ago. What the fuck?! Murders don’t keep secrets. My eyes flash to him as we dive down towards the city.
Kastros tried to kill our Center.
I’ve always considered him the dependable bloke. The strong, patient one. We all gave him a fucking pass when he showed up shaking a decade ago without a damn tongue. I’d thought that was the issue, the reason he stepped down.
We’d fucking coddled him like idiot nannies! Spent months learning demon sign—okay fine, we got some magic help on that, but still, Van paid for it with blow jobs. Magic doesn’t come free in Hell.
And all this while, he knew.
And he didn’t sign a damn thing about it.
I gloss over the fact that once upon a time, I might have agreed with his choice. That fact didn’t fucking matter, because he hadn’t given me the chance to agree or disagree. He hadn’t discussed it with any of us. He’d hidden it.
He’d known what she was all this time…
He knew, and he’d kissed Katrina anyway.
That’s what fucking enraged me the most. How dare he touch our girl when he’d hurt her? The whole fucking trajectory of her life had changed with that night! Who knew who she’d fucking be right now if she hadn’t been in and out of the damn hospital, if she hadn’t lost her hearing, learned sign language, been so lonely that she turned to study cards… What kind of future had he stolen from her?
I glance around and spy him drifting on an air current above us, wings spread, keeping his distance, knowing we’re furious.
Motherfucking straight we’re furious.
Akor turns and lobs a grenade at the vengeance demon, screaming, “I hope your head pops like a cherry!”
Kastros dodges it easily, and we all watch as a warehouse beneath us explodes into a pretty ball of flame.
For once, I feel impotent. My power is strong amongst humans. It’s so easy to sway them into choosing pretty things over pretty actions, gorgeous trinkets over gorgeous souls. But right now, right fucking now, I want to scream.
Because there’s no way in Hell that I can hurt Kastros badly enough to punish him for what he’s done.
What’s my poor love going to think when she wakes up? That thought cracks me from head to foot and leaves me broken on her behalf. Katrina should never ever hurt that way.
I slow my wings and fall back, hovering in the industrial section, watching Raz and Van dive down towards the neighborhoods, towards our place. Akor catches my eye and slows with me. I give a half nod, and then simultaneously, we both shoot up towards Kastros and end up on either side of him.
A million half-formed insults slide through my brain but back out again before I can spit them out. I’m infuriated beyond words. My claws flex with the need to rip into his flesh and punish him. Because in Hell, no one gets away with anything. Choices always have consequences.
For once, Akor seems more rational than me. He lifts his hands and signs, Why?
Kastros lifts his hands and uses his fingers to say, To protect you.
I don’t know if any answer would have abated my fury, but that right there, that is bullshit. We are demons. We are the things that go bump in the night. We are the damn shadows in men’s hearts. We don’t need protection.
Especially not from a girl. Especially not from our girl.
For an awful split second, I see the world and our existence as it might have been if Kastros had succeeded. I see mission after dull mission. I see Adam, alone, abandoned by his parents, dying of starvation as a child in a house worth millions, his death covered up with dollar bills and bribes. I see myself growing so dissatisfied and unfulfilled by even my own materialism that one day, I just end it.
Have you ever thought about that? Your life with one less person? Without the person you’re meant to have?
I charge at Kastros without a plan, without thinking, mindlessly screeching, my claws extended. I’m nothing more than a wild animal filled to the brim with emotions that come spilling out in roars and a wild need for blood.
I rip into his flesh, satisfaction lighting me up and turning my body hot, my eyes red. I bare my teeth, letting fangs I rarely show extend. I bite down onto his chest, feral like a fucking wolf, wanting to tear him down with my teeth, crush his pulse in my jaw,