“I’m happy you like it,” Ava says on a giggle at my enthusiasm.
“I love it. I’m already thinking about ways to make Logan disappear,” I jest after taking my last bite and licking my fingers clean.
Emily carries ice, bottles of liquor, and everything else she brought over to the black marble bar. “So, Iris, how do you feel about coffee? I was thinking of making some espresso martinis for us. For Ava, I’ll make an amaretto sour mocktail. I can makeone for you, too, if you don’t want alcohol.”
“I love coffee, and I could use some alcohol; the espresso martini sounds like heaven.” I wrinkle my nose. “But don’t ask me how to use Kaiden’s fancy-ass coffee machine because I might set it on fire.”
Emily lets out a hearty laugh. “Don’t worry, I think I can manage. My brother has the same one.” She turns on her heel and presses a few buttons on the espresso machine.
“How far along are you?” I ask Ava.
She gives me a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
My mouth opens and closes a few times. I probably look as red as a pickled beet.Wow, Iris.This must be a record, me putting my foot in my mouth twice in a few minutes.You never ask a woman about being pregnant, you dumbass!“Well, um…I, um—I think I’ve heard Logan and Malik talk about pregnancy cravings. How you wanted chocolate-mint ice cream, and I assumed—” I cringe, hands flapping at my sides.
Shoot. Me. Now.
Ava and Emily break into a fit of laughter. “Sorry, I was just messing with you, couldn’t help it. Four months. We’re having twins.”
“Thank God,” I sigh and wipe at my forehead dramatically. “Wow, twins. I’m sure you’re excited. I would be terrified.”
“Oh, I am terrified, but Logan is over the moon, and we have the entire pack to help us. We’re a big family.”
The bitter pang of jealousy blooms inside my chest because I’ve never felt that way about the Order—or, more precisely, them about me. Yeah, sure, the Order is my whole life. But I’m not theirs. They never fully accepted me, despite my efforts to prove myself. When I joined the Order at sixteen, my half-blood made me an outcast, and I faced relentless bullying. Now, everyone mostly pretends I don’t exist.
Emily slides the three filled glasses toward us before takinga seat on the other side of Ava. “So, how did you and Kaiden meet?” she asks me.
“I was on hellseeker duty, and these demons I’ve never seen before attacked me near Shadow Lake in the national park. Kaiden saved me. I actually woke up here and spin-kicked him in the face when I realized he was an Elite demon,” I chuckle out.
“You spin kicked Kaiden? IN THE FACE?” Ava squeaks in a high-pitched tone, her eyes bugging out of her head as she looks at me over the rim of her glass.
“You should have seen her at Sin Saturday night. She threw a whole bottle of water at him. I was laughing so hard, I thought my spleen would rupture,” Emily says.
Ava’s jaw is on the floor. “No mames!Are we talking about the same Kaiden? The one I know? But, he’s so damn serious all the time and has that whole don’t-fuck-with-me vibe.” She shudders.
I shrug and take a sip from the martini glass. “Well, he deserved it. He was being an ass.” I turn to Emily. “This is amazing.”
She winks at me and raises the glass in the air in a salute before taking a sip. “Since you’re a hellseeker, aren’t you supposed to have light hair? Because of the blessed blood?”
“I’m a half-blood. The only one in the Order; that’s why my hair is dark.” My eyebrows knit. “And it’s actually forbidden for us to interact in any way. You do know about that, right?”
Ava rolls her eyes mid-sip. “Pfft, it’s a stupid, archaic rule. If Kaiden doesn’t care about it, why should we? Soooo, what’s up with you two? Don’t skip any juicy details. We want them all.”
I roll the slender glass stem between my fingers as I hike a shoulder. “It’s complicated.” I sigh. “I don’t know what’s between us. We’ve never discussed it, and there can’t be a future for us anyway. He’s only helping me while we figure out some things, and after that, we’ll part ways.” The words burn throughme like acid, but they’re the truth, even though I know I’ve fallen for him.
“I’m not so sure Kaiden thinks the same. I have never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you.” Emily throws me a pointed look.
I remember the way the bitch Maeve planted herself in his lap at Sin. I can’t resist asking, “Not even Maeve?”
“Are you kidding?” Emily huffs. “Kaiden has never given her the time of day. She’s always desperate for his attention, but he mostly ignores her. Besides, she’s a raging cunt to everyone. She’s lucky she’s such a skilled dancer. Otherwise, Kaiden would have fired her already and sent her back to Hell.”
“Well, I hope you guys figure it out,” Ava chimes in. “We need more women in our group, and I would love it if you became a permanent fixture. You’re nothing like I thought you would be.”
The corners of my lips turn up. “Oh yeah, what did you think I would be like?”
“Um, you know, a shrew,” she chuckles out. “Let’s just say hellseekers don’t have the best reputation among our kind.”
“I can only imagine.” Five hundred years ago, during the demonic plague, the fight against demons became too bloody. The archangels restored the balance of good and evil by closing all twelve Hell gates around the world and imposing the Celestial Treaty. Before Lucifer signed the Treaty and the Obsidian Conclave took jurisdiction, hellseekers also hunted dark creatures alongside demons. Now, even though a truce exists, there has always been mutual hatred between hellseekers and dark creatures. It’s hard to admit, but the hellseekers’ superiority complex is the main reason for the existing dissension.
