Page 77 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

He doesn’t seem to be injured anywhere.

He gives me a look as he steps closer to me, all but dragging me to his side.

“You’re injured? Why didn’t you say so from the beginning?” I ask.

The male from the plane finally slides out, and he wobbles from side to side as he comes toward us. A few other males are behind him, though they seem to be uninjured.

“Damn those fucking Nazis! They nearly blew us off,” Holloway mentions in a slight slur.

Mine places his arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer to him. I don’t know what he’s trying to do. I never allowed him to touch me, or to invade my personal space like that. I may be glad he is still alive and that he is still able to give me donuts, but that is the extent of our acquaintance.

“Take your hand off,” I mutter through gritted teeth. My voice is low enough that only he can hear me.

His eyes glint dangerously as he stares ahead. Yet he doesn’t acknowledge my words. He merely tightens his hold over my shoulders.

Ah, if only I had my powers… He would have been thrown halfway across the field by now.

As I get a better look at that Holloway male, my entire body tenses.

On his shoulder, perched quite comfortably, is a greed demon. Its reddish gray shadows almost connect to form a humanoid body that has its long arms wrapped all around Holloway’s torso, holding on tightly to him. Its eyes are the darkest black as it coils around Holloway, feeding on his energy and controlling its body.

Damn it!

Greed demons are part of a special category of demons that cannot be controlled by the Sons of Tenebreis. They are borne out of mortals’ sins and they continue to feed off those sins while keeping their host alive. Whereas a regular demon simply feeds off a soul’s energy until there’s nothing left, a greed demon can feed off, well, greed, forever, moving from host to host when it suits its needs.

In all my four thousand four hundred and seventy years, I have never seen one of these. They are rare, but they are a handful. There is a special division in the Aperite military that deals with sins demons due to a particular skill set required.

I swallow hard.

Even if I had my powers, I wouldn’t knowhowto get rid of a greed demon.

Without my powers?

This entire military base is damned.

ELEVEN

“How did you get injuredhere?”I ask, scandalized, as I stare at Mine’s stomach that is now sporting quite the gash. It’s so low down his abdomen that he’s had to undo his pants for me to get a good look at it.

“The belt cut into me when we were jolted in the air,” he answers casually.

“This looks like a knife injury,” I point out.

“And you know that…how?” He smiles, his eyes dropping to my now blemish-free arm. I cover it, but he already saw that my wound has healed. What could I possibly make up to account for that?

On that note, why isn’t heaskingme why my arm is suddenly healed when just last night it was bleeding buckets?

“I’m a nurse,” I grumble.

“You’re such a good nurse, tiny darling,” he drawls. “Good job.”

“I hope you’re not making fun of me.”

“Me? Never! The moment I got hurt, I knew I would be safe in your caring hands.”

I narrow my eyes at him.

Why does it seem that everything he says has a double meaning?

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