“Ah, that must be Cale,” Apollo murmured behind me.
Sasha took advantage of the distraction, wrapping the razor-edged whip around the general’s thick neck and pulling hard. He resisted, grabbing the whip and yanking back. The young woman went flying only to be snatched out of the air by the falcon.
“Get back here!”
Lexi’s yell had me spinning on my heel, and I watched as she raced across the field to where three lesser demons were dragging away a young dark-haired human. The higher demon she’d been fighting moments ago was nowhere to be seen, and Nathan was dispatching another group terrorizing a nearby playground. She bared her teeth and flicked her hands, making all three pop like overfilled balloons, splashing ichor all over her and their former captive.
“Oh, my.” Apollo cringed at the sight. “That looked, uh, painful. Could she always do that?”
Loki smirked deviously and winked at me. “Since the night she got pissed enough to use it, yes. Recorded the entire thing on my phone, if you ever wanna watch. Though I’m surprised to see her using it now to save her ex.”
“Her ex?” I stepped forward, but made myself stop.
The man’s face was white with terror and he scrambled away from Lexi. That was the only acceptable emotion I wanted him to feel when he saw what she was capable of, even if she was saving his life. His soul reeked of the pleasure he got from forcing himself on women who couldn’t fight back, and I nearly gave into the impulse to burn him alive simply for being in her presence. Only Loki’s hand stayed mine, and the curiosity to see what Lexi would do.
“You!” he yelled, face turning red as he finally pushed to his feet. “You crazy bitch! I knew it, I knew you were the reason all this shit was happening. Everyone was right about you. Fucking Lexi Luckless! You need to be locked up in the fucking Arctic Circle before the whole goddamned world—”
One solid punch and he dropped like a sack of bricks. Lexi shook her hand out just as Sasha jogged up to her side, eyebrows turned up in a silent question. She shrugged and scowled down at the unconscious man.
“Asshole ex,” she said.
Sasha nodded approvingly. “I think we got them all, but this was too public. There’ll be a ton of damage control.”
“Leave that to us.” Apollo was already halfway to them before I noticed.
At my side, Loki grinned. “Atta girl. Brad deserves so much worse than what she would do. He was lucky to get away with only a deeper fear of rats and, hopefully, a broken nose.”
Then he walked away, toward the small group in the field. I followed after him, Nathan running over from the other side as the falcon descended and flowed into a human shape on landing. I couldn’t tell if the person—Cale, Apollo had called them—was male or female. They had golden brown skin and sleek, dark brown curls cascading halfway down their back, the top half pinned back by a hairpin that sported a red stone framed by a pair of golden horns. Their androgynous build was well-suited to be a shapeshifter, and before Lexi came along, I probably wouldn’t have declined an invitation for a night in.
As if reading my mind, they winked one dark, downturned eye over their shoulder at me before joining with the rest. I couldn’t help but chuckle. Then my eyes met Lexi’s burning gold ones over Sasha’s head. She eased away from the group, a smile sliding across her face as Nathan attempted to wriggle out of Apollo’s embarrassing public display of affection. Hands tucked in the front pocket of her hoodie, she stopped a few feet away from me.
“Nothing happened,” I blurted, my mouth running away before I was ready. I frowned, reining myself back in. “With Lilith, I mean. It wasn’t what you think.”
“It never is,” she replied quietly. My stomach twisted with unease. “Keeping secrets, even if you believe it’s for my protection, is the same as lying. And I know you hate liars.”
I grit my teeth, but she wasn’t wrong. “I should’ve told you sooner, but I wanted to be sure. The story she told me is true, but something kept holding me back. I fucking hate feeling like there’s something hiding in the otherwise insignificant words she speaks.”
I also hated feeling so damn uncertain, reacting when I should’ve been more proactive. Admittedly, when I first escaped my chains, it took me a while to find a place to settle. Even then, when I started buildingSinsational Sweets, a part of me contemplated just living instead of fighting—the part that negotiated a truce with Heaven and got me into this situation in the first place. My complacency only gave Abaddon time to get ahead in the race, and I was pissed at myself for it.
Lexi dipped her chin in a slow nod. “Do you believe she could be an ally?”
“If given the chance, I’d like to say yes.” I ran my hand over my head, frustration tensing my muscles. “But there’s never a guarantee where she’s concerned. Never has been. Lilith is stubbornly and selfishly independent. She doesn’t like being tied down and goes where she believes her own best interests lie.”
“So that’s a no.”
I sighed and dropped my hand. “She’s always been a… friend, if I could call anyone that.”
She slid her fingers across the back of my hand and folded them between mine, stepping into my space. “That doesn’t mean you have to rely on her. She can still be a friend and not get involved if you’re not sure.”
Growling, I pulled her closer, tipping her chin up to look into her eyes. Her hands pressed against my chest and curled into the fabric of my shirt, her power still singing through her veins and calling to my own, even as her amulet sought to contain it. This much contact made me dizzy with need, and the rest of the world ceased to exist for all we cared.
“You glow when you fight.” I brushed my lips across her forehead, her temple. She inhaled and tightened her grip. “Especially your eyes. So beautiful. Vicious. Fucking transcendent. I want to watch you fight more if you always look like that.”
Lexi hummed pleasantly, eyes slipping closed. “Been doing a lot of that lately, if you can call it that. Stick around a little more and you can watch all you want. I’ll put on a show for you.”
“How long have you been practicing with them?”
“Only a few days,” she replied, cracking one eye open. “You owe Nathan an apology, by the way. You were a dick.”
