Hell's Belle - Eve Newton Page 0,81

voice. I narrow my eyes at her. She has a soft spot for this Demon, that much is obvious.

She snaps her fingers, a noise that resonates around my head along with the two sentences that Gregory said earlier, and I remain calm in the face of this new male that has come sniffing around.

She is your Queen; you owe her loyalty and respect above all else. If you want to be with her, then you will accept whatever she throws at you, and then some.

36

Annabelle

“Annie!” Devlin shouts in my face as he appears in my bedroom, after I let him in.

I grimace at him. “Don’t call me that,” I whine. “I hate it.”

“Ah, love, can’t change it now,” he chuckles, knowing I don’t like it, I’ve told him that many times. “Come here.”

I step into his open arms to a bit of bristling going on around me, except from Drescal. He knows the score.

I give Devlin a big squeeze. “Missed you, babe,” I say, pulling away and admiring him openly to his delight. He is tall but not Demon-tall. A shock of black hair that he spikes up, bright blue eyes that are full of mischief and dressed in black jeans, a tight black t-shirt, biker boots, black Ray Bans and a black leather jacket. He has a British accent that is more Sex Pistols, than Gregory’s Hugh Grant.

“Missed you more, love,” he says, bending to give me a lingering kiss on my lips. “So, what’s the what out there?”

I sigh. “Long story.”

He nods knowingly.

“When did you get back?”

“A bit ago.” He gives me a searching look. “There’s been rumblings, love.”

He pauses to bump fists with Drescal and then pulls the sunglasses down his nose to take in the rest of the males. His eyes land back on me, twinkling with amusement.

“Rumblings?” I ask with a frown, ignoring his silent question regarding the males.

“The dead are dancing, love. I wondered if perhaps it was you making a move, you know, to walk the Earth.”

I blink and take that in. Devlin is a necromancer. He can bring anything dead back to life. He is quite skilled as he has been doing this for a while now. Five hundred years, I think. He himself was killed and brought back to life by an immensely powerful necromancer who took an interest in Devlin’s wicked ways. That’s why he is still in his human body. He is the only one of the Demon classes that gets to keep his human body, along with his memories of his life. Only a great necromancer can make another necromancer as the power is just too great for any old fucker to wield. Lucifer was the original one, obviously. That means that I also have that power, although I have never used it. Devlin showing up here is fantastic timing though, as I figure this might be a way to keep Gregory around a bit longer, so that he doesn’t age and die and leave me. Okay, so yeah, he still has to die, but then he would be just as alive as Devlin when I bring him back. It’s only zombification if you don’t do it right. Unless that’s what you require, of course.

“Annie?” he prompts me as I get lost in my thoughts a little.

“Uhm, no plans to walk the Earth. Yet,” I say with a smile.

“Earth?” Elijah mutters and then his eyes shoot to mine. “Anna, we need to talk.”

“Okay,” I say and wait for him to start.

He gives Devlin a fierce glare, marching over to where we are standing near the bed. “Get out,” he growls.

“Hey!” I snap. “Don’t be so rude. Dev is welcome here.”

“Oh, yeah, Annie and I go way back.” He smirks at me.

Drescal lets out a choking laugh, which he turns into a cough as Elijah’s stormy gaze lands on him and he takes another step forward.

“Down, puppy,” I murmur to Elijah, putting my hand on his solid chest. “Like I said, we are old friends.”

“You trust him?” he rumbles, giving Devlin such a scathing once-over, I fear that Dev will take offense and do something stupid.

He does.

I shake my head at him as he gives Elijah a smug look that even I want to wipe off his face.

“She trusted me to bust her cherry, which I did on one amazing night, all those years ago. Such a lucky fucker that she chose me for that honor, eh?”

Elijah’s face goes even darker as the mental image of an innocent me