cheek against one of her horns in a way that made Deyva squirm and sigh.
I noted the touch, as I noted the way Deyva had refreshed the marigolds every morning since I’d picked them for her, and the annoyed twist of her lips every time one of the local women spoke to Stavros and leaned in too close, and the way she took her coffee.
“And she healed Will when that demon grabbed him, didn’t you, Dey?” Zach asked.
“When the fucking what?!” I barked, eyes bugging out.
Deyva hissed and grimaced, twisting back to glare at Zach. “We said we were gonna get him drunk first.”
“You’re telling me the three of you have known for days that the demons are learning to defend themselves against us, and I am just now hearing about it?” I growled.
Deyva was seated between Zach and Stavros on the couch in the priest house, and I was just as annoyed with the picture of them as I was with the news they were feeding me.
“What were you going to do? Wait until the gate was being attacked to tell me? What if this changes how our defenses work too?”
“Kais,” Deyva started gently.
“No!”
“Hey, this is not her fault,” Stav snapped. “Zach or I should’ve given you a full report. That’s on us, Kais.”
“It sure fucking is. We are days behind this! And the three of you have been using that time to—”
“Kais, cool the fuck off!” Zach sat forward, his shoulder in front of Deyva like he was defending her from me.
Which just made my mood so much fucking worse. Deyva was becoming an issue. A distraction. A temptation.
She’s always been that, a gentle voice reminded me.
“Kais, honestly, you’re right, man. We should’ve told you, but you were kind of… You’ve been…”
I started to growl again, and I was so annoyed by the sound that I whipped around and marched to the hall just to move, to not be staring at the three of them all close and cuddly together.
“Can I just point out that this, yes, should’ve been brought to your attention earlier, but also is kind of not that big of a deal?” Zach asked mildly.
“How is the fact that demons now have a defense against holy water not a big deal?” I ground out.
“Um, because Deyva can literally rip their heads off? Because we also have crossbows and swords and machetes and basic artillery at our disposal that aren’t kids’ toys?”
“Azariah’s reinforcement to the gate will hold,” Deyva said, and I flinched at the careful, quiet tone of her voice, that she was afraid that I’d lash out at her again.
I swallowed hard and was relieved to find her sitting up straight, meeting my stare head on. “You’re sure?” I asked.
Deyva nodded. “If the gate had fallen down naturally, I don’t know if your blessings would have held, but I honestly think so. This entire town is practically consecrated ground. There’s a reason I came here. Well, you know, aside from the three of you.”
Stav and Zach both beamed at her, the tension rushing out of them at her simple words. I wanted to flip a table over and scream. Every little movement of her mouth made me think of that kiss, of the soft press of her mouth on mine, of the twinge in her eyes as I pulled away. Did Stav and Zach know? She kept adding me into statements like that and it made me feel like I was back in those dreams of her, tossing endlessly on soft mattresses, burying myself into her heat over and over again. But maybe I was just reading too much into it?
“Either way, Azariah’s work didn’t hurt. And if you wanted him to bless those weapons too, a trash bag won’t stop them from working against hellions either. You could even train other people in the town to—”
“Absolutely not,” I snapped, marching forward.
“Wait, Kais, we should—”
“No fucking way, Stavros. We’ve talked about this. Our people are civilians, we are their protection.” Lord knew it was hard enough for me to watch Zach walk out of that gate sometimes, and he was the best of us. But he was so young. And Stavros was an almost comically accurate example of ‘lover, not fighter.’
“I’m beginning to agree with Stavros,” Zach said gently. “After everything we’ve learned recently...are we really more qualified than them to fight back Hell? I thought I was God’s chosen vessel before but...honestly, I just want to live Kais. Just like they do.”