She laughed.
Fool that he was, his guilt lessened at the sound. He hadn’t scared her so badly she wouldn’t laugh in his presence anymore. That was good.
He took one more sip of the foul fire juice for the sole reason that Suyin wanted him to and it made her laugh. Then, with a grimace, he passed it back. “Don’t ask me to drink any more of that.”
She laughed again and took another swig herself. Silence fell for several moments as they stared at the fire. The alcohol sent warm relaxation trickling through his blood, making himaware of the tension in his muscles and giving him a chance to relax them. It was … pleasant.
“You took over Paimon’s lair recently, right?” Suyin asked, setting the decanter down on her other side. He nodded. “So you haven’t been here that long.”
“Correct.”
“Weird.”
“Why?”
“I just have this image of you hiding away in this tower for centuries. Moving doesn’t fit in with the picture.” She looked around the library. “So you brought all these books from your old place?”
“I did.”
“That’s a lot of shit.”
“It’s not like I did it myself. What’s the point of having minions if you can’t make them do menial tasks? I kept a close eye on them. Anyone that disobeyed ended up on the tower spikes.”
“How many people are up there?” she said, grimacing.
“A few.” He smiled. “I think those spikes are my favorite part about my new lair. It’s very convenient, and the demons are terrified of it.”
She looked mildly disturbed but said no more. “I’m surprised you let them touch your precious books at all.”
“They didn’t touch them directly. They were carefully packaged first. No one but me touches them.”
“And me,” she reminded him with a smirk.
“Evidence my sanity has slipped.”
“Oh, I think you’ve got plenty of evidence of that already.”
He rolled his eyes.
“What was your old lair like?”
“Small. Empty. Quiet.” He missed that quiet.
“Empty? You didn’t have gargoyle minions running around everywhere?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
She shrugged. “I’m curious about how an evil demon in Hell lives his life.”
He decided to indulge her. Maybe it was because he was enjoying the distraction. Maybe it was because he still felt guilty for terrorizing her. Maybe it was because of the alcohol he’d consumed. “I didn’t have legions. I was one of the few demons in the Order of Thrones without them.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘legions’?”
“Armies of lesser demon soldiers. They serve a master or mistress and go to war on their behalf to claim new territory or protect what they have.”
“Why didn’t you have them before?”
“I prefer to work alone, and my souls are formidable enough. My boundary wards were powerful enough to keep intruders out, and my territory was small enough that it wasn’t particularly interesting to invaders. I don’t trust others easily, and I can’t stand incompetence. Lesser demons are some of the most dimwitted creatures in existence.”
