Blinking hard, Sloth nodded and turned towards the door.She touched the handle, glanced once more at Neyu, then left.
Neyu let out a breath and slumped down onto the bed.
“What was that about?”Saer murmured.
“She knows, Saer.”
“Knows what?”
Neyu let the silence speak for her while Pride worked it out.
“She know—sheknows?”
The demoness rubbed her forehead.“We haven’t discussed it.She hasn’t said anything to me.Not out loud.”Her voice dropped.“Not with words.”
Saer couldn’t help his voice raising.“What in the Hells is that supposed to mean?”
Neyu made an exasperated sound.“It’s a human thing she’s picked up.I can’t explain it.”
“Try.”
Elbow on one knee, her temple propped on her fingers, Neyu’s mouth turned at a slant.“I have an instinctual feeling your being male will get in the way of that.”
“Excuse me?”
Neyu sighed and rubbed at her eyelids.“I need to talk to Saer.Not Pride right now.”
The pain in his ribs proved easier to ignore when bemused.“If you know she knows, make a suggestion.”
“I wasn’t completely certain until a minute ago.”Neyu frowned.“What do we do?”
Saer opened his mouth, closed it, then sat next to her.“We worry about one thing at a time.”
“What if she tells him we harvested together?He—”
No.He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.The gears in his mind churned as their path forward clarified.More than anything, Lucifer wanted souls.
They’d be able to continue together, right under their maker’s nose.
“Once the village’s souls are brought back, our maker will see firsthand the success of our working together.”He angled his body so he could meet Neyu’s sapphire gaze, but she kept her eyes to the floor.Pride took her palm within his fingers and gave it a squeeze.
“Neyu.”
The demoness lifted her gaze to Saer’s.
“I’ll take care of it.”he whispered.
Neyu’s grim expression persisted.“How?”
“I’ll return with the spirits.Our maker won’t be able to argue with the bounty, or that we’ve brought more success as a team than alone.We can promise we mean to work together, nothing more.”He could convince Lucifer.Heknewhe could, and he let that assuredness sing clear and true in his declaration.
Neyu worried on her lower lip.“Let me.”
A soft rumble preempted Saer’s denial, but Neyu touched her fingers to his lips.“He’ll listen to me.I’ve seen his shift in moods since your absence—you haven’t.Your plan is a good one, but I know how to speak to him.I can do it.”
Saer frowned, unable to argue, but not liking where she led him.
“Let me, Saer.”
