Page 122 of Demon with Benefits
Her gaze snapped from the surroundings to him, and she was amazed she’d been able to look anywhere else.
He was in demon form and had already regenerated from Meph’s previous attack. Or did he look thinner than before? His lion body was hidden behind the desk except for his formidable paws, which were folded on the surface before him. Great horns twisted from his skull, and the shiny black orbs of his eyes were like soulless pits.
Beside the desk, demon Meph was looming. Long and lean like the shadow of a reaper, he twisted his head around to stare at her over his shoulder in that bone-chilling, owllike way.
“It saves me the trouble of having to hunt you down,” Valefor said to Iris, “though it wouldn’t have been too difficult. My tracking spells told me you were still within my territory, and it would only have been a matter of flying up there to grab you. Mephistopheles took you to one of his favorite caves. He often brings prey there to eat.”
Valefor smiled. “Or did you think you were special? Did you think that because he attacked me and flew off with you that he’d changed? Oh, no, child. He has always been temperamental and difficult to control. Do you think this is the first time he’s feasted on my servants and seemingly double-crossed me? Did you think he’d changed his loyalties for you, a mere human witch? What a ludicrous notion.”
He’s full of shit. He’s lying.Despite her assurances, Iris couldn’t help glancing at Meph. She looked into his empty glowing eyes and searched for any sort of recognition. Any sign that what Valefor was saying wasn’t true.
She saw nothing.
Shut up. That doesn’t mean anything. He won’t turn on me.
And yet she couldn’t help thinking,I should have listened to Meph when he said he didn’t want to shift again. I should have trusted his judgment. Damn it, why am I always pushing?
But she’d been so certain, so deeply confident it would work out.
Valefor seemed to sense her insecurity, and he pressed on. “Mephistopheles has been mine since his creation, over nine hundred years ago. You’ve known him mere months, and you think you have some claim over him? Even the other demons he allied with had to convince him to avoid his true form in order to control him. But he has always been mine. He has always obeyed me. He has always returned to me.”
Meph was the source of Valefor’s power, Iris suddenly realized. Meph was the reason Valefor had become a Duke of Hell and solidified his hold over his territory. Not because he was a powerful demon in his own right, but because he’d found a way to control Meph.
And when Meph had escaped with Raum all those years ago, Valefor had begun seeking other sources of power to stabilize his rule. That was why he’d come after Lily and Iris.
He wasn’t like the others—Mist with his deadly hunter instincts, Belial with his epic power, or even the traitorous Murmur with his army of souls.
He was just... a poser.
Iris couldn’t help herself. She laughed.
Valefor blinked. Even Meph managed to look surprised.
“You think you’re so scary.” A voice in her head told her to shut up, but she ignored it. “But you’re not!” She dissolved into giggles again.
She swore she could see the steam coming out Valefor’s ears.
“You need Meph or you’re nothing. Isn’t that it? Meph’s the one who got you your territory. Meph’s the one who tracks down your enemies. So of course you can’t get mad at him when he shows up and eats your entire castle full of servants.” She cackled. “You’re shaking in your boots at the thought that he might turn on you again.”
“I have centuries of practice controlling him,” Valefor snapped. “I have done things to him that you would not survive, and he simply endures his punishment. If I were so afraid of him, tell me, how would I have managed that?”
Iris ignored him and turned to Meph. “Babe, I really want to get home. You’ve got a nice juicy meal in front of you—even I can tell how terrified he is—so can you eat him up so we can go? I’ve had enough of Hell to last, well, forever.”
“Silence, witch!” Valefor demanded, but Iris didn’t miss the slight tremor in his voice. He rose to his feet, looming above her with his impressive size, claws flexing at his sides.
Iris was the wildcard. She made Meph unpredictable. Therefore, she was the biggest threat.
“If you hurt me,” she told Valefor, “Meph will turn on you again.”
“He is loyal to me.”
Meph’s head tilted back and forth as he listened to their argument. She didn’t want him to see her as another person vying to control him, so she decided a different tactic was in order.
“I understand if you want to stay in Hell,” she told him, ignoring Valefor again. “I really can’t stay though. It’s too dangerous for me here, and I need to get back and make sure Lily is okay. I’ll really miss you if you decide you don’t want to come, but I won’t try to force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
She took two tentative steps to her right, toward the hellgate. This time, when she spoke, she addressed Valefor.
“I’m going to use this hellgate to get back to Earth, and you’re going to let me. If you try to hurt me, Meph will turn on you again and you know it. So you’re going to let me leave, and you’re not going to come after me or Lily ever again, got it?”
