Page 17 of Alastair

“It’s necessary,” I said. “You can tell him after your job is done.”

“Myjob.” The demon huffed. “Christ. When did I start taking orders from your arrogant ass?”

“When you married my brother.”

“I don’t recall that being in our wedding vows.” Phoenix lifted a hand to the black collar around his neck, and as his fingers brushed over the sapphires, a wistful expression crossed his face. “He’ll be angry at me for this.”

“Would you rather he come with us?” I asked. “Because I can give you no guarantee of his safety if he does. And you know as well as I do that if he learns of my plan, he’ll insist on tagging along.”

“I know,” Phoenix grumbled. “It doesn’t make me feel better about doing this behind his back though. If something happens to you, he’ll never forgive me.”

For a brief moment, I felt guilty for what I was asking him to do. But in wartime, hard decisions had to be made. Feelings needed to be put on the back burner. The mission came first.

“If not for your teleportation power, I wouldn’t have dragged you into this. You’re the only one who can discreetly get me into Echo Bay. And if for some reason things go south, you can quickly get us out of there.”

“So overjoyed to be of use,” he muttered, smoothing a hand over the top of his head. He paused at the short stump where his right horn used to be. It had been broken during his torture in the underworld months before. “Let’s hope your decision doesn’t end with our bloody, severed heads on a platter decorating Lucifer’s dinner table.”

More guilt on my part. If something happened to Phoenix, even a single scratch, Bellamy would never forgiveme.

“We won’t fail,”Pride said.“Nothing can stop us.”

My sin’s overconfidence had taken me many years to tune out. But there were instances when his voice was so loud, so self-assured, that I had difficulty combating it with logic.

This wasn’t one of those instances. Me going to Echo Bay wasn’t a foolish decision. With Phoenix with me, we’d be able to leave in the blink of an eye if something went wrong.

No. This plan wouldn’t fail

Iwouldn’t fail.

“Tell me again why you want to do this?” Phoenix wavered in place. I wasn’t used to seeing the demon so hesitant. He was usually so cocky. About everything. “Lazarus is sending his buddies to deal with the zombies. They’ll drag Purah’s creepy ass out of the shadows too, if he’s still there.”

“I have my reasons.”

“Youwantto run into Lucifer. Don’t you? So you can, what, whip out your dick and compare sizes?”

“Knowledge is a powerful weapon,” I said, choosing to ignore his vulgar statement.

“Yeah? Know what else is a powerful weapon?Actualweapons. Such as Light Bringer, which Lucifer will use to cut your ass in two. Or have you forgotten that little detail?”

“Lucifer doesn’t know we brought Kallias back,” I told him. “If he did, perhaps he wouldn’t be so quick to move against us.”

That gave him pause. “So your intention is to tell Lucifer about your long lost brother coming back to life in the hope it will give him some hesitation?”

“Yes. If anything, it will buy us more time to formulate our own attack.”

“Dammit,” Phoenix said. “I see your point. It could work. Still doesn’t mean I like it.”

“You don’t have to like it. You just need to trust me and do as I say.”

“I trust no one but Bellamy.”

“Then trust that I have his best interest at heart. I’m doing this for him. For all of us.”

“What if Lucifer isn’t in Echo Bay?” Phoenix asked. “This could be a waste of time. Adangerouswaste of time, I might add. If we return with our heads intact, Lazarus will gut you for going against his orders, and Bellamy will…” He smirked a bit. “Well, being punished by him wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Okay, whatever. Let’s get this over with.”

I focused on the blood bond with my brothers—envisioned their life force threads in my mind. All were asleep. Phoenix had been sure to exhaust Bellamy thoroughly before meeting me in the study, and my brother would be out for a few hours at least. Long enough for us to complete the mission and return.

And wewouldreturn.