“I have no key.”
“Oh. ’Sup, human? Come in. Bel made martinis. Like, a lot of ’em.” He stepped back and then scanned Mist up and down. “Where your clothes at, dude? You look like a vagrant.”
Without releasing her hand or responding, Mist went inside, so Lily followed. Closing the door behind her, she looked around and blinked. The apartment was… not what she expected.
Floor-to-ceiling windows framed an open concept room with a modern kitchen featuring stainless appliances. The center wall of bare brick was adorned with a gorgeous painting of a stormy oceanfront. Leather sofas were positioned below it beside the big windows, and a collection of succulents on a shelf against the glass added a splash of green to the monochrome pallet. It was all very chic and modern.
Her gaze didn’t linger on the apartment furnishings for long, however. The other two demons were standing in the kitchen staring at her, and she stared back.
“H-hi.” She attempted a feeble wave when the awkward silence became too much to bear.
The one with the golden eyes that had turned into a crow jerked his chin in greeting.
The blond just stared her down, which made her remember their earlier conversation in which he’d threatened to kill her slowly and painfully.
Mist seemed to remember that too because he stood in front of her and started to growl.
“Told you not to be a dick, Bel,” the tattooed guy said, sliding onto one of the bar stools and taking a sip of his cocktail. “You made Mist mad.”
The blond glared at him, and she saw flames flicker in his eyes.
Then, he tipped his head back and groaned like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. He straightened and fixed a penetrating stare on Mist. “I wasn’t actually going to kill your witch. I just needed to scare her a bit and make sure she was for real. Now stop with the growling before you piss me off.”
The first guy twisted around on the stool and held up his palms. Histattooedpalms. Lily winced. How much had that hurt? “Still not after your girl. You can chill. Now be a nice demon and introduce us.”
Mist hesitated, still eyeing them warily.
“Mist.” Lily patted his arm. “Thank you for protecting me, but the polite thing to do is to introduce me to your friends.”
He stepped to the side and opened his mouth to speak, but the other demon beat him to it.
“Meet my dysfunctional family, Lily.” His grin was too wide and lop-sided. “The big, baby-faced bastard is Belial. Grumpy over there’s Raum. He likes to scowl, but he’s pretty harmless.”
“Come over here and I’ll show you harmless,” Raum said.
“And the pin cushion is Mephistopheles,” Belial said. “But we call him Meph.”
“Or ‘idiot,’” Raum added.
“‘Dumbass’ works too.”
“At your service.” Meph grinned and bowed his head with a flourish, wobbling on the stool precariously. “My other bro is Asmodeus. He’ll be here in a sec with Eva.”
Introductions concluded, everyone stared at her again, probably expecting her to speak, which would be the normal, socially acceptable thing to do. But she had frozen.
Raum. Mephistopheles. Asmodeus.Belial, for god’s sake. She had heard correctly.
She’d deliberately stuck her head in the sand in regards to all things supernatural, yet even she knew who these demons were.
“Okay…” Meph said when it became obvious she wasn’t going to speak. He looked at the others and shrugged. “She’s a little star struck, I guess.”
“Oh my god, you must be Lily!” a female voice exclaimed from the front entrance. “Mist, you can’t just ring my bell and not come say hello. I’m so glad you’re back!”
Lily spun around, coming face to face with a gorgeous woman with a wild mane of ringlets and unusual pale gray eyes. Was she a demon too? How many demons were there?
“She’s not a demon,” Meph said, reading her thoughts.
“Can confirm,” the woman added, offering an encouraging smile to Lily. “Not a demon.”
