Page 25 of Found In Destruction

“Agreed.” Desmond raked his fingers through his beard with an anxious expression on his face. “I think space will make this whole process drag out, and we have a war to fight. I don’t want her getting hurt because she’s distracted with her feelings. Her magic needs to be at its best.”

Judas huffed out a breath and sat down in one of his chairs, crossing one leg over the other. He must have been right in the middle of something, because he was buck naked under his robe.

“While I think more than a good pussy licking is needed to mend a broken heart, I can appreciate your concern. I’ll talk to Lucifer about it if he presses for it again. Maybe I can lie about a lack of space. Do you have any moral objection, Azazel?”

Judas swung his gaze to Azazel, who silently leaned against the couch with his arms crossed, taking in the conversation. Ever since Diana left, he’d been quiet, relegating himself to the sidelines instead of participating. His whole personality was dull and dreary, and I hated how beaten down he seemed. Feathers deserved to soar to the highest heights, but his guilt was weighing him down.

“No, but I do have a more realistic reason you can’t move her into her own space. You have at least one traitor in thecoven, and Red’s siege highlighted some security breaches in the compound’s security system. You don’t have the skilled manpower necessary to protect Diana…” he suggested.

“She’s his only daughter, play off that. Great idea, Azazel.” Mal clapped him on the back.

“Hm, okay. I can work with that. Can I give you all a piece of advice before I kick your asses out and get back to my evening?” Judas leaned forward, placing both his feet on the ground.

“Sure,” I said, because at this point I’d do anything to get her back.

“Diana isn’t stupid. If I can sense that you five aren’t right, she’ll feel it too. You all need to act like a unit to fix this, so make sure there’s no bad blood between any of you.” He gave Bash a pointed look.

“Judas,” I heard a familiar, feminine voice call.Angela.

Ooooh, he couldn’t get Diana, so he found himself his own Brooklyn princess,Voice excitedly sing-songed.

He could be a petty shit sometimes.

“I’ll finish the job alone!” Apollo shouted after her. I wasn’t surprised that he was there. My brother was of a singular mind when he found someone,or someones, he wanted. Judas was his type, too—tall, thin with wiry muscles, and smart.

I snickered at him, and the rest of the guys tried to keep their laughter to a minimum…until moaning floated from the room.

“Get the fuck out,” he ordered, waving his hand again to unlock the ward on his bedroom. “Now!”

Mal faded us back to the barrack. Diana’s magic hung heavily around the space, so we all retreated to a free bedroom and locked it down. I cast a silencing spell, preparing myself to address the elephant in the room.

“So we all know Bash is the problem, what are we going to do about it?”

11

AZAZEL

“I’m the problem?” Bash asked. “I want to ensure I heard you right before I strangle you.”

“Yeah, your sour attitude is why Diana is going to up and leave us for good.” Ares crossed his arms and shook his head at Bash.

“No, being around you and Az is why she doesn’t even want to live here!” He shouted.

I should be used to him saying that shit about me by now—it’s been over three months—but it still hurt, especially after we got so close in our relationship before she left.

“Sebastian, do you take any responsibility for what happened?” Desmond stood between us, like a demon shield.

“I kept things from her, but for the most part I was minding my own business. I didn’t actively fuck her over. And I didn’t drive her away liketheydid.”

“Oh fuck off with that shit!” Ares shouted. “We all fucked up?—”

“Except me, for once,” Mal chimed in.

“Yeah yeah, not you,we know. Bash you fucked up, too. You were the first one, Mr.I Claimed Her Without Her Consent.Azazel and I got mad at you, but we didn’t rake you over the fucking coals every day for months over it. You’ve been borderline abusive, treating Azazel like complete shit.”

My face heated at how vehemently Ares dressed Bash down. I knew he was coming from a good place, but it wouldn’t do any good. Bash was stubborn and couldn’t imagine being wrong. He was a huge reason our relationship with Desmond didn’t work the first time around.

“Yeah, you have. I should have stepped in a lot sooner to stop it, but I was going through my own shit. I’m sorry Azazel,” Desmond said. “I’m not going to tolerate your shit, Bash. You either apologize, or you shut the fuck up. Az has been so good to you, even with you treating him like garbage.”

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