Page 101 of Wrath

Lucifer scoffed. “Coincidental.”

“Let my daughter speak,” Wrath snarled. It didn’t matter that the same thought had crossed his mind as Lucifer spoke.

Shrugging, Lucifer winked at Dee.

Dee rolled her eyes at him, but she did it as she giggled, so it lost a lot of its scorn.

“And then he was the one who locked me in at night,” Eddie said. “And he started leaving some of the locks open.”

“He could be careless,” Sophia suggested gently.

“Not Ashe.” Lucifer shook his head. “Before he turned into a traitorous shit, he was my best demon. The sort of demon I could leave to get something done and know it would be done.”

Sophia wrinkled her nose in thought. “So, out of character then?”

“Completely.” Frowning, Lucifer nodded. “To be honest?—”

“That would be a first.” Wrath wasn’t going to let that opportunity slip.

“To be honest.” Lucifer grinned at him. “This entire thing with him is out of character.”

“Demons are demons.” Shade glanced at him. “They’re not known for their loyalty.”

“But some are,” Dee said. She looked at Wrath. “I mean, you trust Vexia don’t you?”

“Yes.” He was forced to admit. Also; that Apassionata prick from Shade’s demesne had been straight up helpful and still in the palace long after the others had disappeared into the sunset. He allowed the possibility of what Eddie was suggesting to grow in his mind. He turned to Lucifer. “But Coal was one of your higher order demons as well.”

“Coal is a dumb shit.” Lucifer growled. “He’ll be a pleasure to end. Never did like the fucker. But Ashe”—his mouth tightened in a grim line that didn’t bode well for Ashe—“him, I liked. Trusted.”

“And tonight,” Eddie continued. “He seemed to work in the word master to his speech. It’s like he was telegraphing that information. Trying to tell us there was someone else in charge.” She scrubbed her face with her palm, and her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know. None of this sounds like anything relevant when I string it all together. I’m probably imagining the entire thing.”

Lucifer’s expression screamed that’s exactly what he thought, and Wrath was inclined to agree with him—not out loud, mind you. He’d noted a few of his own in that crowd tonight, and he was planning to enjoy teaching them the error of their ways.

“He also spoke about the seals.” Lucifer looked at Shade and then Wrath. “And from what he said about needing to keep the pressure on them, he inferred there is a way to repair them.”

Shade stiffened. “Eddie is not that way. She tried with Wrath’s, and the best she could manage was a partial repair. It took everything in her to do that much.”

Wrath shifted closer to them. He hated the glint in Lucifer’s eye. He was with Shade on this. If there was a way to repair those seals, Eddie wasn’t going to be the guinea pig.

“But you never tried her on Shade’s seal.” Lucifer never knew when to fucking quit.

“And we’re not going to now.” Wrath wouldn’t allow another female in his life to be used up and discarded as if she didn’t matter. The horror of watching Haziel in the horsemen’s grip threatened to overthrow his mind. “But if there is a way, we need to find it.”

Eddie took a deep breath. “I could try?—”

“No.” Shade shouted her down at the same time as Wrath.

“There you are.” Rosabella stood poised in the doorway, one hand on her outthrust hip and the other on the doorjamb. “I’ve been looking for you.”

She wore a figure-hugging red dress that thrust her breasts over the top and ended well above her knees. Her hair was a tousled, sexy mess around her perfectly made-up face.

Lucifer straightened and stared.

Sophia growled, and Eddie shrunk against Shade.

Sashaying into the room, hips rocking like she was working for tips, she said, “Nobody has the right to take my daughter away without telling me first.”

“Everybody out,” Wrath snapped. There was a conversation that had been a long time in coming. He caught himself before Dee and Eddie reacted. “If you don’t mind.”

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