by Avery Rae
It was better to grow our ranks not only because of the Druids, but so any future Lilith-wannabes would face greater resistance in their attempts at dominating Hell, Heaven, and Earth. As long as Lucifer's throne was vacant, there would be demons vying for it. And we planned on making sure that nobody gained that control.
Even the Tribunal had truly united for the first time in eons now that Delilah was leading the pleasure demons. Instead of being stuck in a cold war because of the throne, they were working together to sort Hell out.
As Cheri shakily held out her soulstone to a snarling man in a Santa suit—we had chased the possessed guy from a nearby mall and cornered him in an alley—I wondered if that was how I had looked at first. Scared and hesitant. It was crazy to think of all I went through in such a short time. I had only been a demon for a little over a month and it felt like I'd lived in Hell for a lifetime.
"Guys, please, just let me have a little fun," the soul inside the Santa suit said. "I mean, you got my best friend killed and all."
"Well, Nelson, maybe Zachariah shouldn't have killed me first," I said with a sigh. In true Brotherhood tradition, I was getting real sick of dealing with Nelson Kincaid. Even if only one soul escaped, it was almost always Nelson.
Ever since we saved him from experiencing his own brand of torture, Ronove had been pretty accommodating, but even he couldn't control who the Druids summoned in their moments of stupidity. Nelson was apparently just really good at finding the openings they created. Most souls would be too busy writhing in agony, but Nelson was either so messed up or so stupid that it didn't really bother him.
Cheri clenched her eyes shut and pressed the stone to Santa's chest.
"Aww, damn it all," Nelson whined.
The stone glowed bright orange, then the man collapsed. Cheri jumped backwards and eyed the stone in shock. Mall Santa began to right himself and I crouched down in front of him.
He raised his confused eyes to mine. "What happened to me? I don't understand. Why— Why am I here?"
"Shh," I whispered. "Everything's okay."
He jolted as I brushed my fingers over his cheek, then relaxed against my palm with a crooked smiled. "Yeah," he murmured, "everything's okay."
I helped him to his feet and turned him back toward where we came from. "Walk back to work now. If anyone asks questions, just tell them you were taking a break."
"Okay." He started walking, his movements stiff and unsure. He paused and looked over his shoulder. "I love you."
I nodded and waved, barely holding back a laugh. He would love me for a good ten minutes or so, then forget I ever even existed. Another benefit of Lilith's interference was that I was able to ease the trauma of anyone who got possessed. With the Druids all in a frenzy these days, it was definitely useful.
"When do I learn how to do that?" Cheri asked in wide-eyed wonder.
I laughed and shook my head. "You don't. Unless you end up part of an ancient demon's machinations to take over Hell purely because some guy has a crush on you and stalked you for ten years."
"Burn on Gael," Amberlynn snickered.
"He totally deserves it."
A hand clasped around my arm and yanked me into the darkened alley. My attacker let out a wheezing breath as I slammed him up against the wall, my arm barring his throat.
"That's it, I'm done training you," Gael choked out. "You're getting too damn good."
I grinned and moved my arm away but kept him pinned in place. "Please, I've been able to take you on since day one. Remember when I swept your legs out from under you?"
"Then tried to cop a feel?"
"I remember that a little differently."
"We'll agree to disagree."
"That doesn't work when you blatantly shoved me onto your—" I was cut off by Gael's hands on my hips, pulling me flush against him as he took my lips in an achingly deep kiss.
"You know you're stuck with me for an eternity, right?" I asked in a low whisper.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
"You say that now, but I don't think you realize just how long an eternity is."
"Just barely long enough."
"Too cheesy." I pulled back, shaking my head. "Nope. I'm drawing the line there."
"You started it." He tugged me back and gave me another hard kiss. The moment he slid a hand beneath the hem of my shirt, several throats cleared, each louder than the previous one. Gael and I reluctantly broke apart.
The rest of the Brotherhood crowded the entrance to the alley, arms folded and expressions disapproving—except for Cheri. She just looked sort of lost. Poor thing would find her way soon enough.
"You two done putting on a show?" Amberlynn asked.
"You could always just stop watching," Gael replied dryly.
Amberlynn let out a long sigh and looked between our fellow hunters. "So, how long you guys think the honeymoon phase will last? I'm pretty damn tired of them acting like teenagers."
"I give it one more week until they hate each other again," Edwin said with a smirk.
"You're such a cynic, man," Lucas replied with a scoff before giving us both a reassuring smile. "I think you two are going to be disgustingly happy and we're all just going to have to deal."
I shared a grin with Gael as I hooked my arms over his shoulders. "Something tells me you're right."
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