I wanted to shove him off but also wanted to pull him closer. Why were my brain and body making everything so complicated?
“A demon who carves soap. Are we going to lie here like this all day or figure out just how stupid I’ve been to trust a vampire?”
There had to be some explanation for why Val’s father had sent his guards after us and locked Nico and Amari in his dungeon. The question was, why wasn’t Val locked up with them?
Raphael rolled off me, then extended his hand. I stared at his offered palm for a beat. Taking his hand felt like admitting something, so I pressed my palms against the mattress and pushed myself upright, ignoring the flicker of amusement that crossed his face.
I brushed imaginary dust from my clothes, needing something to do with my hands that didn’t involve touching him. “Where are we?”
I looked around the room. It was all dark wood and dark bed linens and had a faint masculine scent. It was definitely a man’s room.
“Lucifer’s lair. Well, it used to be.” He opened the bedroom door and stopped to wait for me.
I purposely hit him with the bag of soap as I passed by. “So, we’re inside the gates of Hell? I heard rumors it’s a really large estate with a small village.” I followed him down the stairs and down a corridor.
“That’s correct.” Was that all he was going to tell me?
We entered a large kitchen, and a man walked in from another door. His eyes flashed black when he saw me but then returned to normal. I recognized he was an incubus demon immediately.
Raphael greeted the incubus with a handshake. “Any news since you texted?”
I eyed the incubus demon warily. Most succubi and incubi demons couldn’t resist creating sexual tension and feeding off it. But there were no signs he was using his abilities on me or Raphael.
“I got word that a vampire released all the prisoners. One of the prisoners was dead.” His voice was all business.
I tried to calm the erratic beating of my heart. “Do you know which one?”
Alex turned his attention to me and bowed his head slightly. “Princess. I do not know who died. If you want to catch up with them, you should leave now.”
Raphael nodded. “I’m going to take some weapons. Thank you, Alex.”
“Before you go, I need a recharge.” Alex took out the same phone Raphael had and placed it on the counter.
I watched with wide eyes as Raphael put his hand on it, and the light flowed into it. “I need one of those!”
“No, you don’t.” Raphael removed his hand and turned to face me. “Let’s go.”
I gave Alex a polite nod and jogged after Raphael, whowas already walking out. “What do you mean, no? I can talk to my brother!”
“You can’t walk around Inferna with a cellphone, Samara. In the wrong hands, it can do serious damage.”
“Oh? Will it put them in a trance like it does humans?”
He looked over his shoulder at me as he stopped in front of a metal door. “You noticed that?”
“It’s hard not to. Someone almost ran into me when we left the coffee shop because they were staring at it.” I demonstrated by staring at the palm of my hand without blinking.
“Exactly why you can’t have one. But I will put in a request for clearance for you to come here and contact your brother whenever you want.”
My eyes immediately filled with tears, and thankfully, Raphael turned his attention back to the door. He did something with his hand, and the door swung open.
I followed him inside the weapon room, and my attention was grabbed by a gleaming sword. “I’ll take this one.”
“Do you even know how to use it?” He strapped a sheath to his waist and sheathed a sword. He grabbed a few others and swung them over his shoulder by their straps.
“I’ve been alive a long time. Just because I carve soap doesn’t mean I can’t kick your ass.” I grabbed the sword and the sheath. “Do you know how to useyoursword?” I looked at his crotch.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he muttered under his breath as we walked out of the room.
