Page 22 of Immortal Throne

Part of me wanted to tear it open and see what my father—the ruler of Hell—had to say to me after all these years of not knowing him. But the other part… The other part was terrified of the answers I might find.

For years, the only thing I ever knew about my father was that he hadn’t been in my life, and he scared Mom.

I tapped the envelope against my palm while my mind spiraled. Chupey and Ryker’s prying stares weren’t helping.

With a shake of my head, I slipped the envelope onto the kitchen counter. Now wasn’t the time. I’d read it later, in private.

Turning back to the living room, I found Ryker and Chupey still studying me with that unnerving stillness.

“Thanks for delivering the letter.” I waved at the door to give Ryker a not-so-subtle hint. It was time for him to pack it up and get the hell out of my home. “Let me show you out.”

He grunted and leaned back on the couch. He man-spread as if he owned the space around him and gripped the chain on his jeans with one hand to play with the links. “I’m also here to formally invite you to take your place as Lucifer on the Immortal Throne.”

My mind went completely blank. As if someone wiped the hard drive of my brain, all the thoughts whirling around in my head fled at Ryker’s words.

He didn’t look happy about giving the invitation, either. His posture might’ve been relaxed, but he bit the words out and his gaze had that hard glare I now expected every time he looked at me.

“Take my place?” I whispered. Surely, I heard him wrong. “Wait, Lucifer?”

“You are to cross the Styx and present yourself to the Council of Six in two weeks. I highly suggest you embrace your demonic nature and gain mastery over your unique powers by then.” He didn’t look at me while he spoke. Instead, he continued to play with the silver chain, the artificial apartment lights glinting off the shiny surfaces.

“My unique powers?” My thoughts immediately went to my hindsight. Had that been the demon part of me all along? Guessed so.

He nodded, still not looking up. “Every demon has a special talent. You’ve repressed your demon side for twenty-five years, so if it’s not evident by now, there may be a problem.”

Crossing my arms across my chest, I scoffed. “Oh, there’s no problem.”

“If I had to guess? Your power is annoying people.”

This guy had some balls on him. Seriously.

“And if I had to guess, your special talent is being an asshole.” I snapped back. Apparently, I wasn’t above playing his childish games.

That’s right, hit me below the belt and I’ll drop down to your level.

“He controls by touch,” Chupey answered despite Ryker and my bickering. “Bend the wills of others to do whatever he wants.”

“Wait…like mind control?”

Ryker shrugged as if it was no big deal. Meanwhile, I felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of my lungs.

I madly shuffled through my memories of every second we’d been together. Like in his office and before by the door. When he had touched me… When he had forced me to scrub his fucking shoes…

When he was pretending to be my boss, he’d held me to the wall and, instead of fighting, I’d let him pin me there and got mildly turned on.

I winced. Maybe a little more than mildly turned on.

Had that all been because I was under his influence? Hispower?

“Yousonofabitch!” Fury lashing through me, I leapt across the room and let the punch I’d been holding since I met him fly. Somehow, he turned at the last minute. I clipped his jaw hard enough to snap his head to the side.

He sprung to his feet, towering over me. My hindsight wailed while anger blazed in his gaze. “You punched me?”

Well, I tried to punch him, and now he tried to make me cower beneath him. I’d gone toe-to-toe with guys three times his size in the ring, so he was going to have to do more than that to intimidate me. “Yeah, and I’m about to do it again if you don’t back off.”

He didn’t move. Instead, he seethed and glared at me with narrowed eyes. Challenging me. I met it head-on, refusing to break the eye contact. I didn’t even blink.

“Okay, now,” Chupey said after a long moment. “Enough of this. There’s still a lot that we need to get through. We’ve only scratched the surface here for Sloane.”

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