Page 90 of Demon with Benefits
Valefor dropped his hand and straightened, turning back to Meph. A cruel smile stretching across his face, he lifted a palm and sliced it open with the claws of the hand holding the whip.
“On my own blood, I vow it.” He held the palm aloft as his blood dripped onto the floor. “And now it’s your turn.Shift, Mephistopheles.”
Meph looked at Iris. She was shaking her head, begging him not to do it.
He said, “I’m sorry, Iris.”
She screamed again.
And then he shifted.
16
RAIN OR SHINE
SUNSHINE, FORMERLY KNOWN ASSHAMSIEL, GUARDIANangel of the lower Third Sphere, twiddled her thumbs in the empty courtyard.
Daniel was three minutes late.
Daniel was never late, and this concerned her. The entire nature of this scheduled visit concerned her.
Daniel had asked her to search the Empyrean Library for information on an extinct class of demon called the Shehanva, with particular attention paid to their branding rituals. Even stranger, when she had asked him why he was interested in such information, he’d replied that he couldn’t say, but he wished for her to trust him. He’d responded to her further reluctance by calling in an old favor she owed him from long ago.
Of course Sunshine could not deny her friend this request. Not after what he’d done for her.
Unfortunately, there was not much information on demon enslavers in Heaven’s archives. After an exhaustive search, she’d found only a handful of texts on the subject, and after her first meeting with Daniel, they’d established that he was already in possession of the information most of them contained.
One detail—that the slave brands could be transferred to a new owner—had seemed to pique his interest, though she hadn’t the faintest clue as to why.
After their last rendezvous, Daniel had asked her to look once more, this time with a particular focus on methods, no matter how unorthodox, of breaking any type of seemingly unbreakable magical branding.
Sunshine had agreed, but despite her determination to believe in Daniel’s sense of duty... suspicion had begun to arise.
She couldn’t help it. She told herself that doubting the integrity of one of her oldest friends was wrong, and yet, the suspicion lingered.
Not only did it linger... it grew.
Why should Daniel care about Sheolic branding rituals? What possible interest could he have in the goings on of underworld beings? Already their friendship was forbidden—the Grigori were fallen, and angels of Heaven were not to associate with them—but Sunshine had always believed Daniel was noble of heart. How could she not when he had proven himself to her so selflessly?
And yet, as she stood in the courtyard soaking in the morning sun, she knew she was going to withhold the information she had until he told her what he planned to do with it.
It was not wrong, she decided, to verify that she was not unintentionally betraying Heaven. Her highest duty was to the realm and her angelic brethren, and Sunshine had much to atone for. Every day she thanked the angels of the highest Sphere that her grave transgression had resulted only in severe punishment and not total banishment.
After two more minutes, Daniel finally arrived. Since their friendship was forbidden, they chose a new anonymous location to meet each time. Athens, Greece had been the choice today, in a small, overgrown garden in the backyard of a vacant home. Vines crawled up the stone walls around them and the satyr in the fountain had seen so many years, its features had eroded to nothingness.
“Sunshine.” Daniel approached with a smile, and Sunshine hurried to embrace him. “Sorry I’m late. Things are a bit hectic lately.”
It went against everything in her nature to be suspicious of a friend. She believed the best of everyone until proven otherwise, and even then, she always gave a second chance. It was humanity’s inability to forgive that was responsible for so many of their troubles, and this saddened her.
She pulled back from his embrace, smiling at the Grigori. “How are you, Daniel?”
Long ago, before Daniel’s fall from Heaven, they had stood side by side as high-ranking warrior angels. That past was no more, but their friendship had endured the test of time, and she was grateful for it.
“I’m great,” he said, but there was a certain tightness to his features that told her his answer may not have been entirely truthful.
He was entitled to his privacy, however, and she would respect it. She reached out to clasp his hand and smiled. “I’m so glad to hear you’re well, treasured friend.”
“Thanks, Sunshine. And you?”
