“Arts and crafts time, is it?” she asked, clocking the red strings webbing across two of the walls.
“Cute,” I said, taking in her apocalypse-chic attire.
It was the first time I’d seen her in anything other than her fuck-me femme Domme outfits. Not to say she wasn’t exuding sex. Lilith would do that in a paper bag. But this was definitely not her usual corset and pencil skirt situation. It was more of a military-esque catsuit like you’d see Black Widow wear. Form-fitted, showcasing her curves, but covering every inch of her skin save her hands and a small triangle of exposed flesh at her throat. She wasn’t even wearing her signature stilettos. The boots on her feet were sturdy, utilitarian, but as she strolled toward me, I noticed they still bore the red-bottomed soles she was so fond of. Designer shitkickers... I didn’t know they made those.
“Going somewhere?” I asked, wondering at the shift.
“This old thing?” she asked, tossing me a wink.
“Strap a gun to your thigh and you could go to war.”
“Darling, weareat war. Haven’t you been paying attention?”
An icy chill ran down my spine even though her tone was playful. If Lilith was dressed to fight, that could only mean one thing. She knew she was going to have to get involved in the fray. Lilith used her power, her cunning, her massive influence to manipulate the circumstances around her to her benefit. She never actually got her hands dirty. She hadn’t needed to. Nor had she been allowed to, technically speaking. At least not when it came to the horsewomen and their games. I had no doubt that in a physical altercation with the original demon, I’d lose. Badly.
“Where is your annoyingly handsome faerie pet, Auntie Lilith?” Pan asked, a smirk on his lips.
“Says the man who looks like an annoyingly handsome faerie himself,” I said under my breath.
Pan glowered at me. The loss of his demon form was a sore spot for him. He didn’t mind the pretty purple hair and human-colored skin, but as soon as it came up, he was bemoaning the lack of his stupid tail and horns.
“You wouldn’t dare speak to me that way if I still looked like myself,” he snarled.
“Easily remedied,” Lilith said, snapping her fingers.
In a puff of glitter and—I shit you not—rainbows, Pandemic the Demon was back in all his seven-foot, purple glory. His horns were still gone, but the stumps remained as silent effigies to his sacrifice. And he would never let anyone forget the sacrifice.
Ever.
“Great. Now we have to deal with him like this,” Gavin grumbled. “Insufferable.”
Pan stretched, his tail curling upward and taking hold of the glass in his hand. “Oh, hello you. I’ve missed you so.” His gaze flicked to Lilith. “Can I keep it for a while?”
“As long as you like, darling.”
“Why is he still here? He’s outlived his usefulness.” Caleb’s eyes narrowed as he took in the demon. He’d been front row center for Pan’s possession of me; it was clear there would always be very little trust between the priest and the demon he’d tried to exorcise.
“He’s the only one of us with inside knowledge of demonkind,” I said.
Lilith cocked a brow and served me a cool stare.
“I’m sorry, but it’s true. It’s common knowledge that despite your ties to the Hellscape, you remain in this realm. Pan, on the other hand, was still in the thick of things until this last year. He has valuable insights about the way demons fight, how they think, where they might strike. And since we have no outside access to information anymore, he’s the closest thing to an encyclopedia we have.”
Pan blinked at me. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
Brotherly love was a complicated dance, and as Remi once said, I didn’t know the steps. But I did know that Pan and I understood each other in a way no one else could, thanks to our bitch of an egg donor. And that counted for something.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit, Lilith?” Gavin asked, adjusting his shirt cuffs like he was preparing to go to some kind of event. It was the literal apocalypse, and the vampire was in a three-piece suit. What was wrong with him?
“In answer to your earlier question, Drystan is working on security with Nord and Lina. The Novasgardians are security experts, as is my prince. As for the four of you... I was hoping you’d made some headway.”
“On locating the horsemen? Negative, ghostrider,” I said, gesturing at the wall. “With the grid down, collecting intel isbasically impossible. We have no idea what’s going on up there. Unless your angel friend wants to come back and start giving us the headlines. He can be our celestial news anchor.”
“Evander will love that,” Lilith said with a smirk.
“Everyone has to pull their weight. Including angels,” Caleb grumbled.
