Page 86 of Angel Lost

“Dr. Mendez can kiss my ass.”

Alairik grins, teeth flashing. “You say that, but you still go to your sessions.”

The asshole thinks it’s hilarious. I roll my shoulders. “Mandatory.”

I turn back to the bag and slam my fist into it. The chain creaks and stuffing bursts from a fresh split in the leather.

The shifters exchange a look.

I exhale slowly. “I think mytioshad a hand in Lottie’s disappearance.”

The words drop between us like a body hitting concrete. Neither of them argues.

Alairik scratches his jaw. “Could be they just didn’t stop her.”

Raff shakes his head. “Could be they pushed her.”

I already know how this goes. Thetioshave wanted to take over the gang for years, but they can’t challenge me—not yet. But once I ascend? If the angels deem I’m too powerful to stay in this dimension? Mytiosmight only have to wait a couple of years. And getting rid of my successor, a mere sixteen-year-old girl, is a hell of a lot easier than fighting me head-on.

“I need to know for sure.”

Raff bares his teeth in something that isn’t quite a smile. “So we’re paying them a visit?”

Alairik nudges my shoulder. “Demon diplomacy?”

I grin. “Something like that.”

The portal crackles open, its oil-slick sheen catching the lamplight. The magic tugs at my gut, familiar but never comfortable, and then we’re spat out onto Maverik turf, the warm night air thick with the scent of citrus.

It’s quiet.Mi mami’sshutters are closed, lights out. Long in bed, thank all the hells.

Raff and Alairik appear beside me, shaking off the residual magic like dogs shaking off rain. I roll my shoulders. It’s time.

Ahead, the bar is still lit, the murmur of conversation drifting through the open doors into the flagstone courtyard. The scent of spiced meat and cigars hangs in the air, thick, cloying.

The hum of conversation dies the moment I enter. The gang members turn, eyes flicking to me and the two wolves at my back. Raff cracks his knuckles. Alairik lets out a low, almost amused growl.

“Out.” My voice is quiet, but it carries. “Except mytios.”

No one argues. Chairs scrape against the floor, muttered curses filling the space as they shuffle past me toward the door. The bartender hesitates until Alairik snaps his teeth, just a little too close to his arm, and then he’s gone too.

Now, it’s just me, Tio Mateo, and Tio Nico.

Mateo leans back in his chair, big belly stretching against his shirt. He was a monster once, back when he ran jobs. Now he’s just fat and slow, trying to sit like he owns the room. Nico’s the opposite—stick-thin, with his little mustache twitching as he watches me, calculating. He doesn’t lean back. He doesn’t pretend to be comfortable. He knows exactly what I am.

The silence stretches, the tension thick enough to choke on. Then, I hold up the note, Lottie’s words crumpled in my fist.

“You had nothing to do with this?” My voice is level, but the demon in me is coiled tight, restless.

Mateo makes a sound low in his throat. “If I had, you think I’d be sitting here,sobrino?”

Nico shrugs, eyes never leaving mine. “She’s your problem, not ours.” A slow smirk. “But I won’t lie, her running off does make things…easier.”

The words slam into my chest like a punch.

There it is.

They didn’t send her away, but they were waiting for it to happen. Maybe even nudging it along. Rage coils in my gut. My vision sharpens. My claws itch to come out.

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