I stood outside the door to Ashby and Silas’ new row house and wondered how the fuck my sister had ended up in this suburbia type of neighborhood. We had always been city girls—both down below and here in New York. Ashby especially. She loved the people and the chaos and the violence. In fact, she thrived on that.
So, to see her out here in apparent domestic bliss surrounded by mortals made me feel for Jericho. His brothers had abandoned him, and my sister had left everything behind for a man that would die one day. She’d left me for a life I never even knew she wanted.
Knocking on the door, I watched the way the sun lit up the sky like a fireball. Oranges, reds, and pinks danced across the horizon, gleaming off the moisture on the leaves and reflecting in the windshields of the cars lining the streets. I couldn’t deny it’s beauty. Nature had grown on me as I’d spent time up above. Sure, I missed some parts of the world I left behind, but I preferred the seasons and the daylight and all of the other things that came along with living above ground.
“What are you doing here?” Ashby stood in the doorway, clutching a robe and looking like she just rolled out of bed.
“I need to talk to you.” Stepping forward, I waited for her to open the door but was stopped cold when she didn’t budge. As twins, we were almost identical. But now Ashby had chopped off her hair to her chin and she wasn’t wearing her usual makeup. “What’s wrong with you? Let me in.”
Ashby glanced over her shoulder, pulling the door to block my view. When she nodded at whatever was behind her, she finally turned back to me and sighed. “Can we do this later?”
“No.”
“Really?”
Instant anger rushed to my face. My sister suddenly didn’t have time for me?
“It’s okay. I’m good.” I heard Silas’ muffled voice from somewhere behind Ashby and narrowed my eyes at her when she faced me again.
“What?” she asked.
“Are you going to let me in?”
Stepping away, she let me push the door open myself and I had to follow her into the living room off to the left without her officially inviting me inside. Silas sat on the couch, covered in a blanket and looking like he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Ashby gave him a seductive smile and crawled onto his lap.
Boxes still lined the walls of the room that opened up into the kitchen, but apparently the two of them had broken in the couch. “What’s going on?” Ashby asked. She squirmed when Silas kissed her neck.
“Seriously?” I asked him, letting a bit of the demon show through.
Silas flashed his yellow, dragon-like eye at me as he kissed my sister again.
“Grow up,” I grumbled. Plopping onto the only other piece of furniture in the room, I sunk into the cushion of the recliner. “Look, Ashby, I really need to talk to you. Alone.”
She shared a look with Silas who gazed into her eyes like she was the only person on this plane. A part of me died on the inside when I realized I’d never had anyone look at me like that. My sister rubbed her hands over Silas’ chin-length blond hair and kissed him gently on the lips. He smiled into her kiss and when they were done, he jumped to his feet and said, “Why don’t I make some coffee.”
“That would be great,” Ashby said in a sing-song voice.
“Yeah. Great.”
My sister glared at me and I raised my brows telling her not to push it. Once Silas left the room, Ashby pulled her robe tighter and sat back into the couch. “You should have called.”
“Since when do I need to make an appointment with my sister?”
“Since she got married.”
“Oh, bullshit. You’re just using this as an excuse not to do anything.”
“That’s not true.”
Leaning forward, I said, “Oh, yeah? When is the last time you talked to Mammon?”
“I…I…”
“Exactly. Do you even have any idea what’s going on right now?”
She bit her bottom lip and started bouncing her knee. “Echo told me a little bit about—”
“About what, Ashby? Did he tell you about Leviathan?” From the way she tensed, I knew he hadn’t.
“What’s he doing in the city?” She’d whispered that last part, understanding starting to sink in. Leviathan didn’t mess with demon business unless he had to. He preferred to stay tucked away in his lair with his snakes and mistresses.
“He made a deal with Mammon.”
“What? No, she would never—”
“Lucifer wants to expose us.” When my sister’s jaw dropped, I continued. “So do some of the angels.”
“Expose us to the humans?”
I glared at my sister. “Yes! What else would they expose us to. Jesus, Ashby. Did Silas fuck away your brain?”
Ashby blushed. “No.”
“You’ve changed.” My voice dropped with the pain of realizing I was losing my sister.
“Stop it, Arabella. You’re being dramatic.”
On the verge of tears, I opened my mouth and said, “Leviathan is going to take me as one of his mistresses.”
“What?”
I nodded. “He gave Mammon an ultimatum. He would take me in exchange for fighting with her against Lucifer to keep our secret hidden.”
“No. No, she wouldn’t do that. She’d never promise you to someone like him. There has to be more—”
“She gave me a chance to get out of it.”
Ashby dropped to the floor in front of me and placed her hands on my bruised knees. I tried not to flinch. “Okay, good. So, then you can get out of it.”
“It’s not that simple,” I whispered.
“What are you talking about, Arabella? You are the most straight forward demon I know. If she gave you an out, you would take it.” Sitting back on her legs, she glanced into the kitchen. “I think that’s why she let me marry Silas. She knew you were the stronger one anyway.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“Mammon didn’t even blink when I told her I would give up Hell for Silas. It was like she’d always known I’d choose them over us.” With a shrug and a sad smile, Ashby continued. “She barely put up a fight.”
“That’s not what she told me.” Sniffing and wiping at my cheeks, I tried to get up the nerve to tell her about Jericho.
“Mammon’s a demon. Demon’s lie.”
Huffing a laugh, I looked down at my sister. “You seem happy with him. I mean, I’m pissed that you left me after a centuries of existence, but at least you seem all right with your decision.”
She glanced toward the kitchen again. I still didn’t smell any coffee brewing. “I am. It’s weird, you know. Only being with one man.”
This time I laughed hard enough that I snorted. “Yeah. No, thank you.”
She slapped my leg. “Hey, it’s not that bad as long as it’s with the right one.”
My thoughts immediately flipped to Jericho. There was no denying a connection between us. But yet we were the exact opposite of what a couple should be.
“So what did Mammon offer you?” As though sensing my thoughts, Ashby gave me a mischievous smile.
“I was supposed to kill an angel.”
“Really? And what do you mean by was?”
Hanging my head, I sighed into my hands. “I can’t do it, Ashby. I tried and I can’t.”
“Why?” Her voice was tense but not accusatory.
“I don’t know.”
“Like you physically can’t kill him or you don’t want to?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Interesting,” she whispered.
I looked up at my sister and saw her studying me. We’d always been so mentally connected, even though I felt like some of that had been slipping away the past year since Silas had become a permanent part of her life. But now I swear she was sifting through my thoughts as I tried to work out exactly what was stopping me from killing Jericho.
“You’re connected to him,” she finally said.
“What?”
“It’s almost like I can feel it. Like some of his light is inside of you or something…wait! Did you have sex with him?”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“No? But you want to?” She wiggled her brows.
I didn’t even dignify that with an answer. “Jericho is—”
“Ooh, he has a name.”
Rolling my eyes, I tried to get my sister to listen. “Jericho is helping me—helping us prevent a reveal. His brothers are fighting against him, but he’s out there right now trying to convince his archangels to side with us and fight against Lucifer’s plans.”
“This is too much,” she said as Silas walked into the room and handed each of us a mug.
“What’s too much?” Silas asked.
“Nothing.”
Ashby gave me an annoyed look. “Have you heard anything about the vampires wanting to come out to the humans?” she asked him with that disgusting look of love in her eyes.
“Are you kidding me? They’d be attacked much worse than the shifters. They like running in the shadows. Plus, I’d be out of a job.” As a vampire hunter, he had a good point.
“That’s what I keep trying to tell people,” I said. “If humans know that demons and angels are real and walking amongst them, can you even imagine the chaos?”
“Wait, demons want to come out too?” Silas’ eyes widened as he looked between the two of us.
“Yes,” I groaned. “And so do some angels.”
“And Mammon is using Arabella as a reward for siding with her.”
“Ashby!” I didn’t want my sister sharing everything with Silas.
“What? Silas has a right to know.”
“Why? He’s not a demon.”
“He’s my husband.”
“So? That doesn’t mean he gets to know everything about my business!” Where a few minutes ago, I thought Ashby and I were having a great sister moment, I now realized I may have lost my sister forever.
“Relax, Arabella. All you have to do is kill that angel and—”
“Stop!” I jumped to my feet and glared at both of them. “Is nothing sacred between us anymore?” I felt the tears stinging the backs of my eyes and hated that I was so upset right now.
“You’re being ridiculous.” But as she said that, she tilted her head to the side to let Silas suck on her neck.
“Seriously? I’m. Right. Here.”
“Oh, please. It’s not like this is something new, Arabella.”
Grinding my teeth together, I started walking to the door. “It is, Ashby. We aren’t sharing Silas.”
“No,” she cooed. “We definitely are not.”
Shaking my head, I did my best to hide my disappointment. “I’ll show myself out.”
“Arabella, wait.” My sister climbed out of Silas’ lap and ran over to me. “How much time do you have to kill the angel?”
I glanced outside. “A few more hours.”
She placed her hands on my shoulders and made me face her. “Okay, that’s enough time to get it done.”
“But I can—”
“You can, Arabella. You do not want to be trapped with Leviathan. Do you remember Peloris?”
“The harpy?”
Ashby nodded. “She pissed off one of the archdemons when she tried to steal from them and they gave her to Leviathan. No one ever saw her again.”
“What happened to her?”
“Rumor has it she’s still locked in his dungeon. He likes to let his serpent out and when he does, they say he destroys anything in his path.” She pulled me into a hug. “You can’t let him have you.”
“But Jericho wants to help us.”
“Fuck that. Go to Viktor. See if he can get the vampires to help. But whatever you do, please kill the angel. I don’t want to lose you.”
“Can you help me?”
“Today?” she squeaked.
“Yes, Ashby. Today.” Holy hell, seriously?
“I can’t right now. But I know that you’ll take care of it. You always were the stronger one.”
When she pressed her lips to my cheek, I wanted to scream. How could she turn her back on me? I needed her and she was choosing Silas over me. I never thought the day would arrive when a man would come between us.
But apparently there’s a first for everything.
“I’m leaving.” Pushing her away, I opened the door and kept on walking even when she tried to give me another pep talk. Fuck her for being so selfish. And fuck Mammon for putting me in this position. She should have refused to bargain with me. There were other, lesser-demons that Leviathan would have been happy with. Why me?
Hating the pity-party I was throwing myself, I checked around to see if I was alone and then blinked back to my apartment. Conveniently landing next to the bar, I took that as a sign and poured a shot of tequila. It was the good stuff—a gift from a wealthy human who sometimes used my services to take care of his unproductive employees. The first one went down quick. I savored the second one a little more.
“Rough morning?”
Spinning around so fast I dropped the shot glass, I shook my head when I saw Jericho sitting on my couch. “What the hell? What are you doing here?”
He didn’t bother standing and he didn’t look at me either. “I just…I didn’t know where else to go.”
Not sure what to say or do next, I decided to keep my hands busy. “Drink?”
“It’s eight in the morning,” he said with a smirk.
“We’re awake. It’s always a time to drink when you’re awake.”
“Sounds good.”
I poured two shots, kicking the broken glass toward the wall to clean up later. Sitting down next to Jericho, I handed him the drink and held it up for a toast. “To shitty mornings.”
“To shitty mornings.”
We drank and then tried to combat the horribly awkward silence growing between us. Finally, Jericho spoke. “My brothers are dicks.”
“My sister is selfish.”
Jericho chuckled. “Looks like we’ve got something in common.” Then he leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. “I’ve just never felt so abandoned.”
“I know what you mean.”
“You saw your sister?”
“Yes.”
“And she’s not going to help?”
“She wants me to kill you.”
Jericho laughed. “I hate her already.”
“She means well, but her head’s not in the game right now and this is the time she needs to be a part of our world. Not slumming it up with a human man in suburbia.”
“If it helps any,” he started, “my brothers want you dead too.”
“This relationship is doomed,” I teased, slumping back against the couch with Jericho and liking the way our shoulders brushed against each other.
“We’re in a relationship?”
“The love-hate kind, yeah.”
He squeezed my thigh, still staring up at the ceiling. “It feels hopeless.”
“This relationship?”
He smiled. “No, the fight. How are the two of us supposed to convince beings that existed since the beginning of time that we know what’s best.”
“If I don’t kill you, I don’t think we can.”
Jericho groaned. “Well, then. Maybe you should do it.” He suddenly sat up and lifted his black tee shirt over his head.
“What are you doing?” I squeaked.
“Just making it easier for you.” He pressed the palm of my hand against his heart. “You have to hit me here or I’ll heal. Do you still have that dagger?”
“Yes, but I—”
“Just make it quick.”
“Jericho,” I ripped my hand out of his, “what’s wrong with you?”
“If my death stops the reveal, then it’s my duty to sacrifice myself for the greater good.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Stop being so righteous.”
Jericho’s eyes widened when he stared at me as though surprised I said a bad word or said anything at all. Then he opened his mouth…and started to laugh. It was a deep, full laugh that I hadn’t heard from him before and I hated to admit how much I loved the sound. His chest shook as he kept brushing the hair out of his face.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“I don’t even know.”
“Well, stop laughing.”
“I can’t.”
“This isn’t a funny situation.”
“No, it is not.”
“You should stop.”
He sucked in several breaths before starting up again. “Can’t.”
I stared at his chiseled face, bare chest, and heart-stopping smile and realized that there was no way in hell I could kill this man. He’d saved me. He supported me. He even stood up for me against his brothers despite barely knowing me. For the past twenty-four hours, he’d been the only person by my side.
My heart sped as I thought about what to do next. I knew what I wanted, but was it right? Fuck, right, my inner demon said, and I decided to listen to her.
Sitting up taller, I grabbed Jericho’s face between my hands…and I kissed him.