Lucifer pulled a rope on the wall, and in an instant, Aeacus—the valet I was to replace in a hundred years—dropped to the ground. “Yes, Master.”
“Summon Lycus and tell him to bring his captive. I want to question the warlock.”
The valet stood and took off like a shot. I couldn’t see myself doing that in the next century. No way would I be so subservient. I’d be killed every day, but then again, without Scotty, what would it matter?
“Where is your white lighter now?” Lucifer was staring at me.
I swallowed the ball of emotion in my throat so I could speak. “I don’t know. Beelz brought me here to meet with you. I have no idea how long we’ve been here, but I can’t feel my mate anymore.”
My chest felt empty at the loss of my connection to Scotty. It wouldn’t be worth existing if he was gone from me.
Aeacus showed me to a luxurious bedroom down a long, dark hallway. Apparently, there was some hold-up with Lycus and the warlock, so Lucifer instructed his valet to take me to my new bedroom. Was there no way out of becoming a prince of Hell so I could return to Scotty? It didn’t seem like it.
“Rest here. I’ll collect you when Lycus returns with the warlock. If you need anything, ring the bell.” He pointed to a fancy velvet rope next to the bed before he walked out.
Glancing around, I noticed the room was quite beautiful. Was it put together by a demonic interior designer? How much would that job pay? It was a sexy room.
I stepped across thick jewel-tone rugs spread around the black marble floor to the bed and grazed my hand over the navy velvet spread that had gold threads stitched into it to make an elaborate design. The room was cooler than the throne room, which was a relief. I couldn’t imagine sleeping in that heat.
There were large black doors on each side of the bed, so I stood and walked to the one on the left, seeing a full closet with fine suits, beautiful shirts, and gorgeous shoes. I took a shirt off the rack, surprised it was exactly my size. It was hand-stitched and the buttons were made from real pearls.
There was a shoe rack in the closet that I would forever lust after, and when I spotted a pair of men’s Prada brushed leather oxford lace shoes in black that I’d been wanting since they’d debuted in Milan, I couldn’t keep my hands off them. I held them up and admired their beauty.
I hadn’t been able to justify the cost when I was a cop, though I had money from my family. I was a tad jealous that someone had such lovely shoes. Then I remembered I had no one to impress anymore, so I put them down.
Out of frustration, I slammed the door and flopped onto the bed, not caring what was behind the other door. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.
A banging echoed through the room, making me shoot off the bed in fright. I must have fallen asleep, so I hurried over and opened the thick wooden door to see Aeacus standing in front of it, his expression neutral.
“Hey, bro. What’s up?”
Something inside me was itching to rile up the demon to see his reaction for reasons I couldn’t understand. Aeacus just got under my skin, but I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because Iwas supposed to be in his shoes in a hundred years, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.
“His Majesty is ready to see you. Prince Lycus has returned.”
“Cool. So, uh, you got a wife and kids?” I closed the door to the fancy room and put my arm around Aeacus’s neck to make him uncomfortable. I was surprised to see we were the same height.
“Small talk with me is unnecessary. Wait until it’s your turn to hold the Master’s appendage while he unnecessarily urinates just to embarrass you. You won’t be so happy to be here.” The valet had a point, but I had news for him.
“Naw. After this is figured out, and I know for sure I’m not getting my angel back, I’m out of here.”
It was no lie. I’d already made up my mind. Without Scotty, there was no reason tobe.
Aeacus chuckled, and I leaned closer and kissed his cheek just to piss him off. “So, girlfriend? Boyfriend?”
“Lesser demons don’t fall in love or take a mate.”
It was then I remembered the issue with the cherub and the lesser demon Scotty and I had investigated a while back for breaking into a condo in the newly developed part of Limbo. They told us they were in love and had nowhere to spend time together that wouldn’t get them in trouble, so they broke into one of the unoccupied units. They had no idea security cameras had been installed, and they got caught.
Scotty protested that we were tasked with dealing with the incident, but because I had been a cop, the powers-that-be had demanded I find them. Thankfully, those same powers hadn’t realized they were in love because it was forbidden for the cherub to be in a relationship with a demon. I didn’t realize the same was true for the demon.
I’d explained to the cherub how they got caught and what kind of trouble they could get in if they did it again, while Scotty hadtalked to the demon. What was the cherub’s name—Nate? Nari? Whatever.
They’d said they’d be forever in our debt if we didn’t turn them in for breaking the rules, and hell, we were in love too, so we simply reported that they were playing a prank and had been warned against such behavior in the future.
What was the demon’s name? Thor? No—that’s a comic book character.
“Say, do you know a demon named, uh, Tork? I think that’s it, right?” It sounded close to right in my head.
