Noah narrowed his eyes. If Reign’s demon palace looked like his home here in Seoul, wasn’t that too… normal? A little disappointing even. “What about animals? Do they exist in Hell?” And while he was at it, “Do you keep any pets? And how many legions of demons do you command?”
Reign’s lips lifted on one side. “You are awfully curious about me today, Noah.”
Noah didn’t have a counter to that because it was true. He wanted to know more about Reign and the demon realm. So, shrugging, he exaggerated a pout. “You don’t have to answer, I guess, if you don’t want to.”
Reign snorted softly, somehow making even a sound like that elegant. “I tend to one demonhound when I’m around, and command five legions. The latter I have had no reason to dispatch yet, so they mostly idle around my domain.”
“What would be a typical reason?” Noah asked as he wondered about Reign’s life prior to him joining Hell’s ranks. How old was he exactly? Where was he from? What has his family been like while he’d been still a human? How and why had he joined Lucifer, when, as far as Noah knew, the only way to do so was to fall from Heaven?
“A major attack by God or an infiltration of the realm. Priority targets. Most of the usual scuffles are handled by those of lower standing, so as such, I don’t get involved in those often.”
Noah realized then, the reality behind Reign’s casual answer. There was an ongoing war between the skies and the underworld, a conflict that humankind was unaware of, just like most no one knew about the existence of these two realms. It was a well-kept secret, despite its magnitude, and Noah was now part of it in a way, if only by virtue of knowing the truth about the world.
“I was thinking…” Noah pinned his eyes on Reign’s empty plate. “Maybe we can use the ‘task’ Teresa gave me to the Federation’s advantage.”
“Oh? And how would we do that?” Reign prompted, sounding intrigued.
“Well…” Noah met Reign’s garnet gaze head on, feeling both confident and like he was biting off more than he could chew. “If I can gain more of her trust, I’m sure I can convince her to let me get involved with whatever the Empire is planning. She…doeshave a weak spot for me.”He suppressed a shiver of disgust. “I can take advantage of that and get her to share a few state secrets.”
“And you will sell them to my country in exchange for asylum?”
“Yeah.”
“It is not a bad plan. That is”—Reign picked up his coffee mug and brought it to his lips—“if you can pull it off.”
It cost Noah nothing to try other than some cautious maneuvering, so he saw no real downside to it. “I guess there’s only one way to find out if I can.”
23
“Dear, you look marvelous!” Teresa handed Noah a glass of wine, her eyes sparkling with intent as she took in the brown slacks and black shirt he was wearing. Reign had picked them for him.
Smiling, he gave her peach-colored skirt/blazer combo a quick once-over. “Thank you, Teresa. You look stunning yourself.”
She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and squeezed his shoulder in thanks. “Our guests have arrived and are currently at the reception, I’m told, so they should be with us shortly. I’m counting on you.”
Noah nodded. She didn’t need to say what for, both of them aware of the subtext. After another squeeze, she meandered away, finally letting him breathe. She’d been quite focused on him for the past few days and she’d even tried to drag him to another dinner, but he’d managed to get out of it fortunately, using tiredness and being busy as an excuse. It was a partial truth—even if his busyness had nothing to do with his work as he’d led her to believe—though he had to humor her whenever she dropped by his office. Her visits were tolerable, he supposed, anda price he was willing to pay so he wouldn’t have to deal with her outside of the embassy’s premises.
Noah scanned the room, his gaze moving from the garlands and banners decorating the cream walls to the marble statue of an angel in the middle. Even here, thousands of miles away from the Empire, the Church still found a way to impose its paraphernalia, both inside and outside at the entrance of the compound itself, where two bronze statues kept the security guards company.
Abandoning that train of thought, Noah leaned his back against the wall and watched as people started seeping in through the carved oak doors. They offered their congratulations and shook hands with the new ambassador, then broke off toward the buffet tables and drink stands.
If there was one upside to the recent turn of events, it was that Noah could be all over Reign tonight without worrying about Teresa getting suspicious. In fact, if he didn’t display some level of overfriendliness with the demon, he was sure she would lecture him later regardless of whether he got an invitation to the Foreign Affairs’ office or not.
Noah put his untouched glass of wine away and moved closer to the commotion at the doors, where Agostino was discussing something in a lively tone with four Asian officials. Teresa wasn’t there, instead chatting with three ladies of similar age by a table to the left. As for Noah’s target—he squirmed as the sourness of the grapefruit slice he’d picked up from a passing-by waiter’s tray hit his taste buds—Reign appeared at the door as if summoned, hand in hand with a copper-headed lady wearing a pink brocade dress. No older than mid-thirty, she was beautiful in that haunting way Reign was, lush curlsand black skin sprinkled with glitter. She was probably the prettiest person in the room, but even so, she failed to hold Noah’s attention for more than a heartbeat because she simply couldn’t measure up to Reign no matter how fairy-like she was.
Clad in a pair of ass-hugging black pants and a frilly burgundy blouse that accentuated his eyes, Reign was simply otherworldly. His hair was tied in a low ponytail in a way that left a few locks loose enough to frame his face but exposed the sharp cut of his jaw and his contrastingly delicate features.Damn, Noah wanted to lick that curve, to nip along it and then down the side of Reign’s neck, then shoulder and then collarbone, all the way until he had the demon’s cock in his mouth and gruff moans echoing around him.
Noah’s dick started filling at the idea, so he chased away the erotic fantasies before they got too vivid. Now was not the time for this; he had to put on a show for Teresa.
The fairy woman and Reign were now next to Agostino. She was talking to him while Reign… looked distracted, his eyes bouncing from one guest to another. Before Noah could fully register the skipped beat of his heart as he thought that maybe Reign was searching for him, their gazes clashed and a subtle smile lifted the corners of Reign’s lips in a manner most inviting. Returning the smile, Noah uncrossed his legs at the ankles and pushed off the wall, heading right for the demon.
Reign dove through the crowd, meeting Noah halfway across the room by one of the drink stands.
“Mr. Lennox,” the human said matter-of-factly, despite his slightly flustered state.
Reign found it incredibly sexy, the contrast of Noah’s tone and gaze, and wondered what exactly Noah had been imagining just moments earlier.
“Mr. Araya. I hope our adventures together didn’t leave you too sore,” Reign teased with a straight face, wanting to get back at Noah, to elicit a reaction out of this succubus who occupied his thoughts most hours of the day.
