Fiends and Familiars - Debra Dunbar Page 0,59

master of the hellhounds, and I’ll admit that he is a powerful demon, but he’s no match for Abraxas, especially with my father backing the latter.”

“He beat the crap out of him in the corn maze.” I wasn’t sure why I was defending Ty, but I found myself absolutely incensed that Lucien would think my demon was no match for Abraxas. He’d wipe the floor with that asshole. Wipe. The. Floor.

Lucien’s eyebrows rose. “With his hellhounds?”

“No, he took Abraxas on without any of his hellhounds, and won.” I felt rather smug about that. “I don’t know why your father likes Abraxas so much, because in my opinion, he’s a boot-licking weasel.”

Lucien laughed. “I think so too, but my father does have his favorites. Thankfully they don’t seem to remain his favorites for longer than a few years.”

Cassie stopped and put her hand on Lucien’s chest. “And no matter what, you’re always his son.”

The demon preened. “Well, yes. Although he doesn’t always support me or agree with me. He does allow me a lot of latitude in the areas of hell that are under my control.”

“Then use that influence,” Cassie insisted. “Do something. You can’t let this sort of thing go unpunished. If witches were to think that demons could attack them, invade their homes and take what belongs to them without any sort of repercussions, then all the trust we’ve built since you and I met would be destroyed.”

There were few things in this world that demons were wary of, and witches were at the top of that list. We could summon them. We could entrap them and deprive them of their powers. But together, mated, a witch and a demon were nearly unstoppable. Lucien might be the son of Satan, but with Cassie by his side, his power could rival his father’s.

And he knew that. He also knew how much Cassie’s family meant to her.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Lucien sighed. “I’m not promising anything specific, but I’m going to assess the situation, see what things look like in hell, then come up with a few solutions we can consider.”

It sounded like a bunch of corporate-speak to me, but I was exhausted both physically and emotionally, and right now I didn’t have the strength to argue. So I nodded, thanked Lucien for his help, and went upstairs to sleep in my old bedroom, curled up in bed with three squirrels and a vulture.

Chapter 17

Typhon

I left Addy’s, went straight to hell, then cloaked myself in the form I assumed when I was presenting myself as Master of the Hounds. Gathering my pack together, I went straight to the top.

Satan was relaxing in a giant pool of hot lava, a drink in one hand and a copy of the Wall Street Journal in the other. The paper kept catching fire from its proximity to the lava. Each time the ruler of hell would curse, shake the paper, and blow the fire out. I wondered how many articles he’d not been able to finish because the continuation had burned away.

“Well, if it isn’t Typhon, the demon who lost Faust’s soul.” Satan grinned at me once I’d been announced, and waved me over to the pool. The paper vanished, replaced by a lit cigar. “With all your hellhounds, I was a bit surprised to have Abraxas be the one to bring him in. Although I shouldn’t have been surprised. That guy’s got talent. Promise. He’s going places.”

“Abraxas didn’t find Faust. I did. My hellhounds located him, and I was working to retrieve him.” I shut my mouth, knowing better than to accuse Abraxas of swooping in and stealing Faust’s soul from under my nose. Satan didn’t take kindly to tattletales, and he didn’t care who got the job done or how, as long as it gone done. If I delayed, and Abraxas got the upper hand, that would only raise the other demon higher in Satan’s estimation.

Satan puffed on the cigar and nodded. “So I hear. My son told me you were closing in on our famous escapee. Some of the credit does go to you, although you were the one who lost him.”

I gritted my teeth, detesting that I’d forever have that blot on my record.

Satan saw my expression and threw back his head with a laugh that shook the firmament and sloshed lava from the edge of the pool. “I can’t completely blame you for that one. Faust is one tricky bastard, and he had help from demons I’d thought