“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.
“The worst timing …” he muttered. “We’ll resume this later,” he promised. “Be good,” he said. “Don’t fuck any vampires.”
In what world was telling someone that normal?
“In hell,” he answered, winking at me as the wind lifted me into the air.
He stood and gave me a salute with his wine glass. “Remember, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. And last, but not least—happy hunting.”
Chapter 12
Andre
The moment he awoke, Andre nearly choked on the pain in his heart.
Gabrielle’s gone once more, and she’s siphoning my soul away along with hers.
His last vision of her had been frightening. Those corded vines wrapped around her, sucking her under.
He rubbed his sternum, pinching his eyes shut. The bond soulmates shared might be made of nothing more than magic, but its absence physically hurt. Centuries of violence had taught him to handle pain, but … there was no preparing for this.
He forced himself off his bed, pushing past the vampires that had hauled him inside yesterday, after Gabrielle was dragged back to hell.
Gabrielle.