Page 33 of Found In Destruction

Smart idea. The idea that her brother kept her safe while she was alone and vulnerable rankled me, but I kept it to myself. I was part of the reason she was in that position.

“Go for a walk with me? I’d love to see everything. Believe it or not, I haven’t spent a ton of time in Ireland, and none outside the cities.”

We walked the green hills and she told me about the places she visited. She bonded with Oisín and Michael, too. I shouldn’t have been jealous of her getting closer to her family, but I couldn’t help myself. She was mine and belonged at my side, and I had fucked it up.

“Sounds like you had quite the adventure. Did you get that ring along the way?”

It was a large oval ruby stone framed by diamonds, set in yellow gold. It was a timeless, classic piece, but I could tell it was from the recent past—well recent by my immortal standards.

“Mal gave it to me. One of our stops was his home in Paris during his time period. We had to say I was his wife so we could stay together.”

I should have won an Emmy award for my acting skills. My jealousy threatened to rear its ugly head and blow this entire date to pieces, but I kept my cool. I thought,what would Az say?Because only he could twist a feeling this disgusting into something positive.

“Diana deserves nice things, and I should be glad Mal gave them to her when we couldn’t.”

The hypothetical response gave me indigestion. For fuck’s sake.

“He’s thoughtful. It’s a nice ring.” That was the best I could say.

She gave me an amused smirk and changed the subject. After the walk, I weaved a picnic by the cliffside, where we watched the waves crash into the rocks below. Sandwiches, chips, andchampagne may not have been a five star meal, but she enjoyed it.

“Bash, this was an amazing time. It reminded me of when you used to visit me before you and the guys imploded my entire life,” she said as she finished the last sip of her bubbly.

“I don’t regret imploding your life, because it brought me to you. I do regret hurting you. And letting these dates fall to the wayside.” I leaned in and kissed her cheek.

She snuggled up to me on our picnic blanket, resting her head on my chest. “Can we watch the waves crash until I fall asleep?”

“Of course, Birdie. Whatever you want.”

14

DIANA

Sometimes I wondered about the merit of past Diana’s decisions. It had been days since I returned home, and in the midst of training, multiple meetings with Lucifer, and keeping up with my family and friends at the compound, the guys have been going above and beyond to prove to me that they’ve changed–except Desmond.

Ares followed me everywhere, sticking to me like crazy glue as mypersonal security guard.He shadowed me at training, meals, meetings, and every moment in between. I drew the line at the bathroom when I caught him sitting on the counter while I was showering. Bash visited my dreams almost every night. Some nights he’d weave me a dreamscape of places I visited on my travels, and other nights he’d just be there in my consciousness, like a brain cuddle. Mal had nothing to apologize for, but he made sure to catch up with me every day, usually over dinner.

Azazel and Michael served as liaisons with heaven and many of our allies. Between keeping the lines of communication open with upstairs, searching for a way to revive my mom, and the special assignments I knew Lucifer gave him because of hisSight, I was surprised Zaz didn’t drop from exhaustion. He constantly had something to do, often ending his days long after dinner was over. Despite how busy he was, he made a point to carve out time for me in his day somehow. He’d attend my training sessions or had breakfast with me. I slept alone more often than I used to for some personal space, but I knew he’d often check in on me when he came in because Bash always told me about it during our dream-dates.

Desmond acted like nothing happened, barely paying me the time of day. I got a hello here and a nod there, but he kept his distance. Sometimes, out of the corner of my eye, I thought he was staring at me. But when I’d check, he had his nose buried in his tablet. Maybe his words in my hospital suite were bullshit and after some time had passed, he realized that he didn’t want to be with me anymore.

Maybe I was too much work, too much attitude. Desmond would probably appreciate a fresh start with someone new who he didn’t have a history of ups and down with. Danny had always said I wasn’t worth the trouble–and to a piece of shit like him, I wasn’t. If Desmond felt the same way, I couldn’t force him to care about me, nor did I want to. Chasing a man for affection wasn’t dignified, and as a Morningstar, I had to have some kind of self-respect.

Shaking thoughts of the red headed demon out of my head, I focused instead on what I wanted to wear to my training session today. I picked thick black leggings, black combat boots with gold details, and a sheer black, off the shoulder band tee with a leopard print sports bra. Mal and Ares’ rings were my accessories for the day, along with my mother’s necklace. I knew I was dressing for comfort and range of motion, but I had to admit…knowing I’d drive the guys nuts with a peak of cat print was fun. They were easy as fuck to rile up.

I faded to the training room, right into the middle of a circus. Judas and Oisín were prowling around a wrestling ring that wasn’t there yesterday evening, and Ares and Desmond were on the outer ring, on the other side of the ropes. It almost looked like a wrestling match straight out of a televised event, until Oisín levitated Judas and threw him across the room, right into the wall. The magically reinforced buffer cast around the perimeter sent him to the ground, flat on his face.

When he got up a wild cackle broke free from his smashed-in, bloody face.

“Good on you, you ginger goof. That was fun,” he laughed as his face healed before my eyes. “Do it again?”

“No, I want to pick on Desmond now. Unless you’re scared I’ll choke you again?”

A look of pure rage flashed across Desmond's face before he locked it back into its usual unaffected expression. He didn’t acknowledge me when I sat in a chair by the side of the ring.

“Let’s go, Cat-Boy,” he quipped as Ares patted him on the back.

Des made the first move when he shot a ball of blue flames at my brother’s head. Oisín blocked it, then to add insult to injury, he morphed into the ginger cat he had posed as for years and charged Desmond. He flung himself into Desmond’s hair, catching the demon off guard as he scratched at his face.

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