“What’s your main gift?”
Kas laughs like I’m hilarious. “You can’t just ask a girl about her gifts, Lilith.”
“Uh, okay.” Kas is a strange one, but she’s helpful. Sometimes I feel like her only setting is cryptic. But she’s been kind and has been more forward with information than anyone else I’ve met in Hell, so I go with it.
Two men approach us, and Kas gives them a kind smile, so I do the same thing. They’re above-average looking. And I hate to say it, but they just seem short even though they’re not, definitely not by human standards. But standing next to Lucifer, they would look like miniature men. I shake the thought out of my head and smile as the man with no hair and golden skin smiles at me.
“I haven’t seen you at one of these parties,” he comments, and I’m not sure when I should test out this gift, so I just keep the conversation going.
“This is our first one,” I reply.
“I thought so. Your face is one I would have remembered.” I give him another smile and follow Kas’ lead. “So, are you ladies participating tonight?”
“Participating?” I ask.
Kas smiles and interrupts his answer to my question by saying, “It depends. How much do you think we would go for?”
“Oh, I’d easily start the bidding at twenty thousand.”
Kas scoffs. “Too low.”
“Indeed, too low,” the man in front of me says in agreement. He looks me up and down like I’m a prized animal, and my hand twitches. Kas nudges me, and I realize this is my time to test out my gift. I touch his arm and look into his brown eyes, copying what Kas did with the bouncer at the door.
“What exactly goes on here?”
“Auctions,” he replies instantly.
“For what?”
“A night of entertainment, to do what you want. Your deepest fantasies.”
“Gross,” I say, dropping my hand from his arm. I look around the room at the women to see if any of them need saving from this situation. Kas shakes her head.
“They’re all willing,” she says softly as the men leave. “Sad, I know. I saw your dagger hand getting twitchy. It’s not as seedy as you think.”
“They buy them?”
“For the night,” she says matter-of-factly.
“And they are okay with that?”
“More than okay; some of these girls pay off a four-year college tuition after one night.”
I nod my head and watch as girls flirt with the men, batting their eyelashes, and showing interest in them. Or in their money. I smile then, taking in the reality of the situation. However, I am a little disappointed that no stabbing or other demon way of killing is going to be happening tonight.
Kas talks to people as we walk through the party, and a part of me wonders if she has an ulterior motive for being here. But I drink champagne while watching and observing, spreading my wings with my new ability nearly every time someone asks me a question.
The fact that I can make someone believe anything I say as a fact can be really helpful, and I wonder what my job will be as a demon. Will I come to Earth to find future demons or souls that will reside in Hell? What other demon jobs are there, anyway? My thoughts are interrupted as a hand snakes around my waist and squeezes.
I look over to see the same man I spoke to earlier.
“You’re sure you’re not for sale tonight.”
“I’m sure,” I answer, preparing to pry his fingers off my waist when another hand does it for me.
“That’s quite enough,” the new guy says. My conversations with Lucifer have been short, but his voice is memorable. I glance up at him, and the man beside me swallows thickly. Lucifer is menacing, just in a neutral state, but the way he’s looking at him… it’s as if he wants to cut his hands off for touching me.
I like it more than I should.
