Page 8 of Consorting With The Enemy

Ariel’s confession was still spinning around in my head. He’d destroyed the Dark Lord. Ariel.MyAriel.

“No, Darkness,” Gabriel said as he tucked an arm around Marchand. “Not the devil. The Dark Lord in the underworld rules the demons—like the Angel Master does in Heaven.” Giving Ariel a curious look, he added, “He should, however, be the second strongest creature in the underworld, next to Satan.”

“You lie,” Nic accused. “This is another one of his tricks.”

Ignoring Nic, I asked, “Who sent the demons here if not the Dark Lord?”

“That would be my older brother, Tantrumonious, I’d guess. I call him Tantrum because that’s about all he does, throw one tantrum after another. I suppose he felt the need to demand justice for our father’s destruction.”

“Your father?” We all shouted at the same time.

Chapter Four

Ariel

That encounter had gone about as well as I imagined it would. Red eyes and fangs from the vampires. Swirls of magic from the witches. Marchand, oddly enough, had looked calm and serene. The worst, though, was how Az had stepped away from me—like putting distance between us was the most important thing in the fucking world. Damn, but that one had hurt even more than I’d thought it would. Yes, I’d expected it, anticipated the display of disgust, but seeing it happen right in front of me…well, that sucked. It made parts of me ache that shouldn’t. I was a demon, for fuck’s sake. I shouldn’tfeelany emotions.

I always had with Azazel, though. Always. The fallen angel brought out a part of me that was hidden to everyone except him. While no one could ever accuse me of beingnormal, Azazel didn’t make me feelevil. Well, he hadn’t up until a few seconds ago. Now? I clearly ranked high on the evil list.

Once the group had finished having their meltdown over my heritage, they’d begun the battle over where they intended to stash me until “decisions” could be made. I’d listened quietly, not once reminding them that I could disappear whenever the urge hit me. Hell, Ishoulddisappear. Last night was supposed to be my one last indulgence—my last time to feel Az’s touch. I’d fucked up. Again. I should have anticipated that Tantrum would strike quickly. There was no excuse other than I wanted Az one more time before leaving him behind. Instead of leaving him with good memories of me, I’d led my brother’s demons to his doorstep, and he’d nearly died because of my greed and stupidity.

Yet, I’d stood there, unable to leave him…even knowing that I would lead evil to him and those he loved again.Just one more night.

After the debate in the bayou, we’d ended up at Ravenwood. It was an old mansion where Julian and Valen’s coven lived so, no, I didn’t feel very welcome. Having admitted that, this was definitely better than the Hypnotiq hotel where the witches and Azazel were currently living. When Marchand had mentioned the hotel, the rest of the group had gone ballistic on him.

I’d been to Ravenwood before—the night that vampire lords had attacked the fortress. I’d stayed hidden, refusing to show myself unless Az had needed my assistance. He hadn’t, so I’d quietly disappeared when the battle had been won.

“Why should we even believe a word he says?” Nic demanded as he paced around the room. Antipathy rolled off him. Nic’s husband, Thibeau, only possessed very limited magic so I told myself most of his anger was because of the potential threat of his beloved being harmed.

“Why would I lie about it?” I asked dryly. “Oh, I’ve got it—to try and get all of you on my side. That worked well, didn’t it?”

I’d considered trying to kill Nic but figured it would make Azazel unhappy. Besides, I wasn’t quite sure I could. The power radiated off him. But if the arrogant witch didn’t back his shit down soon, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep my anger in check. There was something about him, though. Him and his brother, Gabriel. I felt drawn to them but definitely not in a sexual way. A witch, for fuck’s sake. When had I let my standards stoop so fucking low?

“Now isn’t the time for attempts at witty sarcasm, Ari,” Az growled. “Our loved ones are in danger because of y-your people.”

Wow, he stuttered over the word, but didn’t lay all the blame at my feet. I felt a small smile curve my lips.

“Yes, sir,” I answered obediently. Yeah, he could make me obey. No biggie.

Julian strode into the room, Valen right behind him, before I could be accused of anything else. They’d left Ravenwood after settling us in to see what information they could glean from their sources. “He’s not lying. The underworld is in turmoil because of the sudden and unexplained destruction of the Dark Lord.” He looked at me. “Unexplained? They obviously know it’s you if they sent a small demon army after you.”

I shrugged. “They’re covering their asses. It would be embarrassing if word got out that his youngest son destroyed him. My world refuses to acknowledge any form of weakness…and that would be one. My brothers know. Personally, I thought they’d bicker amongst themselves a bit longer, arguing over who should take father’s place, before they put any attention on retrieving me.” Honesty wasn’t normally in my vocabulary but that didn’t stop me from turning to Az and saying, “It was the only reason I followed your scent to the bayou. I would have never led them to you purposely.”

“And that’s a steamy load of demon bullshit,” Nic said. “Anyway, you weren’t tracking Az, you were after Marchand. Did you worry about leading danger to my brother’s…beloved? To my brother?”

Oh my. I sensed some family turmoil with that statement. Too bad I wouldn’t stick around long enough to watch it unfold.

“Gabriel, could you please ask your brother to tone it down some?” Marchand asked quietly. “Ari did save my life by delaying the demons long enough for you all to get there. Remember me telling you all this?”

I whipped my head around to look at the angel. So, the lavender fluff was more observant than I’d realized. Looking around the room, including Azazel, it looked like nobody else believed Marchand’s opinion to be correct. “Whatever makes you think that, cotton candy?”

My semi-denial didn’t seem to faze Marchand. The piece of fluff was arrogantly sure of himself. Someone having faith in me was a totally new experience. It felt strangely good, especially since it was Az’s family.

“I don’t know, Mermaid,” he retorted with a smirk, using the strange nickname he’d given me that night. When I’d questioned him about it, he’d laughed and said something about a Disney mermaid movie. I never understood, but then you don’t exactly get to watch a shit ton of movies in the Underworld.

“I mean, you’re the big, bad demon—powerful enough to destroy his own father and burst through a demon trap set by three powerful witches. Are you brave enough to admit the truth in front of us? I dare you.”

When I’d held Marchand captive, he’d accused me of running like a coward when Azazel had shown up to rescue him before he was taken to the underworld. Fear of Az wasn’t why I’d ran. Fear of seeing Az get hurt had been my motivation—although I was ashamed of it now. I should have fought with him, side by side, like this morning.

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