I leaned in, getting a whiff of that floral sweetness. “But I like it when you’re on my toes.”
She shoved me, but it was playful and innocent. My heart beat faster as she smirked and faced forward, red blooming on her cheeks until she stopped, her eyes widened as she pointed. “Is that what you were expecting?”
I turned and halted as I looked at the sea of demons in the cafeteria. So many bodies in that cramped hall that some were standing as they were eating. I whispered, more to myself than anyone, “Looks like he called everyone in for this.”
A red-haired demon with green eyes saw me, rose to his feet, and yelled, “They have come here, and they have Lex! Get that Syndicate scum and save our prince.”
The whole room went quiet as all eyes turned on us before a wave of them jumped up. I put my hands up, trying to tell them no when Rayla threw me over her shoulder and zoomed to the center of the room, putting me up on a table before several demons grabbed at her, yelling how they wanted to kill her.
I looked around at all the angry faces pointed in her direction. Ternin, Syris, and Avery were all on the edge, fighting the few that tried to take them. It was chaos, utter chaos, and, for once, I didn’t like it one bit.
Rayla bellowed as a bulky-shaped, purple-haired she-demon grabbed at Rayla’s hair while yelling she was the Desmond bitch. Rayla’s eyes connected with mine before she fought back, swinging and slicing them away from herself, but that wasn’t her job. These were supposed to be my people, the people that followed the Devil name. That wasn’t the Syndicate, and that wasn’t my uncle, I was Rathe Devil’s son, and they needed to understand why they should listen to me.
I bellowed at the top of my lungs, letting my power rush out of me as it covered the whole room in darkness. “You. Will. Not. Touch. Her.” My horns grew out as my anger rose at having my mate being threatened by my people. The people who were to obey me.
A few people coughed, choking on my smoke as the shadows pulled out from their darkness and covered the whole cafeteria. Letting them all know who was the one in charge now.
I growled into the abyss, “The Syndicate members here are not to be harmed. If you touch the hair on her head one more time, I’m going to grab your spine and rip it out through your nostrils!” That got everyone’s attention as my chest heaved, and I could feel myself losing control, my anger too deep. The rage not being contained anymore.
Then a smooth hand slipped into mine, giving it a squeeze, and two golden-pink orbs broke through the darkness. Understanding me. Letting me know that everything was fine, and she was with me.
My smoke crept backward, flowing back into me slowly as I pulled the darkness away. The shadows bent back into the right areas, and, soon, the whole room was silent as everyone faced me with various expressions, but all of them were waiting to hear from me.
Rayla squeezed my hand again, signaling me to speak, and I opened my mouth. “Who here wants to die tonight?” Rayla winced, but I kept going, not wanting to beat around the bush with pleasing words or to sound scripted. I just went with it. “Tonight, I have made a decision, and that is to align myself with the Syndicate once again, like my father would have.”
Murmurs flew through the crowd, demons talking among themselves at the thought. Some were loudly against it, but most were quiet, curious, and I needed to take advantage of that.
“I have failed you all.” This got their attention, and everyone quieted. “I have failed you at being a leader, so caught up in my own trials and tribulations that I forgot who I was, the weight my name carries. I will not do that anymore.”
A few smiles peppered the crowd, and I kept going. “Tonight, I am taking over the Devil clan, and that means that we will not be starting a war with the Syndicate. We will not start an endless battle of ridding this world of each other because, deep down, we are all one and the same. Criminals, murderers, thieves, scoundrels, the ones that do the dirty work of the world, both the Devil clan and the Syndicate. There is no need for us to fight when there’s room for all of us in this community.”
I took a deep breath, circling around the table to make eye contact with everyone. “You want to see the Devil name back to its prime? When being a part of the Devil clan not only got you respect but people feared you, feared what you could do?”
A few of the younger ones nodded, growing excited by my words, until one of the older ones spoke up. “Vincent pays us decently. You want us to give that up for a dream of the Devil name going back to its glory days?” His disbelief stunned me. I understood what he was saying, that when it came down to the logistics of it all, they all wanted to live their lives, too. For some, this was a job they felt pride in, and others it was just a job to feed their families.
My mouth shut as I thought about what he said, trying to come up with something to come back with when Rayla climbed up next to me. The whole room glared at her, but she stared right back, shoving her hands on her hips as she yelled to the crowd, “Is this what being a Devil means to you all? Is this the kind of family you want to be a part of?”
“What do you know, vampire girl?” someone heckled, and I took a step toward them. How dare they speak to her like that? She put her arm out, preventing me from doing anything before she spoke again.
“I know that when someone from the Desmond clan says they are with us, people listen to them. I know that when they mention working for us, they get better treatment and regarded with respect. I know that being a part of the Desmond clan not only means that you are part of our family, but also a part of the Syndicate as a whole.” Her eyes slid to mine, silently asking me if she could go forward, and I nodded.
“Let me start by telling you the benefits of being a part of this new Devil’s clan that Lex will be running under the Syndicate umbrella. An organization that has been up and running successfully for over a hundred years with record growth and profits.” She turned around slowly, holding up one finger. “One, we are not greedy slumlords, we like to share the wealth when the wealth is to be had, which is why we are offering twenty percent commission for each job completed per the specs of the contract.”
Excitement spread throughout the crowd. “Twenty percent? Vincent only gives us ten.”
“Does she even know what she is talking about?”
Someone answered, “Yeah, she’s Rayla Desmond. She has been running this territory with her father for a while now. She knows what she’s talking about.”
Another person says to his neighbor, “Do you think this is a trick?”
She yelled out over the crowd, holding two fingers. “Second! You will be a part of the Syndicate, which is nationwide. You can have your home base wherever you want as long as you check in with your local chapter. This will also be where you get jobs, collect money, and have access to our Syndicate-exclusive weapons made specifically for the jobs you take. If you think we don’t have what you need in our massive catalog of weapons, you can put in a weapons request, and our tech team will create the equipment for you to complete your jobs.”
Some young recruit looked up at Rayla as words slipped out of his mouth, “What?! That’s amazing.”
Another older demon with battle scars all over his face and body nodded. “That is an interesting perk. Most of the time, Vincent made me use my own gear, but if they provide me with some, and they are top of the line, I can get my jobs done faster, which means more money for me.” Others around him started to agree, and a lightness filled me as I looked back at Rayla.
Her face was firm and set, but she wasn’t unapproachable. She looked like a general commanding troops and setting the laws, but the crowd was receptive, liking these new changes to the way life could be for them, but she wasn’t done yet.
