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“Wait until you see the other toys I bought just for you. I was going to surprise you, but I realize you hate surprises.” He shifts the case back to the bed and lifts me with him, setting me on my feet. He doesn’t let go and drapes his arms over my shoulders. Leaning in close, he hums in my ear. “You also look like you could use some extra self-love since you won’t let me be your personal stress reliever. You’ll feel better. Maybe then Kase will chill out. He’s empathetic to anger, and you have a shit-ton of it.”
“You think masturbating is going to fix things?” I ask, my voice rising as Dante strikes one of my many nerves. I spin out of his arms. “Have you even talked to Kase? Do you know why I’m mad?”
Dante doesn’t let space linger between us for long and grabs my hands. Pulling me back to him, he locks my hands against his chest. “Look, whatever happened between you and Kase—”
The room shakes, cutting off Dante’s words. I try to steady myself against him with the intense quaking rumbling through the apartment, but he chooses now to let me fend for myself. I stand frozen with my legs apart and arms wide. The last thing I want to hold on to is his sex toy display, because if I fall, I’ll end up getting beaten by the top shelf of dildos as they rain on top of me. Dante rushes to catch the glass case of butt plugs he left on his bed and moves it toward the middle before it falls off and shatters on the hardwood floors.
I grimace at him, twisting my lips. “You abandoned me to save your butt plugs? What the fuck!”
“They’re ours, and you’re tough, pretty soul. If you fall, you don’t break.” Dante crosses his arms, unfazed by the trembling room. “Now ground yourself better. It’s almost over. If you don’t and you land on your ass, you bet I’ll kiss it. With tongue.”
I groan and fist my hands, hating that he put that image in my head. “Can you not threaten me with a rim job? Your tongue is as weird as Kase’s tail.”
“It’s not a threat.” Dante flicks his tongue at me, releasing what I can only describe as a playful hiss.
I glare. “I swear if you say it’s a promise—”
A monstrous snarl sounds from the living room, cutting off my words. I jerk my attention to the open door as a rush of dread crashes over me. That’s not Kase. His demonic roar is a bit deeper, though this one terrifies me more. I don’t know why I didn’t figure out that the apartment quakes because we have a visitor from Hell, and it feels as if Lucian wasn’t summoned but instead broke through the gate to make an appearance. And from Dante flashing his fangs, I realize it must be an unwelcome one.
“It’s been two weeks and you have no progress to report?” Lucian’s voice booms through the hallway, and Dante locks his big hand around my wrist, pulling me closer.
I inhale a breath, trying to calm my nerves. His protectiveness prods at something inside me, and I hug my arms around him, feeling a bit ridiculous wanting him to pick me up and shield me with his breathtaking black wings like he had when Kase sent Joel where he belonged.
“What the fuck have you been doing?” The rotting stench of hellfire trickles into the room with Lucian’s anger.
“You can only blame yourself, Luce. I warned you that bartering with her soul was a bad idea. It makes things complicated. You should’ve listened to my suggestion, but you let your damn pride get the best of you.” Kase’s voice remains even. “Now if you don’t calm down, your wrath will fuck things up worse. Trust me. I know.”
Another loud snarl pierces the air, and I automatically cup my hands over my ears to block the noise. Dante shifts me, inching closer toward the hallway. My feet remain frozen to the floor, and my soul screams that for the first time, it feels like there is too much space between me and Dante. My stubbornness doesn’t want him to realize as much, and I dig my nails into the palm of my hands.
“Make things worse? I would get shit done,” Lucian says, sending another wave of heat into Dante’s room. “If I wasn’t tethered here, this would have been finished centuries ago. You’ve lost sight of our purpose.”
Something crashes with Kase’s growl. “I have not. I just understand mortals far better than you. And Raven is different. Fear doesn’t crush her into compliance. She puts up a fight. She resists even more.”
“Then you’re not doing your fucking best at putting her in her place.” The glow of fire lights the hallway. The temperature rises even more the longer the Hell portal remains open. Sweat trickles from my hairline, and I try my best not to gasp in deep breaths as the air starts suffocating me.
“Her place is supposed to be by our sides. You know Purgatory can only be controlled by someone of light and dark, and if you push her too hard, she will fall into the abyss.” Kase’s voice grows louder. Instead of bowing to Lucian’s anger, he faces it straight on. “If that happens—”
“We’ll find another angel-kissed mortal,” Lucian snaps, cutting Kase off. “Her soul will remain under my contract. I will not risk the saviors trying to get to her. You know that’s why we need the contract.”
Kase growls again. “I won’t let that happen.”
Lucian roars. “You already did!”
“Because Micah is the damn target, Luce. Now calm the fuck down and be reasonable. We know what we’re doing,” Kase says, his voice sharpening.
“You don’t!”
Fire explodes in the hallway at Lucian’s holler, and the disgusting rotting smell that comes along with the opening of Hell grows more intense. Glass shatters, and Dante pulls me away from the doorway, only to rush out into the hallway, abandoning me.
The floor rumbles again, and snarls and growls send goosebumps prickling over my skin. It sounds like Lucian unleashes Hell in the living room, and he and Kase fight, tearing the room apart.
My chest tightens with fear at the sound of unsettling yowls and screams, but the only thing I’m afraid of is if something happens to Kase and Dante. They might push my buttons and piss me off, but Lucian scares the crap out of me. He speaks of me like an object to gain power and not the being Kase and Dante claim I am to them.
Gathering my nerve, I stride into the hallway and to the case of weapons on display. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I can’t just cower in the room and hope Lucian doesn’t rise against the other devils who fell with him, who are on the same mission as he is. If that’s even the truth. Because right now, it sounds as if Lucian has something else in mind, and he’s not including Dante and Kase.
I slide the glass door open and pull out a long dagger, the weight of it surprising me. The smooth metal of the plain hilt cools my fingers. I practice lifting and jabbing it a few times like I can somehow face and conquer the worst devil of them all, but I have to try. I have to show that I’m not just a damn power source, and that he’s wrong about me.
Rushing toward the glowing living room, I prepare to fight like Hell—or I guess against Hell, but Dante stretches his black wings out, blocking my path until he steps into the hallway. He shifts on his feet and motions for me to return to his room. Kase grunts, the pain in his voice stopping me from obeying Dante, and I shuffle forward, a bit slower, definitely more cautiously this time.
