Page 113 of Lust

Yeah, he more than tolerated Uriel. She was decent, for an archangel.

Cocking his head, Wrath considered Shade’s statement. “Now that you mention it, I did notice one or two shifts in the aggression of my horde. Like they’d been charged up.”

“So we have demons disappearing from hordes. We have demon hordes attacking without either of you present, and we have power surges through the seals. As well as the cracking.” Eddie summed it all up for them. It made him feel dumb as a stump that he hadn’t bothered to step back and put the obvious together.

“Also, we have increased demon activity on this plane. And from what Lucifer and Raguel said earlier, it appears the problem is widespread,” Uriel said.

“You can never trust a word my shitstain brother says.” Wrath sat back and folded his arms. “But Zeb, Ava, and Belle also mentioned missing demons. And Raguel is decent enough for a seraph.”

“Hey.” Haziel shot Wrath a wounded look. “What’s wrong with seraphim.”

“Nothing.” Wrath flushed and avoided making eye contact with her. Instead he glared at Ramiel. “Other than the pissy archangels they serve.”

Shade was momentarily distracted by the flare of energy around Haziel as she interacted with Wrath. An energy surge Wrath shared. Interesting indeed. “All the hell princes reporting their problems is noteworthy in itself.” He forced his mind back to the more pressing issues. “Admitting such a weakness would be like handing the other hell princes an advantage.”

“What sort of advantage?” Eddie perked up, her beautiful eyes keen and focused.

“In the war.” He knew Wrath, Uriel, and Ramiel would get what he meant, but Eddie wasn’t accustomed to their ways. “The seals are both ours to guard, and they provide our power. If one had a damaged seal, it weakens one. It was why Wrath’s demons were able to injure me so gravely.”

“Please.” Wrath snorted. “They injured you because they were trained by me, and I am the superior fighter.”

“Stop it, Satanus,” Ramiel snapped before Shade could put Wrath back in his place. “Nobody is contesting your prowess.”

Nope, Shade would question Wrath’s so-called prowess all day long. The fucker confused a shitty personality with battle skills. “You are not the superior fighter; you merely have a horrible temper and the personality of an enraged bull.” He couldn’t resist tacking on the next part. “And we all know who the better lover is.”

Haziel gaped at Wrath.

“I’ll give you—”

“Stop it,” Eddie snapped. She shot him a look laden with disappointment. “You’re both hell princes, right?”

He didn’t care that much. That jab had been worth it. And Haziel had definitely responded to the idea of Wrath and his bedroom prowess. If it weren’t for Eddie, he could stir up so much shit right now.

“And you both guard a seal for a deadly sin?” Eddie continued.

Ramiel held up his forefinger. “The term deadly sin is a human construct, we prefer—”

“Right?” Eddie raised her voice.

Watching Eddie cut Ramiel off was almost as satisfying as doing it himself, and judging by the smug grin on Wrath’s face, he felt the same.

They nodded in answer to Eddie’s question.

“And you all exist in this delicate balance?”

Shade wasn’t sure where she was going, but Eddie was smart and not tainted by their centuries of prejudice.

“And if one of you ends, the rest of you do too?”

Wrath tossed a glare at Shade. “Yup.”

Dream on, fucker. Shade shot the glare right back.

“So why the hell are you constantly at war with each other?”

It took Shade a while before he replied, and he felt like an ass when he did. “Because we are hell princes, and it’s what we do.”

“That makes no sense.”

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