Page 138 of A Deal in Darkness
“We’ll get her back.”
I hurl a table at the wall and it smashes into a thousand pieces. “We’d better get her back. I swear on the ninth circle that there will be no end to my rage if we don’t. I’m going to fucking kill the lot of them, and then I’m going to resurrect the cunts, torture them, kill them, and bring them back so I can fucking torture the lot of them all over again.”
Elgios nods and purses his lips.
“You have something to say?”
“Your obsession is dangerous, Amaymon. For her. For you. For all of us.” He steps closer and I almost take a swing at him. “Are you sure she’s worth it?”
My eyes burn so fucking hot that he flinches and his question doesn’t need answering in words. Adriana is worth allmy fucking effort and then some, and I’d give everything for her. For one second more with her. She’s more than I dreamed I’d find and everything I don’t deserve.
And I won’t give her up or abandon her.
Not now. Not ever.
If this is obsession then I willingly surrender to it.
“I suppose this isn’t about just the girl,” Elgios sighs. “Lucifer won’t be persuaded easily and every moment he delays gives Mordecai more time. Even if we convince him to act, I imagine it’ll take longer than the girl has—and you won’t want to wait that long, will you?”
I shake my head, answering his fucking stupid question.
“You realize the odds aren’t in our favor?”
I nod.
“And, strategically speaking, we’d be a fuck load better off to try to persuade Lucifer first. Even if it leads to delay or we act before he does. He’ll be less vengeful later.”
I nod. “I don’t give a shit, Elgios.”
“Noted,” he sighs. “I’m blaming all of this on you and that fucking girl. She’s the kind of trouble that causes men to do fucking stupid things.” He drops his hands to his hips. “Demons too, apparently.”
“Where are they?”
“At the Temple of the Damned. Presumably, Eva’s already trying to resurrect Mordecai.”
This is nothing short of a fucking disaster. The temple’s deep inside the barren wastelands of the eighth circle and the journey there is fucking perilous. Eva will have made that worse,no doubt. She’ll have made fucking sure that it’s damn near impossible to get through whatever defenses she’s put in place.
It's going to take an army to get into the temple, and probably a second one to fight their way to the altar. Eva needs to perform the rite of passage and it won’t be easy for her, even if she’s been preparing for it—and I’m fucking sure she’s got this planned out.
“She needs an angel’s blood.”
Elgios nods. “If she has it, then she’s got to have taken it by force or stolen it. Those assholes aren’t going to just give her a vial for free and they wouldn’t fall for her lies, no matter how convincing she is. Those fuckers have a habit of seeing right through us, and I doubt they’d give it up to make Lucifer fall when Mordecai’s the planned replacement.”
I clench my fist and stare out the window, watching boats sail down the river and wondering why the fuck we’re discussing this when we should be saving Adriana.
“My point is, she’s either fucking cunning or fucking powerful. Or she has a trick up her sleeve we don’t know about. Watch your back, Amaymon. There’s more to this than meets the eye, and I don’t think Adriana’s involvement is a coincidence.”
Shadows swirl through the air as my patience runs out.
“Of course, it’s not a fucking coincidence. She’s tied to me.”
Elgios sends ice cold mist to quell the darkness pouring from my being. “It’s about more than just you and Mordecai. There’s something about this I don’t understand. Watch your back. Hers too.”
He’s right. The asshole usually is.
Eva’s smart and so far she’s proved smarter than I thought. There’s no reason for her to take Adriana except to lure methere, but she could have resurrected Mordecai and come for me later. When he was strong again. When they had time to make me weak.
This is either personal or there’s a reason why they need Adriana. Neither is good. Neither bodes well for her. Or me.
