Page 54 of Love At the Gates of Hell (The Seven Sinners Trilogy #1)

thirty-six

Gideon

Gideon hesitated just outside the front door.

When he turned that knob, he was going to have to explain to the people inside what happened.

He was going to have to explain to them how he’d failed to do the one thing he had promised Benny.

He had been reliving the scene in his head over and over and over again until it was burned into his retinas.

When he closed his eyes, all he could see was the light dancing off of Frank’s features, the dim red filter of the emergency exit signs, Benny’s tear-stricken face.

“This isn’t over, Gid.”

He looked over his shoulder to find Luke closing the doors to the elevator lift. He had driven Gideon back to the loft after sending everyone else ahead. The car ride had been quiet, both of them way too in their heads to really say anything. But he was grateful for Luke’s presence all the same.

His baby brother was the one constant in his life.

“You know he’s gonna go back on his word.”

“Of course he is,” Luke scoffed. “But we know him. We can use that.”

Gideon’s jaw tensed, his throat working over itself.

“I want him dead.”

“Don’t worry, brother,” he replied, his hand gripping tightly at Gideon’s shoulder. “This isn’t gonna end any other way.”

The mood inside the loft was no better than the mood in the hallway.

Sullen and somber and heavy as fuck.

Harker was propped up against the window ledge, a glass of whiskey in his hands.

Cleo, fresh from a shower, was curled up beside Olivia who, still in her jumpsuit, had tucked herself against the arm of the sofa, her face damp with tears.

Imani was standing near the kitchen island, hands crossed against her chest, jaw tense.

And now they were all looking up at him, their features a mixture of concern and anger and pity.

The last one was the worst.

Gideon winced as he pulled off his tuxedo jacket, his body still feeling the effects of the spell.

His chest thudded with a dull ache, like his lungs were still recovering.

His bowtie hung loosely around his neck, but he worked at the buttons on his collar, letting the relief of the cool air hit his skin.

“Fucking hell,” Harker grimaced, his eyes narrowing in concern on the raw line around Gideon’s throat. “What happened to you?”

Gideon waved his hand.

“Frank.”

“Jesus Christ,” Cleo murmured as she rose from her spot on the couch.

“You never said your old boss was a sorcerer,” Imani said, voice cold.

“He’s a what ?” Cleo asked.

“I scried,” Imani said, voice growing thick. “I would have found him had I known.”

“None of us knew,” Luke said.

“Magic or not, we’ve got to clean you up,” the demon hunter said as he crossed toward him. He tilted Gideon’s chin back to inspect the damage like Gideon had nicked his chin on the playground. “He didn’t have to leave a mark. He really wanted you to feel this.”

“It was a fucking ambush,” Luke said darkly. “You should have seen the goddamn hallway. Frank had this planned out perfectly. Every single step.”

His brother leaned back against the kitchen counter, his shoulders sagging.

“I thought you were dead,” he said.

“Yeah well, not quite,” Gideon offered with a half smile.

Olivia wiped at her eyes, her nose sniffling as she stood up.

“You’re gonna need a warm compress,” she said, tilting her head to look at him. “Not too hot, though. We don’t want to do any more damage to the tissue.”

“On it, doc,” Cleo called from the kitchen.

Gideon hitched a curious brow.

“My last girlfriend was a nurse,” she shrugged. “Come on, come sit over here.”

Olivia nudged him slightly, directing him over to the arm of the couch where he could sit at her eye level. He hadn’t realized how short she was without heels on; she barely reached his shoulder on bare feet. But she had an air of authority as she leaned in to inspect his throat.

“Neither of you can Heal?” Luke asked.

Imani shook her head. “Not our gifts. Not like Benny—”

Gideon mostly wanted to beat the shit out of the punching bag hanging in the back corner of the loft or drown himself in a really nice bottle of whiskey.

But right now, he couldn’t help the relief he felt that he hadn’t walked into an empty house.

Even if the one person he wanted there wasn’t.

Benny had been right the other night when she said it wasn’t just him and Luke anymore.

He’d found people he could rely on, who could rely on him.

Who made him feel taken care of as they worried over his wounds.

Like Gideon and Luke could extend their family beyond just each other.

And that felt like a slight silver lining to the rest of this stupid goddamn night.

Until Tefi walked into the room with the ruby they had worked so hard to steal dangling from her fingers.

“Oh, what the fuck,” Gideon groaned. “Why is she here?”

Tefi’s lips curled into a smirk, her eyes bright and amused at his outburst.

“You are still so warm and welcoming, Gideon.”

“This was not my idea,” Luke said quickly.

“It was mine,” Cleo said as she wrung out a damp towel.

He rubbed at his face roughly. “Why?”

“Because she wants to help,” Cleo replied.

Gideon tried to stifle his snort of laughter, the sensation of it making his ribs hurt.

But that might have been the funniest thing he’d heard all night.

Tefi never helped. She usually only swooped in to solve a problem after already creating the trouble in the first place.

It was exactly the kind of shit she pulled in Chicago that turned Luke into a vampire.

And he would never forgive her for that.

“Well, I don’t suppose any of the rest of you have witnessed a transformation ritual?”

Olivia startled, eyes widening at the admission. Which immediately drew Tefi’s attention. She loved an eager listener and Gideon could feel Olivia’s attention focusing keenly on Tefi. Gideon did not love the way the vampire’s lips curved into a smile as they settled on the other woman.

“Really?” Olivia asked. “A successful one? Not successful as in positive, of course. You know I’m not pro-demon, but like, it worked?”

“In so many ways,” Tefi replied, her brow furrowing. “We can’t let that happen again.”

Gideon sighed deeply. As far as he was concerned, Tefi was a monster. She just wasn’t the biggest monster on the list at the moment. So maybe, for this one time only, he’d accept her help. Christ knew he was desperate enough to get Benny back safely.

Cleo offered him an apologetic shrug as she handed Olivia the compress.

“Fine,” he said, fixing the vampire with a glare. “But no fucking around, Tefi.”

She held the ruby up to her eyes, staring at the gem as it spun on its gold chain. The reflection left a red haze against her brown skin, and for a moment, she seemed transfixed. Luke shifted from where he stood, his eyes settling on the vampire with concern.

“We’re all in danger if we allow this man to ascend.

Even vampires. There is a hierarchy, and vampires are not exactly at the top,” she told him.

“If we let him open the gate, how many more of him do you think we can handle? There is no room for a creature like Halmanthoran into this world. There is a reason that demon has spent the last millennium in hell.”

“Sounds like a real fun guy,” Olivia muttered. She draped the compress around Gideon’s neck. It stung a little, his teeth gritting as she tried to clean up whatever Frank did to his skin. “This doesn’t look too bad up close. You’ll need some burn cream to soothe the pain.”

Harker grimaced.

“Wounds inflicted by magic tend to have a way of sticking around, love.”

Olivia wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I was getting to that.”

“It’s fine, Olivia,” Gideon said, offering her a nod. “Thank you.”

“So, are we gonna talk about this?” Cleo asked suddenly. “About Frank?”

Gideon got to his feet, his hand pressed against the compress at his neck.

What was there to even say? They got fucked.

By someone they’d known and relied on for a good chunk of their lives.

He was so angry he could feel it in his bones.

He only had one thought in his mind when it came to Frank Markos and it was making sure he never saw the morning after the blood moon.

“What was he, like, your criminal mentor?” Olivia asked.

Luke rolled his eyes. Gideon knew he’d never admit that they had learned just as much from Frank as they had their father. Luke was only fourteen when Eamond died. But it was Frank who opened up the door they needed to make it on their own.

Though they weren’t exactly left with much of a choice.

“We worked for Frank,” Luke said. “Just like our old man did before he died. But he’s no one’s mentor.

He uses you exactly as he sees fit. He’s a heavy hitter, and he’s got his hands in everything.

Chop shops, the tracks, casinos. He oversees every weapon that comes into this city, legal or not.

He’s got a hell of a lot of resources. I just never thought that would include vampires. ”

“And he’s a fairly powerful sorcerer based on tonight’s events,” Harker said.

“What exactly is the difference between a sorcerer and a witch?” Cleo asked as she pushed herself up onto the island counter beside Luke.

“Sorcerers study, witches are magic,” Imani said. “He’s earned his power, through some kind of nefarious channels. A sacrifice, a bargain… It’s not natural born power. It’s taken.”

Gideon walked toward the bar cart.

He really needed a fucking drink.

“So you know where he is,” Olivia said. “Why can’t we—can’t we just get her back?”

The thought had crossed his mind a million times since he left the hotel.

But Frank was ruthless. Every little detail of the past month seemed to click in his head now that Gideon knew who they were up against. Frank wasn’t going to let Benny out of his sight until the ritual.

If they so much as crossed the threshold of any of his haunts, Gideon knew Frank would keep his word.