Page 78 of Blood So Brutal

Who else in this tavern did? Who else here was acting against Asmodeus?

Did she know about what happened in Scarlata too?

A few seconds later, the screams ended, and the sound of swords slicing flesh ceased.

Wolf, Jessiah, and the others returned without so much as a drop of sweat beading across their foreheads.

A few hungry ones were no match for a group of trained men, I knew that much. If Asmodeus was truly trying to lure out my power, he was going to have to try a lot harder.

“Just a few stragglers,” Jessiah explained. “Nothing to worry about.”

Everyone else seemed to accept this, but my attention locked on Wolf, who gave me a tight smirk. We both felt the truth—those hungry ones creeping this close to the tavern wasn’t an accident.

But the barkeep went back to serving drinks. The other patrons warily returning to their tables as we all tried to act like weweren’talmost just slaughtered by the beasts lurking in the streets.

“It would’ve saved me a lot of time in Moira if I knew this was what we were trying so hard to join,” Voiler sighed.

Her relaxed tone eased some of the tension, but I had so many questions—like why was Wolf eyeing her from across the room, and why did she know so much about Asmodeus and his plan?

“I should go,” she said, letting go of my arm and stepping to the side. “We’ll talk soon, okay?”

Before I could even begin to ask what she knew, she was gone.

An hour later, after three more ales courtesy of Wolf and Jessiah, we made our way back to the castle.

I had to admit, the slight dull in my senses was exactly what I needed to finally relax for once. Even Wolf seemed to relax a little, which seemed damn near impossible.

For once, it felt like we actually had a step up. If Asmodeus really was trying to draw out my power, he failed.

We had control here, and we were going to keep it that way. Even if I had to show Asmodeus some of my power to keep him off our backs, I could choose when, where, and how much. He wasn’t going to exploit me for everything I had, that was for damn sure.

And now, I could fucking fly. I could hardly believe it, but my tangled mess of curls was a nice reminder that just a few hours ago, Jessiah and I were soaring above this damn castle.

“What are you smiling about?” Wolf asked, bumping my shoulder with his.

“Nothing, just thinking about earlier today.”

“She was incredible, brother. A natural.” Jessiah stepped forward, taking lead down the long hallway that led to the two bedrooms.

I turned to Wolf, half-expecting him to be secretly upset he wasn’t able to join us again. But he just stared back at me, beaming. Literallybeaming. The lightning in his eyes practically glowed in the darkness.

“I didn’t doubt her for a single second.”

My chest fluttered, heat rushing to my cheeks.Fuck.Lord would literally disown me if he knew how much I swore I would never trust Wolf again.

And how much I forgot about that when Wolf looked at me likethat.

Jessiah stopped walking abruptly ahead of us, the smile from Wolf’s face falling in an instant. “What’s?—”

“I’d like to speak to our guest alone.” Asmodeus stood in the hallway, half-hidden in shadows, aside from his massive wings glowing in the darkness.

Jessiah stood still, like he could really be the barrier between us and him.

Wolf stiffened at my side. “I don’t think that’s?—”

“It’s okay.” I smiled at Wolf. “I’ll be fine.”

I felt a flare of his pure disgust through our bond, all the emotions toward his father he was very, very good at hiding. For survival, I guess you had to be good, especially in a place like this.

---