Page 3 of Consorting With The Enemy

Nic grinned. “But what if he couldn’t escape? What if he found himself in a demon trap with only one way out—death?”

Marchand and Gabriel had joined the group in time to hear Nic’s last words. I was surprised to see a huge frown replace Marchand’s smile.

“Wait. What? A demon trap so you can destroy him?” Marchand asked, the frown growing more prominent with each word leaving his mouth. The way my nephew’s mind worked always managed to keep me guessing. If I thought he should hate someone, he’d love them. If I thought he should love them…well, he loved them. Yeah, he was a lover, and it would eventually get him destroyed if he wasn’t careful.

“Yes, of course,” Nic answered. “He must be dealt with, Marchand. As your uncle has explained, he’ll keep coming after you, and I don’t intend to allow anything to happen to you or my brother. Ariel must be destroyed, the sooner the better.”

“I agree,” Gabriel added. “Any threat to Marchand must be handled swiftly and with death—a painful one if I get my preference.” His hand caressed Marchand’s back as he talked. Annoyance swept through me…until I realized it was really jealously. I’d never have that, not with anyone. Not ever.

“Absolutely not,” Marchand snapped. “I don’t want him destroyed.”

“Why the hell not?” everyone in the room yelled at the same time. For my part, I glared at my nephew and said, “He’s hunted you for over a hundred years, Marchand. He’s the Dark Lord’s minion. Destroying him is the only way to keep you safe.” Since saying the words out loud hurt me, I couldn’t imagine how destroying Ari would make me feel.

“And I’m telling all of you,again, that Ariel delayed the demons moving me until you all could get there. I don’t know why, but he did. I’m sure of it. You don’t turn around and whack a guy after he’s saved your life.”

I frowned. Whack a guy? What Netflix show was he watching now?

“He didn’t save your life, Marchand,” I argued. “He’s been sent here to retrieve you for someone who intends to turn you into a pet, for fuck’s sake. Trust me, I know how deceiving Ari can be—how easily it would have been for him to manipulate you into believing such a ridiculous notion. All demons are gifted in the game of deception. No doubt Ari just realized he wouldn’t be able to move you fast enough to escape a confrontation with us.” I laughed, even though the notion of Ari running to save his own hide and leaving my nephew to fend for himself crushed a part of my heart, and said, “You didn’t see him stick around for the battle, did you? No. Ari is always out for himself.”

“It sounds like there’s some history between the two of you,” Nic interjected. “Is this something we need to worry about?”

It took every ounce of my angelic willpower to not fly across the room and attack the arrogant witch. How dare he question my loyalty to Marchand? Sending a heated glare his way, I answered, “I’ll overlook that ignorant statement once. Don’t let it happen again.” Looking around the room, I added, “None of you—never question my loyalty to my nephew.” The fools had no idea how much I would sacrifice when I destroyed Ari to protect Marchand.

“That’s enough.” Julian hissed, his hot vampire temper roaring to life. “Fighting amongst ourselves certainly isn’t beneficial to saving my son.” He turned to me. “Can you kill the demon or not?”

Marchand opened his mouth to argue, but Julian silenced him when he turned red eyes in the boy’s direction. While he didn’t argue back, I could see that Marchand wasn’t going to let this go. He’d convinced himself that Ari was friend instead of foe. He was mistaken.

“If there’s no way for Ari to escape, I can kill him,” I answered in a voice that sounded dead even to my own ears.

“Excellent,” Nic added. “The plan should be simple enough. We combine our magic to form the demon trap, lure Ariel to the trap, Az destroys him, end of story.”

He looked quite smug with himself, which told me he probably did have all the answers to the many questions I had regarding the ‘plan’. I asked them anyway. “Where do you plan to set the trap? It shouldn’t be anywhere near human population. How do we plan on luring Ari to the trap and if you say using Marchand as bait, I’ll kill you without hesitation? Once Ari is destroyed, what’s going to be your next brilliant plan for the demon the Dark Lord will send to replace Ari?”

“I have a friend that keeps a shack in the bayou. He’ll be more than happy to allow us to use it, especially since we’re destroying a demon. We will use Marchand as bait, but not in the way you’re thinking. When the next demon comes for my brother’s lover, we’ll handle it.”

My wings, a dark charcoal shade to represent my fallen status, unfurled and quivered with anger. “Your brother’s lover?” I spat. “That’s my nephew. He’s Julian’s child.” I stepped closer to him. “Your brother’sbeloved, asshole.”

For his part, Nic didn’t back down. At another time or in another situation, I’d probably like and respect the powerful witch. As for this time and this situation, he was really pissing me off.

Gabriel stepped between us. “Calm down. Both of you. We all want the same thing and it’s going to take all of us to make it happen.” He focused his attention on Nic when he said, “And you know that Marchand is more than my lover. Stop intentionally trying to goad Az.” To me, he said, “Put those away. You aren’t going to need them. We’re a team. We’re family.”

Marchand crossed the short distance between us and kissed my cheek. My wings slid back into place but threatened to come back out as I watched him walk to Nic and do the same thing to him. Then, with all the authority in the world, he said, “Now, let’s talk about this demon trap and then what we’re going to do to keep Ari alive and convince him to join us.”

And my wings were back out.

Chapter Two

Ariel

I’d circled the shack three times, flying well above where anyone could see or sense my presence, before I materialized on the front porch. My body vibrated in protest from the change. Disappearing and reappearing in a cloud of smoke might be a damn good parlor trick, but it hurt like a motherfucker. On the other hand, it had saved my life more times that I could count.

Cautiously, I sniffed the air, once again confirming the enticing aroma that had called out to me did indeed belong to the one I sought. Yes, it was him. It was a trap, no doubt, but my blood still sizzled with excitement. I would welcome a good battle, especially if I walked away with the prize. No, not if,whenI walked away with the prize.

With calm and confident moves, I opened the door of the shack and stepped inside. As I crossed the threshold, I felt the magic of a demon trap—a rather strong one. Gaudet magic. No doubt it had been set by Az’s new group of superheroes. Who would have thought a fallen angel would ever mingle with witches and vampires? To be honest, I didn’t think Azmingledwith anyone. For the centuries I’d known him, he was always a strict, by the book, tight ass. Well, except for…

My eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room and immediately found Az standing in the center of the room. As usual, he looked gorgeous, intimidating, and immaculately dressed in his gray three-piece suit that fit his muscles perfectly. I looked down at my own attire, which consisted of black leather pants, motorcycle boots, and a tight tee. I was dressed to fight while he looked ready to have tea with the fucking queen. Devils, he was perfection.

In his hand, he held a lavender wing—one I knew had to belong to Marchand because the scent was so strong that it almost overpowered Az’s erotic smell. Lavender. Nice. I’d suspected as much after seeing his hair when he’d been my captive.

---