I’d never seen them argue like this. A dangerous tension hung thick between them, and I could almost feel the oxygen being sucked out of the room.
Thaddeus rolled his eyes with a grunt and stepped back away from me.
I wrung my hands in front of me, trying my best to control the anger swirling inside of me. “I might be selfish, but I don’t like the thought of being away from you guys. I’ll nevermakeyou stay in Hell with me, but I wanted you to have the option.”
Blaise released a sigh. “Poppy, we’re happy you convinced King Zelek for us to come to Hell.”
“We would’ve been broken without you,” Kai murmured.
“You’re not being selfish, love.Iam.” Thaddeus still refused to meet my gaze as he swallowed. “We’ll stay.”
The relief that went through me was nothing compared to the anger that sizzled over the back of my neck as I realized I was the one that was supposed to be pissed off. “Now that’s settled, how about you guys tell me why the fuck you hid the fact that I could’ve been a demon?”
“Thaddeus decided—”
“Shut the fuck up,” I cut Kai off. “It’s always Thaddeus said this or Thaddeus said that. Give me a better reason thanThaddeus said so.”
“We didn’t know if it was true or not,” Thaddeus said with his eyes trained on the clay ground.
“Poppy, you’d just become a bloody vampire. Your world had just gone tits up, we didn’t want to fuck it up even more.” Blaise stepped forward and grabbed my chin between his thumb and index finger, tilting it up.
“That’s a slightly better fucking excuse,” I mumbled before Blaise brought his rough lips over mine for a raw and needy sequence of kisses.
I could kiss him all fucking day.
His thumb stroked my cheek as he pulled back. “I’d love to, Poppy, but I’m sure the rest of them would have our heads.”
I groaned, turning around and marching over to Aziel on the bed.
“Let them have our heads, my beloved. I need to hold you.” He tucked me against his chest and wrapped his arms around me as he sniffed at the nape of my neck.
Blaise gave a low growl toward Aziel, who stuck his tongue out at him.
“Uh, where do we sleep?” Kai asked, scratching his head with a tinge of pink over his cheeks.
“I bloody well hope it’s with you.” Blaise winked, crossing his arms.
My lips curved upward, still tingling from Blaise’s kiss. “You’re all welcome to sleep with me.”
“I know I am,” Aziel murmured against my neck, shooting bolts of desire through my core.
“Me too, mate. I’m not about to let the demon have her all to himself.” Blaise came over and threw himself on the bed, making it jostle.
“Why would I want my own room when I can be with Lilith?” Kai shrugged, plopping down on the bed beside Blaise.
Thaddeus hesitated, his troubled gaze finally flickering toward me again.
“You fucked her, mate, what’s the holdup?” Blaise cocked a brow.
My body heated as I remembered the way his chilly hands caressed my bare skin as if I were the most precious thing in the world to him. His words could be venom, and the hard shell over his heart was tough to crack. But I knew he deserved happiness, and I could give him that.
“Sod off, Blaise,” he growled.
Bringing my thumb to my fang, I sliced it open before dripping some of my black blood on the ground below. “Priamos, you’re summoned.”
My thumb tingled as it healed much faster than before my demon powers awakened. The surrounding air crackled before my newest demon, Priamos, appeared in front of me on one knee.
I created him two millennia ago, and already I’d missed a good portion of his life. My chest squeezed at the thought.
