I close my eyes, focusing on the sounds to estimate how many skilled warriors are marching to their deaths. Thirty… forty-five… fifty-three…
Fucking shitballs, we’re so fucked.
Looking at the shocked faces around me, I answer the question hanging in the air. “I sense over sixty warriors trained by minor gods of war and chaos. This is going to suck.”
Angel clears his throat, eyeing Hazel as she nervously shifts on her feet.
Why do I get the feeling that, for once, I’m not responsible for a mess?
Hazel drops her duffel bag on the floor and starts pulling out gun after gun. She ignores Angel’s glare, handing out weapons until everyone but Grace and Angel is armed.
I would much rather rely on my fists than these machines I can never fully figure out, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
The weapons keep coming, and it takes me a second to realize the siren’s bag is doused in magic.
“Hey! We don’t work with witches, you traitor!”
Hazel flashes me a small, guilty smile, “It was before you.”
When my glare sharpens, she adds, “I blackmailed and threatened the witch if that makes you feel any better.”It does.
Hazel goes rigid when Angel bends to meet her eye. Pointing toward the window, he asks in a tone that leaves no room for excuses or deflection.
“When did you piss off Heaven?”
Hazel fights to keep her composure, but I know from experience that she’ll be in a ton of trouble if Angel’s carefully structured tower of tolerance collapses.
Hazel starts to argue, but one look from Angel shuts her down.
“Recently,” she grits out.
“How?”
She mumbles so quietly that I completely miss the words, but the steam coming out of Angel’s ears is impossible to miss.
“YoustabbedHermes?!”
Hermes is the ancient Greek god of trade, wealth, luck, fertility, sleep, language, thieves, travel… blah, blah, blah.
From what I’ve heard, he’s the sleaziest of the bunch.
“He wanted to‘fix’my fertility issues. Fucking creep. He’s lucky I didn’t cut his dick off and saved the world from another one of his offspring.”
I don’t need the whole story. I’m on the siren’s side.
I can practically see the wheels in Grace’s head turning asshe thinks out loud. “If you think about it—”
“Youreallydon’t have to,” Hazel mutters.
Grace ignores her and continues piecing the mess together. “We’ve earned quite a few enemies in recent years.”
“And almost all of them blame a certain mouthy siren for their passionate hatred for us,” Seiji adds, earning a stink eye from Hazel. For once, he has the opportunity to get her in trouble, and he’s milking it.
“Come out, you demented abomination! I have a debt to settle!”
Uh-oh.I take it back. I still have a hand in this mess.
“So that’s Victor. Another high-ranking warlock I have a teeny tiny personal issue with.” I brief the group before shouting back, “What if I send my mate instead? He’s more than happy to take my place!”
