“You know what?” I pushed out of my chair. “Forget this.” I didn’t need to sit here with the devil as he lobbed insults my way.
The devil stood up with me, and faster than I could follow, he was in front of me, pushing me back into my chair.
I sank back into my seat, glaring at him as I did so.
“You are not to leave until this discussion is over, and it is not over.” He flicked his wrist, and his chair dragged itself over. He sat down, so close that he trapped my knees between his.
He captured my hand and threaded his fingers between mine. I was holding hands with the devil. I was holding hands with the devil.
“And you like it,” he said. “Now, should I tell you about the time that hateful girl, Sarah Boffington, tried to steal the necklace I gave you?”
I recognized the name and the instance he was referring to. There was only one problem.
“The necklace you gave me?”
Back in junior high, a certain Sarah Boffington returned a birthday gift of mine that went missing, but so far as I could remember, she hadn’t tried to steal it and the devil hadn’t given it to me.
“The locket with the rose,” he said.
“I know which one you were talking about,” I said. “My mother bought it for me.”
“You really think your mother could afford a necklace like that?”
Before I had a chance to answer, he continued. “She couldn’t. Not at that time. She barely had enough money to pay her mortgage and the bills that month.”
I stilled. “What?” He couldn’t be speaking the truth.
“Your mom had been laid off months before, and she was running low on money.”
I squinted at him. “How did you know … ?”
“Because, little bird, I watched you, and I intervened when she couldn’t fully provide for my future queen. And on your birthday that year, she really couldn’t.”
What he was telling me was absurd. It had to be a lie. The devil wasn’t like this. He wasn’t thoughtful.
“I protect what’s mine,” he said, playing with my hand. “And I wanted you to treasure something I’d given you. So I stepped in and left the present for your mother. By then she was very aware of my anonymous donations.”
“She was used to you paying for me?” What he was saying blew my mind. It called into question my entire perception of my childhood.
“Oh yes,” he said. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, back to the story: Sarah took the necklace from your locker.”
I’d lost it during gym class. I’d taken it off and placed it in my locker. I’d assumed it’d fallen between the grates, or that it got caught on something and dragged out. I’d searched our school’s Lost and Found and talked to the janitors. I was broken up over losing it.
Sarah had been my friend, and she’d known my lock combination. And I’d never suspected.
“I had someone talk her into returning it to you,” he said.
My stomach dropped. “What did your men do to her?”
“Nothing you should worry about, consort.”
Riight.
But I couldn’t concentrate on Sarah in the midst of this huge revelation. Before I’d even decided to come to Peel, before vampires and soulmates and magic, there’d still been this other side to my life, a secret world where the devil moved his players and pawns around to accommodate me.
My mind was officially blown.
“I ended up losing the necklace a year ago when I went swimming in the ocean,” I said absently.
“And I retrieved it.” The devil lifted a fisted hand. He tilted it to the side, and out slid my locket.
My lips parted as I stared down at it. The obsidian rose set into it was identical to my memory of it. I withdrew my fingers from Pluto’s other hand so that I could turn the locket over and over. It was the same piece of jewelry, down to a nick on the back of it.
With shaky hands, I opened it. Inside, the pictures had changed. Instead of my mother and me, there were two new photos. One was of me and the other was of the man in front of me. Our faces were tilted towards each other’s so that it looked like we gazed at one another, and we were smiling. I couldn’t even fathom where or when he got the photos.
My connection throbbed at the sight.
I closed my eyes. “Why?”
When I opened them, I found him studying me.
“Perhaps I will share a story with you every morning,” he said. “Maybe then that look in your eyes will stay.”
Crap, I had a look in my eyes?
He rose. “Here,” he said, “let me put it on you.”
Before I had a chance to object, he took the necklace from my hand, and then he was behind me. Light fingers brushed the hair away from the nape of my neck. I swear they lingered longer than necessary, long enough for me to reach out and scoop my hair up from his grasp.
I heard the soft scrap of metal as the necklace latched. Then his hands fell to my shoulders and his lips brushed my ear. “I imagined doing this many times, fastening my locket around your pretty neck.”
I shivered, and his fingers trailed over the gooseflesh.
A demon entered the room through the open archway, interrupting the moment. Judging by his beauty and his stern features, this was one of the fallen. “There’s a matter that requires your attention,” he said, addressing Pluto.
The devil’s lips returned to my ear. “I imagined this moment, and I imagined it ending differently.”
Oh shit.
The devil’s hands released me, and he straightened. “We will speak again later, consort. Until then, continue to familiarize yourself with your land.
I grabbed his wrist as he turned to leave, and he looked back to me.
“Thank you,” I told him, because it needed to be said, “for returning my locket.” And for all those other times you helped me and my mother.
I couldn’t read the expression he leveled at me. Eventually he gave me a slight nod. His gaze dropped to my lips, but he didn’t step forward. “Until later,” he said, and then he was gone.
I drew in a rough breath. The evilest being in existence provided for me when my mother couldn’t. He’d even gone to the trouble of buying me a birthday present.
I glanced at the ruby ring Andre had given me. It had survived the transition from earth to the Underworld, and now I wore two pieces of jewelry, one from each of my soulmates.
What in the hell was I going to do?
After I finished breakfast—because, hey, even the queen of the damned has got to eat—I returned to our bedroom. Only, when I entered, I found that I had guests, a whole slumber party’s worth of them.
“Whoa,” I said, still clutching the doorknob. That was the only response my mouth could form.
Shirtless incubi stretched out on the bed. Those that couldn’t fit on it leaned against it. There was so much skin, so little material, and so many roving hands, it took a second for my eyes to process it all.
At the sound of my voice, their attention snapped to me.
“Welcome, consort,” said an incubus that was in the middle of the dogpile on the bed.
“Uh …” Seriously, the world needed to prepare you for situations like this because I had no clue what I was supposed to do. I only knew that I was a few hot seconds away from losing my ever-loving shit.
I began to back up and close the door when I bumped into someone behind me. I swiveled around and—
Aww, crap. There was another one herding me in. He nudged me inside the room and closed the door behind us.
“Now,” the man at my back said, “we can finally give the queen a proper welcome.”
A proper welcome? I already knew I wasn’t going to like this.
The one closest to me took my hand and attempted to lead me to the bed. He didn’t get very far.
I snatched my hand back. “I’m, um, not interested.”
“Not interested?” the incubus cocked his head. The others peered up from the bed where they
reclined.
Oh God, oh God, oh God. Seriously, what was I supposed to do? It was easy enough to kick them out of my bed when I knew I’d wake up and they’d disappear. But here in hell, they weren’t going to just vanish.
I heard one of the incubi on the bed whisper. “Perhaps she only wants one of us at a time?”
Seriously, this place was whacked.
“Do you not like our forms?” another asked.
God, this really was the nightmare that never ended.
“What? No, they’re fi—”
Before I could complete my thought, they changed en masse to women. And there were suddenly boobs everywhere.
I couldn’t help it, I shrieked. “Oh my God!” They winced at the name. “That’s not natural!”
“Her skin lit up at the change,” one said to the others. When they refocused on me, the succubi became incubi once more.
I let out a small noise, and damnit, my skin did flicker with my surprise. One approached me and reached out. I slapped away his hand. “Don’t touch me.”
“You are not pleased? We live to please.”
I was backing up into a corner of the room, and the incubi crept closer.
“Listen, I already have two men in my life, and that’s one too many.”
“Then women it is.” Their forms shifted again.
“Will you please stop that?” I begged the room as a whole. They came even closer.
“The devil will hurt all of you if you so much as lay another hand on me,” I said.
“It can be our secret.”
“He can read my mind.” Why was I trying to reason with them?
For the first time since I entered, they looked uncertain.
“And even if he didn’t, I don’t want any of you.” I should’ve just ordered them out right from the get go, but to be honest, these demons didn’t seem malicious, just a bit … horny. Also, it would be nice to not make enemies on day two. I bet in hell, enemies were very bad thing. I also bet these were the nicest demons here.
“Truly?” one replied.
“Truly,” I said.
“If the queen does not want us,” one said to the rest, “then we should leave.”
The others murmured their agreement, and they filed out of the bedroom. I practically sagged against the wall once they were gone.
Fuck my afterlife.
“Dinner,” growled a winged, red-eyed demon, entering the library where I was tucked away. Of all the types of demons I’d seen, this one appeared to be the most common. They were the devil’s lackeys and the only ones that formed from my blood.
“Not hungry,” I said, returning my attention to my book, not that it was much more interesting than the creature in front of me. Hell needed to upgrade its reading material. This demonic stuff got old after a while. There were only so many ways you could describe torturing a person, and though I’d definitely give some of these guys an “A” for originality, the subject was getting repetitive.
I’d just flipped the page when the demon yanked me up by the arm.
“Hey!” I protested, the book falling out of my hands.
He began dragging me out of the room.
We’d already done this jig before, and I was noticing a habit forming here, one where I got pushed around. I needed to set some boundaries, stat.
“I said I wasn’t hungry. Now, let go.” I tugged against his uncompromising hold.
It was as though I hadn’t spoken. The demon’s stride didn’t even slow and his grip didn’t lighten.
My power rose, building like a storm beneath my skin. I could taste it at the back of my throat.
I thrust my hand against the demon’s ashen chest and shoved the energy out, blasting him backwards. He hit the wall, shards of obsidian chipping off at the impact.
He slid to the floor, and I heard him growl. Then he was back up on his feet, stalking towards me, his expression murderous. I could see plainly that he was no longer interested in quietly dragging me off to the devil. He wanted my blood on his hands.
A series of daggers lined the walls of the library. Lifting my hand, I called one to me, using my power to pull it from its post across the room and into my hand. Andre’s training came back to me, and I relaxed my muscles as the demon charged at me.
I stood my ground as he closed the distance. At the last minute I ducked and slammed the dagger beneath the demon’s ribs, shoving it up with my considerable strength. It cut through flesh and bone and hit his heart.
Above me the demon choked. Weakly he swiped at me, his claws slicing across my skin. Ignoring the pain, I shoved the knife farther into him. He swayed, and then his body slid to the side, collapsing next to me.
I rose, wiping the black blood onto my dress and scowling down at the demon.
“Well done, consort.”
My head snapped up. A moment ago, the creature and I had been alone. Now, however, the devil stood in front of me, a legion of demons at his back. They filled the room, watching me curiously.
Pluto turned his head to the side, addressing the beings behind him, “Look at how fierce my queen is,” he said. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was bragging. “Take note—this is how she deals with dissent, and I will not stand in her way as she metes out justice.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Convenient how he showed up after the fight was over.
His lips quirked.
The demons at his back scrutinized me, some appreciatively, others apprehensively.
“Now,” he said to our audience, “leave us.”
In the next several seconds they dissipated into wisps of smoke, and then they were gone completely, leaving behind only the smell of sulfur.
Sliding his hands into his pockets, the devil strode over to the felled demon. A pool of black blood grew beneath the creature.
“Is he dead?” I asked.
“No, but after his impending stay in the dungeons, he will wish he was.”
I cocked my head. “You set this all up, didn’t you?”
“My dear,” the devil said, turning his attention to me, “even I can’t predict how a demon will act. I only knew that this one right here didn’t much like women.”
“And, knowing this, you decided to have him serve me.”
He studied me, his hands still in his pockets. “You think I am cruel.”
I gave an empty laugh. “I know you are.”
The devil’s heels clicked ominously as he crossed the room, stopping only a hair’s breadth away from me. “The Underworld is the most dangerous of all the realms. It’s built on power, and that power is derived from pain. Who gives it, who receives it. You are a teenage girl fresh from earth with one of the purest souls hell has ever seen.
“So, yes, I arranged this. I waited, and I watched, and I made sure when you delivered justice, other demons were here to witness it. You need to be seen as strong independent of me or else no one will respect you.”
What he said made a frightening amount of sense.
He held out his hand. “Now, dinner?”
“I already told your servant, I’m not hungry.”
“Perhaps you mistook that for a request. It was an order. Now, dinner.”
When I didn’t immediately take the devil’s hand, he grabbed mine, and the room dissolved around us, replaced with the dark dining room.
So much for me asserting my will.
I sighed. I needed to pick my battles better.
Place settings now covered the entire length of the table, but the platters of food rested only near the two chairs at the head of it.
“Do other demons eat here?” I asked, eyeing the table.
“Sometimes,” the devil said, leading me to my chair.
I tried and failed to imagine anything as civilized as demons eating together.
After I sat, he took his own seat, once again angling it towards me. He stared at me for several seconds, a small smile playing on his face.
“What?” I said.
“You sit at my table, reside in my palace, and will soon warm my bed.” My cheeks heated at that. “After all my waiting and after so many tried to stop me,” he pulled a grape from one of the platters and rolled it between his fingers, “I am gloating.” He popped the piece of fruit into his mouth.
“That’s what you call being a sore winner,” I said.
“All talk of soreness and winning should involve my bed and less clothes.”
I looked to the ceiling and silently beseeched it for deliverance.
He watched me as he chewed. “Speaking of beds, you didn’t let the incubi seduce you.”
I raised my eyebrows, though by now I shouldn’t have been surprised. This was his realm. Even if he hadn’t grabbed the thought from my mind, he likely had eyes everywhere in this place. And he’d already admitted to watching me.
I swallowed. I couldn’t trust anyone here, not even myself. And there were things I knew, sensitive things. If he learned of them …
I stopped that thought in its tracks.
“You’ve pleased me greatly,” he continued. “You’ve only been here little more than a day, and already you’ve punished a demon who sought to control you and disarmed a band of incubi bent on seducing you.”
“I live to please,” I said.
His sharp eyes caught mine. “Do not speak falsehoods.”
I couldn’t look away from him, but the more I stared, the stronger our connection pulsed. “I didn’t think you of all people would mind a lie.”
“Do you want me to be that man? The Deceiver? Just tell me and I can be every horrible version of myself.”
I couldn’t answer that, not when his mesmerizing eyes drew me in. Who was this god, who could be so awful and still have another side to him, one that lured me in?
He must’ve felt the shift in my emotions, must’ve sensed how weak I was in that moment. He leaned forward, closing the distance between us.
Before our lips could meet, that howling wind blew through the dining room, knocking over place setting after place setting. Glass and porcelain shattered as cups and plates hit the walls and floors. The screaming souls circled me.