Page 86 of Devil May Lie

“Of course he is,” Berga disagreed plainly. “We’re all Devils of Vitality.”

“That’s a nickname. That’s not who we really are.”

He quirked a brow. “Isn’t it though?” They were all monsters, through and through. “Baikal can summon shadows with his fingers, you can blind a man in half a second, and I can—”

“We’re all well aware of your capabilities, Butcher, thanks.”

“I have everything under control,” Berga reassured.

“This is Madden we’re talking about,” Flix disagreed. “That’s his game. He convinces people they’ve got him under control. He does it with his family and the prince all the time. It’s a lie, Berga. He’s a Royal. He can’t be trusted.”

“I’m the Butcher of the Brumal mafia,” he reminded. “How am I considered more trustworthy?”

“Tell me the truth,” Flix insisted. “Are you falling for him?”

“I’m not sure.”

“What do you intend to do?”

“With what?”

“Berga.”

There was only so much deflection and pretending to misunderstand he could get away with. If this were anyone else, they would have given up by now, but not Flix. That was the downside to having someone who understood you on an intrinsic level.

“I’ll keep him,” he admitted plainly, not seeing any other way around it. When his best friend went quiet, he risked a glance toward him. “What?”

“You can’t do that.”

“I can.” And he would.

“Was this the plan all along?” Flix asked in exasperation. “You waited until I was away so you could sneak over and—”

“No,” he cut him off, “it wasn’t. It just sort of…ended up this way. What are you so worried about? Don’t tell me you think he’ll break my heart or something foolish like that?”

Flix pinched the bridge of his nose. “Promise you won’t get upset.”

“I rarely do.”

“Just,” he sighed, “promise me, Berga.”

“All right.” How odd.

“It’s less that I’m concerned about you suffering emotional damage and more that…” he waved his hands in the air, clearly struggling with the right words.

“More…?” Berga couldn’t even begin to try to guess where he was going with this.

“Madden is calculating. You are not. If this ends badly between you, and one or both of you decide on revenge—”

“Revenge? Please. We aren’t children, Flix.”

“You once turned a man’s bones to stone for calling your horns stupid. What would you say that is?”

He considered. “Pettiness?”

“Good Light.”

“Oh, I reversed the effects of the drug afterward.”

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