Page 53 of Sweet Violence
Arkan's hand snapped from my hair to my throat. "A barracks," he snarled, rattling and wrathful. "He's sending you into that den of vipers?"
"Even snakes can suffocate; I'll be fine."
"They'll rip you to pieces," he seethed.
I rolled my eyes, giving Arkan a look when he lifted me out of the comfy chair, his fingers flexing on my throat. I could have stabbed him in a dozen different places if he was in his other form, but these shadows and bones limited me. Still, I didn't want tohurthim. Just remind him I wasn't a damn wallflower.
I blew out a hard breath, and knew what would convince him.
I was a fucking idiot for doing this. I really didnotwant to—but on the flipside, I knew Arkan would never judge me.
"Look, the reason Dev knows I can do this isa), he's been stalking me and seen me hunt a bunch of people andb), I sorta … massacred a whole community of demons back in London. So I'll be fine."
I patted Arkan's shoulder, touching cold bone, and tried to extricate myself. I hated talking about this. I didn't have acodeexactly—I killed willy-nilly—but the sheer number of demons—people—I killed that day made me uncomfortable.
"There's more than you're telling me," Arkan surmised, watching me from within his shadows.
"Yep. Super fun stuff I don't wanna talk about. Let's cut a long story short and say I lost control, got stuck in a traumatic moment, and I'm not a hundred percent sure those demons even deserved to die. But hey, I'm a killer—killing's what I do. It's all good."
Arkan let me fight my way free, but I knew he watched as I stalked around the table and slammed my fist into a green lamp, shattering the glass. It slightly undermined my breezyit's all good,but such was life.
"Avie," he snarled, rushing at me so fast I jumped, my heart clamouring into my throat.
He coalesced in front of me, flesh and blood hands reaching for mine to inspect where glass sliced me. We both startled at the sight of long, wicked claws tipping my fingers.
"Um," I said. "Uh."
Arkan stared at my black claws, a reminder that the massive demon form Dad brought out by injecting me with Dev's blood had gone nowhere. It lurked inside me, waiting for a chance to come out and play. What if I couldn't control it? What if I flipped out and went demon without warning?
Arkan brought my hand to his mouth and gently kissed my knuckles before drawing me into his arms, cradling the back of my head. "Everything's going to be fine," he murmured.
Maybe because I was shaking? Or because I stabbed long claws that hadn't existed a minute ago into a lamp, shattering the case and the bulb within? Hard to tell which.
"I want this whole bullshit to be over," I groaned, resting my cheek against his shoulder, the expensive fabric of his shirt cooling my hot face. "I thought I killed my dad; he wasn't supposed to come back with a worse agenda."
"He'll stay dead this time," Arkan promised, running his fingers through my hair. "You have us now; he can't survive all of us."
I made a soft sound of agreement. He had a point. "That's why I'm helping the devil. I just want it to be over so I can move on."
"You're exhausted by always looking over your shoulder for enemies," he murmured, rubbing the knot at the base of my skull. My head thudded into him, limp and heavy, and a groan built in my throat, drawing a laugh from my wraith.
"You didn't have to say it out loud," I grumbled. "But yeah. That."
"But taking on a lethal army who barely even respect the devil's authority is not the way to solve the problem."
"Disagree," I muttered.
"Work with us; let us hunt Eidolon together."
"Because that worked out so well last time," I said, drawing out of his arms and sitting my backside on the table, arms crossed. "We got attacked by killer grape bushes;younearly got eaten by a tree; Joseph was almost suffocated by roots; and I was about five seconds from being knocked out and abducted."
He chewed the inside of his lip, not replying, which was answer enough.
"Please, Arkan," I murmured, holding his gaze. "I'm not asking for your permission because I don't need it, but I don't want to piss you off by doing this. Because Iamdoing this, and nothing you say will change it. I'll find whoever's helping Eidolon in Hell, make them wish they'd never been born—changed—killed—whatever actually makes someone a demon. And then when my dad's weakened and alone, I'll kill him, too. You can help with that bit," I added graciously.
"Princess," Arkan murmured, his pale blue eyes softening and a hint of alien emotion coming through in his voice. "This is all about you being afraid?"
"I'm not afraid," I scoffed. Lied.
