7 FIGHTFLIGHT #2
She sputtered, and if he didn’t know better, he’d almost say she looked worried. Probably because she didn’t want her contracted demon servant splatting on the concrete. Regenerating a flattened skull would take a while.
“I’m going to talk to my brothers and get changed. Then you can flash us back.”
“Just be quick about it.”
He wasn’t going to be, just to spite her. He was going to take the longest shower he possibly could, until Bel yelled at him for using all the hot water.
“Did you get the robes?”
“No.” She shot him a look. “I was planning to go while you inevitably take forever in your apartment because you know it will irritate me.”
He almost smiled. “I can’t cheat, remember? It’s all in the contract.”
She rolled her eyes. The sweet, charming angel blatantly rolled her eyes. This time he smiled for real.
She blinked, staring at him like she’d never seen him before.
His smile evaporated, and he shifted again and swooped off the edge of the building down to his bedroom window.
Like Mist’s in the room beside him, he always left it open a crack when he went out in case he felt the need to return via flight.
Mist’s window was currently closed, which usually meant he and Lily were there.
Perching on the sill, Raum slipped through the crack and shifted into human form once he was inside. The first thing he did was pull his phone out of his pocket—it was working again—and text Caro, letting her know he probably wouldn’t be able to come into the shelter next week.
She was understanding, but he still felt like an asshole. He’d made a commitment, and he knew she needed him. Luna, the traumatized stray, needed him.
This is the angel’s fault , he reminded himself. That’s why I have to get rid of her.
He plugged his phone in to charge while barely sparing a glance at his room, particularly avoiding looking at his closet. The chair propped against the doors was the only thing containing the veritable tidal wave of stolen goods stashed within, and he didn’t like thinking about it.
Instead, he dug through his dresser for clean clothes. Though he normally preferred sweats or anything he could work out in, today he chose a pair of wyrm leather pants.
Wyrm leather was capable of growing or shrinking with a demon’s shifting forms and was one of the most common fabrics in Hell. He figured the pants would come in handy on his mission.
Tucking his clothes under an arm, he went into the hall and heard voices in the main room, so he detoured there before hitting the shower. He stepped around the corner and stopped in his tracks.
It was a disaster zone of epic proportions. The liquor shelf had been emptied out, and bottles were spread around like the aftermath of a frat party. There were cans lined up on the counter and the end tables by the sofa. Bel’s normally spotless kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off.
Mist stood at the sink, washing dishes. Considering he was in demon form—seven feet tall, dark-gray skin, wings, and a whiplike tail—it was a strange sight.
Lily was stacking dirty dishes into manageable piles by the sink for Mist. Across the room, Iris was tossing empty bottles into a big recycling bag. Everyone looked like shit.
Mist blinked glowing yellow eyes at Raum. “Good morning.”
“What happened here?”
“Iris and Meph took it upon themselves to attempt getting Belial intoxicated enough to lose consciousness.”
“But—” Raum rubbed his eyes. “I thought you guys were at the club.”
“We were,” Iris said, wiping her brow with the back of her hand and lowering the bottle bag.
“But when we got home … After-party, you know.” She rolled her eyes at the look on his face.
“I know it was stupid, but I felt bad for Bel. He wanted to come out, I could tell, but he refused. So we brought the party to him.”
“Where’s Meph?”
“Still sleeping, the fucker.” Her eyes narrowed in the direction of Meph’s room. “I tried to wake him up, but he didn’t even twitch an eyelid.”
Raum snorted. “Convenient.”
“Yeah. For him. We want to get this cleaned up before Belial wakes up.”
“Wait. Bel’s asleep?”
At this, Iris grinned. “Oh yeah. He passed out hard.”
Raum’s brows shot up.
Mist said, “He lost consciousness, and Ash and I carried him to his bed.”
Lily laughed at his look of shock. “Yeah, you missed a lot.”
Evidently, Bel had needed to empty out a whole liquor store in order to reach the oblivion he’d been after. Hopefully it would take the edge off his rage, but something told Raum it wasn’t an experience he’d want to repeat often.
And the aftermath … He shuddered to imagine what Belial with a proper hangover would be like.
“Meph said you left the club with a girl,” Iris said, bending over the end table to swipe a collection of cans into the bag.
“Yeah.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate.
“Did you have fun?” Lily asked, smiling.
“Sure.” Fuck no.
Iris smirked. Mist was giving him an odd look.
Now was the time to say his suspicious lie—the loophole Sunshine had accidentally created in the contract.
Lily was too trusting to think he would lie, and she’d probably be too repulsed by his supposed manwhore plans to want to discuss it further. Iris didn’t know him well enough to know if he was acting out of character.
But Mist … Mist had thousands of years of practice hunting down liars and cheats, and he could spot one from a mile away.
This was Raum’s moment to plant the seeds of doubt in his head and enlist the Hunter’s skills to track down the angel and take her out before she had the chance to ruin their lives.
But when he opened his mouth, all he said was, “I’m gonna shower.”
He couldn’t do it. What the fuck is wrong with me?
“Whatever you do, don’t make any loud noises,” Iris said. “Bel needs to sleep until we’ve cleaned the kitchen or all the good we did will be undone.”
Lily picked up a stack of pots and set them beside the sink. “I hope he doesn’t remember breaking that casserole dish.”
Iris snickered. “Or when he accidentally let his sauce over-boil, and it sprayed all over the wall.”
Just as he turned to go, Raum caught Mist’s eye. The Hunter was still watching him with a curious expression, so he raised a brow in question. Mist just flicked his tail and turned back to the sink of soapy water.
The twins’ voices faded as Raum headed down the hall to the bathroom and turned on the shower. He berated himself ceaselessly as the hot spray pelted his neck and shoulders.
Why couldn’t I say it?
He should’ve despised Sunshine to the core of his being. The thought of her blood spilling should have thrilled him.
She is the enemy. Get that through your thick head, asshole.
Only a person who’d never felt the bonds of family could use those bonds to manipulate. Sunshine might think herself above him, but she would never know what it felt like to have another person truly have her back.
That was the real reason he’d chosen to escape Hell.
Not because of his own desires. He’d escaped because Bel was losing his mind giving into rage attacks on a daily basis, Ash was slowly fading as his curse made him feel as invisible as he appeared to others, and Meph was losing the fight against his demon every day he stayed surrounded by darkness.
Yeah, Raum had his own shit too. But he had his brothers, and he’d chosen to be there for them. That was more than he could say for Sunshine.
She might scoff at their blood bond and tell him that wasn’t how brothers worked, but that was only because she didn’t understand. Maybe she thought him weak and easy to manipulate, but he didn’t fucking care.
She posed a threat to everyone he cared about, and he’d do whatever it took to neutralize it.
So why couldn’t I fucking say it?