Page 7 of Run Like the Devil

“You don’t deserve her, not after what you did,” Hale shouted.

“You have no say in what happens between Loch and me,” Gorrin answered, her voice calm enough to enrage Hale further.

“I’ve been here the whole fucking time, so I do have a say. I helped pick her up after what you put her through. I saw her fucking destroyed.”

Tyrus got between them, but that worked as well as was to be expected. What had started as an attempt to separate them quickly turned into just a very violent threesome when Hale swung again and caught Tyrus.

And just like that, the three gave up pretenses.

I could hardly keep track of the fight, their movements were so fast. They each fought so differently, too.

Hale was all brawn and reckless fury. He hit hard and never backed down, as if his movements were controlled by his anger and little else. Gorrin, however, fought with foresight and consideration. He dodged and countered, each move well thought and executed. He managed to fight without seeming to feel a thing.

And Tyrus did exactly as Yazmor had claimed. I’d never seen him this way before, as a man who actually fought. He’d always used his brain and his power, and the few times he’d physically engaged with anyone, it had been so quick and decisive that it had been over before it really started. Now I got a glimpse of him like this, and Yazmor had nailed it.

He fought dirty. He waited for the other two to get distracted, then took advantage of every opening. He delivered a strike to Gorrin’s side when he blocked a hit from Hale, then swiped Hale’s foot from beneath him when Hale had kicked at Gorrin.

“You see? Despite that fancy suit, Tyrus grew up having to protect himself. He’s tougher than he looks and doesn’t mind using that to his advantage.”

Sure enough, after a few more moments, Tyrus had both other men on the ground. Not that it hadn’t cost Tyrus—he looked exhausted, panting hard like I’d never seen before.

Tyrus shifted his gaze toward me, a fire there that made me shiver. It held a promise, a need as if we were thousands of years ago, just animals who wanted to fuck after a good fight.

Except Yazmor broke that moment—as he so often did—by tossing his arm over my shoulders. “Nope. We already postponed this meeting once for a quickie. If we put it off each time you all got turned on, we’ll never finish. I mean, I guess you will.”

That seemed to wake Tyrus up, because he blinked slowly then shook his head. “This is foolish,” he muttered as if to chastise himself and took his seat again.

Hale and Gorrin picked themselves up, but a flicker in their eyes said they weren’t quite finished. No doubt one reason Tyrus had taken the top spot was because they’d both been more concerned about each other than him. Next time, that wouldn’t go quite the same way.

Once everyone had sat again—bruises, busted lips and all—I tried to get us back to the task at hand.

“Look—we all need one another. What we’re wanting to do here, it won’t be easy, and like I said before, it isn’t even possible if we don’t all work together.”

“You need the four Demon Lords,” Tyrus corrected me. “Gorrin is no longer a Lord, thus holds no souls. That means he doesn’t actually add to this.”

I sighed at his short-sighted view. No doubt that was more because of his own personal feelings rather than the facts, since only an idiot would claim that Tyrus wasn’t a phenomenal tactician. “Are you really going to tell me that if we’re going to the Plains, if we’re going to attack Hubis, that having an angel isn’t useful? Because last I checked, none of us have been to the Plains. We don’t know shit about it, about Hubis, but Gorrin does.”

I’d hit the nail on the head there, since Tyrus pressed his lips into a tight line and dropped his gaze to the table. He might not admit I was right, but his actions proved that he knew it.

I’d take that as a win.

“We’ve got enough shit we’re fighting against here—the last thing we need is to fight between us as well.”

Thankfully, the three of them at least managed to look ashamed. I doubted they actually felt it, but it was like a fake orgasm.

I appreciated the effort, at least.

“We can fight again when we’re done, but for now? We’re in this together.”

“And just what is this?” Gorrin asked. “You have decided on a rather aggressive idea, but I have yet to hear an actual plan. Do you have such a thing or is this all wishful thinking?”

“I figured we’d work out a plan together. Five heads are better than one, right?” At the look I got in return, it didn’t seem they agreed. I sighed and gave up the whole, ‘fake it till you make it’ thing. “Okay, I admit I don’t know much about the Plains or how exactly you kill a god. Will my dagger work?”

“Yes,” Yazmor answered. “The dagger can kill him. The problem is getting close enough. Hubis has the same amount of power of all four of us put together, so facing him one-on-one wouldn’t work. He could probably stop you before you could use the weapon. You’d have to get close enough to take him unaware to stand a chance.”

“Kylie said he’d come here to deal with Azael’s death. What about then?”

Gorrin shook his head. “Hubis is exceedingly careful when he comes here. He will have an angel with him, and he will be on guard. This is enemy territory to him—you’ll have no chance here.”

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