Fashionably Dead and Loving It (Hot Damned #14) - Robyn Peterman Page 0,44
was met with one as equally forceful. It was brutally beautiful.
“You are such a shithat,” I growled as I shoved my shoulder back in the socket after a particularly savage attack.
“I’m a shithat with an intact nose at the moment,” he pointed out, swiping at the blood pouring from a cut above his eye. “I’d call that a win.”
“I do believe you’re counting chickens before they hatch, Mr. Blue Jeans.”
“Yes, but I can eat chickens. You can’t.”
“Low blow, brother,” I said as my eyes narrowed to slits. They didn’t have far to go, considering both eyes were swollen and blackened at the moment.
“The truth hurts,” he taunted and raised his middle finger.
“And so will your pretty nose,” I warned, grinning from ear to ear.
Levi could indeed move fast, but I was faster. I’d been holding back. My brother never saw me coming. With swift and precise aggression, I jumped him and threw him to his back. His shocked reaction was golden. Before he could retaliate, I elbow slammed him in the face. The crunch was horrifying and wildly satisfying.
Levi moaned and rolled over, trying to realign his nose and stem the bleeding.
“Oh my Uncle God,” I gasped out, crawling over to him. “I am so sorry.” A teeny-tiny part of me felt bad but losing would have felt worse.
However, this time it was me counting my chickens too quickly. I should have known he’d fight dirty. He was a Demon, after all…
And I was a dumbass of epic proportions.
His counter-attack was ferocious. We grappled like we were fighting for survival. We rolled and punched. Our bodies were tangled, and at one point, I punched my own head. With a scream of laughter, I remedied my mistake and broke his healing nose a second time.
“You suck,” he roared with a grunt of laughter, lying in a pool of blood with his hands over his nose.
“You had enough?” I asked, lying beside him in my own pool of blood.
“Never, but that was fucking fantastic. You’re a damned machine.”
“Back at you,” I said, gingerly turning my head to look at him. “You’re a hot mess.”
“As are you,” he said, looking a bit guilty.
“Stop,” I insisted, leaning over and readjusting his nose so it healed straight. “If you feel bad, you ruin what was a damn good homicidal bonding experience.
Levi was quiet as I checked his face over. I stared into his eyes that were mirrors of my own and placed a sweet, sisterly kiss on his blood-smeared forehead.
“I will answer two of your questions, Astrid,” he said. “Only two.”
I nodded slowly. I felt lightheaded—not from the loss of blood, from the trust he was showing me in revealing himself.
“What did Satan mean that you’d chosen your penance?”
Levi sat up and rested his forehead on his bent knees. “I’m paying for the sins of our father.”
My stomach roiled with horror. His words were more painful than the physical fight we’d just had. Our father’s sins were unending and grisly. I had so many questions but was only allowed one more. In time, I would learn the whole story.
“What does that entail?” I whispered.
He sighed and searched for words. “I burn. I burn in the Basement of Hell. When I get to the point of death, I am healed and then I burn again.”
“Satan damned you to that?”
“That’s the third question,” he said, sounding weary. “However, I will give you a pass and answer one more. No, he did not.”
Knowing the truth wasn’t always a good thing. Fury at the man who I only considered a sperm donor burned inside me like the fire my brother had embraced as his destiny. Demons were an unusual breed. I understood a lot about that half of my heritage but taking on the sins of one’s father was news to me.
“Then I’m at fault, since I killed him,” I whispered. “Did your penance start when he died?”
“You are not at fault,” Levi countered flatly. “The bastard made his own bed.”
“Then why are you lying in it?” I demanded, realizing Satan had sent Levi to me to get him out of his own personal Hell.
The Devil wasn’t magnanimous, but he was fair. He didn’t agree with what Levi had chosen any more than I did.
“No more questions,” Levi said, getting to his feet and yanking me to mine. “There are Zombies to kill.” His body went rigid and his demeanor changed. “Well, fuck.”
Levi’s eyes were drawn across the room. My head jerked in the direction of his gaze.