Page 68 of Sweet Violence
A group of fierce-looking demons rushed towards us, and I flared my fire higher until I caught the sparkle of excitement in the eyes of the woman leading the pack.
Her skin was an ashy grey, and she had wavy pin-up hair and wings that gave me serious gargoyle vibes. She wascool. I was glad she never came up to Earth when I'd been in a violent mood; it would have been a shame to kill her.
"Did you really massacre the devil's staff? In his own house?" she asked, a grin splitting her stone-like face.
"That is socool," one of her companions said—a tanned guy four feet tall with deadly ram's horns. "No one's ever done that before."
I shrugged. "I'm one of a kind. I'm Freya," I added, digging up my last alias.
It made me think of Maxine, the fortune teller from the fair in Orchid Vale, my next-door neighbour. She'd brought me pie; she was nice. I hoped she was faring okay. I wasn't sure what chaos my circle left behind when I went missing; they said the village was untouched, but I knew what they were like when they were in a protective rage.
"I'm Lou," the cool gargoyle-ish woman said, holding out her hand for me to shake. "This is Merle, Reavan, and Neville."
"I've always wanted to meet someone called Neville!" I blurted, grinning. "Oh, these are my bodyguards, Dean and Sam."6
"I'm Dean," X said, waving. "You know, the pretty one."
"No,I'mthe pretty one," Joseph grumbled, genuine ire in his green-brown eyes. I fought a smile.
"You're both pretty," I said seriously, catching a grin on Lou's face. "So," I asked her, "what's this revel about?"
"It's not for the faint at heart," she replied, throwing a narrowed look at Trett when he tried to edge between us.
I was beyond thrilled to watch Neville flick a finger in the asshole's direction; the crack of a breaking bone sounded and Trett roared, stumbling away.
"You'll regret that, you little bastard. I'm ranked higher than you—"
"And that's where we like you," one of Lou's friends said, laughing. "Out of the way. Shift it, loser."
"I love these people," I told X and Joseph—and really should have anticipated their snarling response. "As friends. I love themas friends."
"Come on," Lou laughed, elbowing my mates out of the way.7"I'll show you the great hall. We can all have a little fun together."
Um.
Did that sound like an orgy proposition to you?
22
"Smells lovely in here," I remarked to X as we were led into a massive, open space full of long, wooden tables and weapons hanging on the walls. The black tiles on the floor were covered in blood and other fluids I had no intention of getting near, a similar mess on the heavy tables where people fucked and fought like animals. Seriously, people fought with teeth and claws and swords right beside other demons rutting at each other, pairings mixed all over the place.
I resisted the urge to make a crossed swords pun, but it was challenging.
Lou shot me a grin. "It always smells like this." She dragged in a long breath, her stone nostrils flaring. "Smells like winning at life."
Yeah. Sure.
"I tend to like my fighting and fucking to be in separate rooms," I remarked, but followed her down an aisle between writhing bodies and brutal fights. Liquid splashed my arm and I snarled, but it was just blood, thank fuck. Ifanyonegot cum on me, I’d unleash my mates on every single person in the room.
"There are private rooms, too," a willowy blonde friend of Lou's told me, watching me with a tinge of awe. "Not everyone likes to share."
Joseph growled under his breath, grabbing my waist and pulling me into his side. "No sharing."
"They're a smidge possessive," I told the blonde—Melle—with a smirk.
"They're not the only ones," she replied, raising an eyebrow at the spiky, porcupine-like demon who rounded out their friend group. "You've got a little something on your face, Reavan darling."
Reavan's expression darkened further. She said nothing, but she was so threatening she didn't have to.
