“And why is it immediately assumed thatIwill be the one doing something?” Bel shouted. “Why is every single fucking thing my responsibility?”
“’Cause you usually have all the answers,” Meph supplied unhelpfully. “Normally, you disappear into your room for a while and put a seal on the door so no one knows what you’re doing, and when you come back out,voilà. Our problems are solved.”
Bel ground his teeth until his jaw cracked. Meph made it sound so easy, but nothing was ever that goddamn easy. Everything had a price, and sometimes, that price was more than he could afford to pay.
“Please,” Eva said. “We don’t have much time, and this is an emergency. Their lives are in danger. We have to do something.”
“I can’t go after him. None of us can. I go to Hell, I start a war. It’s not happening.”
“There has to be something else you can do. Can’t you send someone in your stead? Don’t you still have people loyal to you down there?”
Yes, but he couldn’t send any of them into Paimon’s lair without starting a war either. But… there was someone he could ask.
He closed his eyes and groaned inwardly. He’d sworn he wouldn’t do it. He’d sworn he wouldn’t look at or think of or even breathe the same air as that slithering, heinous harpy. But once again, it seemed his vows to himself didn’t mean shit.
He opened his eyes and pinned Asmodeus with a glare. “Get out of my way.”
His brother studied him for a second and then slowly stepped aside. Bel stormed out of the room, nearly tossing Meph through the wall when he didn’t move fast enough. The door slammed, and he reactivated the seal so he wouldn’t have to hear them debating how he was going to save the day or worry about them walking in.
Then he drew a sigil on the floor and summoned Naiamah. Again.
The air swirled and evil filled the air, and it was all so goddamn stupid that it pissed him off. Summoning her like this was only possible because of the debt she owed him, but he wished it wasn’t.
Moments later, the succubus Queen of Hell appeared, a combination of every man’s biggest fantasy and worst nightmare. Or maybe just his.
Today, she wore a sleeveless leather bodysuit with a neckline so deep it went past her navel and nearly revealed her sex. The sides were cut high, accentuating a slender waist and the thickest, most luscious hips known to man—or demon. A see-through, gauzy skirt flowed from the bodysuit’s bottom seams in a mockery of modesty. Platform boots rose to her upper thighs.
She flicked back her silky hair and smiled. “Long time no see.”
Bel ground his jaw again, wondering if he’d have to regenerate his teeth when this was over. “I need a favor.”
“So soon? At this rate you’ll run out before the year is up. You’ve only got a hundred left, after all.” She held up a long black fingernail. “Unless, that is, you want—”
“No.I told you, last time was the last time.”
She smiled. “You say that every time, precious. And yet you can never resist me.” Her gaze flicked down his body. “Not that I’m complaining.”
The blood-red shade of her lips stood out against her pale skin. He wanted to gather all that midnight hair in his fist and watch those lips spread—
He shook himself.Not happening.“Mishetsumephtai is in Paimon’s lair with two mortals. I need to get them out.”
Naiamah blinked. “Two… living mortals?”
He nodded.
“There are two living mortals in Paimon’s lair?”
“That’s what I just fucking said.”
She cocked a hip. “Don’t give me that attitude. You might get away with bossing everyone else around, but not me.”
His brow lifted. “Except when I use the favors you owe me to force you to do anything I want.”
“Oh, honey.” She shook her head. “There’s no forcing me to do anything. You’ll find that everything I’ve ever done for you has been entirely of my own volition and to my ultimate gain.”
“Really. And what do you stand to gain from doing me favors?”
She cocked her head, and it became obvious she wasn’t listening anymore. “You look pale, and there are bags under your eyes.” Her head tilted the other way. “You’re strung out and on edge.”
