Page 28 of Mayhem and Ember

“You could have told me that before I called a press conference.” Annoyance dripped from his voice, as usual. “Now I have my men on the hunt for a serial killer.”

“You could have called me when you found the first victim.” I matched his tone.

“It looked mundane.” He blew out a hard breath. “I hate to say this, but has anyone in your coven considered joining the force? You could be a paid consultant.”

Now there was an idea… “Maybe when all this is through. Keep your team on the hunt and call me if anyone else gets killed.”

“I thought you said you took the perp out,” he said.

“We did, but there could be more soon. A lot more.”

“Great.” He hung up the phone, and I shoved mine into my back pocket.

I made a grabby motion to Ash, and she handed me her phone with Discord’s sigil on the screen. Dropping to my knees, I laid it in the circle and pressed the chalk to the floor.

“He’ll owe you nothing,” Mayhem said.

I glanced over my shoulder to find him staring at my butt. Typical. “That’s why you’re here. Convince him like Chaos did you.”

I returned to my canvas, dragging the chalk downward before looping up and creating a sharp ninety-degree angle. The phone pinged, and a message from Patrice slid across the screen. I finished the sigil and rose, handing it to Ash. “It’s Patrice asking if we’ve summoned Discord yet.”

Ash typed on her screen. A moment later, it pinged again. “She says she’s not comfortable being in the house with the demons.” She shrugged and laid her phone on the table.

“As long as she keeps her mouth shut about the source of this fiasco, I don’t care. We’ll go to her if we need healing.” I held out my hands, and Shade and Chaos took them. Ash stood between her demon and Miles. “Everyone remember the incantation?”

Mayhem strolled toward Miles, reaching for his hand.

“Not you.” I pinned the unruly demon with a hard glare. “Just stand in the corner like a good boy.”

He arched a brow. “You allow Chaos to participate. Why not me?”

“I trust him.” I couldn’t believe I uttered those words aloud, but there I was, admitting I trusted a demon. He might have been a pain in my ass at times, but with the way he treated my sister, I couldn’t deny it. This Prince of Hell had no ill intent toward us. And he loved Ash beyond belief.

Mayhem crossed his arms. “Are you sure that’s a wise decision? A witch trusting a demon?”

“It is what it is. Now hush so we can finish this.”

Ash swallowed hard and nodded, and pain tightened my chest. How awful it must have been knowing her relationship with the love of her life had an expiration date and she…we…were helping to bring it on sooner.

Chaos opened himself, letting his magic run from his hand into mine. It tingled, filling me with a power that could be addictive if I wasn’t careful. I let it flow into Shade, and he gasped before letting out a slow, satisfied breath.

Very addictive.

We recited the words like demon-summoning pros—which it looked like we were becoming—our magic mixing and melding, the energy in the room thickening like boiling water with flour. The weight of Mayhem’s gaze on me was palpable, but I didn’t dare look at him. Latin was tricky. If I pronounced one syllable wrong, the entire spell could explode. On the final word, we focused our energy on the salt circle, activating the containment ring.

“Not bad,” Mayhem said, though he didn’t sound the slightest bit impressed. “But my former host could have created one just as strong on her own.”

My mouth tightened, and I did my best not to grind my teeth. He was baiting me. I knew he was, but I couldn’t help myself. “Your former host…”

My mind blanked. I’d hoped for a barbed, snarky comeback, but he was right. Chrys could make a circle just as strong. She had on several occasions. Could I have made one strong enough to hold a demon prince? According to Chaos, not with the spell I’d used before. But this one was different. It wasn’t dark magic, but it hovered in the gray area, for sure.

And I certainly wasn’t going to take chances by going solo just to impress this infuriating asshat.

He smirked. “Are you planning to finish that sentence this decade?”

“No. No, I’m not.” I strode to the table and opened the grimoire to the summoning spell before scanning the words. “Let’s bring in Discord and finish this.”

“What are you offering him?” Mayhem walked toward me with a cocky gait and glanced at the summoning spell.

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