Page 39 of Devil Bound
Tiamat picked a blackberry from the plate in front of her.“Have you never called the dead to you, child?Never in your life?”
Nelly looked away.“I have.It’s… I also sometimes raise the dead.But I keep it to animals, you know.”
“I see.”
I nodded, switching my untouched juice with the one Nelly had very nearly finished.“This is why he had so much trouble with the zombie on the day we met, just like I told you, Dragon Mother.He was struggling and needed my help.”
“Hey!My juice.”
I smiled at him.“You can have mine as well, Nelly.You heard the Dragon Mother, you mustn’t go hungry, and you like it, don’t you?”
“Fucking hell,” he grumbled, but he took the juice and started sucking on the straw.
Soon, he’d develop a taste not just for juice but also for my cock, if our fake boyfriend adventure went as it should.
Tiamat smiled, radiating warmth that brightened the room.“Tell me how you met Lucy, then.I’m more curious than ever to hear you tell it, Nelly.”
Thus prompted, Nelly looked at Tiamat and opened his mouth.
20
Lionel
Tiamat,canapéinhand,looked at me expectantly.I was almost sure she was doing something to me with her gaze.I couldn’t feel anything magical happening, but the way she stared was oddly intense.
Either way, I answered.
“It was some time ago.”
“Four years,” Lucifer said.
“What, you’ve been keeping track?Whatever.It was four years ago, and I was working.Some rich kid had dabbled in necromancy.He’d drawn mostly from artifacts, not real power, but he’d managed to raise his dead father.”I sipped some more of the juice before I continued.“He wanted the zombie to sign a new will so the rich kid could keep on being rich.His father had written him out of his will before his death, clearly knowing his son well enough to do the responsible thing and leave his money to charity.
“Anyway, the detective I work with already had the kid in cuffs, but the zombie had shambled off.”I shrugged.“I followed him and took him down with a rock before he could bite me.”
Tiamat nodded.“And Lucy?”
Right.The fucking Devil caressing my shoulder.The Devil who had stolen my juice and given me his.The Devil whose fault it was that I was even drinking this delicious juice.
“He was…there.Swaggered along the riverbank and dragged the dead zombie off me.”
“All zombies are dead,” Tiamat said.
Godmotherfucking immortals.“I know that, but I mean dead again.”
“The word is de-animated, babe.I told you.”Lucifer, that smug asshole, kissed the side of my head.“I thought he had a concussion with amnesia at first.He had trouble with my name, and there were so many rocks there.I was afraid he’d fallen on one and hurt himself.I would have been ill-prepared then, but since that day, I have taken several courses and learned about CPR.”
“I didn’t—damn it, I wasfine, and I had the situation under control.”I put my empty glass down on the table.“Also, no one told you to learn CPR.I didn’t need it then, and I don’t need it now.”
Lucifer made that dark growly sound again.“I can see that.You’re quite energetic.The juice cleanse is already paying off.But if you ever do need me to breathe life back into you, I now have a certificate that says I can.”
“You can stuff your fucking certificate up your—”
“You want more juice?”Metatron—Trony—was back with another tray, and this time around, she had something orange on there with a slice of green apple for garnish, and fuck me, but that garnish made my mouth water.
“Yes, please.Gimme.”The angel sighed.I cocked my head.“Gimme, please?”
Metatron smiled like a bear high on honey.“Of course, since you asked so nicely.Please go ahead and try.It’s mango, green apple, papaya, and lychee.”
