Page 24 of Hell-Bound

To her great disappointment, it wasn’t a library but rather a large sitting room. A fireplace on each wall was lit and burning, and several elegant cushioned chairs were placed around the room. It was positively homey.

It wasn’t all a loss, however. There were several bookshelves holding old and distinguished-looking tomes and scrolls.

Trying again to be as quiet and graceful as possible, she entered the room and silently closed the door behindher. She traced her hands down each tome, inspecting the spines. Disappointingly, the majority of the books were indecipherable, their names and titles written with sharp and incomprehensible letters resembling jagged knives.

She suddenly heard the door rattle slightly after passing two of the largest bookcases.

Panicked, Ren quickly jerked her head around, hoping her instincts would show her the perfect hiding place. There it was—a small gap between two bookcases right behind the door.

As the door opened, she threw herself toward it. The only problem was that Renata apparently hadn’t trained how to stuff five pounds of tulle into small hiding places.

Dammit, dammit, dammit to hell!

The door opened, snagging on her dress.

With a start, Ren realized that it was Jester who was standing at the entrance, looking amused.

He shook his head and reached out a hand to pull her from her hiding place.

“You’re not very good at this.”

He chuckled.

Glaring, she clasped his hand.

He gave a sharp tug and wrenched her and her now crumpled dress free from the tight space.

“Actually, I think I am very good at this. Butthis,” she gestured angrily, “monstrosity, keeps getting in my way!”

Jester cocked his head to the side.

“My dear, I know Monstrosities. Some of them are my best friends, and that dress isnota Monstrosity.”

Exasperated, she sighed.

“What are you even doing here?” he said, raising a delicate eyebrow. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were up to no good.”

“I…got lost. Then I was scared that if someone found me—somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be...I’d…be punished?” she said uncertainly.

Not a great liar either, Renata.

Smiling widely again, Jester’s eyes sparkled.

“Lucky for you, mischief and dishonesty are two of my favorite things. But listen, you need to stay out of trouble tonight. I don’t know what will happen if someone finds you, as entertaining as that would be.” He paused for a moment and pursed his lips. “We might even get to see you flayyyyed.” He sighed, nostalgic. “We haven’t had a flaying in so long.”

Not for the first time that night, Ren was struck dumb with nothing in response.

Jester then pulled off his Devil mask, revealing a young male with a handsome face.

“Let’s make this interesting.Youget to be my entertainment for the night.” He smirked, revealing two dimples, and tossed her the mask.

Catching it nimbly, she stared at the red Devil.

“Other Mortals are here tonight,” he continued, “but servants and Mortals are wearing masks. The lords wanted to have a masquerade or some such.” He rolled his eyes. “But those Devils are tooproudto hide their own faces.” He pointed a long, clawed finger at hers. “Don’t lose that. Being indebted to a Devil, even a Lesser one, has consequences. Oh. And the next time you open a locked door, you might find more than you bargained for.”

And without another word, he silently slipped out.

She worships me with her sins. How delicious it feels to defile her. To show her her true nature. Breathtaking. But I feel myself, perhaps too diverted.

---