Page 53 of Hell Raising and Other Pastimes (Grave Concerns 2)

“She turned one of my head generals into a goat a few years ago.”

“Yeah, the goat thing seems like her go-to move.”

He shook his head. “I would simply not invite her if that were possible. Unfortunately, she is one of the few who could attend all on her own, thus I send an official invite and she rarely shows. If I left her off the list, she would come to spite me. Somehow it does not shock me that she would come foryou.You seem to have your hand in many places it does not belong.”

“To be fair, I wouldn’t even be here ifyouhadn’t abducted me.”

“I didn’t abduct you. I simply invited you.”

“Your letter transported me here without my permission. What would you call that?”

“An aggressive invitation.”

I cut him a sharp glare, and I swore I almost saw his cheek crease. That didn’t feel possible, however, since he hadn’t shown signs of having any sort of emotion.

We wound through the party, though it was an easy path since people parted for him. Near the large tree were a row of seats that reminded me of the coven’s throne room. Sure enough, at the center, a chair made of skulls. Beside it was another, smaller one, though I would have sworn it was made of other bones as well.

Lucifer pointed at the chair beside the large throne.

“I don’t sit on bones,” I said.

“It is customary for the guest of honor to sit beside me. In fact, it is a great honor that many have fought and died for.”

“Well, let them use it, because dead bodies are not for furniture or eating utensils.” I thought back to the cup at the inn.

Lucifer’s eyes narrowed, which told me not to push my luck.

I reached out and plucked the pocket square from his jacket—if he wanted to kill me, he could have already, and I doubted stealing his handkerchief would push him over the edge—unfolded it and placed it on the seat. I was not going to get bone germs on my pretty new dress.

He shook his head, an almost imperceivable gesture, before taking his seat in the large throne.

The other chairs were quickly filled as well, the room falling silent as if his presence signaled something important.

To his other side was a chair that remained empty, a throne much like his, and to my other side sat Persephone.

“Sorry, Ava,” she whispered. “I hadn’t seen my friends in months. I won’t leave you again.” Almost immediately, she leaned to the other side and starting to talk to whoever sat there, despite being the only person talking in an otherwise silent room.

And despite Lucifer’s sharp look.

It seemed she wasn’t afraid of him at all.

“Thank you for coming,” Lucifer said from his throne. “It has been too long since we have done this. Now, let us see our brave competitors for tonight.”

Someone walked in, a woman who reminded me of the waitress at the ballroom, though this woman was better dressed. She wore a suit with a skintight skirt that showed off her hooved feet. “We have six teams for tonight,” she announced. “The first team are local favorites.”

As she listed the people, they came from a door off to the side, and each one she named made me want to shift closer to Lucifer.

Which was dumb, as I’d bet he was far more dangerous to me.

The creatures—I couldn’t even call them people—were worse than the man who had almost killed me. They were large, muscled bodies scarred and twisted. Each gave me no doubt about just how lethal they were.

The woman went through the groups, one by one, while Lucifer sat impassively and Persephone chimed in to anyone who would listen about the rumors surrounding the people.

It seemed everyone ignored her breaches of protocol.

“And the last team,” the woman said, “is new. We have witnessed one fight before, a fan favorite, undefeated.”

The rest of her words disappeared as I watched Hunter, Kase, Troy and Grant walk into the center of the courtyard.

This wasn’t the reunion I’d planned on…

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