I stepped inside the Diabolique Day Spa and marveled at the large, relaxing fountain in front of me. Everything was white marble, shining blue glass, and smooth, curved lines.
“Ms. Thorn,” a beautiful woman said, stepping forward to meet me. I briefly wondered if she was a demon, and if so, what kind? “We’ve been expecting you.”
“Is my friend here yet?” I asked.
“No, but we will bring her in as soon as she arrives.” She gestured down the hall. “Follow me.”
I was led down shimmering floors and through a frosted blue door into a room with two massage tables. Another woman approached with a glass of champagne, and I waved her away. “No, thank you.”
They left me alone in the room. To change, I supposed. I’d never actually been to a spa, at least, not that I remembered, and wasn’t exactly sure what all it entailed. Instead of getting undressed, I paced the room with butterflies in my gut. Brandy was supposed to be here any minute.
When the door opened again, I rushed toward my best friend. She looked too thin, and bags stained the skin under her dark brown eyes a purple-gray color, but she was alive and safe and that was all that mattered.
“Brandy!” I threw my arms around her. “I’ve been so worried!”
Brandy hugged me tightly. “Thank you for coming to Las Vegas to look for me.”
“How could I not?” We didn’t let go of one another for several moments, neither of us entirely steady. Tears filled my eyes, and I heard her sniffing too. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
I pulled back and examined her again. I was right—her face was just this side of gaunt and her normally glowing dark skin looked ashy. She mustn’t have eaten well in captivity, if at all. Thank goodness Lucifer had rescued her when he did. There was a darkness in her eyes too that hadn’t been there before, like she’d seen and learned things that had shaken her to the core. I wondered if I had the same look in my eyes.
As we hugged and cried, the masseurs kept checking into the room to find us still clinging to one another, and it took us several attempts to separate and lie on the tables for our first appointment of the day. But full body massages waited for no one, and Brandy looked like she really needed the care and attention.
“We better let them do the massage before they combust,” I said.
Brandy managed a ghost of a smile and nodded. “I could definitely use a good massage.”
We stretched out and tried to keep the conversation vague while the women were in the room. I told her about her mom and son, how worried they’d been, and we discussed what we’d seen of Vegas, but the conversation made me prickle with an urgency to know more, and I could hardly wait until the massages were over so we could talk properly.
Once our massage was finished, the women led us to another room. It was dimly lit, with a long, expensive-looking counter and two reclining chairs, similar to those usually found in a salon. Various pots and machines sat on the counter. The tools of the trade, I assumed, although I couldn’t begin to guess what some of the machines did. One of them offered us champagne, which Brandy gladly took.
“Your facialist will be here soon,” the woman said. “Mr. Ifer instructed us to give you at least a half-hour break between each session. He said you’d be eager to catch up.”
I thanked her with a smile, though I wondered if I should be thanking Lucifer. Again. How could he be the actual devil, with all the wickedness and darkness that brought, and still melt my heart with his small gestures of consideration? But my smile quickly disappeared as I looked at Brandy once we were alone, and I shuddered at the thought of the things she must have gone through.
I sank into one of the chairs. “Tell me what happened.”
“This is some high-class shit,” Brandy said, before she downed the champagne. I got it—it was easy to be distracted by the trappings of Lucifer’s life, especially when the other subject might be more difficult to address. She stared into the empty glass. “I guess you deserve to know, more than anyone.”
“If it’s too painful to talk about, I understand.”
She sat beside me and shook her head. “No, it will help to talk about it. It’s so crazy I have to share with someone.” She drew in a sharp breath. “Well, you know I came to Las Vegas for a librarian conference, right? But when I got here, there was no conference.”
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
