Demon King (Claimed By Lucifer #1) - Elizabeth Briggs Page 0,9

I'd never even heard of. To my relief, I spotted a container of Heinz ketchup in the door. Something I recognized. Something that proved Lucas wasn’t all pomp and circumstance.

I shut the fridge door and headed down another hallway, with the distinct sense I was going down the rabbit hole and through the mirror. Nothing in this penthouse felt at all real. Everything was spotless, like dust didn’t even dare to exist within these walls, and I’d never witnessed such luxury or wealth so prominently and unashamedly on display. I was hesitant to touch anything, for fear of breaking something. I didn’t need to add to my tab with Lucas.

At the end of this hall, I found a big set of double doors like the ones that led out of the penthouse to the elevator. I tried the handle, but each one was locked. Certainty flowed through me that these doors led to Lucas’s private chambers. I rested my hand on the smooth wood and felt an intense craving to know what was on the other side, along with a whisper of something that felt a lot like desire. I shook off the feeling and turned around.

I wondered what Lucas would think of me looking around his space, and then I realized he almost certainly had cameras everywhere. He likely already knew that I’d been poking around like a mouse when the cat was gone. Well, what did he expect? I couldn’t sit around the guest room all day staring at my nails, waiting for him to return. I snorted at the thought.

I walked out onto the huge balcony that wrapped around the entire penthouse, and marveled over the pool that seemed to flow right over the edge and into the sky. The sun was starting to set, and Las Vegas was waking up with all its noise and lights. Soon my first sinful night with Lucas would begin. With a tremor of fear running down my spine, plus a heavy dose of curiosity, I wondered what he had planned for me.

Back inside, I found another set of double doors and assumed they would be locked too, but to my surprise, they clicked open—and then I walked into a librarian’s own personal heaven. A vast room filled with hundreds of books stretched before me like something out of a movie. The bookshelves around me seemed impossibly high, and Belle would’ve been at home tucked into a corner here, waiting on her Beast. Old leather editions were housed with glossy modern volumes, and I longed to flip the pages just to inhale all the scents the paper released. Brandy would’ve chained herself to the ladder that provided access to the upper shelves.

In one corner of the room was a seating area with plush, dark chairs and large paintings on the wall behind them. On the other corner stood a massive desk with nothing on top of it, and a silver sword hanging on the wall behind it that seemed to glow with an inner light. The legs on the desk were exquisite carved wood, wrapped in tiny wraith-like figures that turned out to be horned demons and gothic angels on closer inspection. Every time I blinked, the carvings seemed to move, and I stepped back and shook my head. I’d never been a good sleeper, and it had only gotten worse since arriving in Vegas. The long nights must finally be catching up to me.

I turned in a circle, taking in the library with awe. I wasn’t sure what the next seven days and nights would hold, but this library might make it all worth it. Like Brandy, I was a total book nerd, which was how we’d met, after all. I’d strolled into the Vista Library looking for something to read during the boring shifts at work, and we’d been best friends ever since.

Dark wooden pedestals stood around the room, displaying ancient-looking vases and other pieces of art under spotlights, like in a museum. I had no doubt each one was priceless. An old Greek vase caught my eye, and I moved closer to inspect it. Intricate black figures depicted a scene on an orange background of a large man in a crown sitting on a throne, offering a plate of berries or seeds to a woman standing before him. A small placard on the pedestal read, Hades Tempts Persephone, c. 350 B.C. My mouth fell open as I studied it with reverence. I was a huge history and mythology