Cain visibly bristled. “Remind me again why you barged through my door.”
Darien sensed his Devils’ focus sharpening.
“I didn’t barge through, you invited me in. And I’m here because you have answers concerning who else is trying to steal this job from me. And you’re going to give me those answers.”
Cain gave a gruff laugh. “If Randal didn’t send you, then I really don’t give two shits about what you want. Besides, maybe the real reason you’re here is because you’re scared someone else will make it to that girl first. Maybe…maybe you’re scared that if you don’t deliver that three mil to the boss whose dick you suck, he’ll kill you and every last one of your dicksucking Devils—”
One second, Darien was three feet away from Cain. The next, he was slamming Cain’s scarred face down on the table. Bone crunched as Cain’s nose flattened against the wood.
Cain’s men made to move, but Darien’s Devils were faster. They all had their guns cocked and aimed, their eyes black with the Sight, before Cain’s men could so much as lift their weapons.
“Don’t even think about it,” Max crooned, holding two of them at gunpoint. Cain’s men—wisely—held very still.
Darien splayed Cain’s right hand out flat on the table. He removed a pair of pliers from his jacket pocket and slid Cain’s middle finger between the pincers.
“Now tell me who was offered four million,” Darien said, his lethal voice hushed, “or I’ll teach you a lesson you won’t forget.”
“You wouldn’t,” Cain ground out, spittle flying from his lips.
Darien gave a low chuckle. “Oh, I wouldn’t, would I?” He looked up at the room full of people, giving Cain’s men the invitation to try him.
None of them did. They merely watched with wide eyes, clearly having no idea what to do.
Sick delight washed through Darien.
“You seem to underestimate me just a tad,” Darien crooned, applying pressure to the pliers. He squeezed a little harder, causing Cain to slap his free hand onto the table, the force rattling the overflowing ashtray. Darien merely laughed. “We’re not on a wrestling mat, bud. Speak.” He waited, but Cain said nothing. The man was grinding his teeth so hard the sound was audible.“Speak.”
He squeezed harder—just hard enough to draw blood.
A half-sob burst through Cain’s lips, followed by a string of curse words and a couple names.
Nowthey were getting somewhere. And at the cost of nothing but a little blood from a man who’d harmed his fair share of innocent people.
Darien leaned in closer. “Could you repeat that, please?”
Cain was trembling, his breathing ragged. Spit was pooling beneath his cheek. “Koray and Xander,” he gasped. The Demon Twins. “Koray and Xander were offered four mil. I don’t know who employed them. It’s just a rumor. I don’t even know if it’s true—”
“You heard this at the Devil’s Advocate, correct?”
“Yes.”
Koray and Xander, both half-vampire half-hellseher, had belonged to the Vipers back when Darien had become leader of the Devils, but had gone rogue in the years since. They worked for no one except themselves now, only taking jobs when it suited them.
The sting of jealousy hit Darien deep. How nice. How fucking nice it must be to pocket every single copper that came out of a job, to not have to hand anything to the man standing behind the curtain.
“What else do you know?” Darien’s eyes turned black with the Sight as he studied Cain’s aura, checking for any sign that the next words to leave his mouth were a lie. His aura was dark as ink and warped at the edges, tinged here and there with the murky, purplish green hue of fear.
“I heard they want her for something called the Initiation,” Cain said. Sweat beaded on his temples. “Sounded like a sacrifice or some shit, but I was only after the cash, Cassel. I swear.”
The dull flicker at the edges of Cain’s aura told him everything he needed to know. “Your aura tells me you had some interest in whatever this Initiation is.” He would’ve used his magic to tunnel into Cain’s mind, to mentally torture him until he revealed the truth he was hiding, if he hadn’t been trained to keep such magic out.
“Having interest doesn’t mean I was going to act on it.”
“Right,” Darien drawled.
Cain was holding his breath, every muscle in his body tight. “It’s not a crime if I didn’t commit it.”
“That’s some peace officer shit you’re spewing. You’re talking to a Devil.” Darien tightened his hold on the back of Cain’s neck. “Anything else?”
