A ghost of a smile whispered across his face. “It’s the kind of thing my power is excellent at detecting.”
“So?” I asked, arching a brow. None of the others noticed our conversation, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Phenex had an ear turned our way. He didn’t stop Valac from answering me though.
“Phenex wouldn’t call it cheating.” Valac shot me a meaningful glance. “But he has an advantage the others don’t.”
“And what’s that?” I whispered back.
He flashed a grin, an unexpected expression coming from the somber Valac. Even the ever-present shadows around him seemed to clear. “He can hear their heartbeats. He’s figured out that when they pick up speed, they’re bluffing. When they’re slow and steady, well, they have a good hand.”
I bit back a smile and glanced at the table where the demons were still bickering over whether or not Phenex would cheat. They didn’t seem to have heard our conversation. If they had, they’d probably be lobbing more insults Phenex’s way. Technically, he was right though. Was it really cheating to use his powers?
I wondered if there was a way to trick him. Purposefully ramp up your heart rate and convince him the opposite of what he believed it meant...
It was at that moment I realized that I hadn’t thought about the cult, the cure, or the looming fight in at least a good fifteen minutes. The Legion’s lighthearted brotherly banter had distracted me from the worst of those thoughts. Valac grabbed a slice of pizza and chomped into it, the gooey cheese oozing across his lips. I couldn’t help but grin at the big, bad demon with cheese on his face.
It all seemed so...normal. Slightly weird, sure, but every friendship group was weird in their own way. These demons weren’t dark and dangerous right now. The Legion was a family. These guys were just like a band of brothers who joked around, ate pizza, and laughed from their hearts. All this time, I’d been so focused on the terrible things the darkness caused. The demons from the Cult of Lilith. The ones full of murder, rage, and pain.
But these guys were demons, too. And...I liked them. A hell of a lot.
If this was my future, was that really such a bad thing, after all...?
Right now, I found it difficult to hate the idea of fully losing myself to the monster within me. Sure, it would be hard at first. Like Caim, I would have to learn to fight against my worst instincts. I’d have to shove the darkness down and make sure Eva stayed in control as much as possible.
It just...it wasn’t all bad.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Valac said from beside me. I jumped, having almost forgotten he was there. He must have been reading me, but I hadn’t felt his sharp, scraping gaze. Maybe I was starting to get used to it.
“I thought you couldn’t actually read people’s thoughts. Just their...intentions or souls or whatever it is you do.”
“No, I’m reading your face. I see longing in it.” He swiped the cheese off his lip and sighed. “You want to belong here with us. As part of our Legion.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” I asked in a small voice.
“No. It’s not. You’re already one of us in a way. But being in the Legion...reallybeing in the Legion...it’s far more difficult than you could ever imagine.”
I snorted. “Trust me. My imagination goes pretty wild when it comes to you guys.”
“You’re avoiding answering my question,” he said with a slight smile.
“It wasn’t a question,” I pointed out.
“But I’m right, aren’t I?
“Yeah. You’re right.” I sighed and leaned forward to grab the deck of cards from beneath the noses of the still arguing demons. They all fell silent as I started shuffling the deck with the kind of precision and technique a casino dealer might have. That or a girl who had spent a lot of her life bored in a hospital bed.
Phenex rubbed his hands together and grinned. “Alright, alright. This is what I’m talking about. Deal yourself in, Eva. Let’s prove to these assholes that I’m not a cheater.”
I bit back a smile and flipped the first card to Bael. Footsteps thundered in the hallway outside, distracting us from the game. Caim strode into the meeting room. His eyes were alight with an intense kind of energy I rarely saw in him. He was practically buzzing from it. I arched a brow, but he didn’t glance my way. Instead, he nodded toward Stolas who sat closest to the ham radio.
“Anything yet? I’m guessing not by the card game and the pizza.”
“A big fat nothing,” Stolas said.
“Where have you been?” I asked him as he shrugged off his leather jacket and hung it on a peg behind the door. He loved that thing, and I wasn’t entirely sure why he bothered. Sure, it was winter in New York Freezing City, but he was a demon who made his own heat.
“Just taking care of some club business,” he said quietly before eyeing the table and the deck of cards in my hand. “Don’t tell me Phenex has wrangled you into a game. He cheats, you know.”
“Excuse me,” Phenex objected. “I do notcheat.”
