Page 70 of Demons in My Bed
“Yeah,” he grunted, shutting the water off.
My phone started ringing a second later, ending our conversation. For now.
“You here? Yeah, okay. See you in a few.” I hung up just as Felix came into the kitchen. “Ash is here with the others. There were some guys downstairs, so they’re going to help Rhodes get up here. Ash has Palmer.”
Felix dumped everything in his arms onto the kitchen island, and we got to work organizing our supplies. Then the elevator dinged, and we all took a collective breath. What a shit show.
“I’ll go see if they need anything,” Felix suggested, rushing off.
Misha was about to follow but I grabbed his wrist. “Come here, you brute.” I pushed him down onto a stool and began cleaning his hand. I’d wrap it after I got it clean. “Remember when I used to do this in your shop?” I asked, recalling how we’d be in this exact position.
He snorted in response, not flinching as I began dabbing at his knuckles with a washcloth. “How could I forget your bossy attitude?”
“You needed to be bossed around! At the rate you were going, you were going to end up fatally wounding yourself.” I finished up the cleaning and spread some ointment over the cuts. Some were fairly deep, but thankfully we healed quicker than humans.
“Why now, Birdie?” Misha asked, his voice so low I almost didn’t hear him.
I carefully wrapped bandages around his hands and then looked at my best friend. “I don’t know. I think we’re all on edge because we’re making progress, ya know? We’re so close to finishing it. Plus, it’s been what? Ten years since we were in Besmet? We knew this was coming at some point.”
Demons could exist outside of Besmet, though most chose to stay in our own realm. It was more comfortable for us to be in our natural forms, which we didn’t have to hide there. Demons weren’t exposed to humans in Besmet, only mages and witches, and we liked it that way. For a lot of demons, it was easy enough to travel back and forth between the realms, if one decided to stay here longer.
We didn’t have that luxury. We physically couldn’t return to Besmet.
It was also common knowledge that the longer a demon stayed away from Besmet, the greater the risk of complications arising. That’s when companies like Radical Incorporation and Montague Industries stepped in. When a demon was tagged as being rogue or feral, they were taken into custody or eliminated.
“I’m surprised we made it this long, Mishy. It just means we need to work harder and finalize this gas. There’s only a few more tweaks—we’re so close.”
He didn’t look convinced, and I didn’t have time to work harder at it because right then, Ash came storming in and laid a completely limp Palmer down on the kitchen island.
“What the fuck?” Misha snarled, standing so fast his stool fell backward. “She was talking when I left. Now she’s unconscious?”
Ash started stripping off her clothes, revealing dark bruises and some terrible-looking patches of raw skin. Felix and Rhodes came around the corner next, Rhodes looking almost as shitty as my Bun-Bun.
“Why isn’t she waking up?” Ash’s eyes were panicked as they landed on Misha. “Can you reach her?” With a firm nod and a grumble, Mish snatched his toppled stool and straightened it, taking a seat and letting his own eyes close.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Felix snapped at Rhodes, pushing him down on the stool furthest away from Misha. Probably wise.
“She wanted that fight. As you can see, your little princess isn’t as much of a helpless girl as you all like to make her out to be,” Rhodes barked, grabbing a few towels and wiping his face. His lip was split and swollen twice its normal size, so he sounded even douchier than normal. “Wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Ash growled, running his hands gently down her torso. “You didn’t have to fuck her up this badly.”
“Do you not see how I fucking look?!” Rhodes roared, blessing all of us with his horns and wings.
“Don’t hurt yourself, old man. Sit the fuck down,” I chided, flipping him off when he snapped his teeth at me.
Palmer whimpered, and I planted myself at her head, letting my fingers slip through her hair. She had a nasty cut along her hairline, which looked like it could use some stitches.
“I’ll be fine, thanks for asking. While I’m showering though, maybe think about why this woman can fight at that level and chose to hide it from us.” Rhodes limped out of the kitchen like a pissed-off cat, and Felix looked torn. I could tell he was upset by the way his shoulders were bunched up, as well as the pinched expression on his face.
“Lixy, can you gather up some clean clothes for her?” Ash stared down at the girl who had taken over our fucking heads. “I’ll carry her upstairs in a few minutes.”
“Yeah. Of course. Is she going to be okay?” Felix asked softly, like he was scared of the answer. I didn’t blame him.
“She fucking better be,” Ash growled like the devil himself.
My brother left to complete his task, and I sighed, wrapping my arms around Ashland. Poor guy tended to get bent out of shape when it came to injuries involving one of us. It wasn’t pleasant, but I wasn’t going to be a little whiny grump about it either.
“She’s probably just exhausted,” I assured him. “She fought like she was a demon herself—did you not see that shit? It was epic.” And it was. I’d never seen another female fighter as talented.
