Page 16 of Run Like the Devil

So, nope, Hubis would have to get this party started.

Eventually, after using the silence like a weapon, he spoke. “I assume you all know why we’re here?”

“Because you missed us?” Yazmor asked. If anyone else had said that, I would have glared, but what was the point of doing that with Yazmor?

Especially because it would seem weird if he didn’t say something like that. Nothing would have been more suspicious or given us away faster than Yazmor acting like a mature adult.

Hubis didn’t rise to the occasion. Understanding that Yazmor was a remnant now made me wonder if Hubis ignored him because he didn’t care, because he was used to it, or because he knew just how old Yazmor actually was. Whatever the reason, Hubis went on as though Yazmor hadn’t said a word. “Azael was slain. The cause for that sits here, in this room. Something like that cannot go unpunished.”

“I didn’t kill him,” I blurted out, regretting the words the second they left my lips. Hadn’t I just told myself not to admit to shit? By saying that I was already outing myself as knowing I was the one involved.

Then again, I’d never taken good advice, especially my own.

Hubis didn’t smile, but a slight twitch in his cheek told me he’d caught my mistake. Why was it that I felt like a mouse scurrying around in front of cat who was just playing with me?

“It would not have occurred had you not been involved. Such errors in judgment cannot happen again, which means I need to ensure you understand the severity of your mistake.”

And wow, I had never heard words that sounded so proper on the surface come across as quite so threatening.

Still, I tried to respond calmly so he couldn’t tell my heart was beating like I’d downed a handful of ADHD meds. “All I did was try to deal with a problem. I got word that a bunch of people were dying and I thought maybe damned had possessed a bunch of humans. Isn’t that what you asked me to deal with?”

He narrowed his eyes. Oh, so he doesn’t like people talking back? Why did that make me want to do it all the more?

“You were told to send back damned—not to look into the cause. You kept ignoring your specific orders to do as you pleased, and because of that, an angel is gone.”

And a lot of humans are alive.

If he wanted me to feel bad, well, fuck him.

Still, no matter what I said or what I thought, this would only go one way—with Hubis getting his pound of skin in retribution, so he could walk away feeling superior and like he’d regained his power.

Which meant arguing with him would do nothing. Kylie’s words echoed in my head, her warning not to press Hubis. At the end of the day, Hubis had every ability to wipe me from existence if he wanted to, and he answered to no one. It meant I needed to shut up and stop making things worse for myself.

So I pressed my lips together and bowed my head slightly, a sign that I submitted to him.

I’d played this game before. I’d handed my pride to people on a silver platter because it was for the best. If I could do that with fuckwits who lacked enough brain cells to rub together, I could do it for God, right?

“I’ve considered what the correct response to this is. It is a rather unprecedented event. We have lost very few angels ever. It means I took time to evaluate the situation. This entire problem stemmed from you being careless, from you misunderstanding the world or your place in it. You opposed the order because you do not understand why that order was in place. I could simply punish you, but that would solve nothing. For that reason, I intend to educate you instead.”

Well, that sounds ominous…

“If you kill her,” Tyrus said, his voice blank and careful. No doubt he’d done that so Hubis didn’t suspect he actually cared about me rather that the problems my absence would cause. “The souls bound to her will splinter and that power will no longer be consolidated. It would cause a significant amount of chaos in the Chasm.”

Hubis shifted his gaze to Tyrus as though having just noticed he was even there. “I have no intention to kill her. In fact, she will not be physically harmed at all. Instead, it will be a much-needed re-education that will serve her well in the future.”

And wow did I want to opt the fuck out of whatever he had planned. It felt like a creepy guy assuring me he had a wonderful date planned in his basement.

I would much prefer to not attend that.

However, I doubted Hubis was about to take “no thanks” as an answer, so I kept my mouth firmly shut.

“But—” Tyrus went on.

I shot him a loaded look, trying to tell him to shut the fuck up. We knew going into this that there would be a price to pay, one I would have to shoulder on my own. Him getting involved wouldn’t save me—it would only ensure I suffered for nothing if we made Hubis suspicious.

He must have understood my meaning, because he pressed his lips together and went silent.

“Let’s get it over with,” I said. “I’m ready.”

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