“No. I must go. But do come down. There are others I’d love for you to meet.”
Nadia and Katie exchanged a shrug and nodded.
“Excellent.” Dina froze in her exit the instant the cat jumped up on the coffee table and hissed. She spoke low, but Nadia was positive she heard her say, “Stand down, Ariel. I’m not here to hurt anyone.”
“That was weird,” Katie said slowly, after Dina had gone.
“You heard her, too?”
“Yeah. How the hell did she know your cat’s name?”
“Beats me. Maybe one of us said it in passing last night.” But Nadia was sure she hadn’t. “Let’s get showers and slip into our bathing suits. You did bring one, right?”
“Would I go anywhere unprepared? Jeesh, Tart. It’s like you don’t know me at all.”
Dina exited Nadia’s flat. Instead of heading straight down to oversee the impromptu pool party, she turned left, walked thirty feet down the corridor, and knocked once. The door was opened by a deceptively impassive daemon, who guarded the entrance to Lucifer’s lair.
“Thamiel.” She nodded her respect for her brother. “I have news of the triscelene,” she said without preamble.
He stepped aside and allowed her entry. “It is good to see you, Dinathial. He is in the study. Be warned, his mood is poor.”
“The woman?”
“It is not for us to speculate,” he replied, censure sharpening his already severe tone.
Dina had lived too long among humans, and curiosity often proved a liability when it came to Lucifer’s affairs. As one of the first twin daemons created, she was afforded leniency, as was Thamiel. They were their lord’s yin-yang and a perversion of the Adam-and-Eve design.
The uneducated mistook Lucifer’s creations as demons, but they were mistaken. Mostly. Daemons were not born corrupt. They were his originals—sentient, ordered, and adherent to rules. Only those who lost cohesion transitioned into demons, resulting in the morally decayed and unruly.
And they were a helluva lot more difficult to command.
“My liege.” Dina infused all the respect she had to offer into her greeting.
He smiled when he saw her, but as often of late, it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Thamiel had been correct; Lucifer was in a poor mood indeed.
“What is it, Dinathial?”
“You asked me to keep an eye on the triscelene when you weren’t present. I thought to provide a report.”
He perked up, his gaze sharpening.
Interesting.
“She and her friend mingled with our kind well. I’m convinced she doesn’t know what she is.”
“It’s as I suspected,” he replied. “And no one treated her with anything other than courtesy?”
She sensed the tension in him along with the barely controlled restlessness.
“No, my liege. No one treated her badly. They all seem to like her, and none know what she is but you, Thamiel, and I.”
“You are mistaken, Dinathial. There are others who do. And trust me, if Raphael knows, Michael will.”
She gulped. Not much scared her, but two archangels at cross purposes with Lucifer did.
“Should I not have invited her to our pool party? Will she need more protection?”
“This is neutral ground, and warded. No one will dare harm her here.” His tone was dark, whether with warning for her or at the thought of Nadia being hurt, Dina couldn’t say. But she’d protect the hybrid with her life should Lucifer require it.
