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“Our faces?” Dante’s blood heated, his voice dropping to a growl. “Attacking my flock is what’s made this meeting a displeasure.”

Ren’s hardened expression cracked, her brows lifting. “What do you mean attack? I’ve done no such thing.”

“So you haven’t been sniffing around my birds?”

“Sniffing, yes. Attacking, no.”

“What are you doing here?” Ash rumbled. He’d left his wings out and flexed them, filling the small living space.

Ren’s spine straightened. “Looking for you. Your escape was a well-kept secret for a long time, but once we found out you betrayed Lucifer and were gone, everything changed. Best news I’d heard in an age.”

“Best news?” Dante cocked his head. “So you’re saying you don’t support Lucifer?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Then why kill my shearwaters?” Dante growled.

“I haven’t killed any birds. It must have been someone else.”

“Are there more demons in this realm?” Ash asked, betraying a hint of alarm.

Ren’s eyes darted between them all. “I don’t know. I came by myself.”

“How?” Dante trusted her less and less. She’d been too easy to find. Pretending to be against Luc might be a ploy to win their trust.

“I heard rumors of Lucifer’s plans to come to this realm and followed when he broke the containment spell. Who knows if others did the same. I wasn’t the only one who knew what was happening. ”

“Okay,” Dante hedged. He’d see where this was going. “If you aren’t killing my birds, then why were you looking for us? Revenge?”

Many demons blamed Dante, Ash, and Onyx for their imprisonment in the Realm of the Damned as much as they blamed Lucifer. Everyone assumed the Hounds had supported Lucifer freely the entire time rather than being under his control.

“Revenge for what? You escaping?” Ren scoffed. “Hardly. We’re all jealous you got one over on that bastard. No one’s punishing you for that. You rebelled first. It was a good thing.”

“You don’t seek revenge for imprisoning you?” Ash asked, his suspicions mirroring Dante’s.

“Ah.” Ren’s eyes flashed. “I’ll let it slide. Let’s go with the enemy of my enemy is my friend. As long as I don’t get dragged back, I don’t need anything else from demonkind. Even you three. Go live your lives.”

Onyx shouldered past Dante. “Great, thank you so much for your permission. But if you’re so Zen, why bother looking for us at all?” He sounded nothing but annoyed to be there.

“I wanted you to know I was in the city.” Ren bent to pick up the saucepan. “I’m not with Lucifer and figured giving you a heads-up was common courtesy, so there were no surprises down the road. And this way, we can help each other when Lucifer starts rounding demons up.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is,” Onyx huffed.

“You want protection?” Ash clicked his tongue. “That’s a big ask.”

Ren pursed her lips. “Wouldn’t you rather I allied with you?

I let you find me, left myself unprotected as a show of peace.

” She turned to Dante, cutting him off like she sensed his argument coming.

“All I did to the birds was leave magic at a few nests so you’d know I was here.

I’ve been waiting for you all day. I didn’t kill anything. That’s not peaceful.”

“So it was another demon?” That might be the worst possibility. Multiple demons slipping into this world independent of one another was much messier than Ren being part of a group or Luc bringing allies with him.

“Was my magic on the dead birds?” Ren asked, a hand on her hip. She glanced between them. “I’ll take your silence as a no. Look, assess me all you want. I’m not the most powerful among us. I’ve never been great at masking my spells. If I’d killed anything, you’d be able to tell.”

Ash hmphed . “So you say.”

“I do say. Come on, I’ll prove I don’t have any ill will toward you. You can call on me for assistance, and I’ll fight by your side.”

“Fight?” Onyx cut a sidelong look at Dante. “Fight who? Lucifer? Or is there more we should know about what’s going on in the Realm of the Damned?”

“And who says we need you to fight with us? If you’re lacking power, you don’t exactly sound like an asset.” Ash really could put his foot in it sometimes.

Ren’s jaw muscle ticked. “Four is better than three, no matter how you cut it.”

“Okay,” Dante said before things got out of hand. “Ren, you need to prove what you’re saying beyond offering help in a hypothetical fight that may never come. Someone killed my birds. If it wasn’t you, help us find the demon who did it.”

“Have you considered Lucifer?” Ren asked as if the three of them were dense.

“Yes.” Dante called on his patience. “He’s been here and gone back to Hell. We had a little scuffle, but him attacking my flock doesn’ t fit.”

Her eyes widened momentarily. “Then I’ll be on the lookout.”

Dante forced a smile. “Would you be willing to do a little more? Maybe reach out and see if you can find any other demons who supposedly escaped? If we know who’s here, we can take care of the rest.”

A flicker of fear passed over Ren’s face. “I don’t know. If I tried, would you protect me?”

“That depends.”

It wasn’t good that she assumed other demons would harm her. What had been going on in the Realm of the Damned? If Ren wasn’t allied with Luc, others who escaped him shouldn’t wish her ill. Unless they didn’t escape and were Luc’s minions, deliberately placed here.

“Did anyone come here with Lucifer? At his side?” Dante asked.

“Not as far as I know, but I’m not exactly in his confidence.

” Ren rubbed her brow, looking tired. “You can keep tabs on me if that makes you feel better. I won’t try to block your tracking.

Eventually, you’ll realize I’m not the problem.

But I’ll see what I can do about finding any others who escaped.

Not that I’m known for tracking.” She shot a pointed look at Ash.

Ash ignored it. “If you give away to these supposed other demons that you’ve spoken to us—or that all three of us are in the city—consider any potential alliance void.”

Ren bowed her head. “Fine. You have a deal.”

Dante, Ash, and Onyx left Ren to her ruined dinner.

“What do we think?” Ash asked as Dante shut the door to the street.

Onyx threw a narrow-eyed look toward the apartment. “We aren’t trusting anyone who crawls out of that damned place.”

“No,” Dante agreed, freeing his wings. “But little as I like to admit, she could be telling the truth about not hurting my birds. Whoever killed them covered their tracks expertly, like they didn’t want to be found.

She was sitting here waiting for me to show up.

Why cover up her kills and then change her mind and give herself away? ”

“I don’t know.” Ash’s brow creased. “But how many others could’ve escaped?”

There was no way to know, but having more demons in this realm was bound to be trouble.