Page 148 of Blood and Sin (The Infernari)

They littered the ground. I lifted my toe off a jaw bone, missing half its teeth. I could only imagine what they signified—the millennia of human sacrifices brought here to bleed.

I didn’t get the chance to muse on it.

Out of the darkness loomed a pair of red eyes. A moment later the demon Azazel strolled out, his mouth curved up in a sadistic smirk.

Instinctively, my hand went to my holster. A useless reflex, considering how well he fared last time I shot him.

More eyes glimmered from the shadows, and more demons converged around us. Dozens of them. The entire demon population of the Americas, it looked like... and some. Enough to drain an entire town’s worth of humans.

All here to bring Jame Asher to his knees.

Some I recognized—Azazel, Clades, Aecora, Fidel.

Some I didn’t.

Any one of these creatures could single-handedly wreck me—they had that look in their eyes, too, like when a hungry Bengal tiger catches sight of its prey through the brush—and here I was with a bad leg, eleven bullets, and what was starting to seem like a very, very stupid plan.

As they formed a circle of smoldering eyes, my breath quickened. How many had Lana contacted? Two? Three? The rest of them might not even know we came to make peace.

Finally, Clades stepped forward, one of his hooves kicking up a plume of bone dust.

Lana dropped to her knees next to me and bowed her head.

“Kneel,” she hissed at me.

I sort of did a half crouch, unwilling to give up my fighting stance.

“Jame Asher, our sworn enemy,” Clades said, his eyes and voice hard. His gaze flicked to Lana, and everything about him softened. “Lana Malesuis, oathbound to protect him... We will hear you speak, because you were once dear to us. You say the hunter wishes to surrender by blood oath. Before you speak, know that we do not take lightly his crimes against our people, and that we will very likely choose to kill you both where you stand.”

From the corner of my eye I saw her dip her head.

Behind him, some of the other demons shifted restlessly; one growled softly.

“If you are honorable, Jame Asher,” Clades called, “let us see you lay down your arms.”

“I am honorable,” I said.

I unclipped my holster and held it in front of me, but hesitated.

Eleven bullets...

I could shoot one demon before the others ripped into me... one demon who wouldn’t even die.

I dropped the gun and raised my hands, remembering a second too late that Infernari believed the seat of all power resided in the hands.

The demons hissed and assumed battle stances.

“Easy,eeeasy...” I lowered my hands, my heart pounding. “When humans raise their hands, it’s to show they have no weapons... it’s a sign of surrender to my people.”

Since when did these fuckers get so scared of me?

“Be that as it may,” said Clades, “we cannot trust your word, as you have demonstrated countless,countlesstimes.”

He nodded to Aecora, who swooped in and patted down my jeans and slid her hands up my thighs... with a little too much vigor. Groping my butt, she slid my pen light out of my back pocket and held it up for all to see. “A weapon. See, he lies already.”

“It’s a flashlight,” I growled.

“That also fires a bullet, perhaps? We know your tricks, Asher.” She cracked it in half and dumped out the batteries, then dusted the plastic bits off her hands.

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