Page 26 of Snowed in with the Demon Lord
“Absolutely,” Holly assured me, her expression so deadpan that Iknewthere was a joke here at my expense. “It’s not Christmas if you don’t wear a Santa hat.”
“I do not see what this hat has to do with the holiday,” I grumbled, though I pulled the hat on as I spoke. Some battles are better lost than won, and the spark of joy in Holly’s eyes was enough reward for surrendering.
We were in Holly’s rented cabin, the delicious smell of cooking meat filling the air. She’d chosen well; this place was warm, welcoming, and well-stocked with everything a mortal needed for Christmas. Including, apparently, a funny hat to make visiting demons wear.
I loved it. I’d have loved it even if it was a burned-out ruin. Anywhere would be paradise, as long as I shared it with Holly.
She smiled at me while stringing multi-colored lights around a tree that, for some reason, was inside the cabin. Mortalcustoms were beyond me, though I wouldn’t complain about this one. It made the cabin cozy. Belial watched the tree suspiciously from his vantage point on the sofa, which he’d appropriated as his Official Guard Station.
If that tree gave us any trouble, I had no doubt that he’d be on it in seconds.
“We should talk about what happens after the holidays,” Holly said as she finished. There was tension in her shoulders I didn’t like, so I tried to ignore my silly hat and focus. “I only have the cabin for another two days, then I have to go home.”
That much I understood. “Yes. What is the problem?”
“Will you come with me? Or are you planning on returning to Dis?”
She did a good job of sounding relaxed, keeping on decorating the tree while she talked. But when she took a red glass bauble from her box of decorations, I noticed the tremor in her hand.
I stepped in behind her and snagged another bauble, reaching past her to hang it from a branch. Just the feeling of being this close to her came close to overwhelming me, but this was no time to lose control.
“I have thought about that,” I admitted, “but I came to no clear conclusion. I do not wish to impose on you, I do not wish to abandon what remains of my house, and I do not wish to be parted from you for even a second. It is hard to combine those three, but I have a way. Holly, will you return to Dis at my side, and rule with me as queen of Hell?”
Holly’s sharp, quick in-breath was her only response. I let her process my question, trying not to show my own nerves. The last thing I wanted was to pressure her into something.
By my count, I waited ten heartbeats. It might as well have been ten thousand years. At last, she turned at smiled up at me, eyes wide and bright.
“No.”
I contained my gasp and swore silently, holding still and letting her finish.
“Abaddon, you know I can’t,” Holly continued, reaching up to touch my cheek. “I have friends and responsibilities, I can’t just vanish. And I’d make a terrible queen. I don’t know the first thing about ruling Hell.”
“You are clever, resourceful, and stubborn. I believe you’ll pick up the role quickly.”
“That’s sweet, but you haven’t seen me try to speak in public.” She grinned, and I frowned.
“You seem a lot happier than I expected, if it came to this.”
“That’s because you’re an idiot, my love.” She said it with such warm affection that I forgot to be offended. “You are many wonderful things, but ‘good at compromise’ isn’t one of them.”
I cocked my head, curious, and let her speak.
“I can’t walk away from my life here. Icantake a six-month sabbatical to volunteer for humanitarian work somewhere nice and distant and out of contact. You can delegate your duties for the other half of the year. I spend six months in Hell, you spend six months on Earth. Right?”
I thought about that and nodded. “It will be a challenge, but I am a lord of hell; I do not fear challenges.”
She’d hidden her tension well, but its absence was impossible to conceal. Her shoulders relaxed and she let out a sigh. “Thank fuck, because I can’t imagine a world without you.”
“Nor I, you,” I told her, lifting her high and grinning as I spun around. “I would not be parted from you for anything short of death itself, and if the reaper came for you, I would fight him.”
“You’ve proved that already.” She leaned in to kiss me gently. “Okay, then. That’s settled. Now the serious stuff’s out of the way, we get to the best bit of Christmas.”
“The meal?” I glanced at the kitchen, inhaling the delicious scent. Holly shook her head.
“No, silly, unwrapping the presents.”
“But I haven’t brought you anything.” My confusion must have been written plain on my face from the way Holly giggled.
