Page 44 of Mayhem and Ember

He felt inferior to his brothers. That much was obvious, but I didn’t get why. Ash’s struggle with self-esteem made sense. Her fire magic had been bound her entire life, and though we’d all tried to make sure she didn’t feel less-than, she always did.

As far as I’d seen with Mayhem, he was just as strong as Chaos, though maybe a little rougher around the edges. His mind magic was nothing less than deadly, so if demons really were as evil and human-hating as we thought, it seemed to me that Mayhem was more powerful in the brain games department.

I turned on the blow dryer and blasted my hair, running a brush through it as I went. Humanity. Insecurities. Mayhem had shown me a vulnerability I’d have thought he’d keep to himself. I wished he’d kept it to himself, but here I was feeling an inkling of…something…for a demon.

Was it fondness? Nah, I wouldn’t go that far. I still wouldn’t hesitate to lob off his head and stab him through the heart, and the lobbing might be why I didn’t push my blade all the way in yesterday. That was why. He’d had me by the throat, and while I could have vanquished him, his skull would’ve gone with him and he’d be free from prison and the debt he owed me.

Maybe he wasn’t the wicked, selfish son-of-a-bitch hellbent on making our lives as hard as possible that I first thought, but he was still a friggin’ demon and he couldn’t be trusted.

My hair dried in half the time it used to, and after running my fingers through it, I put on my boots and headed to the living room. A few pale rays of early morning sun provided the only illumination in the space. I flipped the light switch on and paced past the couch and into the kitchen.

Shade had stayed the night with Miles at his house, so I only brewed half a pot of coffee. As it percolated, I stared at the drip, drip, drip of liquid falling into the pot and contemplated everything that had been put on hold while we tried to end the family curse.

Shade’s house had burned to the ground days…maybe weeks ago. I couldn’t tell you how much time had passed since Ash found Cinder’s journal and possessed herself with Chaos. The days had bled together into one fuzzy, chaotic mess of mayhem and discord.

Their names sure were appropriate.

I grabbed four mugs from the cabinet and set them on the counter when my phone’s ringtone blasted from my pocket, making me jump. I’d forgotten to change it back to silent mode when I woke up.

Spellbound Axe lit up the screen, and I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose before answering the call. “Hey…” Wariness stretched out the word. “I’m sorry I haven’t called you back. I’ve?—”

“Six voicemails, Ember. I’ve left you six voicemails and sent five texts, and you couldn’t be bothered to return one of them.” To say my boss sounded beyond pissed would be an understatement. “What could you possibly have going on in your life that you couldn’t check in and let me know if you ever planned to come back?”

Battling demons. Solving murders. Trying to stop the fae from taking over Salem. My jaw clenched. “Does it matter?”

“No. You’re fired.” The vibration on my phone told me she’d ended the call.

“That’s what I thought.” I shoved it into my pocket, poured myself a cup of socially acceptable chemical dependency, and leaned against the counter.

Ash’s laughter drifted into the room, followed by the sound of drawers opening and closing. I was halfway done with my coffee by the time the lovebirds joined me, and Ash gave me a quizzical look as she stepped into the kitchen.

“Where’s Mayhem?”

“In Cinder’s room. He woke me up before dawn, trying to take the amulet shard from me. I sent him to get ready to move.”

Ash flicked her gaze to Chaos before widening her eyes at me. “He’s not in there. Chaos checked before we came out.”

“He—” I slammed down my mug, sloshing coffee onto the counter. “Are you sure?” Without waiting for an answer, I paced across the room and went into the hall.

“Mayhem!” I shouted, not trying to hide the irritation in my voice. I stomped into Cinder’s room. The bedsheets lay in a tangle, and a wet towel had been carelessly dropped on the hardwood. “You slimy, effing snake.”

My boots thudded in the hall as I marched into my parents’ room, checking the bathroom for good measure on my way out. “That demon is dead.”

I strapped on my weapons and sheathed my sword in my back scabbard before returning to the front to find Ash and Chaos waiting by the door.

I barreled down the stairs and yanked my phone from my pocket to call for backup. “I’m going to kill him. I’m going to cut off his effing balls and wear them as earrings.”

“There’s an image I’ll never be able to unsee.” Ash locked the upstairs door, and she and Chaos followed me through the library and out the back.

I pressed the phone to my ear, and Shade answered on the second ring. “There’s a demon on the loose. I’m sharing my location. Find us.”

“We’ll be out the door in five.”

I pressed End and activated location sharing, which we should have kept on for all of us, all the time. I made a mental note to tell everyone later as I stomped through the parking lot and fumed.

Humanity and vulnerability, my ass. Mayhem had known exactly what he was doing, triggering the alarm on my door and the exits in a fake attempt to take the amulet. I’d been tired last night when I set them, and I’d connected them all to the same spell to use less vim. Setting off my room deactivated the others, and he’d played on my emotions to make me lower my guard.

“Where is he?” I stopped abruptly and whirled to face them, making Ash flinch. “I’m sending him back to prison.”

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