Loren nodded once.
“Lace isn’t my girlfriend, but that’s beside the point. She threatened you?”
Loren chewed on her pinkie nail. “Doesn’t matter. But if you call attacking the kitchen counterthreatening me,then yeah.”
His mouth became a thin line. “I take it you didn’t get anything to eat.”
“Nope.” She made a popping sound on thep.
Darien jerked his chin toward the hallway in a gesture for her to follow him. “Come on. You must be starving.”
“I’m not hungry anymore,” she lied. But the look he gave her was threatening enough that she relented with a sigh and made her way to the door.
11
Maximus, Lace, and Travis were still in the kitchen when Loren trailed Darien into the room. His combat boots thumped on the floor as he strode to the island where the trio stood talking. Empty beer bottles and takeout containers littered the quartz countertop.
As soon as they caught sight of Darien—and the human girl at his heels—they fell silent. None of them made eye contact with him or with each other as he stalked up to the island, shrugged out of his jacket, and tossed it onto a bar stool. He pushed the sleeves of his dark grey shirt partway up his muscled forearms and braced his hands apart on the counter as he looked them over, one by one.
Loren stopped several feet away, near the dining room table that had an extraordinary piece of art burned into its surface—a giant winged devil hovering over the city of Angelthene—and gulped.
“Loren told me she came down and met you guys while I was out.” The only one who dared to meet Darien’s gaze for more than a fraction of a second was Maximus. “What she also told me is that you were all very welcoming of her. Which is the kind of thing I’ve come to expect from my Devils, especially after I told you that she would be here this weekend. Andespeciallyafter I made myself perfectly clear that you were not to frighten her. That you were to make her feel welcome for as long as I say.” Not even Max was meeting his gaze now.
Darien shoved away from the counter and stalked up to Lace. Her white throat bobbed at his approach. On his way toward her, he took hold of the knife that was still embedded in the cutting block and drew it out with ease, as if it had been stuck in a pat of butter. He didn’t stop walking until barely an inch separated him from Lace. The blonde Devil wouldn’t meet his eyes as he looked down his nose at her.
“Now, I wish that what I just said was the truth.” His voice was lethally quiet. “But instead, you all decided to ignore my orders and treat her however the fuck you wanted.”
The ticking of the clock was loud again. Loren felt her shoulders curling inward, despite that she wasn’t the one being scolded.
This time, Darien’s words were meant for Lace only. “Who brought you here?”
“You.” She still wouldn’t look at him.
“And who has the power to remove you from Hell’s Gate?”
“You,” she repeated, her voice like the squeak of a mouse.
“If you so much as consider ignoring my orders again, you’ll find your shit on the curb. Do I make myself clear?”
Lace nodded, her pulse thrumming in her neck.
Darien turned to assess Maximus and Travis. “That goes for you two as well. Any questions?”
Travis raised a tattooed hand, and Darien prompted him with a sharp nod. “What does Randal think of this?”
“Randal doesn’t have a clue about this and he’s not going to. This ismybusiness, not his. And if any one of you lets the pussy out of the fucking bag, you will answer to me. Understood?”
They all murmured in affirmation.
“Good.” He slid the knife back into the block and waved in dismissal. “Now clear out.”
The others were already making their way for the stairs long before Darien had finished speaking.
Loren staggered to the nearest bar stool—the one with Darien’s jacket draped over the back of it—and lowered herself onto the seat. Her vision was beginning to cloud over.
“You’re shaking,” Darien accused.
“I have problems with my blood sugar.” The threats he’d made to his slayers hadn’t helped with how she was feeling, but he didn’t need to know that. Although there was a chance that she might pass out at any second, so maybe it wouldn’t be the worst idea if hedidknow… “I’ve had testing done, but the doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with me.”
