Hazai, of course, was carving out the silhouette of a cat. He had permitted Gabriel to stand with him, and the angel was laughing while he helped Hazai with his pumpkin.
Jezebel was carving out a bat design on hers, her cheeks flushing red from the three glasses of wine she had with dinner. Since Art had publicly accused her of conspiring against us in the interest of securing a spot in my bed, she had been much quieter.
Lilith seemed to be avoiding her, and I couldn’t tell if Jezebel was tense because there was some truth to what Art had said or if she was truly bothered by the fact that Lilith seemed to be upset with her.I hadn’t mentioned it out loud, but Art was right. Jezebel had a motive to want Lilith out of the picture, though, I supposed so did Gabe. He was an angel after all. Maybe Art had been right, and he was trying to get close to Shem so he could eliminate him. Without Shem, we would be without our General. He really was the strongest of us. If I was being honest, I often wondered if he was even stronger than I was. If we lost Shemhazai, we would be at even more of a disadvantage than we already were.
Despite all these worries, there wasn’t much I could do about it outside of locking them all up. As I watched Lilith screw up her little face in concentration, I somehow knew she would not be thrilled with me if I threw Jezebel into the dungeons. Even if shedidseem a little put out by the fact that the demon had admitted to pursuing me while she had been in purgatory.
I nearly smirked at the thought. She had beenjealous.The thought of her feeling jealousy over the idea of me fucking somebody else made me unreasonably happy. It meant she cared. She wanted me. Better than that—she didn’t want toshare me.She wanted me all to herself, and knowing that made my black fucking heart soar.
Finally, the timer went off, signaling the end of the contest. Lilith dropped her knife, standing back and smiling at her pumpkin with her hands on her hips.
“I think it looks pretty good!” She beamed. I slid behind her to inspect her work and grinned. Her full moon was a little crooked, and she had cut the handle of the scythe too thin and needed to reattach it with some toothpicks, but in my eyes, it was perfect.
“A masterpiece worthy of first place,” I purred, wrapping my hands around her and pulling her into me. She laughed, shaking her head.
She pointed at mine before glancing back at me ruefully. “Yours is like… freakishly good, Ramel. You could put that shit in the MoMa.” I raised an eyebrow and eyed the nearly photorealistic carving of Lilith, and shrugged.
“Nah, realism is soboring. Yours has so much character.” I smirked at her, and she just rolled hereyes.
“I don’t know what either of you are talking about. Gabe and I are clearly going to win,” Shem drawled confidently, gesturing to his crude cut out of an arched cat. It was Gabriel’s turn to roll his eyes, though there was a quiet smile on his face.
“I don’t know about that, Shemhazai,” he said skeptically, “ours looks like a human child carved it. We should have just done a classic scary face.”
The judges approached the table to inspect each contestant’s work. I glared at them as they examined each pumpkin.
‘There’s a special cell reserved in the dungeons for any judge who does not vote for Lilith,’I warned into their minds as they marked down their votes on their clipboards. I nearly snarled as their faces paled.‘Don’t be so fucking obvious,’I snapped as they scurried away to tally their votes.
Unsurprisingly, Lilith came in first place. Her jaw dropped at the announcement. She spun to face me, her eyes filled with delighted surprise.
“What! That’s crazy; yours is so much better than mine!” she gasped. I shrugged.
“I must have lost points for straying so far from the Halloween theme.” I grinned at her, bringing her hand to my mouth. I left a kiss on her knuckles, relishing the adorable pink flush that bled to her cheeks.
Shem slid his hands into his pockets and smirked. “He’s right; the Grim Reaper was a way better choice. I’m not shocked you won.” He shot me a sly look. “Not shocked at aaaallllll.”
“Shut up, asshole,” I muttered under my breath. Lilith squealed as the judges pinned the blue ribbon to her pumpkin. Shem and I watched as Jez and Gabe crowded around her, examining her Jack-o’-lantern curiously.
I casually leaned closer to Shem, keeping my voice down so as not to draw attention to us. “What do you think about Art’s little outburst?”
Shem glanced at me, his lips pursing slightly. “He’s not wrong. Both of them have motives.”
“I’m wondering if we’re being fools allowing them to mingle out here this close to her ascension.”
Shem nodded somberly. “I feel you. Say the word, and I’ll put them both in the dungeons faster than you can say‘Hail Satan.’”
“I’m worried it’ll upset Lilith. I promised her I wouldn’t hurt her friends anymore, and I think she considers Jezebel a friend,” I admitted, trying not to scowl.
“Locking her up isn’thurtingher,” Shem argued, and I sighed.
“I’m not sure Lilith will see it that way. She seems…touchyabout things like that.”
Shem glanced at me, frowning. “Since when do you care? You’re going soft on me.”
I shrugged. “Since she fucking cut herself up with the Aetherium blade. I’m trying to go easier on her. I want her to like me again.”
“She does like you. She’s just being stubborn about admitting it.” Shem grinned.
“It’s more than that. I want her to be happy here.” Sadness rushed through me as the words left my mouth. That was all I had ever wanted for her before Yahweh ruined our lives. I had wanted her to be happy and to be surrounded by people that loved her. So far, I had done a piss poor job of making that happen.
