Heroic? Asmodeus? The incubus who ran my strip clubs and went through human women like candy? I nearly laughed, until I saw the way they looked at each other. With their gazes locked, something intense passed between them, like powerful longing. It must be a side effect of his powers. Asmodeus may have refrained from feeding on her, but the lust he inspired was impossible for humans to ignore.
“I would never hurt you,” Asmodeus said to her.
Samael stepped forward and took Asmodeus’s arm, yanking him away from Brandy with a disapproving frown. “You need to feed, son. I’ll take you now.”
“Yes, go,” I said, waving them off. “I’ll handle things here.”
Asmodeus reached out to Brandy like he was going to stroke her face, but then he dropped his hand and his expression turned grim. Samael’s wings stretched out and he picked up his son, before they flew up into the sky. Unlike Samael, Asmodeus didn’t have wings. He took after his mother, Lilith, instead.
Brandy watched them fly away and brushed her fingers across her eyes, wiping away tears she didn’t wish me to see. Then her head snapped to me and she stared at me with something like curiosity.
“You know who I am?” I asked. As she certainly knew all about demons now, there was no sense in hiding my abilities or pretending to be other than I was.
She bit her lip and nodded, but I was impressed that she didn’t drop her eyes or look away. “Asmodeus told me. I didn’t believe it at first but…”
She was handling things very well, all things considered. I could see why Hannah would practically sell her soul for such a friend. “We’re going to fly you back to my hotel, The Celestial, where you can recover in safety. Hannah is there already.”
“Hannah?” Brandy looked around at all the bodies helplessly. “She can’t be here. This place, this world…”
Perhaps this was a bit much for a mortal to endure. I waved my arm and the night devoured the bodies, causing them to vanish. That only made her jump though, and I wondered whether I’d overdone it. It had been a long time since I’d shown my true self to humans, and I forgot how skittish they became around blood and magic.
“Hannah is the reason we found you,” I explained. “She’ll be relieved to see you’re all right.”
“Am I?” she asked with a short laugh, as she rubbed her arms and gazed at the hotel with dark memories in her eyes. Yes, she definitely needed to leave this place. After my people finished searching the motel for evidence, I’d burn it down in her honor.
I snapped my fingers. “Gadreel, please escort Ms. Brandy back to The Celestial and set her up in one of the luxury suites.”
Gadreel stepped forward and nodded, his pale wings stretching out behind him. She stared at them with her mouth open, and then he said something quietly to her before picking her up. I could have carried Brandy myself, of course, but that felt like a betrayal of Hannah. Another woman in my arms? No. I only wanted the one who was meant for me.
I barked out a few orders to the remaining Fallen and Lilim at the scene, making sure they left no stone unturned in their search. I didn’t know why those shifters had taken Asmodeus and Brandy, but their betrayal made my blood boil. I needed to know if this was an isolated rogue group, or if this was part of a larger act of mutiny. Hopefully when Asmodeus recovered he’d have some answers too.
I took one last look around before taking off into the sky, eager to tell Hannah that her friend had been rescued. My part of the deal was complete.
Now it was her turn.
11
Hannah
I paced back and forth in the penthouse until my feet ached. Shouldn’t they be back by now? I checked the clock for the fiftieth time but only two minutes had passed since I’d last looked at it. I groaned and turned away before I drove myself even more mad.
Azazel watched me from where she lounged on the black leather sofa in Lucifer's living room. With her rich, dark skin and black leather clothing, she looked like a panther—deadly but deceptively relaxed. While drinking a glass of red wine, she watched every single one of my movements like she had to report them all to Lucifer.
“You’re making me tired, little mortal.” She yawned and shifted her position, stretching like a feline.
I stopped and sighed. “I’m sorry my pacing exhausts you. Aren’t you the least bit worried?”
Zel snorted. “Not at all. If your friend isn’t dead already, Lucifer won’t let her be hurt. And if she is, well, it’s already done.”
I threw my hands up at her infuriating response. “What about Lucifer? He’s your boss, isn’t he?”
She laughed in response to that. “You really don’t need to worry about him.”
Maybe not, but I was surprised at how much the thought of him being wounded made my chest tighten and my heart pound. Why did I even care? He was the devil, for crying out loud. Should I be rooting for him at all, or was that like siding with evil? But if he was rescuing innocent women from kidnappers, wouldn’t that make him the good guy? Damn, this shit was confusing.
Still, I probably shouldn’t be worried. I’d only known Lucifer for a few short days, during which he’d basically held me captive. Okay, he’d also bought me a lot of nice stuff and treated me like a queen, but I’d also seen some pretty terrifying things. Not to mention, I’d nearly died too.
To say I was conflicted was an understatement.
I sucked in a breath. All I wanted was for Brandy to be safe. I would focus on that and figure out everything else later.
With nothing to do but wait, I plopped into one of the armchairs and jiggled my leg. Zel moved
