Chapter 6
Chapter Six
“She asleep?”
Standing in the living room, Envee pulled her head back through the closed door and nodded. “She looks like an angel.”
Trinket raised an eyebrow at that.
“Well, she does.” Envee returned to her seat across from the couch. “It’s so weird being on this side, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I never cared much for the human realm. You?”
“This is my first time here. It’s why I was fine being in the closet. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the humans. But they’re not so bad.” Of course, she’d only been around Sorcha. So she might be wrong.
Envee used her powers to put on a pair of black pajamas. “These are comfortable.”
Trinket snorted as he took another swig of his beer.
Envee pulled her legs against her chest, then rested her chin on her knees. “Should we tell dominus the truth?”
“And have your wings ripped off your spine? Are you stupid?”
“I don’t think he’d do that.”
Again, Trinket arched a brow. “Have you forgotten what he used to do in Hell?”
“To his father’s enemies. Or betrayers. Yes.”
“And others who personally crossed him. Don’t forget them.”
Envee sighed heavily. Trinket was right. Luke could be very vicious when provoked. “But we didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Since when have they cared?”
That was also true. It was why she was so grateful to serve Luke. His indifference toward them was much preferable to the outright cruelty of the others who inhabited Hell.
Sometimes he was even kind. Especially since Sorcha had become his partner.
But she still had one concern. “What if not telling him makes him so mad that he banishes us back to the pits?”
Worry drew Trinket’s brows together. It was obvious he’d not thought of that.
“We know he has an enemy out to get him. Shouldn’t we tell him who?” she asked.
“No! It’s family and we’re not. Luke is always loyal to his family. You know that. Even now, he protects his father who cast him out. What makes you think he’d take our side over family?”
Very good point. Except for one thing. “He hates all his siblings.”
“He hates demons, too.”
There was an exception to that. “He loves Helly.”
“She’s his imp.”
Technically, she was still a demon. Just like Trinket. They weren’t the same as she was.
Envee didn’t feel right not telling their master who’d let them out.
Even if they’d been threatened. You tell anyone about this, and I’ll see all of you in the lowest pit with my own taskmaster standing over you. You’ll all wish I’d ended your existence.
She believed that promise. While everyone in Hell lied, their threats were the one promise they always kept and those threats were usually milder than what they did to anyone who crossed them.
Trinket was right. It wasn’t worth the risk.
“We could tell him how to find the others.” Maybe that would curb his anger that they’d lied to him about how they’d gained their freedom.
“Do you really want to return to being trapped in the closet with the fart demons?”
Not really. But better the farting closet than the pits. “Aren’t you worried about what will happen if we don’t tell him?”
He gave her a vicious glare. “Given what I was used for…yeah. It’s why I’m watching out for my own ass. I suggest you do the same.” And with that, he returned to being a cat and ran under the couch to hide.
Envee sat there in silence, debating what to do. She understood his fear. She had it, too.
The last thing she wanted was to be punished. For too long, she’d lived in absolute terror. Lived scared to crawl out of the hole where she’d made her home in Hell.
If she closed her eyes, she could still see that dismal place.
Until a hellhound had dragged her out by the throat. Envee had done her best to beat the beast off her.
It’d been useless. Hellhounds were enforcers. They were the ones sent to drag reluctant souls to Hell. To find demons who’d escaped and return them.
Worse than any bounty hunter, they never allowed any target to escape.
So Envee had done her best to protect herself and allowed the hound to take her wherever he wanted.
He’d dragged her to the feet of Luke’s mother. Tall and slender, Senka had been beauty incarnate. Her dark skin and gold eyes were the real envy of all.
With that indefinable grace, Senka had sauntered toward Envee. She’d cupped Envee’s chin in her hand and had lifted her face so that she could examine it more closely.
“Forgive my hound for being so clumsy. I hadn’t meant for him to hurt you.”
Those words had confused her. It’d been the first time in Hell anyone had ever apologized. Especially for pain.
“Why am I here, domina?”
Senka had actually given her a kind smile. “Lucifer has need of a demon.”
Fear had torn her apart. No one wanted to come to the devil’s attention. Those who did seldom survived. And those who survived always wished they hadn’t.
Yet there she’d stood in front of Senka, leader of the hellhounds and Lucifer’s primary handmaid.
Never had Envee been more terrified.
“My lord wishes to gift a demon for my child. You’ve been chosen.”
“Why me?” The question was out of her mouth before she could stop it.
“Because Helly has promised me that you won’t harm him. I need you to watch over my son and make sure none of the others cause him harm. If they do, you tell me. Understood?”
She nodded, not quite sure what that meant.
Senka inclined her head. “Do this for me, demon, and you’ll never again have to fear the pit. So long as my child is safe, you’re safe.”
Over the centuries, Senka had proven true to those words. A rarity in their existence.
So long as she didn’t hurt Luke, she was safe.
That was the last thought on Envee’s mind before something grabbed her and dragged her into the darkness.