Page 26 of Dark Prince

“Okay,” I tell his retreating back. “Have a good night.”

He waves a lazy acknowledgment, not speaking or turning around to look at me. A moment later, the front door of his huge house closes behind him, cutting him off from view.

My old car feels even more like a junker after being in Lucas’s sleek, fast vehicle. Riding with him was a bit like riding a rollercoaster—exhilarating and terrifying all at once—and although I have to admit it got my adrenaline going, it’s a bit of a relief to drive home at a more reasonable speed.

I check in with Cassidy once I’m home, assuring her that I’m still alive and filling her in on how my first day at this strange new job went. Then I fix some dinner, watch the latest episode of a K-Drama that Cassidy got me hooked on, and crawl into bed early, bracing myself to do it all over again tomorrow.

As it turns out, the next few days are very similar to the first, just without the insane shopping trip.

Sherri gives me obscure and difficult to decipher tasks, I attempt to complete them, and once in a while, I call on Naamah for assistance when the rest of the staff are doing their best impressions of roadblocks.

I still don’t know why I’m here, or why I’m being paid so much to be here. I checked my salary that first day with HR—suffice it to say the lady doing the paperwork was giving me one hell of a stink eye. I don’t even blame her. The work that I’ve done over the last couple days hasn’t been worth a quarter of what I’m getting paid to do it. Honestly, I didn’t initially think I would be getting paid at all, as I thought this arrangement was to pay off my debt.

Can this really be a job I can stay at?A career?Working under Lucas Hale?

Lucas hasn’t seemed to need me much. I’m pretty sure I’m just doing Sherri’s job for her at this point. I’ve barely seen him at all.

And for some reason, I’m a lot more disappointed about that than I should be.

Chapter10

Lucifer

It has takenme eight days to resolve this problem. Two to determine the appropriate course of action, four to corner my target, and two to watch that target writhe. Sadistic as I am, the torment was as much for efficiency as for my own pleasure. Information is easier to access once the walls of morale are broken.

“Havek!”

My voice booms through the sparse room, ringing off the warded and steel-reinforced walls. The basement of my massive office building is a series of vaults, each with their own unique take on a single purpose: keeping the other supernaturals of the world in line.

A whimper answers me from the shadows. I flick the light on, a single bare bulb dangling low, providing a harsh white glow in a world of shadows. The sparse lighting is purely for the sake of aesthetic, of course. It’s important to set the stage for this sort of thing.

“My lord.” Havek babbles the words as he sits chained in front of a table before me, his wrists bound and his face stark with fear. “Prince of Darkness, General of Hell—"

“Hold your tongue,” I growl. “Those are meaningless titles. My issue with you is mine alone. Hell has nothing to do with it.”

Havek shrinks away, his face holding a sort of resentful disappointment at the rejection of his ass kissing. Many like him take issue with my departure from Hell and the effect it’s had on the hierarchy.

“My concern is with the Earthly plane,” I inform him, my tone hard. “And with what you’ve done, or have failed to do, with your piece of it.”

He bares his teeth in an anticipatory grimace. “Specificity is requested, your Lordship.”

It’s like he wants me to hit him.I slam both hands on the small table in front of Havek, shoving my face so close to his I can smell the old meat on his breath.Disgusting.

“You made me a promise, Havek,” I explain through gritted teeth, my voice low and deadly. The coward in front of me is shuddering like a goddamn chihuahua. “You promised to keep the demons in your territory in line. Tell me, have you kept that promise?”

“I have,” he blubbers. “I’ve done all you’ve asked, my lord. I-I’ve kept them in line, and none dare to trespass against my edicts. I’ve sworn them all to good behavior, I swear it!”

I grip his neck, squeezing hard enough to make his eyes bulge.

“Then perhaps you can explain why more and more dead human bodies are turning up, all clearly the work of demons. And why more demons are walking around without a human disguise? And I would love some insight onto why the attacks have become increasingly aggressive.” I release him and lean back a little as he gasps for air, staring down at him with narrowed eyes. “Do I need to tell you what this looks like from my perspective?”

He doesn’t answer me. I take that as an affirmative.

“It looks to me like the head honcho of your district has called a free-for all. Thatyouhave called for this chaos, Havek.” My tongue grazes one of my canine teeth, the darkest and most vicious parts of me eager for the violence that will soon take place. “It appears to me that you aren’t truly leading your territory, but instead merely allowing those in your district to do as they please. It also seems to me that you must’ve extended an invitation to the plane below. I track new arrivals on Earth from the underworld, and there’s been an influx in your territory of late.”

He scowls and presses his lips together, clearly growing more agitated by my line of questioning, although he tries to hide it.

Good. That means I’m on the right track.

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