I just don’t expect to make eye contact with Melchom, who sweeps through the door first.
He’s in the middle of saying something to the demon beside him, but when he sees me, he freezes, going ashen-faced.
“Fuck me seven ways to hell,” he grimaces and tries to back out the door. “Ah, now, maybe we should just?—”
“Shut the fuck up. This was the place I saw, so quit being a pussy about it. In you go,” a demoness says, shoving him inside.
She’s tall and stunning for a demoness, with dark hair in dreadlocks, a skull-patterned bandana obscuring her horns, electric blue lipstick, and piercing black eyes that immediately swing to me.
She breaks into a bright grin, showing off pointed teeth. “There she is! Thetelumherself. All the humans on the news are calling you Mav?—”
I’m in front of her in an instant, pressing one of my new knives against the flesh of her throat.
“Don’t sully my name with your mouth,” I warn evenly.
The demoness’s eyes widen before she tosses her head back in a booming laugh. I sense my matches behind me, tensed in case these demons mean trouble, but they don’t try to intervene or stop me.
There are four demons present—Melchom, this one who is still laughing like I invented comedy, and twin male demons who look like they’re on a mission to discover how much of their tattooed skin they can cover in piercings.
The demoness arches her brow at Melchom. “You didn’t describe her nearly well enough, dick-for-brains.”
“More like you just didn’t hear me over all the wailing your little fuck pet does whenever you’re pegging the hell out of him, you slut-faced bitch,” he scowls.
I look between them, deducting. “You’re Melchom’s girlfriend.”
The twin demons hiss in disgust at me using their pal’s name so freely, but she only grins.
“Tell you what,telum.I came here looking for a word with you. So, to show I mean you no harm, how’s this? The name’s Eisha.”
Melchom sputters, scandalized. The twin demons hiss again, and Everett sighs and mutters a prayer to ward off the gods’ punishment for demonology.
I study Eisha. I can’t think of a single fucking reason she could want to have a word with me. It’s much more likely that she’s competitive like most demons and wants to try her hand at taking out Amadeus’s scourge.
“Do I get to make good on my threat now, love?” Crypt asks in a deceptively calm tone, his murderous glare pinned on Melchom.
My other three matches look fully on board with that idea.
Melchom gulps loudly. “W—whoa! Hang on here, studs. Look, my airhead girlfriend just got really fucking excited when she saw thetelumon the news. Claims she was one of Amato’s allies back in the day, which is complete unicorn shit if you ask me?—”
Eisha rolls her eyes. “How would you even know, micro-dick? You fucked up, lost your horns in ’97, and didn’t respawn for over a decade. Missed all the fun.”
“Hang on,” Everett frowns. “Amato? As in, Pietro Amato?”
“Oh yeah. Bet you know all about him, don’t you, Gorgeous?” Eisha purrs, checking out my increasingly uncomfortable, fidgeting elemental in a way that makes my teeth grit. “Your dad helped make the decision to execute him, after all. Fucking devils, I see now why all the humans drool over you so much. You’re pretty enough to stick on a Popsicle and lick right?—”
I flip the knife smoothly to slice across the side of Eisha’s face, leaving a long cut that begins oozing black blood immediately. She rears back with a snarl, cupping the new injury that will definitely leave a haggard scar.
“Don’t look at him again,” I warn her, letting my voice drop to deadly levels. “And if you make one more passing remark about any of my men, I will cut those horns off of your fucking head and strangle you with your own spine.”
“Aww,” Bael coos behind me. “Did you guys hear that?Her men. I love when she gets all murderous and sappy.” A searing glare quickly replaces his happy grin as he looks back at Eisha. “But to be clear, my mate will absolutely fuck you up, so keep your beady little eyes off the merchandise.”
Do I finally get to mutilate Melchom for slighting you, darling?Crypt checks through the bond, his purple gaze imploring as he looks at me.I’ll ensure you get to savor his screaming as long as you like.
So thoughtful.
Silas smirks.Why is it unsurprising that you aren’t being sarcastic,sangfluir?
I glance at Everett, getting back to the topic at hand. “What the fuck does the founder of the Reformists have to do with me?”
