Page 36 of Live Like Legends

“Pretty sure she can take care of herself.”

She moved her gray eyes down my body and rolled her eyes. “This coming from the guy who harbored her in this room for weeks. Yes, Nicholas I am well aware she can do things herself, yet you have a mentally deranged ex-girlfriend floating around here somewhere, so I’m just making sure that bitch doesn’t come around.” She reached up and patted my face a little too hard. “Besides, that witch is getting on my last nerve with her rules, so it called for a change of scenery.”

Dani giggled and circled around me, so she was now in view of them. “It is her house, Elise. Although, you are very sweet for wanting to keep me company. That charred heart is just coming alive piece by deathly piece.”

Elise made a gagging sound while putting up her middle finger.

Reese picked at my shoulder, pulling at the tiny, burned pieces. “Get into a fire fight?”

Dani covered her mouth to keep from laughing. Elise took a step into the room, fingering the bottom of my shirt that Dani wore. “No fire, Blondie,” she sniffed the air. “Just fucking. Like I said, horny idiots.”

I turned around, ignoring them and grabbing my jacket. Reese whistled. “Wait, so did we interrupt…”

I pushed my hand into his face and shoved him back. “Yes, you fucking did.” I grabbed the door handle and looked over my shoulder at the two demons, particularly at Elise. “Take care of her.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “I like to think I’ve been doing that for a while now.”

“I’m so very happy you two could join us.” Ariel said, placing his hands on both our shoulders.

I shrugged him off, walking around him to get near more crowds of angels. I could feel people looking at me as if they wanted to ask a million and one questions about Dani. There were only a handful that actually came up to me and spoke about her. Most people wanted to speakaboutme, ask me about Purgatory and Lilith. It was like they were more invested in what I had to say and what I was planning to do when it came to next steps, rather than anything Ariel had to say.

I had concluded that these people, the majority of them at least, were playing a part when it came to Ariel’s personal brand of leadership. They didn’t actually think he was the best or worthy, they were just all he had. The worst part about it was that he knew that.

“Nicholas, as I told Mr. Diniel, you have a job still. Despite you pretending like you can do whatever you like and gallivanting off to play hero, you are still just a simple sentry who made an oath to be here and perform your duties. Or would you like to look all of your fellow angels in the eye and tell them why you think you are so special that you should be exempt?”

I turned around to see the red-headed angel brushing his hands down the lapels of his jacket. Reese was signaling for me to stand down, like making a scene wouldn’t help. I felt my fist itching to connect with his jaw and maybe someday it would.

“No, that’s okay. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“That you are. I also look forward to you assisting Miss. Lakes with some ceremony proceedings. She told me that demon of yours is coming along nicely. Walls breaking and whatnot. I am quite impressed. I do hope Morgan wasn’t a shock, I can’t be there to make sure you aren’t going to pull one of your little stunts, so I had to take some precautions.” I started to walk past him, but he caught my arm. “I stopped by your house to sayhello to your father earlier today. I invited him to the ceremony and from the way he acted it was like he hadn’t spoken to his son in weeks, which tells me that when I asked you to speak to your father about Jonah’s powers, you did not. How you and that demon act reflects on both of you…I would advise you to not lie to me again.”

The mention of my father made my chest tight, and I immediately started taking small breaths in and out. Ariel didn’t even like my father, so that was just out of pure spite, wanting him to see everything he hadachieved. I wish I could have been there and laughed at Ariel’s farce of a power play with my father. I wish I could sit on the couch and talk about our day like we’d been doing for years. I wish there wasn’t this cloud of information withholding over our heads. I wish simply forgiving him and moving all of it aside was easier said than done. I closed my eyes for a moment and swallowed, my skin feeling a tiny bit clammy from the minor panicked moment I’d had.

I took my hand and physically removed his hold on me. “She has a name, you know.”

Ariel nodded, giving his attention to someone else in the distance. “I’m sure she does. When she proves her usefulness, I’ll make sure to care to learn it.”

I ran a hand through my hair, pulling so hard it hurt my scalp. I sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

Reese came over, placing his hand on my back. “Hey, do we need to do those exercise things that the angels at the infirmary told you about? Focus on a spot or counting backwards, I can’t remember which one works better.”

I shook my head, appreciating his helpful nature. “No, no, I got it. He just…he’s…”

“A dick.”

I ran my hand along the back of my neck, feeling the tiny beads of sweat. “That’s putting it nicely. His sole purpose is getting under my skin.”

“Nick.” Reese lightly hit my chest with his knuckles. I gave his hazel eyes my attention. “I promise you that one day he will say something that will make punching him in his face so fucking worth it and I won’t hold you back. I might want to punch him as well, but I’ll refrain because it will be your moment.”

I laughed, feeling the tension in my entire body start to fall away. “You’ll make sure she’s all good, right?”

“Who?”

“Dani.”

Reese looked at me confused as he put his blonde hair into a high bun. I waited for the moment of his understanding, when his eyes widened, and he nodded. “Obviously. You keep your wits about you with Morgan and the tiny psycho and I will make sure that your girlfriend is being her best hybrid self during the few hours you're gone.” One of the executives that recently got appointed to Ariel’s old position stood in front of all of us. “You may not think so, but I do like her, not likethat, but like for you. I did always tell you that you needed someone with more edge.”

I nudged his shoulder. “She’s not my girlfri…”

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