Page 78 of Sweet Violence
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Xsnored softly, but with him snuggled as close as demonly possible, he sounded like a motorbike engine.1
I carefully rolled over to see if Joseph was napping with us too, but I frowned at an empty room. The blood scrawled on the wall had begun to dry; how long had we been asleep? And was Joseph still out getting food? There was no way, right?
I reached automatically for my phone to check the time before I remembered it was long gone, probably confiscated by my dad before his lackeys tortured me. I wasn't overly confident about EE's reception in Hell, either.2
In the absence of my phone—and a clock, because that would have been too helpful to put in a demon barracks room, right?—I slid off the bed and went to the window.
"Ah, fuck," I groaned at the darkness. I had a feeling we missed the great hall deadline. Looks like we'd put X's plan to ignore them for a bit in action.
I stretched my arms above my head to work out some soreness, but inhaled sharply when pain cracked through my chest instead. My hand shot to the area, rubbing the ache, but there was no tenderness in my muscles.
When I realised the pain had come fromwithin, from one of my mate bonds, I froze. My blood ran icy with rage.
"X," I said in a hard voice. "Wake up. Something's wrong with Joseph."
X jerked upright. He rubbed his bleary eyes, sluggish and sleepy, but I was already rifling through my backpack for the invisible knife Dev had given me, slipping it into the waistband of my jeans. and heading for the door.
"Av," X called, sliding quickly off the bed. "Avie.Wait."
"Joseph's in pain," I snapped. I wasn't waiting a single second.
Blinding rage poured through my bones as I stormed into the cold, stone hallway and followed the sharp pain in my chest. Fire bubbled up until every step I took left a fiery footprint on the tiles, a trail of breadcrumbs X followed to catch up to me.
"Breathe, Av," he ordered, brushing my back with a soft hand. "You'll choke off your magic."
I had enough power in me that I didn't have to worry about that, but I dragged a trickle of air into my lungs anyway. X was worried, and I was stressed enough without upsetting my other mate.
"I wonder where he is," I said sarcastically, following the slash of pain in our bond deeper into the compound. Towards the great hall, surprise, surprise.
"We don't know how many of them are there," X said, sliding his hand into mine and ignoring the flames writhing at my fingertips. "It could be the whole regiment."
"Good," I growled, voice deeper. "Saves me finding them later."
"You're blinded by rage, Av," X warned.
I shrugged. I might have been blind, but I was bonded to a deadly circle of demons and the devil himself; I had my own wicked magic, and I was furious enough to raze this place to the ground. I'd be fine.
"We need a plan," he insisted, squeezing my hand. "This is going to go badly."
"Yeah, well. Later, you can say I told you so."
"Aveline!" X snapped, grabbing my shoulders and stopping me, more from surprise than force, although he didn't hold me gently.
X never spoke to me like that before.
He looked deep into my eyes, his own wrath barely leashed. "Give me two minutes, and I'll call for backup. He's my brother, mycircle. You're not the only one afraid."
"I'm the only one who can feel his pain," I countered. "And we don't have two minutes. He could be dead by then."
"Shit," X hissed, letting go of me to drag a hand through his hair. "Shit. You were right; we should have responded to the invitation. I didn't realise they'd go to these lengths."
"These are the people who killed Taj's cousin," I reminded him, brushing past but gently. "And if we're not quick enough, they're going to kill Joseph too."
X cursed again, a shaky thing under his breath. I needed the psycho who hunted, killed, and cut people apart to make them into angels, but I didn't think the Angel Slayer would be coming out to play tonight. X was too freaked out. That, or he couldn't snap his fingers and turn on his psycho like I could.
Joseph's pain became clearer, sharper, the closer we got to the great hall. The room’s fragrant smell of blood and cum met my nose, and every bone in my body tensed. If they'd drawn his blood…
