22. Asta

" P ut her in her room. We have shit to handle." Talian stands staring at me but doesn't move. "Talian!"

He jolts out of whatever daze he was in, but still takes a second before he moves. Almost reluctantly, he begins to head down the hall toward her room, and all I can do is watch him.

What the hell is going on? I know Talian's had some weird infatuation with the mortal, but I thought it was sexual, maybe even a way to poke at Bast for his crush. This seems like much more than that, though. No, if I weren't mistaken, I would say Talian doesn't want to let her go.

"Where the fuck are you going?" The annoyance in Kai's voice is clear, but also nothing new. Kai has a very short temper, especially where Talian is concerned.

It's a wonder he and Ruin are still friends. After everything that happened, you would think he would be done with Ruin the same way the rest of us were. Maybe it's because Ruin won't let him. Ruin had a hard time when we fell, not like we did, considering we fell and he got to stay, but I can't imagine it was easy to lose your closest friends, your brothers.

Talian and Bast are still upset, but I don't have any issues with him. Not that I want him around, but I'd rather not have any of them around if I could, and Ruin would only draw even more attention to us, which is the opposite of what we need right now.

It's not until I realize Kai wasn't talking to Talian that his tone strikes me as strange. Usually, Bast isn't the one to gain his ire. Bast is quiet, and while they might tease him for his obsession with the mortals, he isn't often one to argue with. He never really has much of an opinion to argue with.

"Bast." He pauses for a moment at the sound when I call his name, but doesn't so much as glance back at me before continuing after Talian.

What the fuck.

"Bast!" Kai shouts as he begins to follow after him. I only let him get a few steps before I stop him. We don't need to be fighting amongst ourselves right now, but the damage is already done. Both Bast and Talian stand facing us, and for the first time in a long time, they look at us as if we're a threat and not like we're brothers.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Kai snaps, no doubt seeing the same thing I do. Even Ruin looks confused, though he thankfully remains quiet. The last thing I need is Tal and Bast to go after him as well. "You heard Asta, put the mortal in her bed. It's not hard, hell, drop her on the damn floor for all I care. We have more important shit to worry about, and she never should have been here to begin with."

Turns out it doesn't matter if I let Kai go or not because he was damned and determined to fuck this up as much as possible, and when it came to Aeri, well, it seemed he could fuck everything up.

In a blur of motion, Bast flies back down the hall, slamming into Kai with enough force that they both go down.

Eons.

I'm not sure mortals can really understand just how long we have been alive. Their lifespans are so small in comparison, just a blink,? It and their lives are over. Their souls are either damned or saved for the rest of time, based on the decisions they made in a fraction of the time. Many souls wallow about how unfair it is, and I tend to agree with them, though it's never made a difference to me. Why would I ever bother with the mortals' complaints? It's not as if I can do anything about it.

Eons is how long I've known Bast, both before the fall and after. Never in all those billions of years have I seen him like this, about anything, with anyone.

Ruin moves first, grabbing Bast and hauling him off Kai before they can continue to roll around like children. Bast doesn't calm down, instead turning his anger to Ruin.

"Enough!" My voice echoes around the room with enough power that all their human forms melt away, or what's left of them, that is. Bast was already halfway in his demon form, and Talian has been a mix of forms since I walked in.

Bast stops fighting, but Ruin doesn't let him go, even after Kai picks himself up off the ground. One look at Ruin shows me he's not only confused, but concerned.

Join the club.

"What in the name of Satan is going on?"

I look around the room from one to the next, but nobody speaks up.

"Someone was chasing her. She ran out of the club, terrified. I found her passed out in an alley down the street." Talian finally speaks up when nobody else does. And with his words, I feel the tension as it silently builds.

None of us say a word for a moment, but I can feel the shift, the way their powers mix and mingle with my own, and it's not just Bast and Talian.

"You should have let them have her." Kai tries to sound as if he doesn't care, but I know better. The others might buy his act, but I know better, one of the few perks of being the highest ranking demon in the room. Hell, before I fell, I outranked Ruin as well.

Bast lets out a roar that's more demon than man, a sound that would haunt mortals' dreams, and with it lights half of the penthouse's main living room and kitchen on fire. And judging by the way Ruin releases him and steps back, I'm willing to bet it's not just fire, but hell fire.

While it's not exactly dangerous to angels, it isn't a fun time either, and I don't blame him for hoping to avoid it.

Bast shifts from his half form with his horns, fangs, tail, and wings to his true demon form.

It's not something we're meant to be able to do topside. It takes an incredible amount of energy, or in this case, I assume anger. Even being a higher rank, I've only done it once or twice in the hundreds of times we have been here.

"Watch the way you talk about my mate!" Bast demands, his words low but no less dangerous.

His what?

"Have you lost your mind? Demons don't have mates, Bast."

He's not wrong, but even so, Kai lifts his hands as if to attempt to pacify Bast. Even Kai can see how close Bast is to the edge. Unfortunately, we don't have the ability to see what he's going to do next. One more wrong word, and he might very well end up burning down the damn building.

Including the damn mortal he seems so protective of right now.

With a wave of my hand, I put out the flames and knock Bast back hard enough for his form to slip back to his half-human, half-demon form.

"Everyone have a damn seat. We have more important things to worry about right now." With another wave, I fix the damage done by the fire to the couch and the rest of the living room.

"More important than Bast going off the deep end and believing he has a mate? A mortal mate?" Kai snaps, looking at me as if the idea that something could be more important than that is unimaginable.

Not many things are, I'll give him that. Despite how crazy these three drive me, they are about the only ones I can handle.

A few hours ago, Bast losing it like this would have been very concerning and would have gotten all of my attention.

That is, until Rome decided to show his ass.

He'll understand in a minute. They all will.

Talian takes advantage of our conversation and slips past us to have a seat on the couch…with Aeri still in his arms.

Kai looks from him to me as if waiting for me to say something, but I remain quiet instead, watching Bast as he drops down on the couch beside Talian, before carefully reaching over to move a few wayward strands of hair from Aeri's face.

Something nudges at me, like a gnawing feeling in my chest, but I'm not sure what it is or why I'm feeling it right now.

"Sit." I look at Kai and then to Ruin. Clearly, despite our past, Kai and him are going to remain friends, and honestly, Rome being here is as much an issue for us as it will be for him. They both move to sit on the couch opposite Bast and Talian, all eyes fixed on the tiny mortal who still lies unconscious in Talian's arms.

Before I can really think about what I'm doing, I'm across the room, taking her from him and moving to sit in the chair between both couches. I don't need to look up to know they're all looking at me; I can feel their gazes, both confused and annoyed.

"The hell did you do to her that she's out cold like this?" I ask without looking up.

I know damn well Talian said he found her like this, but did he really? One good way to find out.

"I didn't do anything!" Talian snaps, pushing to his feet as if he might just come demand her back. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't. Talian might enjoy pushing buttons, but he knows our differences in power levels; to challenge me would be pointless. Though I get the strange feeling he wants to try.

"I found her in the damn alley like that after she ran out of the club terrified..." he trails off, pacing the length of the couch before turning back around just as I lean in to listen to her breathing. Our eyes catch across the room, and I know what he's going to say even before he opens his mouth.

What I don't understand is why? How?

"Rome was there."

All hell breaks loose at the mention of his name—well, metaphorical hell, not the fire and brimstone one we're used to.

If something were to get us all fired up, it would be him. Once, we'd all been close, but that was before he turned his back on us before he set the stage, and we fell from grace.

Rome is dangerous because he's a master manipulator and one of very few who outranks me, even if just slightly.

"What the fuck is Rome doing here?" Kai is off the couch as if Rome is here and ready to fight, his gaze demanding an answer that I don't have.

"I'm not sure that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I sensed him earlier when I was at the club." I explain, looking once again at the mortal lying on my lap.

"Rome must have been looking for you," Kai says, sounding almost hopeful. I wouldn't dare call him on it right now, but I also can't blame him. If Rome is chasing after Aeri, well, I'm not sure what that means, but I know it's not good. Nothing to do with him ever is.

But if he was simply at the club because I was there, she might be safe. Kai can pretend he hates her all he wants, but I'm not sure he would ever condemn anyone to being the subject of Rome's attention, especially not a mortal.

Though I don't believe he doesn't care.

"He might have—"

"He wasn't." Talian cuts me off before I can finish, no question about it, fully believing his words.

"You can't possibly know that," Ruin argues, but doesn't sound convinced.

Talian glares across the room at Ruin, but Ruin doesn't back down.

Does he care for the mortal, too? How the hell does he even know her?

What is it about her? Could she really be Bast's mate?

It's true what Kai said. Demon's don't get mates, it's part of their punishment—forced to be forever alone.

But angels do…

"I heard him. I'm not sure if he knew I was there, but there was no mistaking it. He had to be there for her, she was the only one there…" he trails off, looking down at the ground, and I know there's more.

"What is it, Talian?" I push, not only needing to know what we're dealing with but knowing he won't continue without prompting. Whatever it is he has to say isn't good.

"‘You can't run. You belong to me.' That's what he told her."

"Fuck!"