I hoped I had instilled a bit of doubt. Maybe if I could wean a few of her human and mortal flowers away.

Of course, what I’d actually done was made her even angrier with me. Of course, she waited to attack until Kanesha was with me. I do mean attack. She’d managed to find a couple of war demons for support.

Two war demons weren’t going to last five minutes against us. “When,” I informed her as I tossed one into the wall so hard he cracked open and dissipated into smoke. “…are people going to stop underestimating me.”

“Fire goddess, war goddess,” she mused. “We should have been allies.”

“Blame Tyz’vel for making sure that will never happen.”

She flinched. “That rat bastard?”

Division in Hell. I almost liked her in a moment just for calling him that, but I knew better than to let myself do so. “Let me guess, he tried to get into your pants too?”

“He succeeded. I regretted it.”

Kanesha stepped behind me as I smiled a bit. “I hear he’s lousy.”

“Why are we enemies?”

“Because when demons are around, people get hurt.”

“And they don’t get hurt around you?”

I had the faint sense that Sarael was somewhere, well hidden, in the area. “The people who get hurt around me are the ones who choose to put themselves in danger.”

Mike, I mourned for a moment, but I couldn’t hesitate.

“Including your friend?”

“He was a cop. He knew the score. Do your girls?”

“They get beauty. They get money. They get to retire young and rich.” She smiled.

“And without their souls.”

“Oh, come on. You really think that I just let them burn? They have their uses. You aren’t innocent of collecting souls yourself.” Her gaze meaningfully fell on Kanesha.

“That’s different,” Kanesha said, still staying behind me just in case. I could take a blast of hellfire. She couldn’t. “I love her.”

“Some of my girls love me.”

I thought that might actually be true. Then I sensed another presence approaching.

Father Will.