“Maybe not, but you didn’t exactly put a stop to it, did you?”
“Am I responsible for all mortal wrongdoing?”
“According to the Bible.”
I had to bite back a smile at the snarl of outrage that caused. There was something endlessly satisfying about watching the devil spiral.
“This is the problem. It’s all free will this, and free will that, until someone has to take accountability for their actions. Then it’s suddenly my fault. Utter hypocrisy.”
“Well, maybe if you gave people a reason not to blame you, that would change,” I said.
“And I plan to. Once we kill the horsewomen. Then I can slough off the mantle of evil that has been cast upon me and return to the title I deserve.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Moira asked.
“The Lightbringer, obviously.”
Kingston raised his hand but didn’t wait for acknowledgment, and I braced for a stupid question. “Is that like... a literal thing? Or do you mean it more metaphorically?”
Lucifer bared his teeth in what I assumed was supposed to be a smile. “I suppose you’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Brilliant,” Lilith said, striding into the room and breaking up our rapidly devolving conversation. “You’re all here, that means you can stop whatever this is, and we can focus on the matter of attunement.”
Chapter
Twenty-Four
MOIRA
Watching a horseman of the apocalypse draw a blade across his forearm shouldn’t have been hot, but it was. Listen, I’m not into him because, yuck, but he was so confident and focused, I couldn’t not appreciate him. If he was that attentive to something like this, I bet he took excellent care of his woman in bed. Good for Merri.
“So, you just bleed on it and it’ll glow or float or something?” Asher asked. “Is that what happened with the bone, Asshole?”
The little dog yipped from his place on the other side of the portal before saying, “Nobody bled on that one, dumbass. But yeah, it got all glowy. No floating, though.”
Chaos held his arm out, and we all watched on, collectively holding our breath as his blood dripped across the weapon.
“Well, that was a disappointment,” Lilith said under her breath when nothing happened.
Remi snickered before elbowing Asher. “Not the first time a guy brandishing his weapon disappointed us, is it, babe?”
I held my laugh, but Remi was a constant source of entertainment. Not for the first time, I wished he and I livedcloser to each other. I knew he gave a killer manicure, and Rosie said girls' night with Remi was always a good time. Although I was pretty sure their definition of slumber party varied from mine.
Chaos glowered at them from his place at the front of the room. Sin slapped him on the shoulder, speaking on his behalf with a cocky air only these alphaholes could pull off. “I promise you Chaos and his weapons never disappoint. If you need a demonstration, War would love to give you one.”
Remi fluttered his lashes, but Asher slapped a hand over his mouth before he could insert his foot in it.
I was honestly surprised the euphemism was lost on Sin. You’d think an incubus would have gotten a dick joke. But after a second thought, I wondered if maybe Sin had stepped in to save Chaos the indignity of thinking they were insulting him. He didn’t seem like the joking type.
Watching the tension leave the big dude’s body, I realized that was exactly what happened. It was sort of cute. Their bromance, I mean. But I guess after a few centuries of rubbing elbows and a couple of months of sharing pussy, that was bound to happen.
Now it was my turn to snicker.
After several raised eyebrows, I waved a hand and cleared my throat. “Sorry. My thoughts wandered.”
“Why didn’t that work?” Chaos grumbled. “If the blood of War isn’t powerful enough to attune this, what else is?”
“What made you think it would be in the first place?” Malice asked.