Page 82 of Angel I Am Not

His thumb moved once over my knuckles before he let the subject go. Zel appeared beside him a moment later and held out half a sandwich wrapped in a napkin.

I stared at it. “You expect me to eat in the bath?”

“You’ve had stranger things in your mouth tonight.”

Luc choked on whatever he was drinking. I slowly turned my head toward Zel, who looked completely sincere until the corner of his mouth betrayed him. “You’re all terrible.”

“You’re eating it anyway, Angel.”

I was, mostly because I was starving. Zel waited until I had a decent grip on the sandwich before returning to his collection of food, and for a while the bathroom settled into the kind of comfortable quiet I still wasn’t used to having around other people.

I had nearly fallen asleep again when Luc said, “We should probably talk about the others.”

My eyes opened. “No.”

Luc blinked. “I didn’t say anything yet.”

“I know exactly what you mean, and no.” I sank farther into the bath until the water reached my chin. “I need a break.”

That earned a laugh from somewhere behind me. Deus’ fingers slipped beneath my hair again, and even Nick’s mouth twitched.

“I’m serious.” I lifted the hand holding my sandwich and pointed it vaguely at all of them. “Levi. Mammon. Belphegor. Whoever else Dante plans to throw at me next. They can wait. I have met enough demons for one week.”

“One week?” Nick asked.

“It feels like one.”

Luc leaned forward, forearms resting against his thighs. “Meeting them doesn’t mean anything has to happen.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, and he held my stare for all of two seconds before glancing around the bathroom at the four demons currently refusing to leave me alone. Deus was still perched beside the tub with one hand resting against the back of my neck, Nick close enough that I could reach him without leaving the water, and Zel standing at the vanity with half our weird bathroom picnic spread around him.

“That sounded better before I looked around.”

“Thank you.” I took another bite of my sandwich, chewing slowly while I considered the four of them. “Because from where I’m sitting, meeting a Sin has had a pretty consistent outcome lately.”

Deus brushed his thumb beneath my ear, the touch sending another lazy ripple of pleasure down my neck without stirring anything more demanding. “You could meet the others and hate them.”

“That is strangely comforting.”

Zel handed Nick another sandwich without being asked, apparently deciding everyone needed to keep eating as long as he did. “No one’s saying tomorrow, Angel. Levi, Mammon, and Belphegor have survived this long without you. I imagine they’ll manage a little longer.”

“Good.” I let my head settle back against the tub while Deus resumed the slow movement of his fingers through my hair. “Because if another bond lights up in the next twenty-four hours, I’m throwing myself into traffic.”

Nick squeezed the hand I had left hanging over the edge of the tub. “You’d survive.”

I cracked one eye open at him. “I’d find faster traffic.”

His mouth twitched before the laughter spread through the bathroom, even Luc giving up whatever serious argument he had been preparing. I smiled and let my eyes close again, sinking a little deeper into the heat. The thought of the remaining three didn’t frighten me as much as it probably should have. I was mostly exhausted by the possibility. Whoever they were and whatever happened when I eventually met them, they could wait until I could cross a room without feeling every muscle Deus had introduced himself to.

Luc’s phone started vibrating against the counter, and nobody moved at first. Zel kept rearranging food that didn’t need rearranging, Deus continued working his fingers through my hair, and I seriously considered pretending none of us had heard it until Luc finally leaned over and glanced at the screen.

“Dante.”

I groaned and slid another inch beneath the bubbles. “Of course it is.”

“He’s been trying to reach me.”

“That sentence has never led to anything relaxing.”