“Fuck.” Shade rubbed his jaw. “And Lucifer’s demesne?”

“Worse.” Wrath had flown for hours and seen not one demon. “It seems like most of his horde has followed Ashe.”

“Ava?”

Wrath grimaced. “Ava is not happy with me and did not allow me access.”

“Is she ever?”

Wrath had to smile. “But she did send a message that her seal is compromised, and her demesne grows more unstable. She is also bleeding demons.”

Shade frowned. “Belle?”

“Silent.” Wrath had been unable to reach Belphegor, but as she was determinedly reclusive, that hadn’t raised any immediate alarms. “Zeb and Levi report much the same as Ava.”

Vexia appeared with refreshments and placed them on a low table that had materialized between them. Wrath would be bereft without her and had an inkling about how Lucifer felt about Ashe’s defection. Seconds were vital to the running of a demesne, but they served a second, and as important, purpose. If a hell prince tired of their long existence, their power and their essence could be passed to their second, thus sidestepping the catastrophic results of a hell prince ending. The choice of a second was not made lightly. Which was probably part of the reason Ramiel had been so territorial over Haziel. He shoved that thought away. He had survived Rosabella’s rejection, and he would survive this. There were more vital matters that demanded his attention. But speaking of Ava reminded him of Haziel and how comfortable she had been in Ava’s palace. Unlike most seraphim, Haziel had exhibited no discomfort around demons.

Fuck! He would stop his every thought from straying in her direction. “Ava, Zeb, Levi, and I have reached an understanding in recent days. We are sharing information and all hostilities between us end until we have this under control. When I get hold of Belle, I’ll be sure to get her cooperation.”

Shade nodded and sipped the wine Vexia had brought them. “That’s good. I think we’re all going to have to get over our crap with each other and work together if we want to stay alive.”

Hell princes working together was enough of an imagination stretch that he almost laughed. He was not given much to laughter, but it felt as if nothing had felt worthy enough of laughter since⁠—

He would control his thoughts!

“Belle would not allow me access to her demesne either,” he said.

Shade made a face. “Is that any surprise? She’s viciously private.”

She always had been, and Wrath nodded. “I shall send another emissary to her court. As you say, working together is vital if any of us are to survive.” Then he asked what he most wanted to know. “How is Eddie?”

“She’s well.” Shade smiled the smile of a truly besotted being. As much as he disliked the hell prince, if one had to trust one’s child with another male, to have one who adored your child like Shade did Eddie softened the blow. “She tried to come with me.”

“No.” His gut tightened.

“I have the hounds watching her,” Shade said. “They will protect her and let me know if she makes any move to head in this direction.”

Like he thought—besotted. “Good.”

Shade stretched his legs out in front of him and looked about. “I’ve always liked this hall of yours.”

“Even when you were bleeding on its floor?”

Shade grimaced. “Less then, but it’s very appealing.”

“Why are you really here?” Wrath did not for a second believe Shade was here to swap interior design tips.

“I told you.” Shade held his palms up. “I came to check on you for Eddie.”

“And now you’ve done that—” The thing with immortal beings is that they knew each other far too well. “You can return and tell her I am well. Or you can say your piece, and then return to her and tell her that I am well.”

Chin resting on his palm, Shade studied him. “But you’re not really well, are you?”

“Don’t I look it?” For good measure, Wrath thumped his chest. No, he was not well. He felt as if his insides had been scooped out and laid in the sun to dry.

Taking his sweet time, Shade selected a snack and then took another sip of his wine before sitting back and dropping his head to the back of his chair. “Emotions are not really my thing.” He crossed his ankles. “Urges,” he shrugged. “Totally my thing. But emotions…eh.”

Here it came, and Wrath waited.

“You’re a coward,” Shade said.

“Pardon?” Wrath had to lean forward to make sure he’d caught Shade’s correctly. Shade would never throw that word in his direction. Shade! The being above all others who knew he was the very farthest thing from a coward.

Shade popped a handful of nuts into his mouth and grinned. “You’re. A. Coward.” He yawned. “Or to use an Eddie colloquialism—a little bitch boy.”

“Did you just…” Words failed him. And he did what he always did when words failed him and reached for a weapon. Only to find his dagger not at his waist and the scabbard over his back empty.

Vexia stood behind Shade with both weapons clutched to her chest. “I think you should listen.”

“He called me…” Wrath couldn’t even speak that phrase.

She nodded. “I heard, but I still think you should listen.”

“Have you turned rebel?” His voice thundered through the echoing space.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You know better than that.”

He did, and he huffed. “Fine.” Ever since Dee and Eddie had visited, Vexia had grown a personality to match her fighting skills. Most of the time, he appreciated the change. Now? Not at all. He turned his glower on Shade. “But if you call me that again, I’ll cut your⁠—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Shade stirred the air languidly with his hand. “Cut off my balls. Eviscerate me. Rip off my head and shit down my throat. Blah, blah, blah.”

The situation was careening out of his control. “I mean it.”

“No, you don’t,” Vexia murmured. “Because Shade is beloved of Eddie, and you would never hurt what she loves.”

“Well I—” No, he wouldn’t, and he subsided into a stew of outrage and impotence. “What the fuck do you want?”

“What the fuck do you want?” Shade sat forward and pinned him with those irritating eyes.

Vexia whispered one word, and it hung in the hall like a death knell. “Haziel.”

“Exactly!” Shade snapped his fingers and pointed to her. “You want that angel. And what are you doing about it?” He glanced at Vexia.

She crossed her arms. “Nothing.”

“Two out of two.” Shade threw her an approving look. “Except maybe a little brooding, and it’s not a good look on our boy.”

The two of them infuriated him, and Vexia’s betrayal stung like salt in his wound. “She chose to return with him.”