Infernal Games by Jenna Wolfhart

18

The Legion was waiting for us when we returned to Valac’s apartment. They all sat around the broken whiteboard, surly and annoyed. So much for their fallen angel hunt. If their scheme had succeeded, they’d be blasting music and clinking beers.

“What’s going on?” I glanced around the silent room.

“Ask him.” Phenex nodded toward Az, sighing. “He called the whole thing off before we even had a chance to threaten a single asshole into giving us information.”

“I can’t believe we wasted Mia’s date,” Bael muttered. “We could have gotten these arseholes while Lucifer was preoccupied.”

“How was the date, anyway?” Caim asked, lifting his brows. “You’re back earlier than I thought you’d be.”

My lips flattened. “It wasn’t exactly a successful date.”

“Uh oh.” Phenex folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. “What’d he do? Force you to drink some blood or something?”

Az and I exchanged a heavy glance. I didn’t know how to tell them how badly we’d failed. Their futures had depended on my ability to play the game, and I’d fucked it up by chasing after Az. Hell, I’d fucked it by going on the date in the first place.

The King knew that Az’s Legion had turned against him. He would not let this betrayal go unpunished.

“Did anyone happen to notice it’s a full moon?” I asked in a small voice.

Stolas furrowed his brows and glanced out the window. His lips parted. “Oh, fuck.”

“Oh fuck is right,” I said. “We all thought he would try to trip me up on the date—and he did—but the real test was whether I’d even go. Since I’m not a werewolf, I didn’t even think about the damn moon. It never even occurred to me. And Serena has been so busy with work lately that I haven’t spoken to her all day.”

“Dammit.” Phenex jumped to his feet and stormed over to the nearest wall. He hauled back his fist and slammed it clean through the paint.

Valac loosed a very long and very weary sigh from his ever-present spot in the corner. “You will be paying for that.”

Phenex whirled toward him, vicious anger in his eyes. “I won’t be paying for a damn thing, Valac. Don’t you get it? This won’t be our home for much longer. Lucifer is going to force us back to Hell and sentence us to decades of torture. Your pretty little walls don’t matter anymore.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Torture?”

“Oh, yeah.” Phenex huffed. “You think he’d just let this go? He will remind of us who we are and what our purpose is. And he will do whatever it takes to strip our fondness for humanity away from us. He’ll make us return to our base forms, and I don’t know about the rest of you, but the demon I was once was horrifies me.”

Tears bubbled up in my eyes. Phenex’s words rocked me. Their fate had been in my hands, and what had I done? Knees buckling, I slid to the ground. My words came out a whisper. “I am so sorry.”

“Mia.” Caim was by my side in an instant. He wrapped his powerful arms around me and pulled me against his chest. “This is not your fault. You can’t blame yourself.”

“Isn’t it?” I peered up at him through blurry eyes. “I had one job. Keep Lucifer occupied. Play my role as Sansa, the wolf.”

“We all missed the full moon, Mia. Priyanka and Ramona did, too,” he said gently. “We’ve been a part of the supernatural world a lot longer than you have, and if anyone should have spotted it, it should have been us. Not you.”

I shook my head and pulled back. “I still would have messed it up. Something else happened...”

I couldn’t bear to say the rest, so Az told the story. When he got to the part about flying away, everyone groaned. Even Valac.

“So, we’re fucked,” Phenex said. “Well and truly fucked.”

“Not quite,” Az said with a calmness that defied logic. “Isn’t anyone curious where I’ve been all day?”

I perked up a little at that. His absence had been strongly felt at the meeting, despite how easily the others had tried to shrug it off. I might be the newest member of the crew, but I knew it wasn’t normal for Az to miss something as important as a serial killer hunting session. He’d been determined to take down the culprit for well over a year.

And after that coin they’d left behind...it was personal.

“Mia here was convinced you were with Eisheth,” Caim said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He was still rocked by the news we’d failed. I didn’t blame him.

He folded his arms. “I was.”

Heart pounding, I stared at him. He almost looked smug. Not what I would have expected from him after our reunion in the streets. If he’d spent all day with her, did that mean he’d stayed the night? My gut twisted just thinking about it.

I couldn’t stand the idea of another woman in Az’s bed, let alone Eisheth.

Everyone turned to stare at me. Fisting my hands, I shifted on my feet.

“Well, this should be good,” Phenex muttered.

“As you all know, Eisheth worships Lucifer,” Az said smoothly, like he hadn’t just dropped the bomb he’d spent all day with his murderous ex-girlfriend. “He brought her into the club last night to trip us up, knowing that Eisheth’s met Mia.” He shot me a smile. “Smart idea, that wig. But I made sure to keep her occupied so she wouldn’t pay close attention to any of the dancers. Just in case. She’s more clever than she looks.”

“Alright,” I said slowly, my eyes pinned. That still didn’t explain why he’d felt the need to spend hours by her side.

“Turns out, Lucifer has been confiding in her about his plans.” Az leaned back on his heels. “I managed to coax a little information out of her, but it took time. Hence, why I was gone all day.”

“Coax?” My voice hitched, hands fisting.

“Calm down, love,” Bael said smoothly. “Our Az would never touch Eisheth with a ten-foot pole. He would have just been suggestive with her. He’s done it before, trying to get the details about Morax’s resting place out of her.”

“One day, it will work,” Stolas said with a nod. “That information is in her head. We just have to find it.”

I whipped my head toward Az. “You mean, you used your weird demon magic? I thought it didn’t work on supernaturals.”

“It doesn’t. Most of the time.” Az let out a heavy sigh. “That’s why it took so long. I had to shower her with drinks and compliments. And I had to call in another favor from the fae, just to get some magic in her head. She finally caved and told me everything.”

“So, you didn’t...” I cleared my throat.

“Use his dick to convince her?” Caim laughed.

I flushed and glanced away. “Yeah, fine. I admit it. That’s what I’m asking, okay? Now, can you all please stop staring at me like that?”

“I would never, Mia,” Az said in a steady voice.

Heart thumping, I nodded. Now that we’d gotten the embarrassing stuff out of the way, it was time to focus on something else. Please. For the love of god.

“So what did you find out?” Caim asked, jumping off his stool to tend to the broken whiteboard. He popped the cap off his dry erase marker and got ready to write.

“Two things,” Az said, pacing the floor. “First, Lucifer is protecting an asset uptown. A demon who knows the truth about Mia.”

“Wait, what?” I glanced at the Legion, all six of them. “But I thought you were the only demons in Manhattan.”

“We’re the only Princes,” Stolas corrected. “But there are plenty of regular demons running around. Unlike most fae and werewolves, they tend to be a little reclusive, particularly during the day.”

I gaped at Stolas. There were more of them. Were these ‘regular’ demons anything like these guys? Or were they worse? When I’d first met Az, I’d wondered if he had a tail or was hiding big glowing red horns. I’d been relieved when I found out neither of those things was true.

But maybe these other demons were exactly like that.

And one of them had answers about me.

“What’s the second thing?” Valac murmured from the back corner.

“She knows where Rafael and Michael are hiding out. I’ve got us an address.”

The room went so silent that I could have heard a pin drop, even without a demon’s enhanced hearing. Even Caim had nothing to say. Phenex managed to avoid punching another wall. After a long, tortuous moment, Valac was the one to speak.

He pushed up off his stool and strode into the light. “Neither of those two things saves us, Az. We’ve been found out. It’s all over now. We’re done.”

“You’re right,” Az replied, his voice growing hard. “Lucifer has finally confirmed the truth about us. Our fate is inevitable. But as of now, we are still standing on this earth, and we can not give up until the flames of Hell surround us.”

“What are you saying?” I whispered to him, strangely touched by the intensity of his words.

“We came to this world for one reason only.” He scanned the room, meeting the gaze of every demon who stood before him. “This might be our last chance to protect the lives of this city, human and supernatural alike.” And then he turned to me. His eyes pierced the very depths of my soul. “This demon knows the truth about Mia, and Lucifer has been hiding him. Maybe he knows something that can save her from this fate. Maybe there’s a way she can stay here.”

My stomach dropped to my toes. Sucking in a sharp breath, I crossed the room and grabbed his arms. I searched his face, desperate for some sign that what he said was wrong. He acted as though there wasn’t any hope for the Legion. He seemed convinced their fate was sealed.

Well, I wouldn’t accept that.

“There’s got to be something else we can do,” I insisted. “What if we left the country?”

He shook his head. “Lucifer will find us wherever we go.”

“Well, then we fight him, like you planned to do before,” I said, throwing back my shoulders. “You and the Legion were dead set on destroying him only a few days ago. What’s changed now? Let’s come up with a plan, surround him, and do the whole rip out the heart thing.”

His jaw clenched as he gazed down at me. “You’re right. We have to try. But first, we’ll take care of this.”

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but he wouldn’t hear it. He’d made up his mind. Quickly, the demons scrawled out a plan. The Legion would split up. Phenex, Caim, Bael, Valac, and Stolas would take down the fallen angels. Az and I would go alone to track down Lucifer’s hidden asset. The demon with all the answers.

And we were leaving now. There wasn’t any time to stick around and find out if Lucifer would pop by, armed to the teeth.

Just before we stepped out the door, Az grabbed my elbow and drew me to his side. The way he looked at me made my knees wobble. That, plus the adrenaline rush from what we were about to do, made my entire body feel like it had been tossed through a blender.

“I need you to promise me something, Mia,” he said in a rough voice that invited absolutely zero argument. Whatever he was about to say wasn’t a question, but a command.

“Let’s hear it.” I tipped back my head to meet his gaze.

“We don’t know exactly what we’re walking into tonight,” he murmured. “I’ve heard about this demon. She’s stronger than she looks, and she operates on a short fuse. Do whatever I tell you to do and stay close to me.”

“Sure.” I palmed his chest, wishing that I could take back the past several hours. I’d notice the moon and call off the date. Tomorrow would be another normal day. Or at least as normal as it got working at a demon club. Lucifer would still be playing his game, but at least we’d have more time together.

At any moment, Az could be ripped away from me. Or I could be ripped away from Az. Because even if we both ended up in Hell after all this, I knew Lucifer would never let us come face-to-face. Not for a very, very long time.

“Az,” I said, my heart pounding. “I’m not ready to say goodbye to you yet.”

“I’m not either, Mia.” He cupped my face. “I’ve only just found you.”

That weird zing made another appearance, but for once, I didn’t care what it meant. Nothing else seemed to matter right now but Az. He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine, lighting up every inch of my skin. Closing my eyes, I pressed up onto my toes and let my hunger loose. Our mouths crashed together; our bodies became one.

I needed more.

Desire burned through me.

“Ahem.” Phenex coughed from the open doorway. “Sorry to interrupt, but...now is not the time to rip each other’s clothes off, guys.”

Cheeks burning, I unwound myself from Az’s body. Phenex was right, as much as I hated to admit it. The sooner we got out of this apartment, the better.

Because Lucifer would come for us. Eventually. And we couldn’t be here when he did.