Fotadh knocked on the wooden door. The knock was ignored, so he continued knocking until it was finally thrown open.
I didn’t know what I’d been expecting, but it wasn’t a high demon.
Ugales glowered at Fotadh. Then his eyes met mine and the blood drained from his face.
“What are you thinking bringingherhere?” he demanded. “I have no need for the bad luck that follows her family.”
His wings rustled behind him, and I merely raised my eyebrow, giving him a cool look. “Is that why you’ve been hiding out here and leaving the villagers to be preyed upon?”
Not a hint of shame crossed his face. Instead, his expression went blank as he turned back to Fotadh. “Why did you bring her here?” he asked again.
“My honor demands it. I am hoping your honor will demand the same.” Fotadh gave the demon a meaningful look that made him glance away.
“Fine.”
Fotadh turned to us. “I leave you both here,” he announced. “Are you able to make your way back to the portal?”
We nodded and he gave Ugales a final warning look before giving us a courtly bow. “It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
He walked away, the sword on his hip glinting in the sunlight.
Ugales let out a low growl but opened his door further.
“Come in then.”
The cabin was larger than it looked from outside, but it was sparsely decorated with little more than a wooden sofa—complete with ancient-looking cushions and a small table. There was a bed in one corner of the room and a tiny kitchen.
“Ask your questions.”
This guy was pissing me off. “Why are you here?”
“That’s my business.”
“How did you know my parents?”
A hint of sorrow flickered in his eyes. “Agates and I… we were… not quite friends, because friendship was never encouraged amongst Lucifer’s court. But we never actively plotted against each other.”
My father’s name was Agates. I filed that away to think about later, but I wasn’t here to learn about the man who’d gotten my mother pregnant and abandoned her.
“What about my mother?”
He clamped his mouth shut and I let out a low growl. Next to me, Kyla was so still she could have been made of stone. I recognized that expression on her face. It was her “this guy deserves my teeth in his throat” look.
“Your mother should have known better than to get involved with a demon.”
“There, we can agree. But she got involved with him anyway. Tell me what you know.”
His wings spread wide. “Don’t think to order me, halfbreed.”
This was a waste of time. I turned to go, and he let out a low growl. “You may be of Lucifer’s line, but you won’t prevent me from fulfilling my debt to that fae bastard.”
Ah. Someone owed Fotadh a favor. There was a fair amount of that going around.
“Then cooperate with me,” I said. “Tell me why you’re here and not in the underworld—or even in my world.”
He let out a bitter laugh. “Those loyal to your father were purged. I was nearly caught, and only escaped because Lucifer had more important traitors in his sights. Should I have crawled at Samael’s feet?”
“I’ve never known Samael to expect his people to crawl for him.”
