“Any time, though I confess I’m curious why the hurry?”
“I’ll be away for a while and don’t want to be caught short.”I was heading off for an undisclosed length of time, first tagging along with Roxy and Lothar, one of Lucifer’s hellhounds, then off on a mission of my own, the details of which were, for the time being, a mystery even to me.I thought I knew, hoped I did, but with Lucifer, it could be anything.He’d told me to stock up on my poisons, so that’s what I was doing.I slid them into my pack.
“You sure you won’t stay and play?”Rune said, leaning against his bar and crossing muscled arms over his very nice chest.His lips were perfectly formed, and the sensual smile he gave me could entice the most pious nun to sin.
I’d indulged many times over the centuries, and Rune made sure a girl always had a good time.“As tempting as your offer is, I have places I need to be.”
He pushed away from the bar and closed the space between us.He didn’t touch me, though, even Rune wouldn’t touch me without invitation.He didn’t have a death wish.
“It’s been a while for us, Urs.”He tilted his head to the side.“We used to have fun, you and I.”
We had, but over the last few years I hadn’t been interested in the pleasures of the flesh.I’d had dry spells before, you did when you were as old as I was.Things became boring, even sex.That was the only reason the idea of fucking Rune made my skin crawl, nothing else—no one else.I grinned.“Maybe another time.Don’t tell me the great Rune, renowned lover and sexy-as-fuck leader of demons, is having trouble getting laid?”
He chuckled, dark and sexy.“You know better, lovely.”
I did.He literally had females vying for a place in his bed each night.They showed up at the door of the decommissioned asylum Rune now occupied with his small army of loyal demon soldiers, and in most cases, it was first in, first to get lucky.“I do.Sadly, I know exactly what I’m missing out on.”I slid on my pack.“But time isn’t on my side.I’m not even sure if I’ll see you next month, but I’ll let you know.”
He inclined his head.“Maybe next time you won’t be in such a rush to leave.”
“Maybe,” I said and headed for the door.
“Give my regards to Lucifer, won’t you?”
“Sure thing.”I strode out of his apartment that had once been a rooftop garden.It had more windows than walls and was a much nicer space than the rest of the haunted building that smelled like old hospital and despair.
Relief washed over me when I walked out of the main doors of the ground floor, and I dragged in a cleansing breath.Instead of opening a gateway and heading directly back to Hell, I started down the street.There was a light, warm breeze that you only got to experience above ground, and the moon was full, which always affected people, human and other.If there was weird shit about to go down, I didn’t want to miss it, especially in this part of the city.Seventh Circle was humming.It was always busy Saturday nights, and I waved to several demons who recognized me.Maybe I’d see if Malicious Brew was open.Fern might have something new for me.The female was mated to Relic, one of the hellhounds, and her store full of potions, elixirs, and restricted and dangerous ingredients was the best in the city.
Relaxing my shoulders, and the tension I didn’t even realize I was holding there, I let my eyes slide shut and drew in another deep breath.
A zip of electricity sparked through me, and my eyes snapped open.
Awareness shot down my spine, and I paused, tilting my head to the side, honing in on a distant sound through the hustle and bustle of the streets.A distinctive ring of steel.I broke into a jog, darting down the next alleyway.Whatever I was hearing was a street over.Jumping, I grabbed on to the fire escape above me and quickly climbed it to the roof, then ran to the other side of the building to get a good look at the overgrown space below, between this building and the one next to it.
A female huddled, pressed against the wall.Gunner, one of the knights of Hell, stood in front of her, protecting her from a group of demons, his sword swinging.I was about to jump down and help when, Chaos, the leader of the knights, arrived, followed by—Silas.
I sucked in a sharp breath as the cold and deadly fallen angel swung his arm, and his huge sword appeared.
Quickly stepping back, I watched from the cover of shadow as they took out the demons one by one with ease, turning them to ash.Silas swung and spun, moving in a brutal dance that was impossible to look away from.My heart was beating too fast as I watched him, my chest heavy like some giant motherfucker was sitting on it.
A demon ran at him from behind.As Silas spun, the demon’s claws swiped his chest, shredding his shirt and slicing through skin.Silas snarled, kicked the demon back and swung, removing its head from his shoulders with one brutal swipe.
Silence filled the night, all except for the female crying behind Gunner.She was human, and I watched as Gun turned and used his powers to take her memories of the demons, who’d more than likely planned to abduct her, for food or to breed.She slipped into unconsciousness after that.Gunner scooped her up, unfurled his bronze wings flecked with gold, and flew off, probably to a human hospital.
Chaos and Silas were still down there talking.
I needed to get the hell away before they saw me and I took a step back as Silas yanked off his shredded and blood-splattered shirt.He tossed it aside, leaving him in only black jeans and boots—and I stopped in my tracks.It’d been a long time since I’d seen him like that.The male was built for destruction, for annihilation.He was huge, cut in a way that was obviously not human.No human could achieve that kind of definition, not even if they spent twenty-four hours a day pumping iron.He was also covered in ink.Battle scenes were tattooed all over his smooth skin.
My gaze slid over him again, and I swallowed thickly.
Shit.
He’d pierced his nipples.That was new.The little silver studs hadn’t been there three years ago.For some reason, that made me angry.Probably because most beings pierced their nipples for two reasons, appearance or heightened pleasure—or both.Silas didn’t give a fuck what other people thought of his appearance, which left one option.Was he spending time with someone else?I knew I’d unleashed a deeply repressed part of him when we’d gotten together.A magnificent dominance, a ravenous hunger, a part of Silas had been unfurling with every encounter we’d shared.
Then he’d gone and fucked everything up, and while he was all but begging me to forgive him, I’d taken a peek where I’d had no business peeking.In my pain, I’d used my powers to probe deeper, wanting to know how he truly felt about me—and regretted it instantly.Silas was the pretty present in a game of pass the parcel.So exciting, a delicious mystery.Only when you tore off the final layer, you felt cheated, finding absolutely nothing inside.
I wanted to be repulsed by him, recoil from the mere sight of him, but gods, the empty, cold, faithless bastard was breathtakingly beautiful.
He ran thick, long fingers through his gold-and-black-streaked hair, making his biceps thicken and flex.He’d also been the only male I’d been with who could physically get the better of me.I shivered, remembering the way he used to look down at me.Those silver eyes rimmed with thick black lashes, like he ringed them with kohl, made him look like a dark, goth angel.He used to watch me intently, that potent gaze taking note of what made me moan so he could do it again, and again.No male had ever looked at me like that while they’d fucked me, and they sure as hell hadn’t gotten off on my pleasure over and above their own.