me not to show any of the mortification I felt when I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and inclined my head toward Lucifer. He wanted to embarrass me, hm? He wouldn’t get to see even an iota of my discomfort.
I bolstered my inner defenses with the grim pleasure of the knowledge that we’d soon be stealing a soul right out of his fucking palace with him none the wiser, so whatever sick entertainment he demanded before then didn’t matter. Getting my father out did. Robbing Lucifer in the process was icing on the cake.
“Come closer.”
I saw Lucifer beckon me out of the periphery of my eyes. Tentatively, I crawled up the stairs onto the dais, halting—on my knees still—right in front of his throne. His boots and lower legs filled my vision.
“Good girl,” Lucifer crooned.
I wanted to throat-punch him. I’m going to steal from you, I thought with smug satisfaction, making sure my mental shields were adamantine in strength.
“Now,” he went on, leaning forward and lifting my head with one finger under my chin, “let me look at you.”
I was smarter than to meet his gaze. Not just out of required deference, but for safety reasons too. Who knew what kind of power he’d have over me with direct eye contact?
I focused on his nose instead. Straight, aristocratic, a masterpiece of nasal form. As far as schnozzles went, his was beyond reproach, truly worthy of—
“Quite ordinary,” Lucifer said, rudely interrupting my anxious mental rambling.
Ordinary? Oh, that motherf—
“But maybe there’s some hidden charm?” he went on, blissfully unaware of the names I called him in the privacy of my mind. “Some quirk beyond your unremarkable appearance that would move Azazel to bring you here before your time?”
Unremarkable. I wanted to mark his face with my nails.
“Ah, but it would be remiss of me not to offer you refreshments first.” He scratched underneath my chin with his finger, and I suppressed a repulsive shudder. “Here, pet.”
A cup appeared in his other hand, and he brought it to my mouth. I recoiled at the golden liquid inside. Amrit.
No, no, no. Azazel had warned me about this. The memory of his meeting with Zaquiel flashed in my mind, the cautionary way he talked about amrit, how it did unpredictable things to humans.
I clamped my lips shut tight.
“Drink,” Lucifer ordered, his voice silk wrapped over steel.
Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck. There was no polite way to refuse a direct order from the devil. Sweat beaded on my forehead.
“Your Grace,” Azazel quietly said from behind me, “she shouldn’t—”
“Do not,” Lucifer cut him off with soft menace, “spurn the hospitality of my hall.”
I could feel Azazel’s desperate frustration roll against my back like a wave crashing onto a cliff.
“Drink,” Lucifer said again, and set the cup against my lips.
To refuse would be an affront, and I’d sworn not to fuck this up.
Chest tight with foreboding, I opened my mouth and drank.
Chapter 19
Sweet taste exploded in my mouth, warmth prickling down my throat as I swallowed. Like freshly made wine, fruity and sugary, the amrit tickled my taste buds and went straight to my head.
“There now,” Lucifer murmured. “A bit more.”
He made me drink the whole damn cup. Not a minute after I’d swallowed the last of it, the effects hit me like a bat to my brain.
Exhilaration rushed through me, a thousand tiny explosions of euphoria that made me gasp and smile. The world tilted sideways. I swayed, flailed, caught in the rocking of a ship on a stormy sea.
Something grabbed me. A kraken? I slapped at the tentacles. If those suckers got a hold of my dress, they’d ruin the beautiful fabric!
“Bad octopus,” I snapped.
A low male laugh. It sounded contagious, mesmerizing. I turned toward the sound. Overlaid by rainbow sparkles, Lucifer’s face came into focus.
“Oh, you,” I whispered. There was something about him I should have remembered, something tickling in the back of my brain, but the rainbow sparkles distracted me. I looked down at where he held me upright with his hands around my shoulders. “You don’t have tentacles.”
“Sadly, no.” He did sound sad.
“That would be interesting,” a woman said.
My head swiveled in her direction. Lilith. She smiled at me, and I smiled right back.
“You’re so pretty,” I whispered, awestruck.
“Thank you.” Her voice was honey and warm summer nights, and I just wanted to lie at her feet and gaze up at her.
I leaned forward to do just that, but Lucifer pulled me back upright. I tilted my head to follow the way