Page 12 of Hunted By Fear

He moves into the living room without complaint, but I can see the annoyance written on his face. I’m not sure what it is about Sunshine, but she really gets under his skin, and that only seems to upset him more.

A low growl sounds as he steps closer to her, and it takes me a moment to realize the sound is coming from Bast.

Kai stops, turning to Bast. “Or I could let her come to, full of panic, when she finds herself in an unknown place full of menshe has no memory of. Either works for me,” he says with a scoff, which only makes Bast angrier. His horns begin to grow from his head, his eyes flashing pink. I can’t remember Bast ever losing control before.

“Enough,” Asta barks in a deep, primordial, demonic growl that makes goosebumps break out on my skin. “We don’t have long. Who knows how long it will take Rome to realize she’s missing.”

“How are we going to keep her from him?” I ask, and every eye turns to me.

“We?” Kai asks, cocking his brow at me, and I roll my eyes.

Of course, he would do this now.

I ignore him in favor of following Asta and Talian, and by extension Aerilyn, to the other end of the living room to sit on the couch.

Not so long ago, we’d been here together when we explained to her what we are. I’d thought things were bad then, but they seem peachy compared to what we're dealing with now.

“Let me see her.” Bast holds out his arms, ready to take her even before Talian has time to respond, and I see his hesitation. It doesn’t last long, only a moment before he hands her over, but it was there, and as Bast moves across the living room to sit next to Asta, I see his gaze follow as if he’s unable to look away.

I know the feeling. I feel like she’s a magnet that draws me in, even unconsciously.

“There won’t be anus,” Asta says once we’ve all taken our seats, making me whip my head toward him.

We’ve had our differences over the years, one of which was that they fell and I didn’t, but we’d been close for so long before that, I guess I’d stupidly believed we could stay that way. We’re told that demons are evil, terrible creatures who are spiteful and merciless, and while some of that is true, these men are still the same men I’ve known since the dawn of time.

If anything, they might even be better like this, freer and themselves. Without the weight of the shackles that I feel almost daily.

Envy is a sin, so I can’t imagine envying a demon is very angelic.

“Aerilyn is my charge.” The words feel like they stick to my tongue, making it hard to get them out, but I manage. It doesn’t make sense. She is my charge; it’s not a lie.

But it’s also not all she is, even if I can’t yet explain what that means. Regardless, it’s not a problem for now.

“Yes, because that’s been keeping her so fucking safe until now,” Talian says, rolling his eyes, and I can’t help but bristle at his words. I keep my mouth closed because he’s right, but right or not, he knows that this wasn’t any more my fault than their losing her this time was.

Fighting will get us nowhere, though.

“It’s not about that. We're taking her somewhere you literally cannot go. It’s the only thing that I could think of for now,” Asta says, running his hand through his long hair. It’s not something I see often. Usually, Asta is well and truly in control; he knows what to do and how to handle things. But everything about Aerilyn has thrown him off, from the moment she wandered in off the street.

“We who?” I look at Talian and then Bast, neither of which seems to know what he’s talking about.

“Lucifer.”

“What?” Bast growls, gripping the arm of the couch hard enough that I hear the wood inside creak and snap. It takes everything in me not to reach for Aerilyn; the urge to protect her is so strong it’s as if I’m not in control.

He would never hurt her.I remind myself, but I also know that I’d only piss him off further if I attempted to grab her.

“You can’t bring a mortal to Hell,” Talian says, his tone implying the “duh” he didn’t say. He doesn’t need to, though; everyone knows that.

Mortals can’t enter Heaven or Hell, only in death, and should you attempt to take one alive… Well, I’ve never tried, but I’ve heard it breaks them.

There isn’t enough of their minds left to have an afterlife.

“Lucifer can,” Asta says with a sigh, as if Bast and Talian are overreacting.

I’d almost dare say they are under-reacting, especially Bast, who believes Aerilyn is his mate.

“How do you know that? I’ve never heard of a mortal successfully being brought to Hell by Lucifer,” Bast says, sounding a little calmer now that he’s discussing facts. His eyes are still glowing pink, and his horns are still present, so he can’t be too calm, only holding it together to get the facts.