He opened a white painted door with a pretty gold pattern embossed on it. And once again, my mouth popped open as we entered a huge kitchen full of shiny chrome appliances.
“What?” he asked.
“It’s just so well-equipped.”
He winked. “That’s what she said.”
I rolled my eyes and looked for the demon bodies I’d been promised. Unless he’d stored them in the freezer, he’d lied. I should stop being surprised when the Devil lied. Indigo squirmed inside of me, like she was itching to break free.
“Where are the bodies?” I asked. I needed to get this over with, Hell didn’t agree with me or my alter ego.
He pulled open the refrigerator door which let free a small hiss. “I didn’t say bodies. I said victims.”
He peeled the door fully open and if I had a weaker stomach, I may have lost the mushroom soup all over his sparkly white tiled floor. Two white eyes popped open and stared at me from a head covered in deep purple flesh, like the color of bruises.
“He’s not dead,” I uttered. “For this to work, he has to be dead.”
The eyes, while totally white, seemed to focus on me. His mouth parted, revealing short, sharp sparkly white teeth. “That’s not a pleasant greeting,” he declared. His voice was raspy, not a surprise given he was missing his body.
Of course, my Southern upbringing came out in full force, even when in Hell. “I apologize for my rudeness,” I said. “I was asked to investigate a death, but one has not occurred.”
I glared at Lucifer. The head in the fridge jerked a little on the glass shelf. “Oh no, there’s been a number of deaths. I survived, but Bill and Wendy didn’t. They are on the bottom shelf under the fruit and vegetables.” I blinked. Well, I couldn’t fault Lucifer for his correct storage knowledge. Always keep the meat below the veggies.
My gaze traveled lower while Lucifer pulled out a glass mixing bowl, placing it on the large island between us. The rancid red meat inside made me wrinkle my nose. Okay, now whomever that was, was dead.
I took a step toward it. “What are you doing?” Lucifer asked as he held a foil-covered tray in his hands.
“I’m assuming this is the dead demon? Bill or Wendy?”
Lucifer looked at the bowl then back at me. “No, that’s the beef steak being marinated in red wine vinegar for my dinner.”
I blinked as he pushed the tray onto the counter and peeled back the foil, revealing a red, sopping, chunky, mess. Hopefully, this wasn’t also part of his dinner, because I was one hundred percent sure that it had not come from an animal.
I stepped closer and placed my bag on the side next to the tray. It wasn’t necessary to do a physical examination, that would tell me nothing about how they had ended up like this.
“Poor Bill,” the head in the fridge said on a sigh. Lucifer slammed the door closed.
“Do I want to know why you have a severed head in your fridge?”
Lucifer raised a brow and then rolled up his sleeves. Clearly, he didn’t want to get demon guts on his dress shirt.
“No, he’s in there to think about his actions.”
“You put him in a timeout in your refrigerator?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head and handed him a few of the juice boxes. “When I come around, I’m going to need those.” I shoved a straw into an apple one and drank it quickly.
I sucked in a breath and stuck my hand in the chilled guts and closed my eyes. My vision went black and then I was sucked into the death memory.
***
My view crisped and I was lounging on a sofa while watching a baseball game on a huge flat screen TV attached to the wall. I took a sip of beer as my buddy next to me cheered. I glanced at him, grinned, and took another gulp of the beer.
Who knew demons enjoyed baseball and beer?
A trembling ran through my body and I shifted to get rid of the unsettling feeling. My flesh heated and then a circle of flames erupted around my sofa, the criss cross pattern of a pentagram burned into the floor. I shot to my feet, as did my friend. While he made it out of the circle unscathed, I bounced off the edge and flew to the floor.
