Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
“He’s only a boy.” Lilith seemed to go still, indicating she thought this could go very wrong.
Lucifer wasn’t buying it. “No, he’s not. He’s a vampire king and the son of the most obnoxious woman I’ve ever met. Lady Sloane is a fucking delight compared to Zoey Donovan-Quinn.”
“I am not.” It was insulting. I could be every bit as annoying as Zoey.
“Hush, baby.” Trent was back and wrapped an arm around my waist. “Let Lee handle this.”
So he knew what was going on. He’d likely found Lee and talked this over. But I still stood by my assertion. Way more annoying than the queen.
“I will admit that the time I met your mother, I underestimated her. I sent a piece of me that’s particularly misogynistic,” he said with a negligent shrug.
“That would be all of you,” Lilith huffed under her breath, but her eyes were on Myrddin.
Lucifer ignored her. “But I won’t underestimate you. Do you know what the punishment is for taking something of mine?”
“I’m sure it’s terrible. Probably an eternity of having my innards eaten by ants or something.” Lee sent Lilith his most charming smile. “Hey, Nim’s mom. You look good. She’s coming along nicely. The last time I checked she had knees and everything. And she’d started a flirtation with a water dragon.”
“She’s really alive,” Lilith asked, her voice going hopeful.
“And she’ll be ready to kick some ass soon,” Lee promised. “My sister and I will be happy to escort you. I mean we will if I’m not dead and trapped here in Hell.”
“That’s the funny thing. He can’t trap you. You can only trap yourself,” Lilith replied. “If you believe you don’t belong here, the most he can do is send your soul on to its next voyage.”
“Well, then my brother is safe because no one ever accused him of not loving himself. In all ways,” Evan piped up.
She and Fenrir seemed to have calmed down. They stood close to the doors as though ready to flee when the time came. Smart kids.
“I’ll sign the contract if you’ll allow Lee to leave,” Gray said.
Trent hissed under his breath. “No, you won’t. Let him do what he needs to do. We were never going to allow you to descend that way again.”
What had Trent been planning? I didn’t blame him. This was how he’d been forced to work for over a decade. He wouldn’t change overnight, but we needed to talk about including me in plots and schemes. I liked scheming. It’s one of my favorite things to do.
“As it happens, I decided not to steal from Lord Lucifer.” Lee was far too calm and collected for a man who was going up against the first fallen angel. “I will admit my grandfather taught me well, and one of the things he taught me was to know when the job was far beyond my skillset.”
Myrddin, on the other hand, suddenly looked hella nervous. “You can’t know that, Lord. The boy is full of lies.”
“I am all man, and no lies here,” Lee countered with the surety of a man who knew he held the winning cards. “I took one look at all those hallways and figured out there was no way I would find his wings. And I don’t have to because I learned from my mother that there’s always a door number three.”
“Intent is enough to convict on the Hell plane,” Myrddin pointed out like he was a prosecutor.
“The magician is correct. You planned to steal from me. That in and of itself is a crime against me. Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you where you stand, vampire.” Lucifer seemed to have grown a foot, and his horns rose over his head, his skin taking on a red sheen.
I could feel the tension going through the room, and suddenly Liv and Casey had joined us.
“I think I can put a protection spell around us,” Liv whispered. “I need to get the rest of them close.”
I wanted to hug my bestie and start planning her post-cult wardrobe, but now wasn’t the time. “We need to get Lee over here.”
“Or you could trust him,” Trent said firmly. “He knows what he’s doing. We planned for this.”
“You could have mentioned that to me,” Gray groused.
“I’m sorry. I’m not used to talking to you about stuff like this,” Trent replied. “I hoped we wouldn’t have to do it, but it’s all going to be fine.”
I took a deep breath. Trusting my friends and family had taken me a long way.
“Because I have something you want, and I’m willing to trade it for Dean’s life.” Lee reached under his arm and pulled the bag of holding free from the mantle he’d worn. It had been tucked in, safe from prying eyes, and I had to wonder what the hell he had.