Page 75 of Infernal

Her words, so similar to what Trace had said to me, echoed in my mind as I realized I was being squeezed out of any other choices. The body count was steadily rising, and Lucifer had no plans on stopping. I had to do something…to at least be ready if my plan for the Roderick sisters went straight to hell.

I couldn’t be stupid or selfish about this. Not when so many lives were at stake.

“Okay.” I nodded, my cheeks soaked with fresh tears. “Show me what I need to know.”

27. THE SWORD OF ANGELUS

The rain fell in sheets as Tessa and I pulled up to Huntington Manor. Dominic’s Audi was already in the driveway, which probably meant that he’d already heard the news about Temple from Gabriel. As much as I wasn’t giving up hope that our plan to entrap one of the Roderick sisters would work, I knew that I had to be prepared in the event that it didn’t.

I still wasn’t sure how I would ever be able to follow through with something as inconceivable as killing Trace, so I decided not to think about it until I absolutely had to.

“We’re back,” shouted Tessa as we walked into the house, our clothing dripping wet from the rain.

Gabriel came to meet us in the hallway, his eyebrows pulled together in concern. “How many?”

“At least eleven,” answered Tessa, referring to the confirmed causalities. “There’s still twenty-two people unaccounted for, my uncle included.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she said and walked passed him. “He’s not dead until I see the body.”

With my head hung low, I didn’t say anything as I followed her into the den.

Dominic was sitting on the couch in his usual position with his arm stretched along the back of the sofa and a drink in hand. His face had all but healed, and while he was staring at me as though he wanted to say something, or do something, he didn’t, and that was fine by me. I really wasn’t in the mood to talk anyway.

Quietly, I walked to the sofa and sat down in the spot beside him.

The scratching unease under my skin immediately eased as I settled in closer to him. I could feel his eyes on me, appraising my body for damage, probing me for answers to his questions, but he didn’t trouble me with voicing them.

Instead, he turned to Tessa and Gabriel and asked, “What now?”

“Now I train her,” said Tessa as she peeled off her soaking wet leather jacket and tossed it onto the coffee table. She was wearing a black tank top and a pair of black skinny jeans, which were both equally wet, though it didn’t seem to bother her. “Can we use the basement?”

“Of course,” said Gabriel as he started to lead the way.

“Just me and Jemma,” she said to his back.

He turned and nodded curtly, and my mouth went bone-dry.

The Huntington basement was wall-to-wall concrete and weaponry. There were no safety mats for practice, no benches to rest, no holes to crawl into and hide. This was clearly a space that was meant for pain and destruction, and I could only imagine the infinite number of hours Gabriel had spent down here in his youth, training to be a killer.

Hugging my arms for warmth, I followed Tessa to the center of the room. My jean jacket was soaked and clinging to my skin like wet sandpaper, making me shiver under its cold embrace.

“How in control of yourself would you say you are?” she asked and then turned around to face me.

“What do you mean?”

“Your abilities—can you control them?”

“Not really,” I admitted indifferently. “I mostly just short-circuit and blow shit up.”

She nodded, probably remembering the light show from earlier. “You know you can control that, don’t you?”

“That’s what everyone keeps saying.” I looked at her expectantly, because up until now, no one’s bothered to explain how I might go about doing that.

“You control them by controlling your emotions.”

I huffed out a humorless laugh. “In case you haven’t noticed, Tess, I’m not very good at suppressing my emotions.”

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