“I have an appointment,” he lied. “I’m her biggest buyer for the night, and she’ll rip your dicks off if she finds out you wouldn’t let me through.”
The guards exchanged looks. Naiamah may have her people wrapped around her finger, but she couldn’t create intelligence where there wasn’t any to begin with.
Sure enough, they stepped aside. Raum pushed through the doors like he had every right to be there, Sunshine at his side. Ahead, a black staircase twisted out of sight, and they climbed up, the sound of their footsteps buried beneath the deadened music.
They found themselves in an open room with a black ceiling and floor, the walls decorated with thick red drapes. All around, naked bodies writhed in the throes of pleasure. At one end of the room, a curved wall of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the activities of the club below. On the other, an intricate black throne sat atop a dais.
Atop it, sprawled with cat-like grace, was the Queen of Hell herself.
Here, surrounded by sex, she was at her most powerful. Her pale skin reflected the glow of candlelight, and her silky black curtain of hair was swept over one shoulder. She wore a dress of chains and strips of leather so thin, it could hardly be called clothing. Her claws were painted blood red to match her lips, but that was the only part of her in demon form.
She leaned on one arm of the throne, chin propped up in her hand, expression betraying no surprise at her unexpected visitors.
Raum and Sunshine walked up to the dais. No one spoke for several moments.
“Well?” Naiamah finally said, flicking her claws in their direction. “What do you want? I don’t recall scheduling any business for this evening, so you obviously had to trick my guards to get up here.”
“I need a spell to get past necromancy perimeter wards,” Raum said, throwing caution to the wind.
Naiamah blinked and went very still before suddenly snapping, “Everyone out!”
In an instant, all the demons stopped and turned their attention to their mistress upon her throne. She flicked her claws toward the exit impatiently.
In less than a minute, the room was empty. Raum didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing, so he said nothing.
“Necromancy wards, you say?”
He nodded.
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t normally do business with those who won’t show their faces.”
Raum didn’t respond. He wasn’t going to take his hood off, and he figured she was lying about that anyway. There were plenty of hooded strangers in Hell. Nobody liked to broadcast their business when everyone was against each other. Loyalty was a fickle thing and could change with the drop of a hat.
She seemed to accept this from his silence and let the matter go. “I can get what you need, but it’ll cost you.”
“I have gold.” Stepping forward, he dropped the sack on his shoulder on the dais at her feet. He bent, loosening the tie so the contents were visible, and then went back to Sunshine’s side.
“Hm.” She did a good job of looking unimpressed. “I’m unfathomably rich already. What makes your gold special?”
Raum ground his teeth. There was nothing ‘special’ about gold. Gold was gold, and he already knew she accepted it for her services. She was fucking with him for some reason, and he didn’t like that he didn’t know why.
Naiamah stood, the leather straps and chains of her dress falling to the floor in a dramatic sweep. Two thin strips of fabric across her breasts and a slightly larger triangle between her thighs were the only thing that made the garment decent.
She was already tall, but the heels of her boots were so high, they added nearly a foot to her height, and that wasn’t counting the elevation of the dais. If Raum had been in human form, she would have been taller than him, which made him extra glad he’d chosen to shift.
She crouched in front of the bag and rifled around. Her fingers closed around the metal bodice and she stood again, holding it up. “Now this I like.” She held it in front of her body, blood-red lips curving. “Oh, this is fab.”
She dropped it again on the pile and cocked a hip, studying Raum. Then her gaze flicked to Sunshine standing silently at his side, and one sculpted black eyebrow arched. “Your partner is awfully quiet.”
Just as Raum was racking his brain for something to put her off going any further down that line of questioning, Sunshine spoke. “He’s not my partner. He’s my employee. He does the talking on my behalf.”
He blinked. His pride balked a little at her lie, but mostly he was just impressed at her quick thinking.
“Is that so?” Naiamah chortled as if this was all highly entertaining. Then she shrugged like she’d didn’t care either way. “I accept your payment.”
He exhaled in profound relief.
“But.”
