The man coughed out a phlegmy laugh. “From my corner office.” Then he laughed again and gave a mocking bow.
Iniquity’sentrance was next to his “corner office,” which consisted of a heap of dirty, stinking rags beside a trolley filled with empty cans and plastic bags.
“How long have you been camped out there?” I asked, eyeing him carefully.
He shrugged. “Long enough.”
“When was the last time anyone came or went through that door?” I pointed to the nondescript entrance to the club, though it was now painted over with graffiti, rusted chains strung across and secured with a padlock.
“Ages,” the man said. “Ages and ages.”
“Fuck,” Chaos grunted. “So much for that plan. Now how are we supposed to get word to Lilith that Lucifer has Merri?”
Sin gave Chaos an incredulous look. “Since when is the God of War afraid of a little padlock?”
“I am not the God of War.”
“Might as well be, dude. But back to the point. Are you really telling me a little metal is going to keep us out?”
“No,” I growled.
My brothers materialized beside me in the belly of Lilith’s club. What had once been a den for all manner ofdepravity, frequented by every species of supernatural creature in existence, was now in shambles. Tables overturned, glasses shattered on the floor, cracks spiderwebbing the walls, and the mirrored ceiling broken, with deadly shards hanging by a thread.
“Hello?” Sin shouted. “Anybody home?”
“Do you really expect that to work?” Malice asked.
“Worth a shot, ri—” Sin’s response was cut off by an undignified scream as a shard of glass from the ceiling came crashing down, narrowly missing his head. “Motherfucker,” he panted. “That was some real Final Destination bullshit. It nearly sliced me in two.”
Chaos sighed. “Don’t be so dramatic. You would have healed.”
“Do you have any idea how long it takes to regrow an entire brain? Also, I’m tired of always being the one who has to heal. Why aren’t you guys ever on the receiving end of a fatal blow?”
Chaos smirked. “You do have the most punchable face.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Well, you always wanted to be the best at something,” Malice offered.
“Being punchable is hardly an achievement.”
I huffed a frustrated sigh. We didn’t have time to go on a tangent. Not with the humans being picked off for sport, Merri gone, and all the Princes released. “She’s not here.”
“How do you know? We haven’t checked her private rooms. Her office.” Malice took a step toward the stairs that would take us to her voyeur rooms and office, but I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Can’t you sense the emptiness? She’s not here. The only flickers of life in this tomb are coming from us.” I cocked my head. “And maybe a couple of rats.”
“Great, so this was a colossal waste of time. What now, Columbo?” Sin asked.
“Maybe that watcher knows more than he let on,” Chaos suggested.
Malice frowned. “You think so? He seemed like a nutter to me.”
“You have a better idea?” I challenged.
“Nope.”
“Then interrogation it is.”
