Page 113 of A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums

“He’s been called away.”

“To where?” he barked and she straight up jumped.

“What’s his game?” I asked and she finally turned to look at me, startling as if she’d just now noticed my presence.

She cocked her head giving major haughty vibes, hand propped on her hip. “What are you?” she asked.

Really? She had a very pissed-off, menacing Connor baring teeth at her, looking a minute from going full-on death hound on her ass and that was what she chose to ask?

“You don’t talk to her. You address me. Where is Satan? You’ve got two seconds.” Connor’s eyes started to glow red andoh, man—shit was definitely about to hit the fan.

Her face went completely ashen, zombie gray. “He got called away,” she replied. “Things have been happening—things he hasn’t approved.” She finished fast. Well, this was a new development.

“What things?” Connor roared. “Where is he?”

The woman threw up her hand as if that would stop my mate from ripping her throat out. “He’s taking a meeting… at a place called Monnie’s. I don’t know it. I can try to find out where it’s located.”

“No need.” He turned to me. “Simone.” I used my Lilium magic to make sure she couldn’t move or speak for at least an hour. We didn’t need her warning Satan. Then I took Connor’s hand, cloaked us again, and manifested us the hell out of there.

We landed by the big, green dumpster behind Monnie's Bar.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered to Connor. “I thought Luc was with us.”

“There’s no way he’s involved.”

“But this ishisterritory.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Shit—we left Shafira and Karro with him.”

“They’ll be fine. He’s not involved.”

“Connor, you know I think the world of him, but this is a bit too sus. Who’d dare hold a meeting in Lucifer Morningstar’s quadrant without his approval?”

“I don’t know, but I’m about to find out.” Connor started stripping off his clothes. I bent to pick them up as he dropped into his hound form. The giant dog still took my breath away. I draped a cloak around us and we snuck into Monnie’s through the back door. We entered the kitchen area, which appeared cleaner than I’d expected it to be. Somehow, given it’s role asthehangout for all the bad men in Luc’s territory, I’d expected dirty dishes piled up in the sink with food rotting on the plates and flies buzzing around. But no, it looked like a clean, up-to-date bar kitchen. Who knew?

Focus, Simone.We walked through the kitchen to emerge behind the bar. A hallway sat across from the bar. Signs pointed out the restrooms. Instinctively, I felt like that was where we needed to be. With Connor at my side, we headed in that direction. The door at the end of the short hallway opened up and ooh—that man gave me the willies. That man being Satan himself, looking every bit as menacing as the last time I’d seen him. The scar that ran along his face appeared thicker, deeper now. As if all his stress manifested through that ugly feature.

“See that it doesn’t,” Satan said to someone and clearly, we’d missed a large portion of the conversation. The door opened wider and Connor snarled and barked, gnashing his teeth. BothSatan and the other man turned to see where the sound was coming from.

Connor charged and it took everything to keep up with him. The man was fast in his hound form. In the melee, I didn’t notice Satan slip away, but he did because when we reached the office, Satan was gone.

Our timing—perfect. I dropped the cloak and Connor changed back to a man. “Damien,” he snapped and he lunged, capturing the guy I assumed to be Damian as he tried to escape. When would these guys learn? Connor was not a man you pissed off or played with—well, unless your name was Simone Lamia. How I enjoyed the perks of being me.

A third man, the other man still left in the room, whom I assumed to be the owner of Monnie’s, sat behind a desk. His eyes darted back and forth between us. I used my magic to ensure neither bad dude could leave, before handing Connor back his clothes.

“What in all of Hades were you doing meeting with Satan?” my mate asked as he dressed, and I really thought it behooved the man to answer. Unfortunately for this Damien, he thought with his bravado rather than his head.

“The world is changing,” he replied, sneering in a way that was just asking to get his head torn from his nasty demon body, and Damien reminded me of a reptile when he spoke. Like the equivalent of a human gecko. I disliked the man on sight.

“Not today,” I said and the man glared at me.

“You think you know—you’ve got no clue, girlie. Either of you. No amount of bitches—oops!I mean,witchesare gonna keep us from turning the Earth into a literal devil’s playground. Watch your back, girlie. They’reallcoming for you.”

Connor moved so quickly at his threat, I didn’t have time to react. He used his bare hands to rip the demon in two. Blood and guts spurted and spilled all over us and the desk before it alldisintegrated into ash. I didn’t even have the chance to vomit, it went that fast. So I conjured up a breeze to brush it away.

Then Connor turned to the man still stuck to his seat. The man’s eyes went huge. “I have nothing to do with this.” The man sniveled. “When the leader of Hell calls a meeting, you don’t argue.”

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