“I appreciate it, that’s all.”
A muscle ticked in his cheek. “I may hate that witch enough to enjoy watching her squirm, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy betraying my king. What spells are you going to use from her, Danica? You wouldn’t be stupid enough to try to take that cuff off your wrist, would you?”
“Never you mind.”
His scowl deepened. Oh, he didn’t like that. “What the hell are you doing away from your rooms? Are you trying to end up dead?”
I shrugged and he let out a bitter laugh. “Fine. Don’t tell me. It’s a good reminder of whose side I’m on.”
Fury burned low in my belly. “You chose that side again and again,” I hissed. “And for some stupid reason, you refuse to see the light.”
We walked down the hall in the servant’s quarters, snarling at each other, and he let out a low growl as we both stalked up the back stairs.
“Reason? How about centuries of loyalty, Danica?”
“Loyalty to a tyrant!”
He merely shook his head. “I was left alone in this palace, my only relation an enemy of Lucifer’s and on the other side of the underworld. Do you know what would’ve happened to me if Lucifer hadn’t taken me in?”
I was done listening to this. I pulled away from him as we arrived at my door.
“Yeah,” I said sweetly, unable to stop myself. “You might’ve grown up with a moral compass.”
Turning, I opened my door and shut it in his face.
* * *
DANICA
“Pass the water,” Pischiel muttered.
I ground my teeth and lifted the jug, handing it to him.
Lucifer had ordered us to breakfast, along with Daimonion and his crew of assassins, as if we were one big, happy family.
Those three words were the first words Pischiel had spoken to me all morning. Agates had asked me to get Pischiel onto our side. Instead, I’d completely alienated him.
Good work, Danica. What’s your next trick?
Namiros leered at me from across the long, rectangular table, and I fought the urge to flip him off. Paymon’s seat was conspicuously empty. I didn’t miss watching him sharpen his knives, the constant bulge in his pants making it clear he was fantasizing about doing something that would make me throw up.
Rumor had it, Paymon had been sent to pick off one of Samael’s people. And he hadn’t returned.
I barely suppressed a grin as I glanced at the empty seat. Next to me, Pischiel tensed. I turned my head to find Lucifer watching both of us with an inscrutable expression that didn’t bode well.
“Lover’s spat?” he smiled at us, cold and humorless.
“Just a misunderstanding,” I said sunnily.
Lucifer narrowed his eyes at me. Daimonion murmured something at that moment, stealing my grandfather’s focus, and some of the tension melted from my muscles.
Pischiel continued to ignore me, but that was just fine. I’d take a new tactic. There was no way I could charm him into seeing the light, but perhaps I could shame him into it.
Yeah, because shaming people into decisions always works out well.
I quashed that little voice in my head and stuffed a forkful of eggs in my mouth. Along with a variety of foods from my realm, the table practically groaned beneath delicacies from both fae realms, and, of course, various regions of the underworld.
Lucifer got to his feet, wiping his mouth with his napkin. He surveyed me one last time and then dropped his napkin on the table. I kept my face blank as I stared back at him.
