Page 4 of Burn in Ruin
The Demigod had supposedly been difficult to convert, but Lucifer had more than Calamity on his side.
He had the two male muses.
When they weren’t trying to kill each other, anyway.
Orion crossed his arms. The tick in his jaw was the only thing that betrayed the pain that cost him as he pressed against his healing wound. “Am I bored? Yes. But did I say you couldinterrupt my training? No.” He unfurled his burly arms and marched onto the platform, dredging a path through the blood as he went.
The sight would have made Ares proud. The overpowered asshole of a male muse sure did love a bloodbath.
Orion wrapped one arm around my shoulders, brushing my wings with the movement. Not many creatures matched my height, but Orion towered over me.
I tightened my grip on the whip. Using it on the Demigod would likely result in having it shoved up my ass, so I remained still. The bastard would probably enjoy that far too much.
“I know you’ve been wanting a crack at Kaito for days. Lucifer has been pleased with your progress and told me to give you the go-ahead when I thought you were ready.”
My ears perked up at that.
“Oh?”
He tilted his head toward the stands. “I know they’re not the easiest bunch to train…”
They weren’t, no. Many of the angels had been tormented by me, personally, so they were already broken.
Training them to have confidence was kind of like pulling out my own teeth.
Slow. Painful. And a waste of a great smile.
I have amazing teeth.
Deciding to demonstrate, I grinned at the Demigod. “Damn right Lucifer is pleased with me. I’m Purgatory’s best and darkest. And if you’re done wasting your time with these morons, I could break the Kami for you, if you like.” I rolled my shoulder, shoving off the heavy weight of his arm. “Or you can continue to let these idiots waste their time. When I break a creature, it doesn’t usually rehabilitate.”
“Hmm,” Orion agreed. The steady confidence in his eyes suggested he didn’t doubt my ability to break the Kami.
He just didn’t trust me.
As he shouldn’t.
“You still request that your session be alone with him?” he asked.
That part, unfortunately, was vital to my plan.
“Yes,” I said, rolling the whip so that it dragged the spiked tendrils over the bloodied floor. “I work best without distractions.”
Orion rubbed his chin. “Without witnesses, you mean.” His golden gaze flared with warning.
I shrugged as if it made no difference to me. “Whatever you want to call it. My process is what it is and I’d be wasting your time and mine if I compromised on how I work.” Flicking my wrist, I offered him the whip. “You’re free to continue, though, if you think that’s a safer plan. I’m sure Lucifer won’t mind if this takes longer than he anticipated.” I leaned in, poking him with the butt of the weapon. “It’s not like you’re on a deadline… right?”
Orion didn’t flinch. I wasn’t supposed to know about the little conversation he’d had with Hell’s previous ruler and two male muses.
Kaito was supposed to be broken before Lily woke up.
Because once she did… she was going to come for him. And if Kaito wasn’t broken by then, he’d tell her how to undo this mess.
Orion’s jaw ticked, then he pushed the whip into my chest. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”
My lips stretched into a grin, one I didn’t have to force. “I’m aware.”
KAITO
