our attention. “Without Gatekeepers, it’s been weakening.”
Even though Ire speaks without emotional inflection, Toreon stiffens defensively. “Well, I certainly didn’t see any of the Seven Sins coming down to help defend my family while we were all dying,” he says, golden eyes growing hard.
A tic appears in Ire’s jaw. “The Sins aren’t responsible for the slaughter of your kin. Lucifer blessed your bloodline with sworn protectors,” he says, gesturing to Vudu. “We thought you had your duties well in hand.”
Toreon scoffs. “Spoken like a true Sin progeny.”
Ire sits up, temper flaring as his wings unfold to do the same. “Don’t lay your hate on me because your family was killed. I had nothing to do with it.”
“Yeah, you had nothing to do with it, because none of the Sins or their armies ever lifted a finger to help us. You all knew we were getting picked off, but no one cared. Not until we went into hiding and then the Hellgate started to weaken. Only then, when things were an inconvenience, did anybody fucking care,” Toreon spits out, every word rife with vitriol.
“T,” Vudu rumbles in warning.
Toreon shakes his head. “Vudu and I were forced to hide our entire lives. Do you have any clue what that’s like for children? To not be allowed to go outside? To be hidden away in the middle of fucking nowhere without any friends or acquaintances other than our cousins and each other? It was even harder as adults. Vudu and I always had to hide what we were, always had to look over our shoulders.”
I glance from him to Vudu, my stomach churning uneasily, the food sitting heavy in my gut.
Toreon shakes his head and looks down at his feet. “Even then, it wasn’t enough, because the Ophidian tracked me and my cousins down and took us anyway. I saw two of them get drained dry right in front of me when we were forced to make the portals, and then Morax tossed their dead bodies aside like a piece of trash,” he says roughly, his throat working with emotion.
My mind immediately flashes back to Toreon collapsed on the ground below the portal to Heaven, his gaunt and graying body being sucked dry of power and life, and I curl my arms in front of me, like I’m trying to ward the memory away.
“And that was going to be me next,” Toreon goes on, his eyes haunted. “That was my fucking future to look forward to, the thing my family warned me about my whole life. I hid in a cage of my own making, just to be shoved into another one by the Ophidian. So don’t say that everyone thought we had our duties well in hand. The truth is, no one gave a shit about us.”
My breath is shaky in my chest at the tense moment. I’ve always wondered about the details of Toreon and Vudu’s past, but this...this is hard to hear.
My eyes shift to Ire uneasily, because his lips are pinched and his harsh brows are drawn close together in a frown. “Don’t,” I warn him in our minds. Because I can see that he’s a second away from reacting badly.
He glances at me, and I watch as a dozen emotions flicker across his face. I feel his irritation and his rising temper, but then his gaze softens slightly, and he tamps it down, though it takes a lot of effort. “You’re right,” he finally grits out, looking over to Toreon, and the admission makes my green-skinned demon blanch. “You and your kin weren’t protected as they should’ve been.”
Toreon blinks at him, as if that was the very last thing he expected Ire to say. Considering the uncomfortable way Ire shifts in his chair, I’d say that even Ire is surprised he said it.
For a beat, no one speaks, like all four of us expect a shouting match to break out.
“Agreed,” Vudu says, filling in the shocked silence. “Now, let’s not upset our mate.”
Toreon turns his head to look at me. “I’m not trying to upset you,” he says, face troubled.
I reach over and place my hand on his thigh. “I know you’re not. And I know you’re angry about everything that happened, and you have every right to be,” I say, looking between him and Ire.
Toreon sighs, and his shoulders slump, as if all the anger just leaked out of him. He seems exhausted all of a sudden. Deep circles are caught beneath his eyes, like he hasn’t