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Her cheeks flushed a dark pink. Words had completely abandoned her, leaving her to offer up only a small nod.
The demon lord whistled softly. “She’ll have no problem with the task, boss.” He drifted away from the bed, tucking his cock away and pulling up the zipper as he went. His steps faltered as my phone started vibrating on the nightstand. Those piercing eyes shifted toward me. “It’s Archer.”
Tapping Quinn’s hip, I gestured at the bathroom with a slight nod of my head to recommend a shower. As soon as she started venturing inside to get clean, I rolled over and recovered the cell phone before the call could get transferred to voicemail. “Archer—”
He didn’t give me a chance to finish my sentence before he cut me off, his voice ragged, “Boss…we’ve got a problem.”
QUINN
“The Nephilim knows we’ve been watching.”
It was not my intention to eavesdrop on the conversation, especially since Archer’s weary tone warned the call didn’t come with good news. Hell, just because I had bonded with Asher on a level that left me just shy of being equal to him in rank didn’t mean he’d brought me into the fold where his personal business was concerned. It wasn’t difficult to decipher that there was something huge going on from that first week alone.
Demons didn’t meet with angels for the sheer hell of it and Marcillo looked like he had been ready to break every sacred law his kind held dear. So how did things shift to involve a Nephilim? As far as history was concerned, I didn’t even know they existed. They certainly weren’t walking down the street like an everyday resident.
I twisted the knob to help bring more heat into the shower stream, treasuring the way it was driving all the tension from my body. I hadn’t moved much during the three days Asher had been unconscious except for a quick bathroom break. Every time I ventured away, I always made sure the door was locked until I was done. While it was nowhere near the agonizing level the prince endured when he woke, it certainly reminded me of the part of my childhood where I spent most of my days locked in the dog cage.
“How the hell would he know?” Nico growled. “We were under the impression that you trained your own men well enough for them to remain hidden — to not get too fucking close to the targets.”
Archer responded with a livid snarl that was loud enough for me to hear it over the water. “I don’t need the disrespect from you, Tormix. I know how to train my people.”
The demon lord released a snort “Obviously not.”
Even from the other end of a phone currently located somewhere else entirely, I could still sense the surge of rage tearing through Archer as he stumbled into his native tongue. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that every other word was a creative swear word meant to get under Nico’s skin. I cringed, relieved they weren’t all in the same room. That was an energy level I simply couldn’t handle being near.
“Knock it off, the both of you,” Asher hissed. While the rage was just as present in his tone as it was with Archer’s, he managed to maintain more control over the searing emotion to where both demon lords were suppressed into a sudden silence. “It doesn’t matter how the Nephilim caught on. My only concern is why he would take Xaide alive.”
I couldn’t explain how I could sense Nico’s nonchalant shrug without having the bathroom door wide open and eyes on him, yet I knew he did. “The usual comes to mind,” he muttered. “Xaide is one of Archer’s most trusted assassins. While he wouldn’t have much insight into the operations directly tied to Asher, he still has knowledge about yours.” He added a noise that sounded like an annoyed growl. “As much as you like him for his success rate, it would be wise to take him out before the Nephilim can break him.”
“Xaide will die before he talks!”
“We are all fully aware of his unwavering loyalty to both you and the crown, Archer.” The prince’s tone took on a dry edge flooded with the venomous warning that he wasn’t going to tolerate the bickering much longer. If it wasn’t for the exhaustion still clinging to him, he would’ve put an end to it immediately. “The point is…should that become a possibility, are you willing to remove him from the equation and take away the risk?”
“Willing? Yes. Able to?” The demon lord was quiet for a moment. “No. The manor is heavily guarded, especially on the outside. The Nephilim has recruited a mixture of races here, Asher. The only one I don’t see are vamps. There are plenty of traitors willing to back up his play. We won’t be able to get in unless we throw everything we have at them — and don’t give a fuck about them knowing we’re there.”
As much as I wanted to continue paying attention to the conversation, their words were starting to become muffled. The sudden shift in that sense took me by surprise until I noticed the other ones were beginning to become affected, too. I slapped a hand against the tile wall as the room started to tilt around me with red dots scattering my vision. It didn’t matter if I was doing nothing more than breathing, it felt like I had taken it upon myself to spin in circles.
What the fuck is going on with me? I sucked in a ragged breath, reaching up to shift the shower head so that I could rest my forehead against the wall and still be comforted by the hot stream. It was such a small movement that I didn’t think it would agitate this, yet the dizziness simply spiraled out of control. I squeezed my eyes shut. No, no, no!
This needed to stop — now.
“Were you followed?” Fingers brushed against my cheeks.
The physical contact was so sudden that my eyes flew open and my first instinct was to jerk back. Distance was required, yet my body seemed unwilling to budge a single inch. Shock tore through my veins when I found myself gazing up into light brown eyes nestled beneath deep chocolate brown wavy hair. Even the tanned skin completing the look had my stomach churning with butterflies.
What the fuck is wrong with me? I didn’t know this man, yet my body seemed to think he was heaven on earth. Even those pale lips and the one single freckle under his right eye seemed to have me ready to melt. Judging by the way he was holding me, that had probably already happened.
“No, Lazarus,” a soft voice purred. “I left them all behind in Montana. No one was following me after that car explosion hit the news.”
The shock grew within me until my vision grew hazy. That was definitely not my voice. Mine wasn’t anything special when it came to an angelic touch that would leave a man swooning, but I certainly didn’t speak so softly. Then there was the name to consider. It simply confirmed that I didn’t have the slightest clue as to who this man was and I remembered my men with accents.
A pleased chuckle escaped Lazarus. He leaned forward, brushing those lips along my jawline. I could feel the trembles ripping through me, reminding me of how my own body would react to Asher’s touch. The fact I was experiencing something similar with someone I’d never met — in a body that didn’t feel like mine — left me nauseated. “You did well, Calianna. It convinced your father to file a flight plan back to Italy. Gave my men the perfect chance to strike.”
The icy chill continued to grow within me as a delighted gasp seemed to escape my body. “They did it? Salvatore is dead?”
Fucking hell. This wasn’t good. I had known that Salvatore was Asher’s father, but I had no idea he had a sister. One that was clearly the black sheep of the family, at that. The admission helped something vital to dawn on me. Now Asher’s rage prior to our interrupted love making session made perfect sense.
Just because they didn’t seem to have the ideal father-son relationship didn’t mean Asher had held a better standing with Salvatore than his sister did.
