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“I thought these scented candles added a nice touch…” I scoffed unattractively, expecting nothing less of the opportunist angel. Then Fable’s grin turned impish. “Did you just call us hooligans? Your nicknames get sweeter by the day.”
Sighing, I eyed my bat from across the room. I was already regretting that I couldn’t smack the jerk with it because it’d require me to get up, and I’d only just found a comfortable spot on the floor. “Shut it, asshole. I’m comfy right now, so if I have to beat you with my bat, I’ll make the bashing worth it.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time, sweetheart. I don’t think our demon friend wants to watch how good you give it to me.” Fable’s laughing eyes connected with mine, another obnoxious reminder that I was dealing with a special kind of masochist here.
“You’re wasting time, Fable,” the other man in the room cut in sharply.
Nova was sitting in a chair not far from where the pentagram had been drawn, looking dark and delicious as per usual. His glow was back after we shared blood earlier, and I tried not to express disappointment over how that was all we did, and not the sexy fun it usually entailed.
“To answer your question, Lady, it helps focus the dark energy required to replace the mark. It’s not entirely necessary, but it’ll ensure we can do it quickly,” the fallen angel went on to explain.
“Oh, sure. Let me just go get my pocket Bible and holy water so we cover all our bases,” I countered sarcastically, making Fable’s annoying smile grow in the process.
Nova leaned over with his chin propped up on bent arms, and the demon leveled his eyes on me. “Are you sure this is what you really want to do? Marking me alone—”
Fable cleared his throat and stood up, the muscles in his chest tensing. “What, afraid to share her?”
The angel chose another mafia-boss ensemble, and I hated how much it appealed to my appetite for the big and bad. The tattoos along his chest and arms were on full display, and it’d already made my eyes stray one too many times over to the asshole. I’d spend the rest of the night pretending he wasn’t hot-as-shit while dodging all the fire the two men spat at each other.
Seriously, their little arguments had been next level since I announced I’d mark them both. The two couldn’t seem to get along for any stretch of time, and I wondered if I wanted to play mediator to childish boy fights for the rest of eternity. But I called the shots now, and I was very creative when it came to punishment. Ty had been proof numerous times of how elaborate my pranks could get, and it got me all excited just thinking about how to best ruin both of their days.
Maybe ruling Hell with these two to entertain me wasn’t such a bad future after all.
“And what about you, Fable? Her mark will mean you can’t go back to the position you had with the angels.” Nova’s eyes narrowed on the smug, candle-lighting princess, and the two glared at one another for an uncomfortably long second.
I guess this is my cue to step in…
I sat on the floor with one knee up and my arm resting on top of it, sporting my favorite pair of Converse I’d forgiven since they’d betrayed Drunk Lady. “Something tells me the angels want the balance returned more than demons do, so they’ll do it on my terms.”
My lips lifted into a sinister grin, bouncing my eyes from one to the other. Both imposing men hung onto every word I uttered, and I hated how much I enjoyed the feeling.
Guess dominating powerful men is a kink of mine.
I pointed first at Nova, then myself, and finally Fable with my devilish grin never faltering. “What greater balance than a fallen angel with a bad case of buyer’s remorse, a half-human monstrosity who has a penchant for punishing the evil bastards of the world, and an angel more demon than any bastard I’ve met ruling in place of that bitch, Lucifer.” Laughing to myself, I sighed and looked over at our little witchcraft circle. “The new and improved Bastard Three.”
Fable crossed his arms, chest puffed out in self-importance after stealing a glance at me, and it was practically broadcasting on his face that he took what I said as a compliment—which it wasn’t, but I’d learned to be forever disappointed when it came to the angel. “She’s not wrong. Lady can name her terms. She has the power to bring balance back, and the angels will turn a blind-eye to ensure it happens. It’s the entire reason they’re helping bring you, Nova, an enemy of everything we stand for, onto hallowed ground to trap Lucifer.”
Even I had to admire the clever burn Fable slipped into his speech. And he wasn’t wrong. The angels were desperate to stop the war coming if Lucifer wasn’t overthrown and destroyed. Sacrificing another one of their angels for the greater good was a small price to pay.
Not that Fable hadn’t been ready to sacrifice himself without their permission. Something told me Fable would’ve come if I asked regardless of what it meant. I could thank whatever seduction power I seemed to have over masochistic brutes.
Nova dropped down to a knee in front of me, no longer humoring Fable with his attention. “Shortly after the marking, your mind will be vulnerable.Youwill be vulnerable. Creating a mark on not just one but two requires a great deal of your power, and Lucifer will certainly know how to exploit that and attack your mind. She already knows your power from the time she penetrated your dreams.”
My brow scrunched together. “Please refrain from referring to penetration and Lucifer in one sentence, thanks.”
But Nova didn’t smirk or respond to my sassy quip. The fallen angel merely stared at me to express the direness of what we undertook tonight after the marks were complete.
Taking my hands in his, Nova dropped his stare then lifted it a half-second later, his eyes already a deathly red. “Lady, what would be minutes in this world can feel like days in the fear dreams she creates. But this can’t be performed on hallow ground, which would be the only way to protect you. Marking requires dark energy we can’t channel if we were to go there, and nothing we do right now can protect you once we begin. He and I will be just as vulnerable. So, it’ll be risky when you transfer your power and blood into us to complete the marking.”
Lucifer was on a whole other level even without her Bastard Three.
I wasn’t afraid of death. No, I’d stared death in the face every day since joining the Shadow Stalkers. But I’d been on the receiving end of Lucifer’s fear dream. What scared me was the unknown—what the clever bitch might concoct to destroy my mind before she even touched my body. I’d known when I was brought into one that it was all a clever fabrication, but I still fell into the fear of it. As strong as I was, I was no match for an ingenious, thousand-plus-year-old evil bitch.
Frankly, I’d only just figured out how to use my power. It was anyone’s guess how this whole thing would go down. But if there was one thing I could trust, it was that I didn’t back down. Lucifer had killed the Shadow Stalkers, Aidan, Reese—the only people I ever cared about—and I’d avenge them. If it meant taking the bitch out with me, I’d fucking do it.
I stayed quiet as Fable came into view behind Nova. “The angels will be on standby to escort you both to the blessed grounds that can hold her. She’ll likely follow you there, and then we can trap her. With Lady’s power and a team of angels after losing her Sworn Three, even Lucifer won’t escape her fate—and she knows it.”
I smacked my thighs, signature smirk back. “Well, no sense in sitting here in all this doom and gloom. It’s now or never, girls, and I’m done waiting. We do this now. My way. You two decide if you’re in or not, but I’m not walking away from this fight,” I stated firmly, getting to my feet. “This is my vengeance, and I’ll have it with or without you guys.”
