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“Enough,” Lucifer said, stepping forward, blocking Lothar from her view.His gaze sliced to me.“The second issue we have is a few demons behaving badly.”

I wanted to demand what he was talking about but rolled my shoulders and forced myself to wait for him to finish in his own time.This was Lucifer’s show, and no one rushed him.

“We haven’t heard about this,” War said.

“Because I was dealing with it,” Rune said.

“But,” Lucifer said, “after Rune told me his suspicions, then War called and told me about Brick, my Spidey senses got all tingly.Brick and this demon issue are linked.I can feel it, here.”He cupped his balls.

“What does this have to do with Sutton?”I said, unable to wait any fucking longer.

“She got herself in some trouble, didn’t you, lovely?”Rune said to Sutton.“And she came to me for help”—his gaze slid to me—“since there was no one else she could trust.”

My snarl burst through the room.“What trouble?”I said and took a step toward Rune.

War grabbed my shoulder.

“Stand down, Jag,” Lucifer said easily.“Let Rune speak.”

I wanted to rip out his tongue, not listen to him talk about my female as if heknewher, as if he knew her better than me.She was mine.Sure, I’d fucked up, I’d gotten confused.But I wasn’t confused anymore.

“Sutton is being blackmailed by Tarrant.Poe is the demon she reports to.He’s Tarrant’s right-hand demon.As we know, he deals directly with manufacturers, is his enforcer, and does wet work when necessary.”

“What the fuck?You’re being blackmailed?”

She wouldn’t look at me.

“Sutton,” I growled.“What does he have on you?”

“One of her coven members was cooking for him, providing him with drugs, the kind only a witch could provide.He made a bad batch and tried to pull out of the deal.He owed Tarrant a lot of product.Long story short, her coven mate is being held by them, and they’ll keep him alive as long as Sutton continues to fill their orders.”

Adrenaline pulsed through me and I fucking saw red.“Easy fix, I’ll send Tarrant back to Hell.”

“He’s not breaking any laws,” Lucifer said.“Well, that we know of.”

“Sutton is my mate, that should be enough.”

Rune made a tutting sound.“That’s not what I hear, and besides, Sutton and I made a deal.She gets evidence that Tarrant’s breaking our laws, and I put him down and free her friend, isn’t that right, lovely?”

“Yes,” she said, still not looking at me.

“Poe’s taken an interest in her, one that could be easily exploited to get the information we need?—”

“No fucking way,” I said, my voice all beast.“I don’t give a fuck about your deal.”

Lucifer’s hand shot up, and he pointed at me.“Quiet,” he barked.“I’m losing my fucking patience with this.”His gaze bored into me.“If Sutton’s your mate, then why the fuck aren’t you mated?”I opened my mouth to respond, but he kept talking.“The way I hear it, you rejected her, and in doing so, forfeited any authority you have over her and this situation.I know you’ve changed your mind on that front, but she made a deal with Rune, and that shit is binding.You know that as well.He’s a soul collector.Be grateful he didn’t take her fucking soul instead of just asking her to get intel.”

Rune smirked.“Thank you?—”

“And you can shut the fuck up as well,” Lucifer said to Rune.“You knew how this would mess with Jagger.You know how territorial hounds are.You could’ve blown this whole operation messing with Jag’s female, mate or not.”Lucifer took a deep breath.“This is a delicate situation.Tarrant is Beelzebub’s nephew.My lords’ confidence in me is already on shaky ground after Relic’s drama with his female, discovering Lukan the way they did.They feel I failed them, and they’re right, but there are…things on the horizon…” His face transformed, a flash of his true face broke through, for just a moment, something that rarely happened.“Let’s just say I may need them, and pissing one of them off now, without proof, will cause me serious problems later on.Sutton is in a position to get that proof for me and, I believe, find Brick as well as another missing hound in the process.”

“Another hound’s missing?Who?”War growled.

“No one you know,” Lucifer said, an odd look on his face.

What the fuck?

“I’m the alpha, I know every hound in my pack.”