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“You’re playing with fire,” I growl as my heart thunders behind my ribcage.
“I…” She takes a deep breath, removing her hand quickly. “I’m ready to talk.”
Twisting my neck, I peer at her. “Why now?” I ask skeptically.
“Because I trust you.”
Jez scrambles to her feet, tugging me along with her. When we reach the basement door, she drops my hand and unlocks it.
“Brace yourself, Demon,” she says. “It’s not every day you get to see genius.”
I grin at the playfulness in her tone. This is the Jez I know and love, the girl I swore would be mine one day, from the moment my brother introduced me to her when we were kids.
I follow her down the steps to the finished basement and then across the room to the hidden door in the floor. Knowing she’s still bruised and sore, I nudge her out of the way so I can lift the hatch. She glares at me, and I roll my eyes.
“Don’t,” I order, already hearing her argument in my head. “Just… don’t.”
Shaking her head, she precedes me down another set of stairs, and I can’t help but watch the way her ass moves with each step.
“Welcome to Hellfire Hackers HQ,” she says proudly when the lights flicker to life.
I’ve been down here before, as recently as a few days ago, but it’s like I’m seeing it all for the first time. I take in all the monitors and electrical equipment, and pride floods my veins.
My girl is smart as fuck.
It takes a few moments for Jez to fire up all the screens, and when they all come to life, the underground room looks more like a spaceship than a hacker’s paradise.
“Hellfire Hackers, huh?” I ask, moving to stand behind her where she sits in a chair.
Jez shrugs. “Seemed fitting. When Grim and I started all this during Soul and Malice’s military stint, I never realized how big things would get, how much evil was out there. It didn’t take long for my eyes to be opened. Saints Purgatory is amazing, but they can’t do it all.” She leans back to look up at me. “I do what they can’t.”
“But you do more than just hack,” I say.
“Well, yeah,” she replies unapologetically. “Sometimes evil requires morepermanentmeans of destruction. If I can ruin a sinner with only the skills of me and my team, then that’s what happens. But for people like Ted McCormick…”
My head buzzes at the name. I know he’s dead, but the memories—no, the nightmares—are still very much alive in my mind.
“He required more than the vengeance obtained behind a computer,” I finish for her.
“Exactly.”
“So, tell me more about your team,” I say.
She grins as she returns her attention to the screens and types away on her keyboard. Pictures fill the monitors, and I’m stunned to see that Phantom is the only man in the group.
“That’s Diabla,” she says, pointing to the first image. “Self-taught like me, and a total psycho if you cross her.”
“Diabla? Isn’t that the female version of devil in Spanish?”
She smirks. “Exactly.” Jez nods to the second and third pictures. “That’s Loki and Jinx, respectively. Both are amazing hackers, and I have no doubt they’re easily the life of any party they attend.”
“Wait, you’ve never met them?” I ask, confused.
She shakes her head. “Not in person. Bad business to actually be together. We’re harder to track and take down this way.”
“But you’ve met Phantom?”
“Not until you guys showed up in Phoenix, no.”