Page 47 of Mayhem and Ember

“Turn it off.” I reached for my sword, but the demon caught me by the wrist and twisted my arm behind my back with so much force, my bones nearly snapped.

“Focus your violence on the ones causing trouble. I’ll help you.” Mayhem shoved me toward the men, and Blue Shirt clocked me in the eye.

Pain exploded across my cheek, and I stumbled, pressing my hands to my face to make sure nothing was broken.

“We don’t hit women, asshole.” Coveralls leveled the gun at Blue Shirt.

Normally, if a man laid a finger on me, I’d be the one breaking arms. And that gun? I’d have ripped it from his hands and slammed the butt into his temple, sending him to Sleepyville, whether Mayhem had control of his mind or not.

Instead, a sense of calm washed over me. I took two steps back and raised my hands in a show of innocence. “Hey guys, let’s talk this out. There’s no need for violence.”

“The hell there isn’t.” Coveralls fired, the sound nearly busting my eardrums as Blue Shirt flew backward, landing on the ground with a thud.

“Release them, brother.” Chaos grabbed Mayhem by the throat and lifted him…all two-hundred-plus pounds of him…two inches from the ground. “Or I will help Ember vanquish you.”

“Nobody needs to get vanquished.” I patted Chaos on the shoulder. “I’m sure we can all come to an agreement if we talk it out.”

Chaos cut his gaze to me, narrowing his eyes before turning a steely glare on his brother. “Release her.”

Her? Was another human here that I hadn’t seen?

“As you wish, brother.” He spat out the last word.

My head spun, and I blinked rapidly as Chaos lowered him to the ground.

“Jonah!” Coveralls shouted and tossed the gun aside. He raced to the man he’d shot, dropping to his knees and sobbing. “I’m so sorry. I don’t… I don’t know what happened. Someone call an ambulance.”

“Ash, call Patrice.” I squeezed my eyes shut, shaking my head and attempting to clear my mind. What the hell had just happened? I was about to grab my sword and force Mayhem to let them go, but then…

All I’d wanted was for everyone to stop fighting.

Had Ash cast a calming spell on me? She’d done it before when I’d gotten unruly, but it had been ages. Believe it or not, I had my temper under control way more now than I did five years ago.

I scratched the back of my head. “Ash, did you…?”

“Patrice is five minutes away.” She opened her satchel, dropping to her knees beside the wounded man, and all I could do was watch in confusion. “Ember, come put pressure on the wound.”

“Yeah. Okay.” I joined her on the ground, and Coveralls sat back on his heels.

“I couldn’t have done that. I would never.” He blinked at me, his eyes dazed. I knew the feeling. “Who shot him?”

“You did.” I pressed a towel to the top part of the wound while Ash used tweezers to pick the buckshot out of the lower half. “Guns are dangerous.”

“So are humans who meddle in magical affairs.” Mayhem crossed his arms, and Chaos closed his eyes for a long, irritated blink.

Anger boiled in my gut at the audacity of the demon. How many times would I have to tell him before he finally got it through his thick skull? “You shouldn’t have done that.”

He inclined his chin. “He would have killed you otherwise.”

“No, he wouldn’t have.”

He scoffed. “You think you can outrun a shotgun blast?”

Clink, clink, clink. The tiny pieces of metal landed in Ash’s bowl.

Footsteps, muffled by the grass, grew closer, and I lifted my gaze to find Shade and Miles finally arriving.

“Holy shit. What happened?” Shade asked.

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