Page 71 of The Devil and His Sparrow

Addie’s smile widened with pride. “I am.”

“Holy shit! I love your clothes!”

The two of them immediately burst into conversation about clothes and designs. I shared a stunned look with Nahla and Iseul.

Iseul rolled her eyes with a sigh and whispered, “They’ll probably be here forever if we don’t stop them. I’ve seen this same scene more times than I care to admit.”

“Eden,” I said gently, placing a hand on her arm. “Get ready now. Talk fashion later.”

“Oops,” Eden giggled. “Sorry.” She leaned in to whisper to Addie, “I’ll get your number, and we’ll talk later.”

“Now that that’s settled,” Nahla said, starting toward my closet, “let’s find—Ahh!” Her scream triggered shrieks of horror from everyone else, except Zagan. She pointed a finger at the floor. “Sn—Snake!”

Coldin slithered across the carpet. He looked like he’d been minding his own business, but now that he’d gotten a reaction out of Nahla, he slithered closer.

Addie gasped, the scream we’d all shared from pure reactiveness completely forgotten. “He’s beautiful.” Her pretty blue eyes found mine. “Is he a pet?”

“Umm …” I glanced at Zagan, not sure how to respond.

Zagan rubbed a finger under his mouth, which twitched with the threat of a smile. He watched his bandmate approach Addie’s feet. “Yeah, he’s a pet.”

It took everything inside of me to keep my eyes from widening at Zagan’s lie.

Addie fidgeted like she was trying to contain herself and asked, “Can I hold him?”

Zagan shrugged. “Go for it. Can’t promise he won’t bite.”

Addie waved off the warning and picked up the large black snake. He wrapped around her arm, and she ran a finger over his scaly back.

Nahla flashed me a desperate look and said, “Let’s get ready now that I’ve officially shit myself.” She turned to Addie, and her nose scrunched in disgust. “I can’t believe you like snakes.”

Addie held him closer, smiling down at him. “Why? Don’t you think he’s gorgeous?”

Coldin’s tongue flicked out, touching Addie’s cheek. I flashed Zagan a wary look, which he ignored. I really hoped the demon wasn’t about to eat my new friend.

Zagan left the room while the four of us girls—and Coldin—got ready. I wanted to kick the serpent out since some of us were changing, but that would’ve been a pretty odd request since, to them, he was just a pet snake. Plus, he seemed mighty content, slithering up Addie’s arm and over the tops of her pillowy breasts. Pretty sure he was trying to nestle in her cleavage.

The girls oohed and awed over all the clothes Eden had shown up with, some of which were actually clothes Addie designed and made. Me, Nahla, and Iseul chose something from among the garments with Addie and Eden’s help. By the time we were outfitted with hair and make-up, the sun had set.

I looked in the mirror over my dresser one last time to see the silver one-shoulder long-sleeved shirt and tight black pants and heels. My brown hair had been straightened, and Addie had applied some natural but beautiful make-up to my face. With the dangling diamond earrings and necklace to finish it off, I actually felt … pretty—something I was unaccustomed to feeling, thanks to the rules that had always governed what I was allowed to do when presenting myself.

Eden opened my bedroom door and called out to let Zagan know he was good to come back in. She sat on the edge of the bed by Addie, who had changed into a miniskirt and leotard top. Her blonde-and-pink hair fell down her back with sections pinned back on either side of her face. She still held Coldin in one hand while stroking his scales with the other.

“What club should we go to?” Nahla asked as she swiped the last of her lipgloss on. Her warm complexion stood out beautifully in her wine-red dress.

“I know a great one,” Eden said with a vibrancy that never seemed to dim.

“No, Eden,” Zagan said, appearing in the doorway. He gave the bubbly demon a deadpan stare. “We aren’t going to that one.”

A lightbulb went off in my head after seeing the pointed look he gave her. She’d wanted to go to the demon club, but the only human in the room who knew about demons was me.

Eden crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks in annoyance. “Party pooper.”

“I know a place,” Addie offered. “It has great security, which I assume we’ll want given our celebrity friend over there.” She gestured at Zagan.

The four girls started talking about the suggestion, but the conversation was lost on me when I met a pair of blue eyes. Zagan’s attention was firmly locked on me, and his eyes made a slow sweep of my form where I leaned against the dresser. With every inch of skin his gaze touched, I got hotter and wetter. How could his mere attention alone feel like his hand actually running over my throat, between my breasts, over my pussy, down my legs, and back up? By the time his eyes locked on mine again, my heart thundered, and my clothes felt too tight.

It didn’t help that he looked like a snack himself in his silk long-sleeved shirt. It had a loose neckline that opened up halfway down his abdomen, exposing the dagger tattoo in the center of his defined pecs and the edges of his moth and spider tattoos. A loose silver chain draped around his throat, and his hands were shoved into the black-and-silver pinstripe pants. Part of his hair had been slicked back so that only a couple strands fell across his forehead.

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