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I ducked Mad’s haymaker and stepped back, waving Gus in.Maddox wasn’t ready to stop just yet.

Gus jumped in like the eager pup he was, and I snatched up my buzzing phone.Lothar’s name was on the screen.

I hit speaker.“What’s up?”I leaped out of the fighting pit.

“Brother,” he growled out, and there was a whole lot of noise in the background.

Just from that one word, I knew something was up.“What is it?”

“Your female was at the fights and, Jag?—”

“She’s an EMT.It’s her job.”It was on the tip of my tongue to correct him, to tell him she wasn’t mine, but that would be a lie.It turned out she was.She always would be, I just couldn’t have her, that was the difference.

“Nah, not working.She was dressed to kill, and there with a demon.Poe.”

My chin jerked back.“What?”

“Had his hands on her.”He made a rough sound.“The demon kissed her, brother.”

I was vaguely aware that the sounds of fists hitting flesh had stopped, but I was too busy fighting down my murderous rage to pay much attention.Since Lucifer told me the truth, I’d been working at coming to terms with the realities of it.Reminding myself of why I couldn’t have her.I knew Sutton would find someone eventually.I just hadn’t thought it would be this soon, and not with a fucking demon.Especially a piece of shit like Poe.

The phone cracked in my hand, dangerously close to smashing to pieces, and I forced myself to loosen my grip.

“You need to talk to her,” Loth said.“You need to stop this before she’s in too deep with this asshole.”Rome said something in the background.“Sorry, brother, gotta go.”

We disconnected, and I stood there, fucking frozen, while red-hot rage throbbed through me.I hadn’t seen her in a week, but it felt like an eternity.Time moved differently down here.My week would be close to four weeks for Sutton.Had she already given up on me?

That’s what you want, asshole.

I growled, the sound as deranged as I felt.

“What the fuck are you standing there for?”Mad snarled behind me.

I hadn’t even seen him get out of the pit.“The shit with me and Sutton is complicated, brother.I need to be careful how I play this.”

“It’s not complicated.She’s your female, and she’s unprotected.What the fuck, Jag.Go and fucking claim her.Go claim what’s yours.”

I planted my hands on my hips, while every muscle in my body prepared to fight, to do exactly what Mad said.“You know why I can’t do that,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Yeah, brother, she is going to die one day, but at least you get to be with her.”His nostrils flared.“This pain, this fucking nightmare I’m living in, it means I got to be with Jane.Even if it was only for a short time.She was mine.She loved me, and I know what that felt like.You give that up?You’re a fucking idiot,” Mad snarled, then strode away.

Fuck.

My muscles tightened, twitching, and I tried to gain some semblance of control.It wasn’t working.

I turned to Gus.“Going topside.Let Mad know when he’s cooled down.”

Gus gave me a chin lift, and I got the fuck out of Hell.

I didn’t know what any of this meant?Or what would happen when I got to her.I only knew I had to protect her, and that Poe couldn’t fucking have her.

Sutton was mine.

ChapterEleven

Sutton

Quickly and carefully,I placed the jar I’d just filled with cemetery dirt into my bag, then wrapped the small bunch of Hyssop I’d risked taking in a damp cloth and tucked it in there as well.