Demon King

33

I nodded. I’d learned the same thing when I’d started poking about.

“I didn’t know what to do. I mean, I was in Vegas, by myself, with nothing to do. In the end, I went to the bar to get a drink.” Her face took on a far-off, dreamy look. “That’s where I met Mo—Asmodeus, I mean. He was probably the hottest guy I’ve ever seen, and charming as all hell. Before I even got my drink, I wanted to take him back to my room and do naughty things to him.”

My jaw dropped. Brandy had never been the hooking up in a bar sort of girl. Maybe that was his incubus powers at work? “What then?”

“He convinced me to go out to dinner with him. While we were leaving the hotel, we were attacked. By these…monsters.” She shook her head like the disbelief was still real, and I gripped her hand as horror showed again in her eyes. “Giant wolves and bears. It’s such a cliché, but it all seemed to happen so fast, and it was totally unbelievable at the time. Then I got knocked out.”

“That had to be a big shock.” From what I’d heard, it was shifters who had captured her. I’d never seen one in animal form myself, but I’d seen gargoyles and Fallen angels, and they were scary enough, thank you very much.

“I’ll say.” Brandy snorted before reaching over to grab the champagne bottle and pouring herself another glass. “When I woke, I was with Asmodeus in a small concrete room—some kind of basement I guessed, because there was a tiny thickened glass window at the top of the wall. It didn’t open and there was no point banging against it.” She laughed a little. “I mean, I tried. But it just hurt my fists and barely made a noise. We couldn’t even see through it.” Her eyes took on that distant look again. “Asmodeus was with me the entire time, and we talked a lot. There wasn’t much else to do. He…filled some things in for me.”

I looked at her, trying to figure out what she and Asmodeus had spoken about. I didn’t want to dump a load of information on her that she didn’t need. Being taken hostage was probably traumatic enough without learning all about Lucifer and associated paranormal beings. I could hardly believe it myself still—and that was after all the things I’d experienced. “What things?”

“Things I still find hard to believe,” she muttered.

She knew. She had to know. I was just going to come right out with it. She was my oldest friend—we didn’t have secrets. “He told you about demons, didn’t he?”

Her shoulders dropped and a huge sigh of relief rolled from her. “So, you know? Please say you know.”

I pulled Brandy into a hug and tried to reassure her, but what could I really say? She hadn’t said what exactly Asmodeus had shared with her. I probably did know, but she didn’t need to hear any kind of uncertainty from me. “Yes. I know. You can be totally open with me. Of all people, I’ll understand.”

“How?” Disbelief rang in her tone.

“You know the guy they call the devil of Las Vegas?” I asked. “Turns out he’s the actual devil. Not just of Las Vegas.”

“Asmodeus told me he worked for the devil. I didn’t believe it at first, but…” She nodded slowly. “I met him last night. He was fine as hell, but…intense. You should have seen what he did to those demons who kidn*pped me.”

I sat up a little straighter, curious what he’d done. “Did he kill them all?”

“He sure did.”

“Good.” The word slipped out of my mouth, surprising us both. I’d never wished anyone dead before, but all I felt was a deep sense of satisfaction knowing the people who hurt Brandy had been punished.

“He saved us.” Tears filled her eyes again. “And he said he found me because of you. Thank you.”

I still hadn’t let go of her hand, and I let her hold onto me as tightly as she needed. “Of course. You would have sent the devil himself to save me, too.”

She flicked her tears quickly away, but her sadness hurt me, squeezing my chest. “I didn’t think we’d get out. I thought we’d die in there.”

“Do you have any idea why you were kidn*pped? Did Asmodeus know?” Maybe she’d have some answers that could help Lucifer figure all this out.

“Not really. Asmodeus said he was investigating a conspiracy against Lucifer, but he also said he got a text from his dad, ordering him to seduce me, but he didn’t know why. The library conference seems like a setup too, but why would demons want to kidnap me?”

“Seduce you?” I asked. There was something about the way Brandy said his name. “Did he succeed?”

She opened and closed her mouth several times. “Before I tell you everything, I should probably say that Asmodeus is an incubus, a demon of lust. He only needs to look at someone to seduce them, and he needs s*x to survive. He requires a steady stream of lovers to feed on, and humans can’t survive s*x with an incubus more than once, which means the two of us… Well, it’s not possible.”

She spoke so matter-of-factly about the things I was only just starting to come to terms with. How much more did she know? And just how far had she and Asmodeus gone in their basement prison?