Page 42 of King of Night
“And this demon Drea, did she give you her name?”
“Or’dreaxth,” I tell her.“And she drew me her sigil so I can summon her.”
“Why is she willing to help?”Evander asks.
“You’ll love this,” Lucas says, joining us at the table.Juliet is starting to settle back down in his arms.She’s dressed in a yellow onesie with ruffles on her toes and she looks ridiculously cute.This isn’t the world I want her to grow up in.She’s to fight low-level demons only.“She wants to be able to continue slow-burn torturing humans on earth and not be Paimon’s captive.”
“I guess if I was a demon I’d want the same,” Nicole says with a shrug.“Right?”
“Yeah,” Evander agrees.“And I actually feel better hearing you say this demon doesn’t want to save the earth because she loves puppies and rainbows.It’s more believable knowing she’s doing it to keep playing crazy.”
“Right?”I lean back in my chair and take another bite of pizza.
“Did I miss the part where you explained how Lucas is here?”Nicole asks, tilting her head to the side as she looks at him.Right.The last they knew, he was in the Underworld, suspended in time while I tried to figure something out.
“Osiris,” I say, unable to keep the smile off my face.“He let him come home.”
Kristy fidgets in her chair.“Are we really going with the assumption he’s a good guy?Good God?Whatever he is.”
“He’s shown us no reason not to trust him,” I say.“He’s helped me out and wasn’t holding Lucas prisoner.The deal he made with Lucifer was for all four horses, because he wanted to make sure no one got them.I really don’t think he’s on some weird power kick or anything.If he was, I think he would have tried something already.”
“I don’t trust him.”Lucas side eyes me.
“You don’t trust anyone,” I say back.
“He wants to marry my wife.I don’t just not trust him, I don’t fucking like him.”
I press my lips together and just nod.“I don’t like the situation, but he doesn’t want to marry me like that.He won’t touch me.”
“No, he won’t put a fucking finger on you.And he’s not marrying my wife.You are mine, Callie.Even a symbolic marriage isn’t happening.”
“I agree with Lucas on that,” Ruby says, wiping her hands with a napkin so she can open the demonic encyclopedia.“Historically, you’d marry two houses so others would know two different families or areas or countries or whatever were joined.Unless you send out supernatural wedding invites, who’s even going to know?”
All I can do is shake my head, because I don’t know.Signing a contract or something should be sufficient.
“I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know much about him,” I start.“I really should tell him to invite me to dinner before he proposes, right?”Lucas doesn’t think my joke is funny.“And I actually never asked him if he’s able to do his little sad teleportation trick from his hell into another.I probably should.”
“How do you talk to him?”Naomi asks.
“Kinda like a astral projection thing,” I tell her.“I hold the scarab and, uh, I’m like there.Everything feels real, unlike projecting.It’s weird.”
“Maybe you should pay him a visit,” she suggests.
“Yeah,” I say, hesitating a bit.This is all overwhelming and the prickle that goes down my spine starts to itch, making it feel like my wings are going to pop out at any moment.
“In the morning,” Lucas says, hand landing on my thigh.He has Juliet cradled against his chest with one arm and he looks so fucking hot right now holding our baby.Add in the fact that he’s pissed as fuck at me and still being protective over me is such a turn on.“It’s been a long few days.”
“What can we do to help, sister?”Evander asks.
“Research only.If Drea was right about Paimon being more powerful in Hell, then an ambush to get him out might be the power move we need.But you guys aren’t getting involved in that.”
Evander goes to argue but Ruby gasps and leans closer to the book.
“I think she’s right.Look.”She drags her finger under a line of handwritten text in the book.“Paimon has legions of lesser powered demons under him.All they’re all bound in Hell.”
ChapterTwenty-One
“That’s part of the reason he’s been projecting here.”My vision glazes over as I think about it.Paimon’s projection was strong—way too strong.“Drea said something about using the other demons to open the rift.”My eyes fall shut as I think about.“Lucifer gained power from human souls, but they’re kept in a, uh, wing on Hell that only archangels could access.Julian couldn’t even get to them.Demons have a soul in a sense.It’s what burns when you do an exorcism.If that’s basically his one-up mushroom and we take it away…”
