Page 35 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Underworld

“Hey, Ty, what are some sins? Surely you know them, right, O Lord of the Underworld?” I flutter my lashes at him and he laughs.

“Sure. Lust, sloth, murder, greed, envy, pride…should I keep going?”

I shake my head as an idea forms. “No, I’m good.” I reach into my tiny gold purse and pull out my phone. Miracle of miracles, I still have a signal. Wherever we are, apparently it’s in range of a satellite somewhere.

I open a few apps and tap the screen. Within minutes, I’ve accomplished what I set out to do. It was surprisingly easy, and if this doesn’t count as cheating, maybe I actually have a chance at success.

“There,” I say. “One down, I think.”

He tilts his head, curiosity on his beautiful face. Those green-and-amber eyes are mesmerizing. “What did you do?”

“I just donated fifty percent of the money in my bank account to charities. Animal welfare organizations, specifically.”

He stares at me, and it’s clear that he doesn’t quite understand. “Okay?”

I shrug and sip more Sprite. “Look, I don’t know how to undo a sin. I don’t think that’s even possible, unless you can control time or something. What I can do, however, iscounteracta sin. Greed one of the sins you mentioned, yeah? Avarice? Well, by donating a significant portion of my own wealth to those in need—more than I can really afford, actually—I’m helping offset some of the greed in the world, right?”

He grins, his harsh lips crooking up at the corners. If his eyes are enchanting, his mouth is fascinating. His lips are just on the right side of fullness, without crossing over into pillowy or feminine. When he doesn’t smile, they’re a hard slash across his face, but they transform when he’s amused.

“I think that probably counts. As a human, I don’t know what more you could do.”

“Exactly,” I say, grinning back at him. I lean in close, tracing those interesting lips with my finger. “Can I kiss you?” I ask. “I know it seems out of the blue, but…”

He arches a brow, but nods.

I shake my head. “Nope, I need verbal consent.”

He chuckles. “Yes, you can kiss me.”

I press my lips to his and let my eyes close, enjoying the whiskey-and-smoke taste of him. When he deepens the kiss, I go with it, letting my attraction for him override my good sense for a minute or two. When we finally pull apart, we’re both panting.

“That’s two,” I say. “The first time I kissed you, I made a mistake in not asking. Stealing a kiss, as you put it. I have done my best to rectify that. To redo my mistake, so to speak. Surely that’s what it has to mean, I think. Redo an action, but in the correct way. Not make the same mistake again. What would be the point of that?”

He nods. “Seems logical enough to me. It’s only taken you fifteen minutes to get through the first two items on the list. Not bad, Penny.”

“Thank you,” I smile and mime dusting off my shoulder. “But the third one is puzzling, if only because I don’t really know what it means. How do I outdo a demon if I don’t even know what demons do?”

He shrugs again, his powerful muscles flexing under his shirt. “I can’t give you information.”

I drum my fingers against the table, thinking. “You can’t help me, but can you participate? If I told you what to do, you could do it?”

He sits and leans back, assessing me. “Probably, within reason. Why, what are you thinking?”

“Those burlesque dancers we saw earlier—they were demons, right?”

It makes sense now. The outrageous costumes weren’t costumes at all. They were just normal demon appearances. But I have afeeling there are plenty of less seductive demons out there, and not all of them dance. I’m not going to like…out-murder one or something. Presuming demons are evil. I’m way out of my depth.

He nods. “They were. You want me to dance with you?”

I laugh and shake my head. “No. They were far too talented. I couldn’t outdo Dialevia on the pole. But…” I trail off, uncertain if I’m really going to propose this.

“But?” He arches a dark eyebrow at me, curiosity written all over his face.

“Have you ever slept with any of them?”

His eyes widen, as if I’ve surprised him. “You sure you want to know?”

I nod.

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