Page 47 of Lourdes & the Mafia
And then he lunges.
I cry out just as he reaches for me. Though I’m expecting it, I’m frozen in shock as his hand clasps against my arm, squeezing tightly. Where his palm touches my skin, it burns, like placing a part of me over the fire on a lit stove and watching as it singes away my flesh.
The whole time we were dating, I knew Dimas must have had magic in him. We never talked about it; even when I tried to bring it up, he always told me it was impolite to ask. I always figured it was something embarrassing or something weak he didn’t want to admit to having.
Now that I’m in his grasp, I feel the splintering pain on my bare skin.
“Dimas, you’re hurting me!”
“That’s the point, you dumb bitch,” he hisses.
I pull away, but he’s stronger than me. I struggle against him, using all the fight I have in me. He doesn’t like that, because a moment later his palm cracks against the side of my face. The shock of the action has me reeling back, freezing in a stupor.
Dimas hasneverhit me before. Not even during our most heated arguments did he give any indication that he was capable of violence like that. To have this done to me now is so surprising that tears immediately spring to the backs of my eyelids. I don’t let them fall because I don’t want to give him that satisfaction.
Now that he sees I’m more compliant, he starts to tug me away. I’m still trying to get my bearings, trying to process what just happened. He’s silent, but his grip tightens, the fire burning hotter against my skin.
I whimper. The only sign of pain I’ll show.
The moment the sound leaves my lips is when the sky darkens. When smoke curls from the ground and spreads over our feet. It takes a moment for me to realize what’s happening, but it seems like Dimas flies into a panic the moment the smog encroaches. He tries to tug me harder, which is what wakes me from my stupor.
I fight him anew, and it only enrages him more. He moves to backhand me into compliance, but the slap never comes.
Because the moment he sends a hand flying in my direction is the moment someone grabs it in an angry, tight grip. I release the breath, the feeling of fear dissipating as I see a familiar face. I shouldn’t feel safe around a demon and yet I do. I shouldn’t feel safe around someone who lied and broke his promise to me. But I won’t deny the surge of relief that overtakes my body at the sight of Kane standing there, squeezing Dimas’ hand until the bones in the limb start to snap.
And it’s that sound combined with the expression of pure, unbridled rage on his face that makes me feel safer than I have in a long, long time.
“Lourdes, are you alright?”
I turn, finding Lorenzo appear next to me. I can feel the power wafting from him in waves. It’s like a burn of anger, and yet I’msafe.He’s safe, with his soft and caring and understanding, even though his expression carries with it an undertone of murder.
“I’m fine,” I manage to whisper.
He’s smart. He knows the words I say are a lie. I’m not fine. I’m shaking, and I’m sure there’s blood on the corner of my mouth from where he slapped me.
Dimas screams, struggling to fight against Kane’s hold. A useless feat, as their magic lashes out, keeping him tethered in place.
And when Ramiel finally appears, the sigh of relief that leaves me makes me feel whole.Theymake me feel whole. No matter how badly I want to fight the feeling, I can’t. I don’t know them, I vowed I’d never be beholden to anyone, but their presence makes me feel stronger. I know that’s not very independent of me, but I can’t help it.
Ramiel doesn’t acknowledge me as the smoke disperses. Thunder crackles along the sky, a booming sound like the battle cry of a war drum. Each perforating sound follows Ramiel’s every footstep as he moves closer to where Kane holds a thrashing Dimas.
He stands a whole head taller than my ex, his power obvious. Dark. Dangerous. He lowers his head a mere fraction, and the smirk that twists his mouth is enough to make even me flinch.
And then Ramiel whispers, in a voice that breathes death, “For every drop of blood of hers spilled, I will spill yours tenfold.” And in a whisk of smoke and darkness, we all disappear.
Ramiel
Ipridemyselfonkeeping my rage in check. It is something I’ve mastered more than my brothers have. Yet when I saw and heard this human man’s palm crack out to strike Lourdes’ cheek? I wanted to make him suffer. I still do.
Miraculously, I’m able to control myself in a way that they should be proud of. With quick work, I send the human to The Pit, ordering the demons there not to touch him before I transport us back to Lorenzo’s room.
Lourdes gasps when we materialize there. I know the sensation of traveling this way is new to her, therefore unsettling. It takes her a moment to get her bearings. When she does, all I want to do is scream at her for leaving the safety of the Underworld in the first place.
But I am not Kane, and my anger does not control me. It is not a loud, destructive, torturous force. It is quiet like a whispered croak in the darkness, almost too afraid to speak.
I assess her from head to toe, cataloging every injury she’s sustained. A bruise has formed on her cheek, and there’s the scorching mark of a burn along her arm that’s matted and bloody.
I don’t need to command the words. Lorenzo is already reaching for her, his touch gentle as he grazes his hands down her arms, leaving nothing but a tingling sensation in his wake. She stares down in awe at her healed arm for a brief moment before her gaze finds mine again.
