Page 38 of Legacy of Temptation

“I wish I could answer that,” Logan admitted. “But I got the sense that the oily sword-dicked demons were bound to the shrine.”

Ares seemed to think on that. “And one of them entered Lilith while the rest penetrated you in some way or another?”

“They didn’t penetrate—” He shook his head, figuring it didn’t matter. Besides, his dad already looked like he was ready to blow his stack, especially given that his lead on Lilith had turned out to be a dead end.

Mace laughed. “Dude, your luck lately has been hilarious. Your granny humped you, and you got impaled by a demon dick.”

Logan shot Mace the bird.

Thanatos’s head swiveled around to Mace. “Do we need to have another talk?”

Mace went about as pale as Logan had ever seen him. “No, sir.”

As soon as Thanatos turned away, Mace returned the bird to Logan.

“I saw that,” Thanatos growled. He’d always had eyes in the back of his head. Logan hadn’t gotten away with jack shit as a kid.

Mace’s hand snapped down to his side, and he even managed to look a little contrite. Wouldn’t last long. Mace didn’t feel shame like normal people.

“Have you ever encountered a demon that could break adecipula?” Limos asked from where she mixed drinks behind the bar. As the self-appointed bartender, she basically lived back there during gatherings, but today, she was mixing extra strong, and she looked like she’d been crying.

Bones’ death had hit her hard.

“Never,” Logan said to his aunt. “She’s as powerful as a fallen angel.” Not that Logan had ever fought in a real battle with a fallen angel. But he’d sparred with plenty on this very island during his life of hardcore training sessions.

Thanatos turned to one of the other people who wasn’t related by blood but was as close to the family as the Sem boys. “Raika, did you know Lilith was alive before this?”

Raika stopped pacing around the fire and stood with her arms folded across her chest, her black tank top tucked neatly into tactical pants loaded with weapons. Even though there was no breeze, her blue-black hair billowed around her bare shoulders. The only child of an angel named Lilliana and the Grim Reaper, she was a hardcore warrior tasked with capturing the worst of the demons he’d released when he destroyed Sheoul-gra.

“No.” Her emerald gaze was as hard and penetrating as her father’s, as if she dared Thanatos to call her a liar. “My father believed she was killed during the war with Moloch. I’ll add her to the Gra’s Fugitive Database and see what he knows. There have been a few sketchy reports that some of the ReSpawned are more powerful than they were before they died. Right now, it’s just a rumor, so I haven’t asked my dad about it, but I’ll do it now. Don’t worry, we’ll get her.” She winked out silently.

“Get who?” Reseph’s deep voice silenced everyone and everything. Not even the birds wanted to be around for the answer.

“Reseph.” Cara glided forward with a smile, her long, teal sundress swinging around her sandaled feet. “Jillian. You’re just in time for hors d’oeuvres. They’ll be out in a minute.”

Jillian glanced around, her dark hair swinging loosely around her shoulders. “And here I thought we would be early.”

Logan winced. This was beyond awkward.

“Reseph. Hey, bro.” Limos came from behind the bar and thrust a frothy pink concoction into his hand. Logan would lay bets on it being strong enough to kill a human—and maybe laced with sedatives. “Glad you could make it.”

The blue in Reseph’s eyes became murky with suspicion. “The message we got was to get here in an hour. We’re half an hour early. How long have you all been here?” His gaze zeroed in on Logan. “And why is he injured and burned? What the hell is going on?”

“Nothing.” A gazillion bracelets on Limos’s wrist clinked as she gestured to the drink. “Try it.”

“Tell me.”

“After you try it.”

Reseph set the glass down on the nearest table and tucked his hands in the pockets of his jeans, settling in for a battle of wills and glares.

Limos folded first with a sigh. “Fine. It’s Mommy Dearest.”

For a heartbeat, maybe two, Reseph looked puzzled. Then his eyes shot wide. “No.”

No one said anything, giving him time to process. Logan kept an eye on Mace, ready to intervene if the guy’s mouth so much as twitched.

“She showed up two days ago,” Thanatos said quietly. “She—”

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