Bride of the Sea Monster - Eve Langlais Page 0,41
vanished with it.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped.
“Just as rude as your uncle. He must be so proud. Speaking of which, isn’t he in a mess of trouble.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing.” Lucifer waved a hand.
Sasha whispered, “Don’t worry. Most of the futures I see for him and Dorothy come out all right.”
I relaxed. “What do you want?”
“As your boss, I’m here to give you the name of the first ship you need to sink.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, I beat the curse.” My tone might have been a bit smug.
Lucifer’s lips stretched. “No, you didn’t. You lost.”
“Because of a technicality, which you overturned.”
“The spell keeping you locked as a kraken is broken, but speaking of technicalities,”—the devil whipped out my short contract—“says right here if you become the monster, then you’ll be working for me. Doesn’t say shit about if the curse ends up later being cancelled.”
I groaned, whereas Sasha sat up, sheet tucked around her boobs. “Are you seriously going to enforce that clause?” For a moment, her voice deepened, and a chill wind entered the room.
Rip. The contract suddenly fluttered in pieces to the floor and ignited, burning to little puffs of ash. The devil straightened his tie, the skull pin on it glaring angrily as it got poked in the eye. “On second thought, why don’t the two of you have a honeymoon cruise on me. I am going to have a talk with that so-called king of Atlantis instead. Now that his city is sunk and in need of massive repair, he might be open to brokering a deal.”
“I think that’s a wise idea. Just don’t agree to anything without running it by Gaia first. And don’t drink the wine.” Sasha eyed Lucifer, who looked pale.
It made me wonder just what she’d told him before. “You’re just going to leave?” I couldn’t help sounding skeptical.
“Yes, but I’ll be back for the christening, never fear,” Lucifer threatened.
“What christening?”
It took Sasha muttering, “Holy shit, I’m pregnant,” for me to turn into a limp muscled lump and fall out of bed.
Epilogue
Sasha: Everything is awesome!
The Future: You’re welcome.
Being married to Ian turned out to be the best thing ever. In a funny twist of fate, he loved to cook and became my partner in the kitchen, expanding our menu to include his special clam baked chowder. To our annoyance, Lucifer became a constant patron. At least he tipped surprisingly well.
Even Gaia popped in a few times, the baby perched on her hip. A dark-haired boy with chubby cheeks and eyes that sometimes lit with the flames of Hell.
I got to hold the Son of Perdition once. Cute fellow smelling of sugar and strife. I couldn’t see much of his future, mostly just flames. Preferable to the darkness he sometimes emitted.
The baby gurgled as he reached down to rub my pregnant belly, sending junior into a tizzy of rolling and thumping.
“Whoa, there.” I soothed my pregnant tummy.
The devil’s child giggled and said, “Hi, Mabel.”
I could only stare at him. “How did he know her name?” Ian and I had only finally agreed on one last night after poking my seeing ability into checking out the different futures based on the names we’d shortlisted.
“Surely, you know why he’d be interested.” Gaia had finished raiding my fridge of premade meals and dumped the items on my counter.
“Mabel mine.” The baby clapped and bounced.
I glanced down at my belly, frowned, and said, “She’s too young to date.”
And I wasn’t keen on the idea of her dating the devil’s son. Until I got a glimpse, just a quick one, of my daughter wearing a crown, sitting on a throne.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that horrible…
A while later, Ian entered. “What’s got you smiling?”
“The future.” Because while I couldn’t see everything it might bring me, I predicted a lot of happiness and love.
As well as a new giant refrigerator my husband would order for my birthday.
This is the end of Sasha’s story but keep reading for a sneak peek at the next Hell Cruise story.
A long time ago…when a certain sea witch was young.
Dorothy entered the Library of Ashurbanipal, tiptoeing so as to remain quiet. The men working there didn’t like outsiders or noise. The scholars took their tasks of studying the old stone tablets and scrolls very seriously.
Too seriously.
Take Shax for example. She’d met him because of a book. Curious about the history of sea witches, she’d gone looking for any information on them. Shax was the one manning the desk that day, the librarians taking turns helping the simple folk navigate the stacks.
They spent that day and many others studying everything they could about sea witches. He’d even shown up on her doorstep with a new discovery, wearing a shy smile, cheeks abloom with a blush.
Did he like her as a woman? Hard to tell. They were both young and new to the whole dating thing.
And could a match between them even work? A human of his caliber, born into a good family but cast off because of his scholastic bent instead of his warring side. And Dorothy, a sea witch just coming into her power.
Yet she didn’t care. There was something about him that she found terribly sexy. Until he practically disappeared on her. Some newly discovered stone etchings had him and the other librarians in a tizzy. The visits to see her stopped. Her attempts to corner him failed because he didn’t appear to be leaving the library.
But Dorothy wasn’t about to give up.
Determined to make him notice her, she marched into the library and wandered the many rooms before she found him bent over a thick tome of beaten leather pages etched with dark symbols and letters. She couldn’t read any of it, but it sure had him absorbed.
It proved all too easy to sneak up behind him. Putting her hands over his eyes, she whispered, “Surprise.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you. I haven’t seen you around. I missed you.” She showed him how much by leaning in and giving him a quick peck on the lips.
She startled him enough that he knocked over a candle, which landed on the book he’d been reading.
“Uh-oh.”
The aged leather ignited immediately, and he slapped at the flames.
“Hold on, I can put it out.” Dorothy snapped her fingers, meaning to draw enough moisture out of the air to douse the flames, only her powers were raw, and she’d not taken into account the magic already brimming in some of the tomes.
It greedily grabbed at her tiny spell and amplified it. A tidal wave ripped through and soaked not just the book, but Shax, and an entire section of the library.
By the time the water receded, leaving a few fish high and dry, everything else was soaked, including Dorothy. Shax stared. Horrified. Angry. “I think you should go.”
“I—” She couldn’t find the words to apologize. Shame filled her that she’d screwed up so catastrophically.
“Go. Now. Before anyone sees you.”
Before anyone linked them together. He was ashamed of her. She’d misconstrued the signals and ruined the most renowned library in the world. That same night, she ran off with Gerald, her annoying sister’s boyfriend. And never saw Shax again until a fateful cruise.
What happens when an old flame decides it is time to try again? Watch the sparks fly in Old Demon and the Sea Witch.
For more fun in the Welcome to Hell world see EveLanglais.com
Afterword
For more Hell book see EveLanglais.com.
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