I hadn’t strayed far from their side the entire time. It put a small crimp in my chasing down Steve Perry, but the safety of my family was infinitely more important.
“Beginnin’ to think the letter was a hoax,” Lizard said, also glancing around at the guests with his beady little eyes. “Murry sniffed all the female Demons in Hell multiple times—even sniffed everyone as they arrived at the party. Some of the Vamps were a bit put out with the greeting but kept the violence to a minimum. If the perp was here, we would know it.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” I said. “However, we’re taking no chances. Make sure the army stays on its toes.”
“Roger that,” Lizard replied. “Sadie, Martha, Jane and Mammy are staying close to Elle and the baby as well. My sexy concubines and Mammy are scarier than the entire Demon Army.”
“Fine point. Well made,” I agreed as I scanned the crowd and relaxed slightly.
Mammy still looked pale and ill but was soaking up the praise for her beans-n-franks with gusto. I’d even spied her speaking to Steve Perry and giving him the recipe. My envy almost got the best of me until Elle elbowed me in the gut and informed me if I zapped Mammy, she would decapitate me at the party in front of all the guests.
I was incredibly lucky my lover had my back at all times.
Maybe the threat was a hoax. Maybe, I would have time to blackmail Steve Perry into being my BFF. The apology from the Seven Deadly Sins should help. Wait. Where the Hell were my daughters? Dixie was the only one in attendance with her mate, the Angel of Death. Dixie was delighted with her new little brother and the feeling was clearly mutual. My good Demon daughter was the only person besides Elle, Mammy and myself that the boy would allow to hold him. He’d even smiled and blew a raspberry at his sister.
My son’s advanced progress, as far as a one-day-old baby was concerned, wasn’t surprising. Immortals were a different breed. Mother Nature had informed anyone willing to listen that I’d spoken the word shit at three days old. I was certain she was full of shit, but I let her talk. Talking kept her from pole dancing. Anything was preferable to my mother tumbling off a pole and showing her bits to the five hundred in attendance.
“Where are the Sins?” I asked Lizard as I studied the crowd of revelers. They would never miss a party with all of the most elite Immortals in the Universe present.
“Shit,” Lizard hissed. “With all the to-do, I forgot about them.”
“Understandable,” I said with a curt nod. “I try to forget about them constantly.”
“Want me to poof to Paris and bring them back?”
It was a conundrum. On the one hand, I didn’t want them causing trouble. So far there had only been two fist fights and one stabbing—very little bloodshed. I called that a win. On the other hand, they might come in handy with the Steve Perry BFF plan of action. And who knew? Maybe seeing their little brother would mellow them out, and they wouldn’t commit a murder this evening. Stranger things had happened.
“Go get them,” I told Lizard as I noticed the arrival of my brother with his entourage of glowing Angels and flocks of white doves. God was so fucking over the top. “Tell them if they step out of line even once, they will spend a few centuries in the Basement of Hell burning in the fire pits.”
“Harsh, my liege,” Lizard said with a grin. “Diabolical.”
“Yes,” I said with a grin of my own. “I’m good like that.”
“That you are,” Lizard said with a bow and then disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
“Lucifer,” God bellowed so everyone would hear him. He was such a show off. “Congratulations on your son. I’m honored to have been invited.”
“Must have been an accident,” I lied with a smile. “But now that you’ve crashed the party, please enjoy yourself.”
“Such a jokester,” God said in his outdoor voice and then leaned in close. “The village lost their idiot. You should probably go home.”
“Clearly your mind is on vacation,” I retorted, enjoying myself tremendously. “But your mouth is working overtime.”
“Nice,” God said with a chuckle. “You should roll your eyes. You might find a brain back there.”
“Not to worry,” I shot back. “I am trying to see this from your perspective,