Chapter 19
DROP DEAD, GORGEOUS
SUYIN GOT LOST IN THE WORDS SCRAWLED IN MURMUR’S chaotic penmanship. It was fascinating to follow his notes and see how his mind worked.
She’d never tell him to his face, but he was a bona fide genius. Sometimes he’d go off on a seemingly unrelated tangent for pages, only to jump back to the original subject, tying everything together in a way she never would’ve guessed otherwise.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying about the procreation ritual here,” she said aloud after a while. “I get that Cambion conception isn’t possible without doing the ritual first, but does it actually have to occur during—”
She broke off as she looked up from the book and over at Murmur.
His head rested on the couch cushion behind him, and strands of pure-white hair that had escaped his braid were fanned out around him.
His eyes were closed, his lips slightly parted, his chest rising with steady breath.
The smoky outlines of his souls moved so little, they were nearly invisible.
Even the barbed tip of his tail lay still.
Damn, he looked good.
He was so big, and his tail and horns and skin were strange enough to keep her uneasy. Why that made him more attractive, she couldn’t say. What that said about her, she couldn’t say either, but it probably wasn’t anything good.
“Occur during what?” he mumbled.
She frowned, completely forgetting what she’d asked. The silence lingered on. He still hadn’t opened his eyes or lifted his head. Seeing him relaxed was such a bizarre sight that she couldn’t tear her eyes away.
“You’re staring,” he said, and she tensed.
“Well, you’re kinda freaky to look at,” she said quickly to cover her tracks.
His half smile disappeared, and she immediately regretted her words. She’d gotten pissed when he’d commented on her appearance—calling her little, the bastard—but she’d essentially done the same to him. And she’d made it sound like she found him repulsive, which wasn’t the case at all.
“I know how I look.” His voice was low. “The last time I encountered humans, they recoiled at the sight of me.”
“Well, you’re a demon and they’re human. They’d probably never seen—”
“They were blood-born witches, and they had come to Hell of their own volition. I found them in the tunnels of this lair, in fact. They had seen demons before. One of the twins was even in love with one. She came here to rescue him, and I helped her.”
Twins? Blood-born witch twins were so rare, a prophecy had foretold Iris and Lily’s birth. But he couldn’t be speaking about them, obviously. This must’ve been a memory from long ago.
“That was uncharacteristically nice of you,” Suyin said, hoping it would encourage him to elaborate.
“Oh, I didn’t do it for free.” His lips curved. “I got a new lair out of it, and then a load of gold when I sold them out to Valefor and had him steal your book for me. I arranged it all very carefully.”
“Wait.” Suyin straightened. “Valefor?”
“Mmm.”
“But he’s the one who’s after Lily and Iris.”
“That’s what I just said.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Lily and Iris wouldn’t come to Hell to rescue a demon. They hate demons. Valefor killed their parents.”
“Yes, but he’s dead now, and Iris and Lily have evidently gotten over their hatred. Just ask Mephistopheles and the Hunter.”
“Who? What? That’s not—” She shook her head. “How do you know all this?”
He opened his eyes and turned his head over to meet her gaze. She knew he was being intentionally vague—she’d already learned that he enjoyed dangling information in front of her like a carrot and making her jump through hoops to get it. It was fucking annoying.
“You’ll have to ask your witch friends when you get back to Earth,” he said. “You three should have lots to talk about.”
“Nuh-uh.” She jabbed a finger at him. “I’m not letting this go that easily. What the hell do Mephistopheles and the Hunter have to do with—” She broke off, and her eyes bugged. “Meph.”
Murmur smiled as she put it together.
“You’re kidding me. No, that can’t be—It has to be a coincidence.”
“It’s not.”
“You’re telling me my best friend is dating a demon? A fucking demon. She loathes demons with a burning passion. She despises them with every fiber of—”
And then she remembered their recent conversation. Iris’s lies of omission and seemingly nonsensical certainty that she was safe from Valefor.
“Is Valefor really dead?”
“Yes.”
“How? How did he die?”
“As far as I know, Belial killed him.”
That was why Iris was so convinced she was safe. She’d known. “Nice of her to tell me,” Suyin grumbled. She and the coven members spent hours every week keeping that damn cloaking spell going and it wasn’t even necessary. “Fucking hell. I can’t believe her boyfriend is a demon.”
“Lily’s too,” Murmur tacked on, his cocky little smirk telling her he was enjoying her disbelief.
“How did it happen? How did she even meet a demon and not try to immediately kill him?”
“You’ll have to ask her that.”
“Just tell me now.”
His lips quirked. “You can’t make me talk, Suyin.”
They stared at each other. She saw the stubbornness in his eyes and wanted to kick him. He wasn’t going to tell her anything for the sole reason that she was dying to know. It was his favorite game, and they’d been playing it from the moment they met. Asshole.
“Why are you always so cagey anyway?” she snapped.
She wasn’t going to beg for answers, and he was right: She’d be able to find everything out once she returned to Earth.
Rest assured, she and Iris would be having a nice, long chat.
“What purpose does it serve keeping all these secrets from me? I’ve already said I want to help you.
You’re only hurting yourself by keeping me in the dark. ”
“Maybe I enjoy it.”
“Why?”
“Maybe it’s all a game to me,” he replied, echoing her very thoughts.
“A game where you make all the rules and call all the shots.”
“My favorite kind.”
That wicked smile … He was a dick, but she swore it was a form of foreplay just looking at him.
She groaned internally. It had been her master plan to insert herself into his life and get under his skin until he cracked and told her everything she wanted to know.
But that plan was a double-edged sword, because the closer she got to him, the harder it got to remember why she was trying to manipulate him in the first place.
“I hate you,” she muttered, more to herself than him. Just as a reminder. Because she did.
“Do you?” His eyes were full of challenge. He didn’t look offended.
The longer they stared at each other, the more she felt herself caving.
“I should hate you,” she corrected, mentally kicking herself. “I keep reminding myself to hate you.”
“But you don’t.”
Her upper lip curled. He smiled, finally lifting his head off the couch and angling his body toward her. As if this was a conversation that interested him enough to command his whole attention.
“Why should you hate me?” he asked as if he didn’t already fucking know.
“Hmm, where to begin?” She crossed her arms and shifted toward him too. She’d all but forgotten the book in her lap.
“Maybe because you kidnapped me, locked me in a dungeon, and then left me to starve to death. Or maybe because you scared the piss out of me with your creepy souls—twice now. Or maybe because of all the times you half strangled me, threatened me, insulted me, and traumatized me with your stories about the horrible things you’ve done to demons, humans, and even angels. ”
He laughed. He actually laughed. “You’re being dramatic.”
“Dramatic? I can’t even—” She shook her head. “If I had more energy, I’d punch you.”
There was that grin again. This time it flashed his fangs, and the sight of them sent a tiny pulse of heat throbbing through her traitorous body. No, we are not doing that.
“The way I see it,” he replied, “I’ve treated you like a queen.”
Her brows shot up so high, they probably disappeared behind her fringe. “I never knew you were delusional as well as psychotic.”
“You were supposed to be a prisoner,” he said, choosing to disregard her comment. “And yet, somehow, you now have private chambers in my tower and servants to bring whatever you desire from Earth.”
“That’s only because—”
“And if that wasn’t enough, you are the one and only person ever to be allowed access to my library.
There are demons currently impaled on the tower spikes just for entering this room or daring to touch a single book.
And yet, I granted you complete, unfettered access to everything here after only knowing you a short time. ”
“That’s great, but it’s hardly a justification for—”
“On top of that, I am now sitting here, putting aside my important work, upon which my life quite literally depends, in order to teach you about your father’s grimoire and your origins.” He shot her a challenging look. “Tell me, how is it that you still believe I treat you badly?”
She opened her mouth to reply … but nothing came out.
Shit, he’s kinda right, isn’t he?
“You would have let me starve to death,” she said, aware she was grasping at straws.
“You wouldn’t have died. And I didn’t realize your strength was influenced by food and water, since that’s not the case for me.
I corrected my mistake though, did I not?
Look at you now.” He lifted an arm and gestured to her before letting it drop into his lap.
“I’ve never seen a more ungrateful person.
I’ve half a mind to throw you back into the dungeon so you remember how good you have it. ”
“I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“How about, ‘Thank you, Master, for your benevolence’?”
Is he fucking serious? She looked sharply at him. Humor danced in his eyes. The urge to punch him rose anew.
It didn’t escape her notice that she was trying to convince the bad guy that he was the bad guy. Of course he disagreed with her. Villains always felt justified in doing the terrible things they did.