Page 10 of Prince Of Sloth

“Can’t blame him. I’ve not been the smartest of us.” I shrugged. “And I do tend to leave a mess of the dwellings he loans me.”

Ipos smirked. The lines of his thoroughly sunned face were defined, like well worn leather. The desert he’d been hiding away in hadn’t only rotted his brain, but he looked older—and worn.

“That’s what you’d like us all to think, isn’t it? That the Prince of Sloth was too dim-witted to see the effects he inflicted on those around him. We both know you’re much cleverer than our brothers suspect.”

Unlike Sitri, Stolas, or even Orobas, Ipos saw more than visions of the future. He could see through the thin veil of incompetence I’d shrouded myself in all these years. Being the Prince of Sloth gave me the perfect excuse to not live up to my fullest potential. My brothers had the natural talent to rule over their territories and the eagerness to succeed in their own missions. But it blinded them to my intentions. It was easy for them to write me off as a waste of a title, and their taking up of my responsibilities—of my legions—in my absence only furthered their personal agendas.

Sitri had taken on several of my legions and put them to work on the streets of L.A. to attract the most beautiful and most powerful humans to The Deacon.

Stolas and Orobas used their allotted legions to build their empire.

But Ipos had put my remaining legions to work overseeing my other obligations: harvesting souls in all corners of North America and keeping his location as cloaked as possible.

He may have not abandoned his duties in the same way that I had, but we were both guilty of misusing our titles. Considering, however that I might need every prince’s help, including his, it was the wrong time to bring up those facts.

I perked a brow in his direction. “What brings you out of the desert, Prince of Pride?”

“Lucifer has sent me to find something that was stolen from him.” He sighed, obviously annoyed with his new mission. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about an ancient copper ring, would you?”

I cocked my head. That and the expression on my face were enough of an answer, but the questions buzzing between my ears made their way to my mouth. “Who in their right mind would steal an artifact from the all-powerful Emperor of Hell? And what would make this ring so valuable that he would send the all-knowing seer to look for it?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, but I have a feeling the magic surrounding the ring is hiding it very well. I can’t manifest a full vision of its whereabouts, but I know that there is a magical signature emitting from it. It’s faint here in Los Angeles, but it’s close.”

“How close?” I asked, invested in the mystery.

“It’s in California. It hasn’t crossed the desert to the east or the waters to the west,” he said with a glint of silver around his irises, thesightbringing him a glimpse of the treasure he was seeking.

“What would someone use this ring for?”

If we knew the intent, perhaps the user would be easier to narrow down. If it were another demon, as foolish as that would be, they could be using it to pull off a great deal of damage to humanity, padding their soul count with a tragedy or natural disaster.

“Ezequiel didn’t know exactly, but if it was once in the possession of a guardian angel, it could be used for good. Or some semblance of it.”

“Lucifer was holding on to a weapon of . . . good?” My interest was growing with each new detail.

“Whatever it was being used for, it is greatly missed.” Ipos shook out his rusty, sun-tinted hair then tied it up on top of his head.

I narrowed an eye at him. He would fit right in on Venice Beach with the surfers and beach bums. But he was far too obsessed with titles and duty to be able to earn his spot among either group. Being called upon by Lucifer for this errand showed he wasn’t off the grid as much as I had thought. That meant I could get away with not accepting my place in our ranks for a little while longer if I paid a few favors.

“Speak what you want from me and be on your way.” I peered into the large bedroom and saw Pru had left the bed. “I have my own interests to attend to.”

Ipos rolled his gold eyes and sighed heavily. “I need you to take a little trip down south. I’m going to go north. I have a small hunch that the Leviathan might know where the ring would be.”

The Leviathan was an ancient beast that had once roamed the oceans with its mate. But when Father was wrathful and vain, he struck down the second beast and plagued the Leviathan to wander alone. The Leviathan was able to take possession of human bodies, and though he was never able to become whole himself, he hopped from vessel to vessel when needed.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“San Diego. La Jolla, to be more specific.”

“Eligos will be here tonight. I can’t leave until he cloaks me.”

It wouldn’t take long for Eli’s spell to take hold, but there was a chance that Alessio would be able to see through the incantation and trail me down to San Diego.

Ipos rolled his eyes, unappeased by my delayed departure. “Fine. I’ll text you the address.”

5

Pru

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