I focus every ounce of my attention on Mrs. Pomplemousse. “What do you know about the school?”
“Nothing beyond the name. I’m sorry.” She sips her tea. “However, I’m guessing this Earl of Acca fellow wishes you harm. If so, then I should think the last place you should go is the Wheeler Institute.”
Says her. “Did Aldred and Armageddon say anything else?”
“Not a word. That Armageddon fellow laughed himself silly and then left Adair’s body.”
I fold my arms over my chest. “And what did Adair have to say about what happened?”
Mrs. Pomplemousse’s gaze flickers to Lincoln. A blush crawls up her cheeks. “Well, it’s not easy to explain.”
Now, I have a pretty good idea why Mrs. Pomplemousse is feeling awkward right now. Adair had some wackadoo concepts about Lincoln. Calling her crazy-ass possessive of him is an understatement. I wave my hand dismissively. “Trust me, Mrs. P. Whatever Adair said, you can bet that Lincoln and I have heard it already.”
“All right, if you insist. Lady Adair wanted to know if Armageddon had appeared. Her father confirmed the demon’s recent visit. After that, Adair asked if Armageddon had promised to help secure her birthright.” Mrs. Pomplemousse looks away. “She seemed to think that birthright was primarily Prince Lincoln.”
Mrs. Pomplemousse looks so jittery, I feel like I have to say something. “This is not a shocker, believe us. What happened next?”
“The Earl dragged Lady Adair out of my office. That was all I ever saw of them.”
“You said you filed daily reports,” says Lincoln.
“That’s right.”
“Did you file one about that incident?” I ask.
“Of course. My report covered the Earl, Adair, and Armageddon. I even mentioned the Wheeler Institute. No one ever followed up. Later, I tried to find the document. Unfortunately, it had disappeared.”
The wheels of my mind spin super-fast. The ghouls ran Purgatory until Armageddon invaded. I kicked both of them out of this realm. When Mrs. Pomplemousse started her job, the ghouls were running things, sure. But by the time Adair was a diplomat, Armageddon and the ghouls were long gone. In fact, that’s why Armageddon’s been itching to find a way out of Hell. It was my igni that put him there.
“Let me get this straight,” I say. “When this all went down, my mother was Purgatory’s President.”
Mrs. Pomplemousse sucks in a shaky breath. “I meant no disrespect.”
“No, it’s fine. For a while, Mom kept up a lot of the ghoul’s old practices, even the silly reports that no one ever read.”
“Exactly. That’s what would have happened at the Ghost Towers.”
I frown. “Not likely. The Ghost Towers were run by Walker.”
Now, Walker’s a ghoul and my honorary older sibling. He’s also a genius at operations, architecture, and all sorts of random stuff. I can’t imagine him missing something like a report saying that Armageddon appeared in our Ghost Towers.
“I don’t know about that. There was a lot of worry in those towers when Armageddon attacked. We kept thinking the walls would burst and release angry spirits everywhere. It was just a form. With so much hullaballoo going on, it could easily have been misplaced.”
“I suppose so.” I open my mouth, ready to push further, but Mrs. Pomplemousse rises first.
“If you don’t mind, I do think it’s time to call our discussion to a close. It’s been a rather busy day for me.”
“Of course,” says Lincoln. “Thank you again, Mrs. Pomplemousse.”
“My pleasure. It’s nice to speak with two sweet young people like yourselves.” She gestures to my tail. “May I?”
I shrug. “Sure.” Mrs. Pomplemousse is ex-Arena. If she wants to pet my tail, I’m cool with that.
My tail slips out from behind me. The arrowhead end points toward Mrs. Pomplemousse at an angle, like offering a hand. Mrs. Pomplemousse smiles and shakes my tail. “I followed your career in the Arena, you know. Myla Lewis. You were the best.”
“Thank you.” Sadness creeps into my bones, weighing me down. I really miss being able to hunt demons whenever I want to. I clear my throat. No point worrying about the past. My Arena fighting days are over. “We’ll leave you to your evening.”
“Much appreciated.”
Lincoln snaps his fingers at the hovering codex. “I hereby close out this recording of evidence.” The book flares with white flame once more. After that, it returns to its regular white color and lowers onto Lincoln’s palms.
The interview is over. That said, our fight with Acca now has a real start.
As we walk out of Mrs. Pomplemousse’s house, I want to feel the excitement of our interview victory. After all, this is our best piece of evidence yet. Still, the words about Armageddon’s backup plan set me on edge.
The more I think about it, the more I don’t like the sound of the Wheeler Institute. Not one bit.
Chapter Five
I’m the great scala, the future queen of the thrax, and a badass quasi-demon warrior. With merely a thought, I can send a soul to Heaven or Hell. My people call me a goddess.