Demon Squad 7: Exit Wounds Read Free Page B

to listen. “There’s no way around that, and my excuses are all smoke and shit. I don’t have any that matter.” I longed to draw in a deep breath, to feel the cold stir my lungs and gird my courage, but Hobbs’ body wasn’t designed for such simple comforts. My grip tightened on Karra’s hand, and I straightened. More literally than I could ever have imagined, the old Frank was gone. It was time to find out who had taken his place. My gaze shifted from Katon to Karra.
    “I’m not simply related to Lucifer, some wayward nephew he took a fancy to,” I told her, stiffening with the expectation of violence. “I’m his son.”
    Her eyes narrowed but there was a sparkle in her hazel orbs I couldn’t define. I stood there frozen, unsure, when her hand gave mine a gentle shake, a flicker of crow’s feet landing at the corner of her eyes. A quiet chuckle slipped from her smiling lips.
    “Did you think I didn’t know that?” Her answer was a bullet slamming into my chest. The place where Hobbs’ shriveled heart lurked seemed to warm a degree, and her smiled widened even further at my obvious surprise. “Oh…you truly did.” She motioned toward the others gathered about. “I think everyone knew, Frankie. Everyone but Scarlett, of course. Why else would Lucifer treat you like he did?”
    Katon, still smoldering, gave a curt nod of agreement. Rahim was more cordial, but he, too, confirmed my greatest fear, that the secret I’d been struggling with was a secret to no one but me and my naïve little cousin, but even she knew now. That was yet another trial waiting for me if we managed to get out of here. I slumped a little thinking about it, and Karra wrapped an arm around my waist, keeping me steady. I glanced to the others behind the enforcer and wizard.
    Veronica definitely knew as she’d been the one to give Karra up to Gorath via Baalth—the same act that led to me killing the demon lieutenant once I found out he helped kidnap Karra. She looked away sheepishly, not willing to meet my eyes, but that was to be expected. She knew exactly what she was; always had.
    A succubus, daughter of Lilith, her world revolved around power and betrayal, the two so closely related in her mind as to be inseparable. Information was a weapon to her, coin of the realm. It was hard to stay pissed at her because of it. The shit was ingrained. She’d sell herself out for the right price.
    As for Chatterbox, he knew only what Karra allowed him to, so his blank stare was pretty much par for the course. Rala’s matching blank stare, however, was simply because she didn’t give a damn who had squirted me out. None of that mattered to her. The Devil was just one more dictator screwing up the world she lived in, big emphasis on dick .
    “I’m sorry,” I told them all, wishing I were capable of expressing the feelings leashed inside my mind.
    “That doesn’t change anything, Frank.” Katon wasn’t gonna let it go, and as much as it rankled to hear the disgust in his voice, I understood where he was coming from.
    “You’re absolutely right,” I answered. “I betrayed you, betrayed DRAC, exactly like you always thought I would.” Resolve stiffened my spine, and I peeled myself from Karra’s protective embrace, taking a casual step toward the enforcer. “Maybe all of you knew I was the spawn of Satan and knew what to expect, but I sure didn’t. I killed the man I believed to be my father years ago; killed him with my bare hands, ripping the life from him only to learn he wasn’t the man who murdered my mother. My own father did.” My knuckles popped as I clenched my fists. Karra set a restraining hand on my shoulder, but I’d come too far to stop now.
    “I’d only just found out that the man I’d grown up admiring, the man who’d taken me in and gave me a home, treated me like family without reservation, was every bit the liar the world was led to believe.” The confession was acid on my tongue. “He stole my mother