The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,180

you."

Which meant that he'd cover our retreat. Lunging forward, I hooked an arm around Ron's waist and pushed us through the veil. Before the edge was even completely across our bodies, I was already pushing us sideways, aiming for the house. Back at the church, Nick and Luke probably didn't even know that we'd gotten into one hell of a mess because none of us had summoned them. There'd been no reason to. That room wasn't big enough for an entire legion, let alone the horde of angels trying to force their way in with us.

I moved so fast that the world didn't even have a chance to come into focus before we were stumbling back into the hallway of our home. Ron gasped, one hand clutching at my bicep to hold him steady. Then the delicate little man looked up at me with confusion in his eyes.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I need you to summon Nick and Luke. Sia's gone. I don't know where Gabriel sent her, but he shoved her off this plane, and we need to find her."

I finished the last word just as Sam stepped in beside us, nearly colliding with me. "Whoa," he said, shuffling his feet to get his balance. "How many fucking angels do they have here?"

Ron had one arm pressed over the other and was mumbling under his breath. That meant he was doing exactly as I’d said, so I turned to Sam.

"Don't know. Don't care. We have to find Sia."

He was nodding at me. "Nick can help with that." Then he looked at his watch.

"Are you seriously worried about the time right now?" I growled.

In response, Sam sighed heavily. "I am checking the time so we know exactly how long she's been gone. In case you missed it, this happens to her quite often. The angels want her, so they hit her, and then she fucks their shit up. Plus, we probably have ten to fifteen minutes before Luke and Nick are back, since they have to bring the car - well, truck."

"I don't fucking care about any of that!" I yelled right into his face.

Sam just reached up and pressed his palm in the center of my chest, holding me off. "Listen to me, Beelzebub. She's going to be fine. Sia will find a way to always be fine. She is not a weak little girl, and she doesn't need us doubting her ability. Our job is to stand with her, not push or hold her back."

But he didn't understand. He couldn't. Sam was the one who always worried about what we felt, and that was great, but this was different. Who knew where she was right now? Maybe she was on Angelis, being ripped apart by angels. Maybe she was in Hell, being chased by Abaddon. In the short time we'd been with her, she'd made far too many enemies, and I could think of a million ways they could torture her. Even worse, it was my responsibility to keep her safe.

I was supposed to protect her.

And right now, there was only one way I could think to do that. Turning, I stormed my way into the dining room, looking for the bouquet of flowers. Just like I'd expected, there was a little blue butterfly flapping lazily on one of the largest.

"God, you have to find her."

She is not a pet, God told me. She does not come when called or have a collar I can follow.

"But you’re God," I reminded her.

The tiny creature just lifted her reptilian head to look at me. And even the Devil has free will.

Unable to take it anymore, I roared out my rage and swung. The glass vase, all the flowers inside of it, the water, and even the placemats flew across the room. The shattering of the vase against the wall was loud, and brought both Ron and Sam running in to see what had happened. Unfortunately, God hadn't gone with it. Fluttering in midair above the table, she looked completely and totally fine.

"I have to find her!" I reached up to shove both hands against my short hair. "Why can't you just help me?"

And then Ron stepped right up into my chest, wrapping his arms around my back to hold on. "We'll find her," he promised. "Bel, it's going to be okay. She can't die, remember?"

"But she can hurt," I whimpered, my rage vanishing at the thought of my girl suffering because I hadn't been fast enough.

Ron simply pressed his face into