Page 42 of Demon Demands

“What did you do, Sloane?”

Slumping my shoulders, I leaned my back against the counter. “My demon and I killed his horde. His whole horde. Every last one of them, for taking Hyland, except him. He ran before we got to him.”

“You should have started with him,” he murmured.

“Hindsight being what it is… I realize that now. It’s what Dolyn and I were arguing about in the warehouse. I’m not really worried about him, but I am worried about him coming after Hyland again. Dolyn is freaking out. She’s going to stay here until I can kill him, and I’m not leaving until he’s dead.”

Lucy rolled his unnaturally blue eyes at me. “Well, I happen to know that a very angry gorgon has joined Hannibal’s ranks recently. He’s going by another name, though. What are the odds that it would be the same guy?”

“Highly likely.”

We both grew quiet as we thought about all the little shit that was adding up. I studied the shifting colors of the sky out the window.

The sunrise in the Underworld was so different from the Earthly ones that I loved so much. Navy and purple gave way to orange and red, thin smokey clouds breaking the swirling colors up, and a single black speck growing bigger in the distance. Stone was almost back, and I felt a tiny bit of my tension ease.

As he grew larger, getting closer to the palace, I heard the rest of my guys stomping down the shortcut hall to the kitchen. Lil would probably give us five minutes of peace before she burst through the door, ready for a too-fucking-early meet and greet.

I started the coffee maker up again, pulling mugs down from the cabinet and searching through the fridge for food. Franklin had been busy. There was no hellish food anywhere in the kitchen, just our Earthly favorites.

I couldn’t cook to save my life, so I didn’t even bother pulling anything out. I just had to make sure nothing needed to be hidden because I still wasn’t ready to broach the food topic. Nope. Not today, Sloane.

Lil didn’t even give the guys five seconds before she opened the door on the other side of the kitchen, looking regal in a gown at like six in the fucking morning.

She glided across the room, straight to Lucy, and after kissing him on the cheek, she made a beeline for me. Lovely. She eyed my tights and t-shirt in distaste, tsking at me.

“Why aren’t you dressed, darling?”

“I am dressed,” I argued. “These are Earth clothes, Lil. We don’t wear gowns everywhere, and if we did, then we’d look like crazy people.”

She scoffed at me, her voice haughty as she lifted her chin. “That’s ridiculous. We’re powerful women. If you want to wear a gown, then you should.”

I scrubbed my hands over my face. “I don’t want to wear one, Lil. And from experience, I can kick way more ass in tights or even a skirt than I can in a full ball gown. It doesn’t appeal to me at all, I assure you.”

Sighing, Lil picked at her fingernails lazily. “Well, if that’s how you feel, then I won’t argue my point any further, but I’ve killed more demons in a gown than,” she glanced down at my clothes again, “than pajamas. I didn’t come here for that, though. I’d like some real introductions, O. I’ve taught you more manners than this.”

I pointed to the guys, one at a time, as I called out their names, catching my demon mate right as he sauntered inside. “Stone, York, Novak, Vaughn, Palmer, and Briggs is the big guy who is currently cooking.” And whatever he was cooking smelled delicious.

She huffed at me, holding her hand out delicately for my mates to shake. “It’s nice to properly meet you. What do you boys do on Earth? You all have jobs, right?”

“Lil!” I scolded in exasperation. “Are you serious?”

“It’s a valid question, O. I want to know what they do for a living…” She sounded so fucking snobby. Lucy chuckled at her instead of helping me, and I glared at him.

“DJ, dentist, professor, chef…” I continued pointing rudely as I answered for them, but I had to pause on Vaughn. He was still tripping, so I rushed his job description out because I hadn’t exactly told him that I’d promoted him. “Operations manager of the pharma company Dad and I bought. And York, well, I’ll let him explain what he does for a living, because I love hearing it.”

York rolled his Caribbean eyes at me. “I’m a welder,” he responded simply, but Lil wasn’t familiar with the term. She was from the Underworld; she hated most Earthly things and places and people...

“Oh, is that like construction work?” Lil asked perplexed as she shook her head.

“Not quite.” York professed. With his face blank, he stared at my grandmother straight in her eyes and answered, “I’m a professional erectionist.”

Lil nodded her head slowly, eyes wide as she processed what he’d told her. “And that’s in the… adult film industry?”

The guys howled with laughter, and York shushed them as he tried once more to explain. I could not wipe the grin off my face. Lucy wasn’t fairing much better.

I’d been so worried about Lil embarrassing me that I’d forgotten how little she knew of my world. Jack and I used to fuck with Lil all the time when we came to visit.

“No ma’am, I weld pipe, large metal beams…” York raised both eyebrows, imploring her to understand. “It’s a lot of heavy lifting.”