Page 76 of Sweet Violence
By the time I reached the end of the line, I had a buzz of power going, and shivers kept moving through me. It was a shame I had no candy floss to make the moment truly perfect, but ah well. Such was life.
"Happy?" I asked Izan sweetly, batting my lashes.
He gave me a truly horrifying smile, his pale face full of satisfaction. Um. Shouldn't he have looked pissed off?
"Almost," he said, which did not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling, I had to admit. "Now pick one of your guards, and kill them."
I snorted. X and Joseph didn't even move, but there was no hiding X's rage.
"You must have missed the memo," I told Izan, matching his smile. "I turned them. They're not the devil's men now, but mine."
Izan shrugged, not taking his eyes off me. A challenge. "You don't need both of them, surely? Kill one."
"Or what?" I purred, my voice sinking deeper.
I gathered power, grabbing as much as I could, but held it ready, not wanting to show my hand just yet.
"Or you'll kick me out of your big bad fan club? I'm devastated." I gave him the fakest sad puppy eyes ever, then snorted. "I only came here because I was curious about a building full of deadly demons. I came voluntarily, and I'll leave the same way. No matter who I have to light up to burn a path out."
The crowd was silent, not a single murmur among them.
I waited, magic trembling through my blood, to see what Izan would do in response. Drill Bastard looked ready to pull my head off my body for the insolence. But when I let a trickle of power out and flames fell from my hands to the ground, forming a crackling path to him, he backed up a step. I won.
Izan grinned inexplicably, stretching his vulture-ish pale face into something far stranger, far scarier. "If you think you can challenge me for my position,Freya, you are sorely mistaken, and you will die for that misunderstanding. But," he added, dark eyes intent on me, "it takes nerve to be prepared to take us all on. The kind of nerve and brute force we welcome here. Congratulations, you've earned a place for yourself and your guards."
I blinked. I'd done what now…?
"However," he added, the smile falling off his sharp face. "If I hear you’ve caused a single bit of trouble, you're out. I won't make the mistake of trusting you."
I saluted. "Aye, are, cap'n. No trouble whatsoever."
In my head, Dev snorted.
Rude.
Izan nodded and dramatically swooshed his cape as he left, heading for a door in the back of the building.
The green drill bastard practically shook with the way he held himself back, wanting to wring my neck. I gave him a beaming grin and kept my pace steady as I walked to my mates, even if I really wanted to run and throw my arms around them.
"It's okay, my sweet," Joseph murmured, so low they couldn't hear. "I know you'd burn this place down before you let them hurt us."
I exhaled a hard breath of relief. "Damn straight I would."
I peered at X, checking he was okay—the psycho's eyes glittered with adrenaline-fuelled glee—and then scanned the rest of the crowd. They began to thin out now the show was over, and even Drill Bastard had left.
Looked like we had some free time.
And shuddering with protective rage, I knew just what I wanted to do with it.
"Let's go back to our room," I said, wondering if I was doing a good job of masking my panic at the thought of losing them.
By the way Joseph took my hand and ran his thumb over my knuckles, that was probably a no.
25
"That's a mood killer," I sighed, looking at the invitation written in blood across the walls of our room.
In clumsy, dripping letters it read, JOIN US TO KILL THE DEVIL. 8PM TONIGHT. GH.
