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My brow lifted in question, and his grin broadened. “I’m not sure I’m buying what you’re selling, angel.”
Fable huffed an amused breath before stepping into my personal space, his height dwarfing mine. “I’ll get rid of Nova’s mark without a cleanse. I know how to do it. There’s a way. And then instead of you ruling Hell, he will.”
Nova rule Hell? That was an option? But more than that, it was a little convenient this option was coming up now. Granted, Nova had been a demon for a long time, so I wasn’t sure whether or not he only gave the options that suited him. Or if Fable was also conveniently playing the “only one option that suited him” game. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of time on my side.
It was either choose or get it chosen for me.
“What’s your motive here, asshole?” I demanded, the angel’s overpowering heat and scent already getting to me. “Why hadn’t you said something before?”
Orange-brown eyes glinting, Fable took hold of my face and bent his head down enough for his lips to ghost over mine. “My priorities changed. Now he has something I want. If I do this for him, I’ll get it.”
“Get what?”
Fable’s answer was the only thing keeping me from bashing him with my bat again. Well, that and whatever angel seduction power he was presently using on me. I’d never admit how much I yearned for the mafia angel to kiss me when his mouth continued to hover teasingly over mine.
“You,” he muttered softly before finally dragging me into his mouth and forcing his tongue past my gasping lips.
27
The Devil I Know
SITTING WITH MY LEGS DANGLING over the edge of the roof, I stared out at the city lights. The quiet night agitated me more than the thunderstorms Nova brought with him. The silence was scarier than any crack of lightning or rumble of thunder. Scarier than any expanse of deep water ready to drown me within its depths.
My thoughts and memories surfaced in the silence—in the moments where my mind was given full reign. Thankfully, evil also lurked in the quiet, so it was the best night to hunt and take my mind off everything horrible that had ever happened to me.
After Fable stole a kiss and got my bat to his stomach, I’d been tense—wound up to the nth degree. I wanted to kill something and feel its lifeblood coat my hands and splash my face.
It was an agitated need that twisted up my insides, ready to strangle me to death if I didn’t let off some steam. It always happened when my past crept up or terrible shit came a-knocking. I was fully aware of why I was on edge—why I needed to maim something in the name of justice—but it was such a goddamn chore to admit it to myself sometimes.
I hadn’t yet found a worthy enough asshole deserving of my bat, but the night was young. Some bastard would come and do something stupid, and I’d get to ease the tension a little. Take the edge off with a little bat brutality.
Really, I was much better off maiming in the name of stress relief than talking it out like Aidan always encouraged me was “normal” and “a better way to deal with the source of the issue rather than pretending it didn’t exist.” He always tooted that mumbo-jumbo at me like I’d listen one day. We both knew I never would. I wasn’t the talk-about-my-feelings type, and I wasn’t going to start now.
The cold wind bit at my face, but thanks to my nifty demon blood, I barely felt any of it. If anything, the cold was a comfort, and I took the moment in like I didn’t have a world of decisions and a list of deaths weighing down on me.
Fable’s earlier proclamation rang in my ears. It was an escape from a fate I didn’t ask for or ever want. A much needed out from an eternity ruling over evil bastards. I could do the Lady thing and take the angel up on it—let Nova finish the shit he started and get back to demon-hunting in the name of fun and vengeance. Or I could go to Nova and tell him he could remove the mark now that I was unfortunately in love with him.
Or option three: I could let the bastard get cleansed.
Nova hadn’t been forthcoming about Lucifer, not that I expected anything less from a fallen angel living in darkness and deceit for a millennium or more. It was very unlikely I’d been given even half the picture of what happened between the two of them. The startling reality that I was the mirror image of Lucifer, my supposed half-sister, still cut like blades all over my chest.
I couldn’t trust Nova even if I was, against my better judgment, in love with the bastard—something I hoped to rectify in the coming weeks. The Lady from only two months ago would’ve gone with option three without blinking. Let the bastard lose every part of himself for all the trouble he caused. Let the demon answer for his crimes. But tonight’s Lady wasn’t so sure. The answer wasn’t the quick sell it used to be.
I rolled my shoulders and got to my feet, several stories up and looking down on the empty street below. I’d gotten away from Fable for the evening. After the stunt he pulled the other night, he couldn’t argue with me. Not that I would’ve cared if he had. I was a free woman, and I went where I wanted. I didn’t answer to anyone. But if I’d said as much, it would likely only have made the angel fall harder. The bastard was hopeless. And a masochist.
And the worst kind of optimist.
When I turned to head back, the sky flashed and thunder rolled across the air. The hair on my body stood on end the second I captured his shape coming away from the darkness. Emerald eyes glistened in another burst of light before he was in front of me, his powerful body decked out in the usual pristine suit. The grip on my bat faltered in a way it never had with anyone else.
“I’ve missed you, little bird,” was all Nova uttered before our mouths collided.
It was as if the elusive dream demon hadn’t sent me away with a heart wrenching look only a couple weeks ago. Like we weren’t days away from confronting his Hell Queen ex who’d likely terrorize me with every fear I pretended I didn’t have. Like we weren’t the absolute worst for each other. Like we stood a real chance at having a future. We both knew we didn’t.
Fuck, I missed him.
Nova kissed me like he’d been thirsty for years and this was his first taste of water. His hands sunk into my loose hair, his hips moving in on mine like they always did, and his mouth devoured my own like he planned to consume me whole. Knowing him, it wasn’t a far-reach to think he would. And despite being painfully aware of how stupid it was to lean in and take everything he gave, I couldn’t help myself. I leaned in. I matched Nova’s vigor and intensity. Maybe even begged for it with the soft sounds leaving my throat.
I let go. I surrendered like the first time he dragged me into this fucked up dream world.
