“Cheers,” he murmured, giving her a smile that made the waitress do a stutter step and nearly walk into a wall. He downed the drink in one go and grimaced. “Whew. I’ve got to say, I prefer immortality to whatever that was.”
Calladia had done what she could to patch Astaroth up, but it had been a relief to find out the restaurant had a wide potion selection. As Calladia watched, the wound left by the splinter she’d pulled out of Astaroth’s shoulder closed until all that was visible through the hole in his shirt was smooth skin.
“Feeling better?” Calladia asked him.
“Much.” He turned his smile on her, though it was a softer, more genuine version of what he’d given the waitress. Calladia wanted to smile back, but her skin itched under the weight of too many stares.
Time to face the music. She was seated at the head of a long table, and she took a deep breath before confronting the rest of the group. It was like presiding over the weirdest Last Supper ever. On her right were Astaroth, Lilith, Sandranella, Kai, and two random werewolves. On her left were Mariel, Oz, Themmie, Ben, Avram, and the last unnamed werewolf. The wolves were eagerly digging into the “chips and salsa,” but the atmosphere on Calladia’s end of the table felt more like a standoff. Oz and Mariel in particular were glaring daggers at Astaroth.
“So,” Astaroth said. “Who talks first?”
Oz exploded out of his seat and slammed his hands on the table. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Mariel aimed a similar question at Calladia. “Are you seriously hanging out with Astaroth?”
Calladia squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. “It’s complicated.”
“You’d better uncomplicate it quickly,” Mariel said. “Because I’m honestly really hurt that you’re helping the demon who took my soul and wanted to kill Oz.”
“I mean, you got the soul back . . .” Calladia said, trailing off when she saw Themmie wince, shake her head, and drag her finger over her throat.
Astaroth did not get the same message, apparently. “And clearly I didn’t succeed at killing Ozroth,” he said, “so let’s let bygones be bygones, shall we?”
Lilith frowned and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. “You failed to kill someone? Are you feeling all right?”
“Who is that?” Themmie asked, wings twitching. “Who are any of these people, for that matter?”
Calladia sighed and made quick introductions. “To my left, my friend Mariel and her boyfriend Oz, formerly of the soul-bargaining persuasion. Then my friends Themmie and Ben, Avram, Ben’s cousin who I met in a brawl, and . . .” She squinted. “Some other werewolves I fought.”
The werewolves cheered and raised their ear-chips in a toast.
“Then Kai,” she said, continuing her way around the table, “also from the brawl.”
“Damn straight,” Kai said, thumping his chest. “She skewered me in the chest and stole my heart.”
Astaroth bared his teeth at that, so Calladia hurried on. “Next to him is Sandranella of the Nine, member of the demon high council, and Lilith, Astaroth’s mother.” She cleared her throat. “Everyone knows Astaroth already.”
Silence followed the introductions. Then multiple people began talking at once.
“You’re brawling with werewolves again?”
“Wait, Lilith the Mother of All Demons?”
“It’s been less than a week, and suddenly you’re hanging out with—”
“Is he forcing you to be here?”
“—a pack of werewolves and multiple demons?”
“Bro, Lilith is hot.”
“Did you make a bargain?”
Calladia raised her voice. “Enough! Let me speak.”
“This had better be good,” Mariel said.
“Why yes, I am that Lilith,” Lilith said, ignoring Calladia’s instruction as she fluffed her hair. “Reports of my offspring are wildly overstated, but reports of my promiscuity are sadly understated.”
Kai clapped a hand to his chest. “Knock me over. I heard bedtime stories about you. My mum told me you’d dismember me if I wasn’t a good pup.”
Lilith eyed the buff werewolf. “I prefer my bad pups in one piece.” She winked. “Unless you cross me.” Then she pulled a knife out of nowhere, leaned across Sandranella, and plunged it into the wooden table a few inches from Kai’s hand.
Kai shuddered. “I think I’m in love.”
Oz glared at Astaroth. “I ought to sever your head after how you betrayed me.”
Calladia tried again. “If you’ll all just be quiet—”
“Seems excessive,” Astaroth said. “In this state, a decent clobbering will take me out.”
Calladia took a deep breath, then yelled at the top of her lungs. “Shut up!”
Silence fell. Every eye in the room fixed on her.
“So, the short version,” Calladia said, taking advantage of the pause. “Astaroth has amnesia, and he’s mortal now.”
“What?” Oz asked, looking shocked.
“It’s true,” Calladia said. “He made a bet with Moloch on the demon high council. If Oz succeeded in taking Mariel’s soul, Astaroth could do whatever he wanted to Moloch. If Oz failed, the reverse was true.”
“That was the dumbest wager I’d ever heard,” Sandranella said. “I tried to talk him out of it, but nooooo, he was so sure Ozroth would succeed.”
Oz recoiled. “That was the bet?” he asked Astaroth. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know.” Astaroth’s gaze was fixed on his clasped hands, and Calladia could tell he was deeply uncomfortable. “Amnesia and all that. But since you’re now dating the mortal you were supposed to target, I suspect learning the terms of the wager wouldn’t have altered the outcome.”
Oz looked at Mariel, and his gruff features softened. “No,” he said. “It wouldn’t have.”
“Apparently I had far too much faith in you,” Astaroth said.
Calladia smacked his thigh under the table. “Not a helpful response. We want to get them on our side.”
“Your side?” Mariel looked between Astaroth and Calladia, hurt shining from her hazel eyes. “I thought you were on my side.”
“I am,” Calladia said. “Like I said, it’s complicated.”
“Uncomplicate it,” Oz said. He put a protective arm around Mariel, and she leaned into him.
Calladia was torn between conflicting impulses. A longing for that kind of casual intimacy, the urge to scoot closer to Astaroth, and the guilt of having let down her friends. How could she have fallen so quickly for him? Seeing her friends’ horror was a blunt reminder that the demon she’d been fighting so hard to save had committed crimes against them mere days before.
Haltingly, she gave an overview of events, from finding Astaroth bleeding on the street to Sandranella’s concerns about the balance of power on the demon plane. “Moloch wants to eliminate half-demon hybrids,” she said, “or at least strip them of rights.” She looked at Astaroth, wondering if it was okay to share his secret.
He sighed. “Go on, then.”
“Astaroth has always supported hybrid rights,” Calladia said. “Among other reasons, he’s half human.”