubbornly.
“Leave him be, Mason,” Burt said.  “It’ll keep his mind off what is worrying him.”
“Speaking of worries,” Patrick voiced.  “I wonder who will show up first, Murphy or Mia.”
“Does it matter?” Ted asked, glaring at Patrick.
“The way I see this, either way, it’s going to bring on a lot of noise.  And I’ve got a migraine from your loud voice,” he said to Ted.  “If Murphy comes back before Mia, he’s going to be loaded for bear at her leaving him behind.  She’s going to go ape shit when she finds out that he blew up a beastie that we promised not to mess with.  Sure, Ted, you, Burt, and the ghosties did a fine job keeping her mitts off this ship, but we all knew that we were either going to drown or be served up as supper.  The question is, will Mia see it that way?”
“What’s the noise if she comes back first?” Ted asked.
“The sex.  We’re going to have to listen to Martin sex.  Come on, lad, you enjoy it way too much.”
Ted went crimson.
Burt laughed.  Mason lightly banged his head on the desk.  Patrick stared down Ted before saying, “You lucky bastard.”
~
Mia stared in the mirror and nodded in appreciation.  She had never looked more feminine and fierce at the same time.  A stunning woman with the darkest skin Mia had ever seen handed her a gown made of chain mail.  She drew the tunic over Mia’s head and adjusted the chain so it flowed and supported Mia’s top-heavy figure.
“If only Ted could see me now,” she said in Demon.
“Who is this Ted?” the woman asked.
Mia pointed to her tattoo.  “My husband.”
“He is sharing you with Abigor?” she asked.