“Worthless. Both of them,” she seethed.
I forced my shadows back.
They had nearly torn me apart, trying to break free and comfort the female when she’d ended up unconscious in the healers’ wing, her lips blue, her clothes damp and frozen. When Sam suggested I retrieve her warmer clothing, I luscelered away, grateful for a task that would not only put distance between us but also ease the restless hunger of my shadows. It aggravated me how much they were affected by her.
When I returned, I couldn’t hold them back any longer. They dove into her mind, and her powers wrapped around mine, caressing and seducing them, pulling me into a scene that would forever be seared into my brain—thepetand her.
My blood simmered with lingering rage.
I had to listen to them. Toseethem.
I shoved the memory away. “Explain the state of their hair.”
Moira eyed them from head to toe, seeming satisfied by their misery. “They probably tripped into another puddle. They’re not the brightest.”
That was what she had said yesterday.
“They tripped and fell only on their heads?”
Moira shrugged. “Maybe they took a shower before the run. I don’t know, General. I’m busy training a squad, not trying to look after two worthless bodies of flesh.”
A shower?
On a good day, Hell peaked at thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit, but lately, it hovered closer to the negatives, reflecting Lucifer’s mood. Even the seasoned warriors, with their Hell Squadron uniforms designed to regulate temperature, knew better than to shower before training outdoors. Those with at least half a brain understood the risk, while the ones who didn’t—like a couple of dead Bowel recruits—paid the price.
The hellion and Nephilim made their way over to us. A black wisp circled my palm, begging to leave me and infiltrate her brain. I clenched my jaw and locked it back inside my body.
“Ni,” I commanded. She marched over with her twin.
The Dojigiri twins never left each other’s sides. And after hearing their stories, I didn’t blame them. Somehow, after killing a famed demon leader, the council didn’t reward the two upon death with Heaven—but with Hell.
“Dry those two off.”
Ni nodded and met the hellion and Nephilim a few yards away. Ichi explained Ni’s powers, then her fire magic thawed and dried them. The shadows in my core settled when the hellion’s lips pinked along with her cheeks.
“Train your recruits better, Squad Leader. If you can’t keep them out of puddles or showers before a freezing run, then how do I expect you to lead them at all?”
Outrage infused her expression before smoothing over to cool indifference. “Is this not Hell, General? Suffer or die, right?” she said, throwing my words back in my face.
My shadows rattled inside me. But I wasn’t my shadows, and this was Hell. “Right.”
The cunning gleam settling on her face stoked my possessive power. It slammed against my barriers, demanding out, demanding to protect the hellion.
I glanced at her again, flashing back to her broken voice as she kneeled in front of the library. Her vulnerable words had tugged at a part of me I continuously denied. I scoffed. She didn’t deserve my sympathy.
Shame slapped a bitter taste at the back of my mouth. Nor did she deserve to be called a traitor or pinned to that cot. She had been right. I was the general for a reason. I’d been inside countless minds and could spot people’s motivations. The hellion was never going against Hell; she may not be for it, but she wasn’t a traitor.
She justkissedfucking traitors.
But seeing her there at those doors, so overcome by the weight of her sorrows, it took every ounce of my will to fight my shadows and not go to her.
My Soulhound didn’t have those reservations. I gazed at Rune and the excited black wisps curling around her tail. She sat by the hellion’s side, completely content.
Rune was the only piece of my soul I’d allow the hellion to have. Not that I could ever stop Rune. From the glimpses of Earth I saw through her eyes and hearing about the hellion and Saraqael’s story, I realized Rune had found our cordistella way before I did. She lovedthe hellion, and nothing would keep them apart. I just hoped the hellion never figured it out.
Although if she knew, she wouldn’t care. After all, she and the pet looked pretty fucking cozy in that dream-walk.
In all my years, I had never heard of the term or experienced something like that. It didn’t make sense. But for all I knew, that form of communication stemmed from some Hell-born power.
