The truth was, he didn’t know what to do with himself now that he’d gotten what he wanted, and there was no one around to keep in line and no crises to solve. It didn’t matter that things had finally calmed down. He was constantly on edge, and everyone around him knew it.
Worse, they’d all decided to make it their life’s mission to fix him.
As if summoned by those very thoughts, a tidy little knock on the patio door interrupted his recipe reading. Sunshine stood outside, waving happily at him and smiling radiantly.
He groaned inwardly. It still weirded him out that a heavenly angel was not only dating but living with his brother Raum. And she wasn’t just any angel. Sunshine was one of the Principalities, the highest ranking angels of the Third Sphere—the Sphere tasked with enforcing Heaven’s rules on Earth.
With a sigh, Bel waved a hand, gesturing for her to come in. She made sure to close the door snugly and remove her shoes on the mat so not a speck of dirt got on his floor.
That was the thing about Sunshine. She was so careful and conscientious, it was impossible not to like her.
When Bel had first found out about her, he’d been fully on board with killing her. He’d attempted it too, but Raum had stopped him, the lovesick idiot.
But now that Sunshine had proven herself, he’d decided he didn’t mind her after all. Chopping the archangel Raphael into tiny pieces and sending him to Hell for an eternity of torment at the Necromancer’s hands was a great way to get into Bel’sgood books. And she’d done it all to protect Raum. He would always respect her for that.
Sunshine and Raum now lived together in the guest house on the other side of the backyard, and she always came up to Bel’s house to help him with dishes, even when she didn’t eat. She’d even snuck into his house when he wasn’t around and cleaned a few times, just because she was so damn nice.
“Good evening, Belial,” she said, sliding onto one of the bar stools at the center island. “How are you feeling tonight?”
He narrowed his eyes. “We already had our meeting last week. You don’t get to psychoanalyze me.”
She held up her palms. “I assure you, that’s not my intention. I simply want to know how you’re doing.”
Sunshine’s mentor, some high-up, big-cheese angel named Adriel, had done the impossible and managed to change the rules about demons living on Earth. Now, a demon couldapplyand be granted permission to live here if they submitted to counseling and followed certain rules. Adriel had put Sunshine in charge of the whole operation.
Bel and his brothers were the first demons to be part of the program, and Adriel had declared that they had to sit down for counseling with Sunshine if they wanted to be allowed to stay. It pissed Bel off being told what to do, but he did it for his brothers. And because Sunshine was aware of his anger issues and careful not to set him off.
“I’m fine,” he told her, planting his palms on the counter on either side of his computer. “Finished moving in today.”
“Oh. Congratulations.” She smiled that angelic smile. She didn’t ask why it had taken him a month to unpack all of six boxes.
“Where’s Raum?”
“He stayed late at the shelter to help Caro with a new rescue. He’ll be home in about an hour, I believe.”
“You guys planning to eat tonight?” Bel asked, pretendinglike he didn’t give a shit and wasn’t secretly hoping he’d have an excuse to cook for them.
Angels didn’t need to eat to survive either. Demons liked food because they enjoyed indulgences of all kinds. Angels probably wept in shame if they so much as licked a chocolate, but Sunshine wasn’t like the rest of them.
“I hadn’t thought about it.”
He grunted. “I’ll make something.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose. Are you sure?”
He shot her a look. Again, he had to make it look like it was an imposition and not something he actually wanted to do. A demon had to keep up appearances.
“Well, then,” she said, accurately interpreting his expression, “may I help you prepare?”
Deciding on a simple pasta dish, he set her up with a cutting board and showed her how he wanted the mushrooms and leek cut, and then he put a pot of water on to boil and grabbed a pan for the sauce.
She glanced up at him after a minute or so. “How have you been since our session?”
“Angry,” he grunted, crushing some garlic cloves with the side of a knife.
“Hm. And have you given any thought to my idea?”
“I’m not opening a restaurant. I’d kill the first human to complain that it was too spicy or some shit. And if some incompetent fuck screwed up in the kitchen, I’d gut him with a serving spoon.”
