Page 48 of Mending Mayhem
“The amulet is no earthly gemstone,” Mayhem scoffed. “It was created in Hell, not in Burma.”
“The humans don’t know that.” I patted his thigh, and he sucked in a quick breath. Jerking my hand back to my lap, I glanced at the others. They either hadn’t noticed, or they were choosing to ignore the whatever-it-was going on between me and the demon. Thank you, Hecate.
“Bidding starts at $400,000,” Miles said.
I blinked before squinting at the screen. “Are you sure that’s five zeros?”
He zoomed in so I could see it clearly. Yep. Five zeros. “I don’t think bidding is an option. Or…is it?” he asked.
I barked out a laugh. “Maybe if we sold the house, all our weapons, and the library.”
“Don’t you dare touch my books.” Ash’s phone buzzed, and she swiped open the screen before letting out a dry chuckle. “Patrice wants to know if we’ve mended the veil…and if the demons are back in the Underworld.”
“I wish.” I stood and sidestepped Mayhem to resume my pacing. “I mean…not the demons back in Hell part.” I made the mistake of looking into Mayhem’s eyes and found fierce determination staring back at me. Why did I get the feeling that returning to the Underworld wasn’t on his agenda?
Her phone buzzed again. “She said things have been eerily quiet today. They haven’t battled a single beastie.”
“It must be Hecate’s work. Cinder’s letter mentioned they were trying to hold it together from that side.” My head spun, the vim depletion from the scrying session finally surfacing above my adrenaline.
“She did mention that even a goddess can’t hold it forever,” Mayhem said. “Discord must have convinced Hecate to help.”
“Or Cinder did.” I dug my fingers into the muscles at the base of my skull, massaging the tension. “We have no clue what’s happening across the veil right now, but we need to take advantage of the quiet.”
Pain ached from my skull, down my neck, and into my shoulders, but I couldn’t focus on that right now, because… “We need to plan a heist.”
16
MAYHEM
Ember clutched the back of her neck and paced the length of the living room, back and forth, back and forth, until I would have sworn she’d wear a trench into the wood. The stress of leadership was taking a toll on her body and her mind, and a spark of misplaced anger ignited in my being.
Instinct told me to place blame, take action, and get revenge for the pain my witch endured. But who could I condemn? If her parents had not summoned the trickster that took them to Hell, her sister would not have made a deal with Discord. Ash would not have summoned Chaos, and I would still be rotting in my dark prison, devoid of all my senses, going out of my mind.
Worse than that, I would have never experienced the fierceness of love I felt for my soulmate.
No, I could not blame her family for her pain. The universe planned the chips to fall exactly as they did to bring us together, and now that my brothers and I had found our missing halves, it was up to all of us to ensure we experienced the elusive happily ever after.
Ember stopped pacing, lifted her hands, and dropped them at her sides. “I’ve got nothing. If it were a magical heist, I’d already have a plan, but we’re dealing with humans, guns, and a possible prison sentence, which is one thing we don’t have time for.”
“I can make them turn their guns on each other. Then we can slip into the vault and take the amulet while they are transfixed in battle.”
“Absolutely not.” She put her hands on her hips. “No killing humans.”
“Technically, they would be killing each other.” I rested my elbows on the arms of the chair and steepled my fingers. “You wouldn’t have to harm a soul.”
She closed her eyes, her nostrils flaring as she blew out a slow breath. This expression, I had learned, was one of annoyance, and Hades forbid I should become an accessory to her pain.
“No killing humans,” I said. “Understood. But you must understand if your life is in peril, I will act accordingly to keep you safe. There may be casualties.”
“The same is true of me,” Chaos said. “Your lives are worth more than a prison sentence…and no human jail could hold us anyway.”
Miles chuckled. “I wish I could find someone who’d protect me with such grit.”
“I’ve got your back,” Shade said.
I glanced at Ember, who lifted a brow, her expression conveying what words could not in their presence: See?
I gave her a small nod. Yes, I see. Hopefully they could find their happily ever after as well.