Page 61 of Commanding Chaos

I nodded. Finally, we agreed. “Shall I kill him quickly, or slowly?”

20

ASH

“We’re not killing Shade.” Ash sat on the arm of a chair. “We have to bring him in. Tell him everything.”

Ember stopped pacing, her expression incredulous. “The hell we do. Are you crazy?”

Chaos looked at me like I’d grown horns. “He could be in cahoots with your rival coven. If you tell him everything, he will use it against you.”

Ember cocked her head, her brow crumpling. “I never considered that. It would explain his pissy behavior lately.”

“And why he broke into your home, cloaking himself in shadow,” Chaos said. “I doubt he ‘scared away’ the Boston witches. He’s working with them.”

“Shade is always pissy, but I do see your point.” I padded to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. “But he knows we have Chaos. So if he’s not working with Boston, he’s going to spread the word that we’re harboring a demon. Hell, he’ll probably report us to the Higher Power. We need to explain it all to him to keep him from tearing our coven apart.”

Ember took three cups from the cabinet and set them next to the coffee pot. We watched the machine drip for a while before she said, “What if he is working with Boston?”

“What’s that saying? ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’ If we bring him into the fray, we can keep a better eye on him.” The machine beeped, so I poured the coffee and carried a mug to Chaos.

“I don’t like it. We can’t trust him.” Ember sipped her brew, tapping her finger against the mug. “He broke into our house for Hecate’s sake.”

“But if he was working with Boston, he wouldn’t have made it past the wards.” I sat on the couch. “Nothing with ill intent could get through.”

She scoffed. “His intent seemed pretty ill to me.”

“I bet it wasn’t when he snuck in.” I gulped my coffee, thankful I couldn’t burn because it was way too hot to drink. “Everything changed when he found Chaos in my bed.”

“We should capture him. Torture him for information,” he said.

I shook my head and laughed. That Chaos. He was full of ideas.

“All right. Let’s do it.” Ember grabbed her phone.

“I’m glad you agree.” Chaos chugged his drink and went to the kitchen for a refill.

“I was agreeing with Ash,” Ember shouted behind him and dialed Shade’s number. “Straight to voicemail. I’ll text him that we need to talk.”

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. Seriously, could this situation get any worse? Never mind. I already knew the answer to that, and it was a resounding yes.

“Are you okay?” Chaos put his mug on an end table and sat next to me, lifting one of my legs, and then the other, running his hands over my skin. “You recovered quickly after the antidote, but your adrenaline may be waning, revealing more injuries.”

“I’m okay.” As good as his hot palms felt rubbing on my legs, I doubted my sister appreciated the show. I tugged his hands from my calf and held them both in his lap. “Ember, we—”

She held up a hand. “Your love life is the least of our worries right now.” She focused on Chaos. “How were you able to punch Shade when you said you couldn’t break a promise to Ash? You promised her you wouldn’t hurt him.”

“My vow to protect her surpasses any other promise. You both were in danger. I defended you.”

I squeezed his hand. “He saved our lives.”

She arched a brow. “I’m aware. Shade isn’t replying.”

“Would you? He tried to kill us.” I grabbed my mug and finished my coffee. “We’ll have to go to him.”

Ember worried her lip between her teeth. “I can’t wrap my mind around that. Shade is a grade-one, narcissistic asshole, but he’s not a killer.” Her gaze flicked to mine. “Is he?”

I took a deep breath, my cheeks puffing as I blew it out. “I didn’t think he was.”

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