Page 8 of The Redeemable 4

Chapter Three

Arcadia’s red hot rage woke me.Ten hours. I’ve been trapped in the abyss of nothingness for ten hours. Who has sex for ten-freakin’-hours?

Whoops.

“Sorry, Cady. Trust me, it was better than watching me tongue Luc’s balls. Well, for you anyway.”

Ew.

I rolled out of bed, the one Luc and I shared, and slipped on a T-shirt from the walk in robe. The bed was massive. Arcadia and all seven of her guys could sleep in it, comfortably. Hell, maybe even me, Luc, Gus and Memphis could fit as well. Like one big happy orgy.

Um, nope! Never going to happen. I don’t share.

I laughed as I brushed my teeth in the ensuite. Ensuite might be a bit of an understatement. It was larger than all the apartments Arcadia’s lived in combined.

“Lucky for you, I share very well.”

I walked along the stone floors that were beautifully warm. The bowels of Hell; it was the most efficient underfloor heating ever.

I strolled into the kitchen to find everyone already there. Memphis was reading a book that’s title was in Greek, Gus was still drinking moonshine, though in consideration to the time of day he was mixing it with freshly squeezed orange juice. Luc was sitting at the head of the table, in his hand carved mahogany wingback chair, reading a newspaper.

When I saw the last person in the room, I resisted the urge to groan.

“Gus, you didn’t?” I whisper-yelled, and he had the brass balls to grin. I shook my head. “I thought you loved me?”

Unfortunately I hadn’t been quiet enough, because the person cooking pancakes turned. I hated pancakes.

“Acerezeal! It’s so good to have you back!” Bacciria gave me a huge fake smile, all teeth and big hair. And boobs. Bacciria was my least favourite demoness. She was practically my arch nemesis.

“Baccy!” She curled her lip at the hated pet name. “It’s good to be home and back in my own bed.”

She continued to give me the snarly version of a smile. “I bet. I made you your favorite. Pancakes. I’ve been taking such good care of the guys while you’ve been away.” Her voice was saccharine and I was about two seconds away from stuffing the pancakes somewhere a person shouldn’t have baked goods.

I walked over to Gus and sat down on his lap, kissing his cheek. “Thanks, Baccy. I really appreciate you keeping them in such good, mmm-” I ran my finger down between Gus’s pecs and over his abs, twirling my finger in the golden hairs just above his waist band. I waggled my eyebrows. “Health.” Gus’s body shook with contained laughter. Asshole.

“Tired of Lucifer already?” She wasn’t even trying to keep up the sweet charade now. I sucked in a breath through my teeth.

Uh-oh, wrong zinger there, Baccy, Arcadia groaned. She got it. But unfortunately, Demonesses weren’t known for their large intellects.

Luc stood, and spread his wings wide, their onyx hue casting the whole room in shadow. He appeared to grow and he became the imposing King of Hell that he was. Only fools forgot that he was scary as fuck, even when he was sipping juice and reading the sports pages.

“Bacciria, you forget yourself,” his voice boomed, shaking the walls of the palace. “You dare speak of me in that manner? I am you Master, your creator! You do not speak to me or my consort with such disrespect.”

Baccy fell to her knees and prostrated herself on the floor. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she wailed over and over again.

Holy hell, I’m glad I’m not corporeal right now, because I would have wet myself. That’s one scary mofo, Arcadia whispered. She had no idea. She’d only seen the warm, loving side of Luc. Even when he was angry at us, I was his beloved and she was his Redeemer, and we were never at risk of the full extent of his wrath. I had seen Luc when he was in full Devil mode. It wasn’t a sight easily forgotten, unless you were a vapid demoness with more cup sizes than sense.

“Be gone from the palace. If you return, I will send you to the seventh circle for eternity.”

Bacciria blanched and scurried out the door.

What happens in the seventh circle? Actually, don’t tell me. I’ll probably never sleep again. “They peel your skin off you flesh inch by inch, and then when the process is complete, they stitch it back on, let it heal and then peel it back off again. Over and over, for eternity,” Memphis answered from the stove, where he was removing the burning pancake from the heat.

I’m going to throw up. I said I didn’t want to know!

Memphis shrugged. “I always maintained that if the humans had a better understanding of what awaited them, they’d try harder to be good.”

Gus scoffed. “Good. Bad. Those definitions are what led us all here in the first place. You need to let go of your notions of good and bad. Hell has its place. But we need to embrace the shades of grey and talk about it in terms of harm. To their fellow humans, to the world that they live on, to the other inhabitants of the earth-”

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