With that, he turns on his heel and saunters back out into the party, the doors shutting behind him and locking away all the intrusive sounds once again.
I stare at the door for a beat and then turn to the guys, suddenly nervous but so damn excited too. “So...which room?”
10
Unfortunately, they don’t get to answer that question.
Almost as soon as Jewelry dude shuts the doors, Tazreel comes bursting right in. When he sees us, his eyes glower, and he shoots a look at his fellow Abdicated. “I knew you were full of shit, Avarice,” he tells Jewelry, whose name I guess is Avarice. Then Taz rounds on me. “What do you think you’re doing?” he demands.
Avarice sends me a little shrug. “I tried. He was already hot on my tail and didn’t have enough Stupor in him to believe my lie.”
Taz shoots him a look. “Yes, you really should know how to lie better,” he tells him. “Dancing?” He scoffs in disbelief. “As if I would believe she would be dancing after everyone just saw exactly how graceless she is when attempting to fly.”
“Hey,” I say with offense. “I’ve never flown before, and these fuckers did it on their own,” I say, blaming it on the purple monstrosities.
He points a finger at me, going right past the flying issue. “I don’t want you cavorting with them. We spoke about this earlier, and I was serious.”
“So was I,” I fire back.
He takes a step forward, so I meet him toe-to-toe. Our wings stretch out once more as we both glare at each other. Avarice looks over at my guys who are watching worriedly. “Don’t worry, Luce forbade him from punishing her. He can’t do anything.”
“Get out!” Tazreel snaps at him.
He tsks but starts backing away with a smirk. “You need to go smoke some Stupor, my friend. Help loosen up.”
“I can’t,” Taz replies petulantly. “I have to watch this party like a hawk, or they’ll ruin my yard and try to steal my sculptures.”
I make a face. “Why would anyone want to steal those sculptures of you?”
A tic in his jaw pulses, and I know I’ve hit him right in the ego, because his wings try to fluff up, like they’re bolstering his vanity. “Any form of art in my likeness is priceless.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” I mumble.
“What was that?”
“I said—”
For the second time tonight, Echo’s hand slaps over my mouth. “I think Delta had a little too much Stupor blown into her face tonight.”
“Yes, let’s all calm down,” Iceman intervenes, stepping up beside me.
Echo gives me a look that says,behave, before dropping his palm away. I take a steadying breath, looking at my wings. “Stand down,” I order, hoping that if I sound like a general, they’ll listen. Luckily, they do.
Avarice slips outside but leaves the doors cracked, letting the ambiance of the party filter in. Tazreel takes a moment to look at each of the guys, still posturing with his wings. Even though he looks ageless, you can tell that he’s ancient. The power and influence he possesses is incomparable to anything other than what was rolling off of Lucifer himself.
“I will not allow this grouping to happen under my roof.” His words clang like metal falling to the floor, sending vibrations through my feet.
“Fine,” I retort. “We were just leaving anyway.”
His eyes snap to me. “Leaving? You cannot leave. You are my newly discovered progeny. You will need training on how to be a Nihil.”
I shake my head, letting my tangled hair shift over my back. “The only training I’ll be doing is how to help stabilize the Hellgate.”
He scoffs and runs a hand through his hair, his wings finally dropping back as he shakes his head. “That job is beneath you.”
“If that’s the way all Nihil think, that’s probably why the Gates are fucking breaking in the first place,” I reply hotly. “You guys are supposedly powerful. Why aren’t you helping to fix the Gates? Isn’t balance and all of that the thing you value most?”
“I’m Pride. I have enough to balance as it is,” he grits out. “And ifthey”—he points a finger at the guys—“are not up to their task, then they can get another bloodline to help them like they’re supposed to.”
