Az cracked a smile, despite the potential danger that loomed before us. “Dishwashers?”
“Well, yes. Doesn’t this look like the kind of building that has dishwashers in the apartments?”
“I can’t say I’ve ever thought much about the characteristics of dishwasher apartments.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course you haven’t. I bet you’ve had access to dishwashers your entire life. Those of us without piles of money don’t always get them.”
“There are no dishwashers in Hell, Mia,” he murmured.
“Oh.” Right. Good point. And now he was hours—or moments—away from being dragged back to that place. I had no idea what to imagine when it came to Hell. I’d asked Az to describe it to me a few times, but his expression always darkened and he walked away. Memories of that life clearly haunted him. None of the demons wanted to go back. The only thing I knew was that there was a lot of fire there.
And zero dishwashers.
We stopped outside the door, and Az jammed his thumb against every single buzzer. There were about fifty of them in total. At least a dozen irritated voices blasted through the tinny speaker.
Who is this?
What do you want?
You just woke up my baby!
Finally, the doorbuzzedas an unsuspecting fool let us in without confirming we belonged here. Az and I minced inside. Well,Iminced. Az strolled along with his hands slung into his pockets, unbothered and calm. My heart was practically beating a hole in my chest, and I had to rub my palms against my jeans repeatedly.
“We should have brought the others,” I whispered as the overhead fluorescent bulb flickered, like something straight out of a horror movie.
“I’m the strongest,” he said firmly. “And they’re doing the more dangerous deed. They need the numbers going up against two fallen angels.”
He was right. But I would have felt a little better with some backup like Phenex. All he’d have to do was punch a wall, and he’d get someone talking. Together, he and Az would terrify anyone.
At the end of the hallway, we found some stairs. No elevator in sight. As we climbed up to the fourth floor, I huffed out a breath.
“Maybe I was wrong,” I said, our footsteps echoing against the concrete steps. “If they’re making the top floor walk up six flights of stairs, they aren’t putting dishwashers in all the units. Very tricky of them, you know. I bet they rent more units by making the outside look a lot nicer than the inside. Sure, you’d find out when you viewed the place, but I still bet it makes a difference.”
“Mia,” Az murmured with a smile.
“What?”
“Calm down. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He stopped me in the middle of the fifth flight of stairs and pushed me back against the rough wall. An unexpected gasp popped out of my mouth. He leaned in close, dragging his lips against my neck. A blast of heat burned through me, momentarily drowning out the fear.
“Nothing will happen to you,” he growled out, his eyes flashing. “Whatever we’re about to face, they’d have to kill me first before I’d ever let them get to you. And I’m pretty fucking hard to kill.”
“But that’s what I’m afraid of,” I whispered back. “I know you’ll protect me, Az. But I don’t want you to lose you in the process.”
His lips twisted into a wicked smile. “You have no idea what I’m capable of, Mia. And I’m not sure I want you to see it.”
My heart pounded, and I swallowed hard. “If it means you survive, then I absolutely do want to see it.”
I wouldn’t lie and pretend I didn’t feel the teensiest bit of fear. Notofhim. I knew he’d never harm me. I could see the truth of it in his eyes. But I also knew that he’d held back. He’d kept the worst of his demonic side hidden from me. And he’d told me himself that he’d done terrible things. Most of that had been in his past, but not all of it.
He curled a finger against my cheek and searched my eyes. I knew he could scent my fear and unease, but maybe he could also smell the wild desperation. If he had to go a bit demony inside this apartment to protect us both, then so be it.
“You might not like what you see,” he said. “You might never look at me this way again.”
I reached up and tangled my hands in his hair. “Az. I want you to do whatever it takes.”
With a nod, he brushed his lips against mine. And then we were off, charging up the rest of the stairs. We reached the sixth floor and pressed out into the carpeted hallway. It stank a bit, like old socks and cat piss.
Appearances can certainly be deceiving. The outside had given off the aura of a well-kept, peaceful apartment building. But the interior was a mess. The lights flickered. Stains splattered the walls. The ragged carpet needed to be replaced at least ten years ago.
