Page 13

13

BASH

T he emotional turmoil in the training facility was so thick, I could bludgeon someone to death with it. I knew Angela wasn’t dead, but the imagery was enough to make me second guess what I saw. Her face was slack, eyes closed with no expression, as if she was sleeping. Her normally warm skin was pale and waxy. Judas held her lifeless body in his arms, threading his fingers through her dark brown, almost black hair. Apollo and Quelier knelt next to them, the latter touching his palm to her forehead. A milky white magic illuminated her face, and I wondered what he was doing with his Fae magic.

Bain tensely stood off to the side watching her, his features tight and eyebrows slanted with disapproval. Bone whisperers had a complicated relationship with death. They were neither living or dead—they just existed in the veil between worlds, trying to keep the balance. I suspected this development in Angela’s life undoubtedly concerned him.

I had the feeling Lucifer didn’t approve of what happened, either, even if he was smart enough not to say it aloud. Judas broke the rules of creation, and the consequences of his actions would eventually bite him in his ass. Even if Lucifer wasn’t the one who dished out the punishment. Karma always came to collect her due.

Diana stood a few paces away, wringing her hands together. I could feel her anxiousness and a twisted sense of dread coursing through our claimbond. She was barely holding herself together.

“What happens next…” she asked the trio of men crowded around her aunt.

“She won’t be herself for a long time, it depends on her,” Quelier rasped, his usually chaotic voice thick with emotion. “This process isn’t easy…”

A tear slipped down Judas’ cheek. I felt her dueling senses of relief and worry through our bond, and it clouded her ability to see how much pain he was in.

Yes, he saved the woman he refused to admit he was in love with---everyone saw his feelings plain as day. But his actions came with undeniable conflict. One one hand, he got to keep her for eternity now. As an incubus, I definitely understood destructive obsession and the urge to claim ownership of your obsession. On the other hand, her salvation wasn’t a fairytale ending---he created her without her consent---and thrust her into a life and partnership she’d never be able to leave. He signed her up for a painful transition that could destroy her if she wasn’t properly guided through it.

Eventually, after the initial bloodlust wore off, she’d get out of the woods. Maybe she'd be the same Angela at her core, but she would never live the same life.

“Birdie, Judas has to take your aunt to Pit 13. When she does wake up, she won’t be herself. She’ll need to be... monitored .” I had no clue how else to say ‘Judas has to lock your aunt up so she doesn’t fall into a blood rage and drain innocent people’.

“Oh, okay,” she sighed. “Let me know when I can visit her.”

As a member of Lucifer’s inner circle, Judas was able to fade her out. Apollo followed Ares to the troops in the hallway. Quelier winced at me, and I understood his wordless concern. Diana knew nothing about vampires or how they were created, aside from the fallacies human media fed her. She was unaware of how much a monster Angela was to become. Quelier’s eyes went wide, because he knew what would come next. My dislike of him being in Diana’s life was swiftly replaced by pity. He’d be instrumental in ensuring she was too busy to see how much Angela was struggling over the next few days. Maybe even the next few weeks.

Handling this situation would be hard for everyone. We couldn’t lie to her, and we knew better than to do that. This was a matter of safety. A newly made vampire operated via an innate urge to feed. Family and lovers weren’t exempt from it, unfortunately. We had to tread carefully without disrupting the delicate balance of the ware ahead.

“Are there still enemy soldiers in the compound?” Lucifer asked Desmond.

“Yeah, but we trapped the majority of them in the residential floors. The troops who haven’t transferred to Pit 13 are queued in the hallway outside.”

Lucifer waved a hand, cleaning up the puddle of Angela’s blood and erasing all traces of the incident. “Okay, let’s open the portal, move them through, then level this place.”

“Yas! BOOM BABY!” Ares yelled as he jumped up and landed in a muscle flexing pose. Fucking meat-head . I rolled my eyes, but he caught me, then blew us a kiss.

You corny fucking cob, I huffed.

Let’s blow this place like you blow me on a Saturday night Bashy Boy. Later, I can aim at your face and BOOM, facial, he shouted. Diana, I can give you one first if you want?

Diana didn’t laugh, which was a red flag. She found that moron’s insufferable dribbling hilarious, so it was time for us to go. I wouldn’t let her fall apart or drift into her emotions here.

I wasn’t sure if Lucifer would hear me. He only mindlinked me—I had never tried telepathic communication with him before. I concentrated, imagining a telephone box. I stepped inside, shut the door, and dialed the number to his mind.

I’m taking Diana to Pit 13 and discussing Angela with her. She needs to know what to expect. The soldiers need to see the strongest version of her, and I feel a lot of anxiousness through our bond.

My urge to protect what was mine was strong. I wasn’t asking him for permission---I was letting him know as a courtesy. He turned in my direction, glaring at me.

How does it feel to have someone drop into your mind mid-thought, Prince of Darkness? Not good, huh?

Sod off before I break your claimbond and throw you into a pool of sulfur, he snapped.

So I can mindlink with the great Lucifer Morningstar? Nice. Getting under his skin was a Hellish bonus.

I faded her directly into our apartment, internally promising I’d give her a full tour of the newly renovated Pit 13 later. She gasped, turning around to take in the entire open concept first floor. It looked just like our old house in New York. Same art pieces, same furniture. We even included the cat post Desmond got for Ollie, the housecat Oisín pretended to be for years while he had watched over Diana.

“I’m sure Oisín will have a kitten over the cat post,” I said, smirking at her.

“He’ll probably want to punch you in the face…”

“I hope so.” I owe him for attacking me when Diana left. I deserved it, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stir the pot. “Your brother is a fuckwitt, but he’s not the family member I want to talk about…”

A tear slid down her face. I snapped my fingers, cleansing us of blood and changing us into matching black silk pajamas. She sat on the couch, and I followed before pulling her onto my lap. Az told me sometimes it’s better to let Diana talk first, so she can set the tone of the conversation. Sometimes she won’t say anything, and he said that’s okay too. Being present for her was what really mattered.

She rubbed her cheek into my chest before releasing a defeated sigh. We sat in silence for several minutes, and I trailed my fingers up and down my claim bite on her thigh as I fought the urge to commander the situation. Her claim-bite. My mark of obsession, the proof that I’ll do anything for her---including giving her space to talk about feelings.

“I know Angie will never be the same…she’s going to go through a major change…but I can still visit her, right…” she asked me in a sheepish tone. I hadn’t heard her use that tone since we first abducted her from that hole-in-the-wall club in Brooklyn.

I had to tread carefully. Every part of me wanted to demand she stay far away from Angela. Some sick, twisted thing deep inside me said even that wasn’t enough, and bellowed at me to lock her in my room. I shoved that part back into the deepest recess of my mind, and went against my instincts.

I channeled my inner Az, and managed a neutral expression. “For the next few months, you should give her space. New vampires aren’t themselves—they’re guided by an insatiable need for blood, and if it gets bad enough, they can hurt their family and friends.”

“I’m not sure I can do that. How am I supposed to concentrate in battle when I’m worried about her?” she asked.

Her blatant disregard for her life was fraying my already tenuous nerves. Az’s patience blew my mind. How did he not tie her to himself so he’d never have to worry about her? I could hear his words after Diana returned from her vacation clear as day in my mind.

Sometimes you have to meet her halfway, Bash. If you don’t, you’ll lose her.

“Maybe we can find a safe way for you to visit?” I offered, ignoring my internal cringe at allowing her to go into a situation that was dangerous. It was bad enough I had to fight this dreaded feeling every time she went into battle. I’d sure as Hell monitor any attempted visit with her aunt.

She swung around so her thick thighs were on either side of my lap. Her hands cupped my face, and she kissed me right on the lips. “Thank you, Bash. I know offering is hard for you.”

My cock thickened beneath her, and I shut down the knee-jerk reaction to retort ‘Not harder than my cock, Birdie’ . I pulled out the handful of compassion I had in my shriveled black heart and said, “Not harder than this entire situation must be for you. I can feel your pain through our bond.”

The ease in which the words spilled from my lips shocked me.

“Does it make me an awful person that I would rather her go through this, even if it’s an agony she didn’t choose, than no longer have her at all?”

I rubbed my thumb along her full lower lip, hating to see my woman in pain. The anguish on her face made me want to find Bain, have him reanimate those soldiers, and then kill them again myself. I pulled her into me, until my mouth was right outside her ear. A full body shudder worked its way down her and I stomped on my urge to blow onto the sensitive skin and nibble down her neck.

“No, it means you love her,” I whispered.

“I really do,” she muttered before her soft sobs reappeared.

I stood, carrying her bridal style to the iron four poster bed in her room. It was similar to the one in the old house, but we made some upgrades. It had an attached ensuite, bringing the total number of bathrooms to seven. One for each of us, with a guest powder room in the hallway. It was ridiculous to expect six people to share one bathroom like we had at the Costa Compound. The closet was double the size, with hidden compartments and boutique style shelves. We also made sure Diana had a big enough bed that some of us could spend the night in here if she wished, without being on top of each other. Being on top of each other was fine mid-fuck, but some of us took up a lion’s share of the bed while sleeping.

It’s Ares, he’s the “some of us”.

We often woke up with his dick practically living in our asscracks. Or with him halfway on top of us or wrapped around us so tightly we couldn’t breathe.

“Bash, it’s amazing,” she gushed through a snotty sniffle.

“You’re going to save the world, Birdie. The least we can do for you is give your own space. This is your room. We each have one, with our own bathroom. And the bed is big enough for overnight guests, if you choose to have any.”

“Will you stay with me tonight?” she ran her hand through my hair. I loved the feeling of her fingers raking over my scalp.

“Always. I can’t wait to brag about how I was the first to stay the night,” I snarked. “It’ll drive them all berserk with jealousy.”

Never one to be shown up, Mal faded in with a smug smile. “Not me, because I am also staying the night. I volunteered to guard my Queen.” The fucking prick barged in on my alone time with her. Again, karma always took her cut, and I’d make sure he’d pay for his interruption.

Diana smiled, her eyes lighting up. “Thank you, Mal. You’re so thoughtful.”

“Anything for you,” he cooed. He took in his reflection in the mirror before snapping his fingers, changing into a pair of black cotton boxers. “Way more comfy.”

He slid into the bed next to her, then gathered her into his arms. Her face nuzzled into his pecs, and I wanted to smack him. He smirked at me over her shoulder.

You jealous shit, he linked me.

“Are you okay?” he asked her as he rubbed soothing circles into her back.

He had no clue how jealous I could be. Luckily for him, I was trying to be on my best behavior for her, because the last thing Diana needed was us getting into a pissing contest over her while she was so upset. I climbed into bed next to them, pressing myself into her back and running feather light touches up her outer thigh.

“Okay… Just realizing she won’t be the same person anymore.”

Mal’s lips turned down and his hand stopped moving. He scooted back a bit, and sighed, as if he was readying himself to talk about something grim.

“Before I became a hellbound demon, I was a witch just like Angela… My change was a punishment, not a last resort to save my life. But that’s okay, because it gave me a new chance at life. Becoming a hellbound made me a less bitter version of myself. I became a better man, in large part because of you.”

She sniffled, and took his face in her hands. Mal would have never said something that deep a year ago. He rarely talked about his past or how he felt about his eternal sentence. But he was right—he did change for the better. The gooey, intense way he gazed at her was such a one eighty from the glares he gave her when she first came home to us. She was the rich soil in which he grew a heart. The water and sun that gave it life.

She did the same thing to me.

“Mal’s right. She won’t be the exact same person after this. But Angela is a fighter, just like you. She’s going to come out of this shit storm as a stronger version of herself,” I assured her.

“Only time will tell,” she responded in a far off voice, as if her mind was somewhere else.

“Let’s get to bed, Queen. Tomorrow we can both take a tour of the new Pit 13,” Mal offered before kissing her cheek.

He leaned over her, and kissed my cheek, too. Once upon a time, I took his affection for granted. I hadn’t always been gentle with Mal, and sometimes I was downright dismissive when I wanted to be. Before thinking too deeply about it, I quickly weaved my fingers into his hair and captured his lips in a searing kiss.

At first his lips were still, most likely because I caught him off guard. Once he yielded to me, I poured all the unsaid things I should have told him before now. The kiss wasn’t a peck, or as deep and bone shattering as I wanted it to be, but it got the message across.

I’m grateful for you, even if you interrupted my alone time with her.

I love that you need her as much as I do.

You’re mine, even if you don’t have my mark.

When I pulled away, he touched his lips, eyes wide in disbelief. He seemed softer somehow, his striking blue eyes a touch less sharp than they usually were. He glanced at Diana, and then again at me.

You’ll watch over her, in her mind? He linked me.

Of course. I’d always be there to quell her nightmares.