Free Obsidian Wings by Laken Cane

stay with her until the twins returned home.
But first they were going to check on Gunnar.
    Somehow, she’d come to care about a ghoul. A ghoul.
    “I guess,” Lex said. Then, “What would it mean to be a
demon?”
     “I don’t know. Maybe we can do some research.”
    Lex snorted. “Yeah. I’ll google support groups for demons.”
    “Kelic’s an idiot, baby.”
    Lex shrugged. “Maybe he’s not. I could be anything.” She
paused. “Or nothing.”
    “Doesn’t matter what you label yourself. You’re pretty
amazing.”
    “I don’t know one member of Shiv Crew who isn’t special,”
Lex said, smiling. “So I suppose you’re right.”
    “I’m glad you’re back, Lex.”
    “How are you doing after…” Lex gestured. “Z.”
    Rune’s breath caught. “I’m devastated. Full of regret.
Grieving. But I’m dealing with it.”
    “You’re getting stronger.”
    “I am.”
    “When you manage to wade through such deep shit, what choice
do you have, right?”
    “If it doesn’t kill you…”
    “Yeah.”
    When they arrived at Wormwood, Rune pulled three Baby Ruth
candy bars from the glove box. “I’ll be quick,” she told Lex. “You want to come
with me or wait in the car?”
    Lex stared through the windshield toward the gated
graveyard, which was lit with infrequently placed lampposts. “I’ll wait. Say hi
to the ghoul for me.”
    Gunnar the Ghoul stood just inside the gates, his hands
clasped behind his back.
    He was dressed all in black, except for a faded, once white
shirt beneath a tattered vest. His topcoat was long, reaching the tops of his
muddy black boots. He’d even found a battered stovepipe hat somewhere and had
placed it atop his mass of tangled black hair.
    As soon as he saw her, he bowed. “Your Highness.”
    “Hi, sexy.”
    They stood silently, watching each other. She noticed he’d
taken what appeared to be a scrap of white satin and tied it into a bow around
a length of his long, frizzy hair.
    It made her smile.
    But just for a moment.
    “COS is planning to sacrifice the twins to call a demon,
Gunnar. What can you tell me?”
    “I know the church is full of trickery, Your Horror, but I
do not believe they are dark enough to call the demons.”
    “I’m not worried about their lack of skill. I’m worried
about the twins dying. I need help.”
    “I have feelers out. I have heard nothing that will help
you.” He looked at the ground. “I am sorry.”
    She sighed. “How are you, Gunnar?”
    “I am old, Your Magnanimousness.”
    She walked a step away to lean against an old, gnarled tree.
“I brought you some candy, Grandpa.”
    His dark eyes gleamed. “I will accept your gifts.”
    “You’ve done a lot for me. The least I can do is bring you
chocolate.”
    He snatched the bars from her, his fingers trembling with
eagerness. He closed his eyes and took one long sniff of the wrapped bars
before putting them away in his pockets. “You have done much for me as well.”
    She folded her arms and grinned. “Like what?”
    “You destroyed the mad vampire. He was going to take over
Wormwood and then I—as well as the others who call Wormwood home—would have
been forced to live with torments and tortures as the master slowly took over.”
He shuddered delicately, then pursed his thin lips when she raised an eyebrow
at his melodrama. “Scoff if you must, but I am not an admirer of torture. Not
my own, anyway. People who enjoy it are a touch…demented.” He bowed slightly.
“No offense.”
    She put her hands on her hips. “Damn you, Gunnar.”
    He placed his long fingers over his heart. “What did I say?”
    She rolled her eyes and strode back to the gates. “If you hear
so much as a hint of information about the twins, let me know.”
    “Of course.”
    She left him with his Baby Ruth candy bars, her heart
lighter because she’d given a dusty old ghoul some joy.
    She checked her phone on the way home, her stomach
tightening when she thought of the berserker on the