Shem told me to sit on Ramel’s throne, and he threw himself on the chair to my right.
Art approached us smiling, and Shem grinned back.
“Hey, Lilith, congratulations on the wedding. Last night was fucking hot.” Art beamed at me, and I gaped back at him. Was this asshole for real?
“Get fucked, Art.” I snapped, and he frowned, shooting a confused look at Shem, who shrugged.
“What’s wrong?” Art asked, and my mouth dropped open.
“What do you meanwhat’s wrong?” I growled. “You tricked me into a forced marriage. You made me think you werehelpingme, then led me to some satanic-ass ritual to get fucked in front of an audience. Sorry if I’m not super thrilled to see you, dickface.”
Shem started laughing. “Well… when you say it like that…”
Art rubbed the back of his neck, frowning. “Yeah, that was yesterday, though. I figured you would be over it by now.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“She’s still mortal, Art. They take these things a little more personally than we do.” He shot me an amused look. “If we can keep her out of purgatory until her birthday, that might all change, though.”
Art beamed. “Ah, do you think we’ll get the old Lil back?
Shem nodded. “That’s the hope.”
That piqued my interest. “What the fuck are you two talking about?”
They exchanged a look. “We can’t tell you. If Ramel figures it out on his own, he can tell you,” Shem said, and I scowled.
“Whatever. Go get me something to eat,” I snapped at Art, who saluted me jovially.
“Aye, aye, captain.” He smiled before jogging down to the buffet.
Shem grinned at me and leaned back in his seat. I gave him my best ‘go fuck yourself’glare, and the smile dropped right off his face. He jerked my leash, forcing me to lean closer to him, and he snarled.
“Why are you so fucking mad at me?” he asked. “Ramel is just as guilty as I am, and you’re treating him like you actually like him.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Aww, is little baby Shemjealous?” I taunted, and his face went white with fury. He yanked the leash harder, making me wince. I should have stopped there, but I couldn’t. I was on a roll.
“Want to know why I’m so mad at you,Shemhazai? Because you’re like the king of fucking betrayal. At least with Ramel, I know what I’m getting. He’s a damned monster, and he owns it. With you, it’s like you keep pretending to be my friend, then every time I start to trust you again, you turn around and stab me in the fucking back! You’re a piece of shit, and I hate you!”
Shem looked like he wanted to slap me across the face. I flinched, waiting for him to hit me, but to my surprise, he didn’t. He just gripped my leash tighter and growled.
“Watch your fucking mouth, Lilith. I have you all week. You might want to start trying to be nicer to me.”
I just laughed. “Make me, asshole.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back. What the fuck was wrong with me? Shem absolutelywouldmake me, and I just challenged him to do it.
An evil smile curled across his mouth as Art came back with our breakfasts, and I shivered.
“Don’t you worry, I plan to.”
He slackened his grip on the leash, allowing me to sit back in the throne as Art placed my plate in front of me. Shem gestured to my food and smiled.
“Eat, Lil. Then we’ll get to work.”
After breakfast,Shem took me back to the room. He unclipped the lead from my collar and tapped the end of it against his palm while he looked me up and down.
“We’re going to be working on obedience for the next couple of days,” he informed me, and I felt my blood boil with rage. I had never wanted to fucking spit on someone so much in my life. I forced myself not to, not wanting to give Shem a reason to do something even more fucked up to me than he was likely already planning.
He gestured to the TV. “I’m going to give you a command. If you obey to my satisfaction, we’ll cuddle and watch Midnight Mass for the rest of the day.”
