Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
She was a strong were because she had to have flown up again. She was popping in and out of her form, and like my son, didn’t care about a robe.
“Sorry, kid.” I laid back, letting Rose do her job. “Do you like it up there?”
She grinned and was heartbreakingly cute, like a lot of kids her age. “It’s fun in here because I get to watch Momma work, but I like it better when I get to hang out with my dad.” Her grin faded. “He was sad last night. Alvis died. I don’t like the word die. It means I don’t get to see people again.”
Poor kid had already seen way too much death. “Sorry about that. I’m going to find out what happened. I promise.”
Her already big eyes widened, and she looked to her mom. “Momma, I hear a sound. Something’s coming.”
“It’s probably Eddie,” Rose said, finishing up my wound care. “He’ll be bringing Trent and Fen back.”
Luna’s head shook. “It’s from below.”
Suddenly I was looking at a bat who wrapped herself up in her wings as though she could hide. So much trauma in her young life.
And then I smelled brimstone as a demon popped into existence right in front of me.
I’d thought my day was done, but I got ready for another fight.
“Don’t, Kelsey.” Gray stepped in front of me. “He’s not here to cause trouble.”
Evan moved closer to me. “They always cause trouble. They live for it.”
The demon was a slender male dressed in an elegant suit. With the exception of his horns and red eyes, he looked perfectly human and well-heeled, with slicked back brown hair and male-model high cheekbones. He glanced around and offered a courtly bow. “Good afternoon, residents of the Under. I’m pleased to make your acquaintances.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I wasn’t playing around with the demons. “How the hell did you get through the wards, and what did you do to the nest?”
The demon frowned. “What happened to the nest?”
“Kelsey, he didn’t do anything,” Gray corrected.
“He’s here.” I wasn’t going to avoid the evidence in front of me. “He’s standing in a place that is supposed to be protected by a whole bunch of wards. Liv obviously couldn’t get through them, hence the plan to ensure I was brought to the surface so she could light me up. So how did this asshole get through?”
The demon gasped and put a hand to his chest as though there were some pearls there he could clutch. “That is extremely rude, Lady Sloane.”
I shook my head and slid off the table. “Oh, don’t you dare call me that.”
“It’s your title,” the demon insisted.
Gray stepped between us. “My wife doesn’t ever intend to take her place in the House of Sloane, so her title is not necessary.”
“You gave up your place in the House of Sloane when your contract was…” I should have asked more questions. He’d signed another contract, after all. “Did you agree to take on your house responsibilities again, Grayson Sloane?”
The House of Sloane was supposed to have fallen after what Gray’s father had done to him. When his legacy contract had been declared void, his father had been dragged to the Hell plane and the house he headed had lost its lofty place. It certainly wasn’t supposed to now be headed by the dark prophet.
I’d fixed this problem.
“The House of Sloane is a highly regarded house on the Hell plane,” the demon assured me.
“Kelsey, it’s not what you think. No one is torturing souls,” Gray replied. “But it was necessary to revive the house in order for me to regularly descend. Your title is nothing more than a formality.”
“Does Trent have one or does he get left up here when they find a way to drag us both down?” I wasn’t feeling fair.
The demon waved a hand as though this was not an issue at all. “Lord Sloane’s pet wolf will be welcome in his house, of course. I am ever ready to welcome Trent, as I am eager to serve My Lady.”
“Pet?” I practically screamed the question, and I was done. I needed to talk to my husband because he should have told me he’d taken over his father’s role when he’d become Lucifer’s butt monkey. “Get the fuck out. You are never to come to the Under again. Ever. Do I make myself clear?”
The demon took a step back and look horrified. He turned to Gray as though he could save the demon from me. “I cannot believe Lady Sloane is so rude, My Lord.”
Gray simply sighed. “That’s because you’ve never met her. Why are you here, Tix?”
A look akin to sympathy hit the slender demon’s face. “Our Great Lord Lucifer requests your presence given recent events.”
“Ah, the king,” Gray acknowledged. “I should have expected that he would want to contemplate Donovan and the queen’s return to the plane. I’d hoped for a bit more time with my wife.”