Cipher (Demonica Underworld #8) - Larissa Ione Page 0,17

he’d gain the necessary powers required to escape.”

Azagoth studied Jim Bob’s carefully schooled features but, as usual, there was nothing there to read. Still, his question wasn’t an idle one; he was probing Azagoth’s feelings on the matter. Maybe even his involvement.

“Possibly,” Azagoth mused. “But it would take hundreds of years even for me to destroy that many souls. By then Satan most likely would be free. According to prophecy, of course.”

“Of course.” Jim Bob casually waved his hand in front of the fire as he spoke, but if he was looking for heat, he’d have to go elsewhere. Azagoth’s fireplace was as cold as his heart and it had been since the day Lilliana walked out on him. “Have you heard any of this talk?”

That talk was what got the demon in the corner all kinds of dead. Azagoth had known there were multiple plots afoot to rescue Satan, and now he knew that he, himself, was central to many of them.

His children’s deaths were a message: help us, or else.

Azagoth had a scythe full of “or else” for every motherfucker responsible, but he wasn’t going to let Heaven in on this. The less they knew about the pressure being placed on him to back the #FreeSatan cause, the better.

They actually had a fucking hashtag.

What the Free Satan movement didn’t have was a single leader to bring cohesiveness. The most powerful demons and fallen angels in Sheoul were all campaigning for followers who could get behind their unique visions for making Hell great again.

And they all seemed to think Azagoth’s help could be bought.

Or compelled.

He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “As long as Satan is imprisoned there will be talk of breaking him out. When he was free someone was always plotting his demise. It’s the circle of life. I wouldn’t worry.”

Jim Bob snorted. “You have more important things to worry about than the End of Days?”

The lives of his children and his mate were more important, so...yes.

Especially now that Lilliana was coming home. Ares’s child just needed to hurry the fuck up and be born. He had no idea why Lilliana had insisted she be there for the birth, but by Satan’s balls, it felt like the Horseman’s mate had been pregnant for years.

Lilliana had been gone for nine months now, and every single day, every single minute, had been torture. Not that he had anyone to blame but himself. It had taken him a long time to realize that, but now that he had, he’d been working on becoming the male Lilliana deserved.

“...and then I was abducted by alien angels from an alternate universe,” Jim Bob said. “They gave me pizza before the anal probe.”

“What?” Azagoth snapped, re-focusing his thoughts. They went to Lilliana at the most inappropriate times. She really needed to come home. Fucking Ares. “Did you say something about pizza?”

Jim Bob rolled his eyes. “Pizza? That’s what snapped you out of your funk? Not the alternate universe or anal probe?”

Azagoth shoved away from his desk. “I’m hungry, not horny.” Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. Sure, he could go for a couple of large pepperonis. He hadn’t eaten in days. Hadn’t eaten much at all since Lilliana left.

But he really was horny as hell. It had been eons since he’d gone this long without sex, but more than that, he’d never gone this long without Lilliana.

In the past, he’d had an endless parade of sexual partners. Demons had thrown themselves at him and Heaven had kept him supplied with angels to make baby Memitim with, so no, there’d been no shortage of sex. Which was fortunate because, as his fallen angel Chief of Operations, Zhubaal, liked to say, “There’s nothing more frightening than the Grim Reaper when he’s horny.”

Yup, he was horny as fuck. But for all the evil that ran through his veins, he’d never even so much as glanced at the females who tried to seduce him while Lilliana was away. And there had been thousands, most of them demons who wanted to trade sex for mercy. But mercy wasn’t his thing, and he’d laughed as his griminions whisked them away, ushering their souls to their new, nightmarish digs.

He’d never been tempted, not once. Even his evil side wouldn’t betray Lilliana for a blow job from a succubus.

But his evil side did enjoy the game. It enjoyed toying with the angels and fallen angels who came into his office thinking that with Lilliana gone they could get their claws into him.

Jim