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)
“I thought nothing could hurt me here,” I muttered as the cat huffed and looked ready to pounce again.
“Yes, my dear, something has gone wrong. You should go investigate it,” Gray said, and it was obvious he’d gotten way better at talking through his large fangs. He was in what I liked to think of as a mid-change. He’d allowed his more demonic attributes out but kept his human size. His demonic size would rip through that gorgeous suit of his.
He’d also developed a sense of humor he hadn’t had before. “Will do, as soon as we put this thing down.”
Gray ignored me and moved toward the cat. “I am the Sloane, master of this plane, and you will calm down.”
The cat swiped a giant clawed paw his way.
“Kelsey, I think you should get back,” a new voice said.
I took the chance to glance behind me, and Liv and Casey were on the stairs that led up to the big house. I hated the fact that my eyes went straight to that collar Lily had promised would keep her under control. I could use some of her magic right now.
Liv had been the one to tell me to get back. I was surprised at that. “I thought your life would be easier if some Hell beast ate me. When did you join the ‘protect the women’ contingency? Myrddin is hell on your feminism.”
She frowned and put a hand on her hips. “I was trying to be nice. Fine. Let that thing eat you. Also, I wasn’t thinking about you. I was thinking about the baby. If you want to let some gross tiger thing eat your baby, who am I to tell you no.”
Casey was frowning my way, too. “Hey, she’s trying. She didn’t want you to die. It’s progress.”
I would have said something sarcastic back, but Gray suddenly had a like five-hundred-pound cat trying to take out his throat. They were rolling around on the ground and Gray was trying to punch the cat in the face, and it was undignified.
So I walked up and put two bullets in the cat’s head. Bullets worked on the Hell plane nicely, and I didn’t have to worry about anyone stealing my gun and using it to close the door to the Heaven plane.
The night went quiet again, and Gray’s dark eyes were staring up at me.
“I almost had him,” Gray said, pushing the cat off.
He so hadn’t. He’d been a couple of inches away from having his throat slashed open and ruining that suit, but I did understand delicate male feelings. “Sorry, babe. I panicked.”
He sighed. “You did not. Damn it. What was wrong with him? He should never have attacked me like that. He shouldn’t even be here.”
Gray got to his feet and dusted the grass off his slacks. I hoped Tix knew how to get those stains out.
“Aren’t all the creatures here supposed to be oathed to you, Lord Sloane?” Casey asked.
Gray stared down at the corpse. “Yes. They are. The weird thing is I couldn’t feel him coming. I’m connected to these lands. When I want to, I can feel every living creature here. At least the ones born here. The drixalranous are indigenous to this plane.”
“That doesn’t mean he couldn’t have been bred on another plane and brought here specifically to attack you,” Liv mused, coming in closer. There was a look of pure curiosity on her face.
Despite her rewriting of history, Liv was usually the one to insert herself into the cases I investigated. She’d called herself Watson to my Holmes, though you should understand that I do not play the violin and I drink way more beer than Sherlock ever did. But Liv was an excellent Watson, and she’d always had my back. “What do you know about this oath thing? Is it a spell?”
Liv knelt down, studying the cat who was covered in that icky drool and now sported a couple of neat bullet holes, one through his left eye. “It’s more a function of how the Hell plane runs. I know this is going to surprise you, but Hell lords aren’t the sort of beings who normally inspire loyalty. So in order to be sure there weren’t constant coup attempts and utter chaos, the idea of the oath was born. Think of it as fealty reenforced with biological constraints. Any creature born or made of this plane can’t harm the head of the house. It’s why it was such a big deal when the previous Lord Sloane was cast out.”
“If Gray hadn’t been willing to take control of the house, they would have slaughtered every creature here and started over,” Casey explained.
“That’s awful.” I didn’t love the idea of Gray ruling a plane of Hell, but I also didn’t think it was fair to murder everyone and start over. Talk about a shitty layoff plan. “So how do we explain the cat thing?”