Zoe

I’d have thought the room given to me would be like the one in which Lucifer had stuffed me last time, barely more than a comfortable prison cell.

Instead, the demon named Gilarion led me to a suite the size of which, as well as its décor, reminded me of European royal chambers I’d seen in movies, and the whole set of rooms was even larger and more extravagantly furnished than my suite in Azazel’s mansion had been.

Well, at the very least, I could tell that the furniture and decorative itemshad once beenperfectly luxurious and pristine, but much like the rest of the palace, signs of destruction marred everything.

The curtains of the four-poster bed hung in shreds. Cracks spread across the walls and the floor, and the rugs covering the stone ground were half burned. The big mirror on the opposite wall was shattered, and apparently no one had bothered to sweep up the shards littering the floor. One of the armchairs in the seating area looked like it was about to expel its lastbreath before it collapsed into a sad pile of debris. And all of the paintings decorating the walls appeared like they belonged in an exhibition of a modern artist who liked to experiment with partially scorching his work in order to make himself look edgy or launch vicious criticism about the state of our society or some shit like that.

“What happened here?” I asked with a grimace.

“Pardon, my lady?”

Ugh, thatmy ladycrap again. I waved at the obvious signs of decay. “Why does it look like a dragon went to town in here?”

Gilarion shifted his weight. “When His Grace lost Lady Lilith…he raged. For quite a while.”

I raised my brows. “Is that the reason the rest of the palace looks half destroyed as well?”

“Yes. The entire west wing has been demolished, and much of the east wing is in a precarious condition. We have mostly ceded it to the rats at this point.”

Yikes. And I thought Azazel had anger management issues. That was nothing compared to Lucifer’s temper tantrums.

I pivoted to level a curious look at Gilarion. “It’s been eight years, though. Why is it still like this? Why not repair it?”

A muscle ticked in Gilarion’s jaw. “His Grace has not ordered any repairs. He has yet to allocate resources and personnel to take care of it.”

My brows drew together. “And everyone’s just cool with it? Y’all keep living among rubble and won’t say a word to him about it?”

Gilarion bared his teeth in a remarkable display of temper, given that I apparently outranked him. “We like our heads on our shoulders more than it irks us to live in ruins. Seeing as you seem to hold favor with His Grace, perhapsyouwill manage to suggest cleaning up this place without him snapping your neck for it.” And with grudging politeness, he added, “My lady.”

“I see,” I whispered.

And I did. Apparently, there was no one close to Lucifer anymore who was able or brave enough to have some real talk with him about important issues. But there should be.

From what I remembered of the charts and diagrams Azazel and Azmodea had made me study about Lucifer’s court, he did have a council of close advisers, and demons who acted as lieutenants, assistants, or stewards. He didn’t rule all alone, single-handedly running this place. That would be madness. No realm of this size would be governed by just one person dealing with all the tasks that piled up.

For his personal estate alone, there needed to be a few demons fielding any low-priority claims or issues that arose. And then there should be at least one or two higher-ranking demons who were responsible for presenting the more important matters to Lucifer to assess.

I scrunched up my brow as I mentally went through the list of advisers Lucifer had, according to the study materials I’d immersed myself in before the Fall Festival. “What about Taob?” I asked, inquiring about one of them.

“He did not survive His Grace’s rage after Lady Lilith’s passing.”

Oof.“Okay… Saefam, then? Has she not said anything to His Grace?”

“It turned out she was involved in the conspiracy to murder Lady Lilith,” Gilarion said. “She is currently chained beneath the glass of the entrance hall.”

I winced. “And Namiros?”

“Lord Namiros has taken his leave from this court.”

“Why?”

“There is this saying among humans,” Gilarion said carefully, “about rats leaving a sinking ship, is there not?”

I felt slightly nauseous. This was not good. Not good at all. Being drafted into Lucifer’s service and forced to live here in the palace would have been terrible enough already at the best of times. Considering all the evidence of a crumbling reign around me, however, this was as far from the best of times as possible. I felt like I’d been shoved onto a rickety structure that might collapse beneath me at any point.

“I shall leave you to it, then,” Gilarion said, breaking into my morose thoughts. “If you need anything, my lady, just call.”