The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,198

almost shrugged it off, but the ringing started again. Holding up a finger, I jogged that way, not surprised at all when Nick followed. Sure enough, tucked at the back of Nick's desk was an office-style desk phone, covered in a layer of dust. Since it was still ringing, I decided to answer.

"Hello?" I asked.

"We know where you live. We know how to break the protections," the man said without preamble. "We also know that your tricks won't work on Earth. Put up a veil. Go ahead. We will take that as an act of war and you still won't stop us. Not even a Muse as strong as you can stand against the full wrath of Heaven, human."

"Not a Muse," I told him, wondering what flunky had been tasked with making this call because I didn't recognize his voice. Then I hit the button to put him on speaker. "I'm also willing to bet that this isn't coming from you. Who's sending the message?"

"We all are," he said. "You just made things uncomfortable for us, and that means you're no longer amusing. Go back to Hell with your demons, little girl. We're done playing around."

"Oh, and so am I," I assured him. "You don't scare me. Not anymore. If you want to make this a battle between Heaven and Hell, then I'm ready to go all Revelations on your ass. The problem is that you have no idea what you're fighting against, angel."

"Demons have never been able to organize themselves to come after us," he taunted. "They're too worried about their own pathetic little lives. They spend all their time wanting to be liked, but we've been preparing. You can't stop us."

"And that's where you're wrong," I told him. "What happened today was easy. I didn't even have to strain, and yet you'll spend years trying to recover from it. Your identities are blown. Your resources have been confiscated. Your slaves are free. You lost, angel, but it doesn't stop here. I'm coming for you. I'm coming for all of you, and I'm not going to stop."

"You don't even know the half of it," he shot back. "So leave now, because when we come back, we won't give you a second chance."

"I don't need one," I promised. "So tell Heaven to brace for impact, because the next time we duke it out, it's not going to be where anyone can die."

"Except you," he taunted. "Or have you forgotten how fragile your little human body really is?"

"Try killing me," I snarled. "I dare you. It's not going to work like you want, because I'm not human anymore. I am the child of all five realms. My mother named me Ayala. My world calls me the Devil. I am the thing of nightmares, and I'm going to make all of you pay for your mistakes, because that is why I exist." I leaned a little closer to the phone. "And I'm not scared anymore."

Then I slammed my hand down on the button, disconnecting the call.

Nick grabbed both of my shoulders and turned me into his chest. "Sia, we're going to need help with this. The six of us can't fight hundreds of angels."

I just nodded. "Yeah, I know." Lifting my head, I saw my entire legion hovering in the doorway, making it clear they'd heard most of that. "But I'm still not backing down. I... Guys, I can't. What they're doing is wrong, and I'm not ok with ignoring it."

"Neither are we," Sam assured me. "Sia, we'll follow wherever you lead on this."

Again, I found my head bobbing, but this time it was because I had an idea. "Kinda sounds like it's time to open the gates of Hell, huh? Wake them all, call in the..." I smiled as another religious reference hit me. "The fallen angels on Vesdar. Yeah. I can do that."

"Tomorrow," Bel told me. "Today, you are going to lie on the couch."

Luke canted his head, showing he agreed. "I think one major accomplishment a day should be a limit. Tomorrow we can fuck up Heaven."

I just pulled in a deep breath and leaned into my boyfriend. "Yeah. Tomorrow. Or maybe even next week, because I have a funny feeling that as soon as the archangels hear about that..." And I waved at the phone. "Panic is going to take over Heaven. Kinda feels like a reason to celebrate."

"I'll order the pizza!" Sam offered.

"I'll get the beer," Luke decided.

Bel laughed once. "I want to watch that movie. The