by Bella Klaus
I clapped both hands over my mouth to suppress a shriek.
Tothguar staggered backward, his hands clutching at his belly. “Fuck you, you cock-less—”
With a flick of a hand, Samael reduced him to a pile of salt.
“No demon is good enough for my beloved daughter.” He stepped toward me, still clutching the knife, his eyes glinting with malice.
I raised my chin, my blood screaming at me to blast him with lightning and reduce him to char. There was nothing I could do to this wretched creature without getting punished by Heaven. And Samael could murder all the demons he wanted, but he also couldn’t touch me directly for the same reason.
“Tell me, Kora,” he said, sounding unusually casual for someone who just murdered a minion in cold blood. “Do you intend to fulfill your end of our bargain, or should I pull Demeter from her precious new offspring to wreak havoc on Hades’ body?”
My stomach dropped. They must have used some powerful dark magic to have birthed the child so quickly. Lighting crackled along every nerve ending, and sparks flew from my fingertips.
Samael raised his brows in challenge.
“I’ll seduce Lucifer,” I said from between clenched teeth.
He strode past me and placed his gloved hand on the mirror. “Good. I’ve set it for Lucifer’s office in New York. My spies will report back to me if you fail.”
Chapter Nine
Disgust rippled through my insides, seizing me in a grip of fear and nausea that had me breathing hard. I stared at Samael, trying not to dry heave. Ragnar the demon stood at his side, looking at the pile of salt that had once been his comrade.
Samael released his gloved hand from the mirror’s frame, which lit up, its surface turning reflective again. He stepped aside, exposing a mouthful of serrated teeth. “Do you find the thought of seducing Lucifer repellent?”
I swallowed hard. The Demon King was full of trick questions, and I wasn’t about to walk into another of his traps. “Of course, not,” I lied, trying to sound casual. “I just didn’t realize there would be a time limit.”
Samael nodded, his black eyes still fixed on me. He didn’t speak for several heartbeats, instead letting his beady eyes rake up and down my form. “I have an alternative plan if you would consider it.”
My gaze darted to the mirror, which probably led to wherever I could find Lucifer. “Actually, I think I’d better get on with my assignment.”
He raised a hand. “Humor me a little.”
I stilled.
“What if you became my second brood mare? Demeter is a fine goddess and is of wonderful Olympian stock, but she is producing offspring at a miserably slow pace.”
Fury burned through my insides. Did this fallen angel know nothing about the birds and the bees? Just because his former boss made the world in seven days and man in the space of twenty-four hours, that didn’t mean everyone else was capable of such feats.
I swallowed back a bellyful of bile. “What about Lucifer—”
“Lucifer can wait.” He walked toward me, his hand outstretched. “Consider my offer, child.”
I stepped to one side, trying to avoid the trajectory of his touch. “Look, I’m really flattered that you’d consider me, but it looks like Mother has finally found love.” The words cascaded from my lips. “And you know how wrathful she can become when she’s scorned.”
His thin brows rose to his hairline. “Demeter may not be a barrier between us for much longer.”
“What does that mean?” I rasped.
He gave me a lascivious wink.
I wished I could stay and question him, but my skin crawled with the sensation of thousands of terrified centipedes. Any sense of loyalty I might have felt for Mother was long gone, but I still wanted Samael dead. I sprinted to the mirror before he could say anything else. Right now, I felt like the biggest coward. All that power to destroy him, yet my hands were tied.
“Kora,” he said as I reached the mirror.
“Yes?” I replied without turning around.
“Your performance on this particular assignment will determine whether Hades survives the night.”
A burst of fury burned through the sensation of centipedes, and I whirled around, my eyes flashing. “I’ll do everything I can to seduce Lucifer, but I can’t force him, and nor can I make myself pregnant.”
He tossed a vial at my head, and I caught it out of the air. “This is a fertility elixir your mother created to improve the fecundity, accelerate the gestation period, and ensure an easy birth. I will give you three opportunities to lure the King of the Seventh into your bed. After that, you will be warming mine.”
I whirled around, stepped through the mirror, and stumbled into the other side. Bright light burned my eyes, and I blinked the spots out of my vision to find myself in a windowless open-plan space of rows upon rows of white desks that formed a continuous line from one side of the room to the other.
It would be wrong to call it an office because of the room’s sheer size, which was four times the size of our mansion—including all the grounds.
Circular LED lights hung down the middle of the ceiling and ran from one end of the space to the other. I placed a hand over my mouth and frowned. It wasn’t like I’d pictured where Lucifer spent his days, but it certainly wasn’t in some kind of corporate hell.
The low hum of chatter filled my ears, coming from thousands of bleached blondes dressed in white. They each wore headsets and each stared into computer screens. I strained my ears to discern what they were saying, but it was like listening to words surrounded by static.
“What is this?” I muttered under my breath.
The woman sitting at the end of the row closest to where I sat rose from her seat and turned to meet my gaze with vibrant eyes I could only describe as forget-me-not-blue. She wore a form-fitting white dress with a keyhole neckline and ivory stilettos.
“May I help you?” Her voice sounded mechanical, but the way her brow wrinkled when she raised it indicated that she was flesh and blood.
I cleared my throat. “I’m looking for a man named Lucifer?”
“This is Lucifer Network, but there is no such person with that name.”
Another blonde woman with slicked-back hair pointed at a spot behind me. “Lucifer is a logo developed by a copywriting genius, but that’s all there is to the Lucifer name.”
I spun around to find a black circle on the wall sporting two horns. Samael hadn’t made a mistake to send me here. This had to be Lucifer’s domain.
When I returned my gaze to the two women, another pair had joined them. Now, four pairs of those eerie blue eyes stared at me with an intensity that made my skin itch.
“Does a handsome man with dark hair work here?” I asked.
The two women at the front exchanged glances, seeming to communicate without words, but it was the second one who turned to me and spoke. “There are no male employees in Lucifer Network.”
“Who’s the boss, then?” I asked.
“What do you want, Ma’am?” asked the third, whose Asian features looked at odds with the coloring.
“I have an urgent message for your boss, or copywriter, or the man you work for.”
She tilted her head to the side. “Are you looking for employment?”
“Yes,” I blurted. “May I see the head of human resources?”
Another blonde, this one with her hair cut into a short bob, rose from one of the desks and pulled off her headset. She wore long boots and a V-necked dress that flared out at the waist. “Would you like to follow me, Ma’am?”
“Thanks.” I held myself around the middle.
As the other women sitting around the office returned to their work, I followed after the bob-cut blonde, breathing hard to calm the lining of my stomach. This place reminded me of a cross between Basic Instinct, the Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love video, and Stepford Wives.
Or the fembots from the Austin Powers movies who shot weapons from their boobs.
> I shook off those speculations. Maybe Lucifer fancied himself as a Christian Grey character who insisted his workers dress and act the same way. His choice of employees and corporate decor was insignificant compared to Samael’s latest machinations.
Bob-cut led me into a corner office, which was as minimalist as the rest of the space, save for the fact that it had windows that overlooked the Empire State Building and a bunch of high-rises I didn’t recognize.
Two office chairs similar to the ones I’d seen earlier sat on either side of a plain, white desk. I wrung my hands, wondering if I would meet Lucifer or another blonde clone.
“Please take a seat, Miss?” She raised her brows.
“Secrets,” I blurted.
“Secrets?” her voice trailed off, and she raised her brows two inches higher, to prompt me into offering my first name.
“Um… Victoria?” I asked.
She inclined her head and stepped toward the door. “The head of Human Resources will be with you shortly. Would you like something to drink while you wait?”
Gulping, I rubbed my dry throat. “No, thanks.”
Bob-cut turned on her heel and strode down the walkway, passing her identically dressed colleagues. I stood by the door, staring at her back and wondering if she was human, a demon wearing a glamor, or some other type of supernatural being.
“Well, hello,” said a deep voice from the room’s interior.
I turned back into the office to find Lucifer sitting behind the desk. He wore a white suit, tailored to fit his muscular frame, and which brought out his dark hair and tanned skin.
“Lucifer,” I said with a relieved breath. “I’m so glad to see you.”
He leaned back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest. “Lucifer is the name of the agency. My name is—”
“Is this room secure?” I rushed toward him and paused at the desk.
The door behind me slammed shut, and magic rippled through the air.
“How very forward of you, Miss Secrets,” he drawled in a voice he probably thought was seductive.
It was strange… Here I was stuck in a magically enclosed room with a handsome-as-sin Demon King who was probably as wicked as Hades had been, yet all I could feel was relief. Relief that I’d escaped Samael, relief that Lucifer had locked out Samael’s spy, and relief that I’d gotten a chance to warn him of the plot against his life.
“It’s Kora,” I whispered. “We met at Duck Island, the Devil’s Ball, and you came to my housewarming.”
The corners of Lucifer’s lips curled into a wicked smile. “You look different, Kora.” The emphasis he placed on my name suggested he didn’t believe a word I’d just told him. “Have you tinted your hair?”
Frustration welled through my insides, and I sucked in a deep breath, trying to tamp it down. I needed to pare down my message into a few sentences that would make him understand I wasn’t an imposter.
“My old vessel wore out, and I made a deal with my mother to place me in a new one.”
He swept his gaze up and down my body. “I see…”
My lips tightened. He still didn’t believe me. “But that’s not important. Samael sent—”
Lucifer raised a hand, and an invisible band wrapped around my neck, lifting me six inches off the floor. My throat thickened with a touch of trepidation. It wasn’t painful, and it didn’t restrict my breathing, but there was the hint that his next command could crush my thorax.
“So, you’re an associate of the Third, or is it the Second, now?” he asked, his irises burning a dangerous shade of orange.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” I placed my hand around the band, trying to dislodge it from around my neck, but it was like trying to grab thin air. “And watch what you’re doing. Hurting me will incite the wrath of Heaven.”
“So, Samael gave you a few pointers on the Handbook of Hell,” Lucifer said. “But why did he really send you here?”
I raised the hand clutching the vial he’d given me. “He wants me to seduce you, conceive your child, and then sign a contract.”
“Thereby rendering myself in breach of the Handbook’s rules.” Lucifer waved his fingers, releasing the pressure around my neck but still keeping me suspended. “If you are one of the monarchs, why haven’t we met before?”
My lips formed a tight line, but I held back my irritation. Of course he wouldn’t believe I was Kora. If I’d been able to prepare, I would have had Namara or Captain Karia send a message to the Seventh and let him know I was coming, but Samael hadn’t given me that choice.
“I’m Kora, also known as Queen Hades of the Fifth,” I said from between clenched teeth.
He tilted his head to the side, his gaze raking up and down my form. “And you’re in a new body?”
I smoothed my damp hands down my silk dress. Was this a trick question because I’d already given him an answer? “That’s right. My old vessel wore out.”
His handsome features split into a wide grin. “Tell that randy bastard he shouldn’t be making so many demands on his new wife.”
“Now, do you believe me?”
Lucifer see-sawed his hand from side to side, indicating that he still wasn’t sure. But he still lowered me to the floor before gesturing at the chair opposite his desk.
“Why don’t you take a seat and tell me everything,” he said.
All the air left my lungs, but I wasn’t sure if that was out of relief or resignation. I walked to the desk and lowered myself into what was now a white leather armchair. Cuffs wrapped themselves around my ankles and wrists and neck, securing me in place.
“Is that how you treat all your guests?” I snapped.
His brown eyes sparkled with mirth. “Only the ones I find as deadly as they are beautiful.”
“That’s not a compliment,” I said.
He leaned back in his seat, and his grin widened. “Why don’t you tell Lucifer your story from beginning to end, starting with why Hades sent you and not one of his usual emissaries?”
“He doesn’t know I’m here,” I said. “Samael trapped me in a concrete room, and the only way to escape becoming his next conquest was to step through the mirror he’d programmed for your office.”
Lucifer raised a brow. “A seductive assassin of your caliber should have done your research. Samael prefers the company of male goats.”
“Not anymore.” I tried shaking my head, but the leather strap around my neck constricted the moment. “My mother gave him a new penis. Now, she’s just given birth after a magically accelerated pregnancy.”
“My spies haven’t reported any such changes in the Third.” Lucifer steepled his fingers.
“Then Samael either killed them, co-opted them, or fed them the wrong information. I’m telling you, Demeter is my mother.”
“And you’re Hades’ innocent little bride in a sexy-as-sin body?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. Persephone was taller with bigger boobs, a smaller waist, and wider hips, but did that really make so much of a difference? If I were to judge by the way Lucifer’s eyes glowed like banked coals, the answer was a resounding yes.
That, or he really liked seeing women in bondage.
“Everything I’ve told you is the truth,” I said. “Get someone to check the vial’s contents. Samael wants me to drink it so I can birth your heir.”
“All right,” he said. “Say I believe you. Why are you warning me instead of carrying out his orders?”
“I don’t want you dead,” I said. “And I don’t want Samael to take over any more Factions.”
“And you’re in person here because you had no choice but to step through that mirror?”
Bitterness rose to the back of my throat. “The other option was to birth his child, but that wasn’t something I was willing to consider.”
Lucifer shuddered. “What does he have over you?”
“Pardon?”
“Why does he think he can make you carry out his wishes?”
Knots f
ormed in my stomach. Hades seemed to consider Lucifer an ally, but he hadn’t confided in me the nature of their association. But he had trusted Lucifer enough to send him to my housewarming party and set up a scenario that resulted in Hades saving me from Lucifer’s clutches. But could I trust Lucifer with information about Hades’ weakened state?
“My next actions depend on your answer,” he said, his voice heavy with an implied threat.
“Mother set a plague of parasitic plants across the Fifth,” I murmured. “Some of them have the power to install themselves in people’s bodies and feed on their magic until they’re a husk. Others spew a form of pollen that can eat through flesh.”
“They’re using Hades’ life as leverage?”
My eyes clouded with tears. “He’s getting better, but they have spies everywhere and so many ways to get to us.”
Lucifer rose from his seat, walked around his desk, and released the restraints. “You’re really Kora?”
I nodded.
“Do you have a plan to satisfy Samael’s demands that doesn’t result in my death?”
A hysterical laugh bubbled up from my belly. “When I first agreed to do this, I thought I could avoid following through.”
“But Samael doesn’t take promises lightly.” Lucifer sat on the desk and stared down into my eyes. “Not even when they’re coerced.”
I nodded. “And today, he took me by surprise, saying that if his spies don’t see me making progress with you, he’ll get my mother to focus all her magic on Hades.”
Lucifer cupped the side of my face, soothing my frazzled nerves and spreading a sensation of calm. His touch was so clean and pure and healing that I pulled back and stared at his hand.
“What are you?”
He gave me a sad smile. “I never stopped being an angel, even after I fell.”
My gaze met his, and I took another look at his features. They were as handsome as a god’s and masculine, unlike Azriel’s, who I could only describe as pretty. It wasn’t like I’d met many of his species apart from him and the Angel King who had presided over my trial for espousal abandonment, but Lucifer didn’t share their pale serenity.