Page 22 of Lust

Fury and hatred rode the air in a palpable cloud, and Eddie shrunk farther back against her pillar. Shade had been an asshole to her, but seeing him bloodied, broken, and bleeding yanked something visceral in her, and she needed to get him out.

Oh God, she couldn’t believe she was even thinking of rescuing him. She wasn’t brave, didn’t have any special skills, didn’t even know if she was here or dreaming what was happening.

“Go,” Shade whispered as he stared at her. “You have no place here.”

“Shade.” The winged man crouched beside Shade and gripped his hair in a big hand. Yanking Shade’s head back, he leaned down and whispered in Shade’s ear.

The same pulsing energy that Shade carried emanated from the one crouched beside him. Another hell prince? Yesterday had said there were seven of them. He shrugged, and his enormous red and black wings disappeared. He stood and stared down at Shade, contempt tightening the strong, uncompromising lines of his face. There was something familiar about him, other than her dream. Eddie had a feeling she knew this being. Was that the way of all the hell princes?

“You tried to end me.” He spat on Shade. “And now you pay for what you’ve done.” Stilling, he looked up suddenly and right at her. His blue eyes blazed. “Who—”

“Hey, you!”

Eddie felt a tug at her hair.

Another yank made her hair roots object strenuously. “Hey, girl. Eddie!”

Frowning, the big being over Shade took a step toward where she was hiding.

The hall blurred and swirled, and her eyelids were forced open.

Yesterday’s saucer-like, black gaze bored into her. “You need to wake up.”

“Shit.” The dream followed her into wakefulness. They were going to kill Shade, and everything in her objected to that. Trying to catch her breath, she shoved Yesterday’s face out of her own. The image of Shade’s battered face velcroed itself to her mind. She was surprised to find she was crying, and she scrubbed her palms over her cheeks. “Can a hell prince die?”

Blinking at her, Yesterday scrabbled back on the bed. “Yes.” He nodded his oversize head three times. “But only one hell prince can kill another.” His face grew thoughtful. “And an archangel. They can kill a hell prince. And I suppose that means a hell prince could kill an archangel, but none of them have ever tried, so nobody can be totally sure.”

She tried to make sense of her dream. It was a dream, just a dream, despite how real it had felt. “And demons serve hell princes?”

Yesterday nodded and then pulled a face. “Most demons serve hell princes.”

“Can you tell me about the other hell princes?” Eddie pushed her legs over the edge of her bed.

Yesterday averted his gaze. “Why?”

The little guy was hiding something, and she was equally sure she wanted to hear what that something was. Needed to hear what he was squirreling about. She pinned him with her best no-bullshit stare. “Why not?”

“Hell princes are bad business.” Yesterday hopped off her bed and scuttled to her bedroom door. “You don’t want to know about hell princes.”

Clearly her no-bullshit look needed work, but it was the best she had, so she gave it another go. “I need to know everything you know about the other princes.”

Images in her mind kept trying to make a comeback. God, the violence, and the anger were terrifying. The other winged one had looked ready to kill Shade.

“What prince?” He opened the door and made shooing motions to her. “And you really do have a bigger thing to worry about.”

Bigger than hell princes killing each other and somehow looking into her head while she dreamed? What a super way to get her day started.

“A tall, muscular man.” Was that the right term to describe the winged man…er….creature? “Well, he looks male.”

“Lots of male hell princes.” Yesterday flapped a dismissive hand. “Don’t need to worry about them. You have the thing to worry about at the hell gate.” He winced. “Actually, two somethings.”

Not ready to let the hell princes go, but also not about to wander after Yesterday in her panties, Eddie hauled on a pair of track pants. “You said there were seven hell princes. How many of them are male?”

“You don’t have time for chattery now.” Yesterday’s sweet face folded into a frown that almost made her laugh. He looked like a wrinkled little old man. “You have two big problems in your basement.”

Two big problems was way light in Eddie’s estimation. Dee still hadn’t called her back. The hell gate app—and there really was an app for everything—had so many power fluctuations it was looking bipolar. Shade was being beaten to death, she hoped only in her dreams. And worst of all, Lillian was due at rehearsal today as Lady M. There would be great disturbances in the force. It almost made her want to go back to bed.

Her entire forearm now looked red and swollen, the bites oozing a shiny, yellow fluid. A trip to the doctor was definitely in order.

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