him, not liking the myriad of shit that’s being dumped at my feet to deal with. I thought it was going to be hard accepting which one of my parents fucked a demon or the fact that they kept their demonic origins from me. But knowing my mother hooked up with this arrogant windbag...it’s too much.
The deep shelf of the Savor’s brows lowers in a frown. “What is a Hoggle? My name is Borf.”
“The point is, this asshole can’t be my father,” I say, nodding at Tazreel, who gives a short, “Agreed.”
Borf-Hoggle shakes his head, clearly annoyed with our mutual denial. “I must go. I’ll be reporting this, so you should ready yourself,” he tells Tazreel before spinning in a circle and disappearing instantly without a sound.
I blink as I stare at the place where the goblin-looking demon just was. “Fuck!” Tazreel yells, making both Lanky and me flinch.
He starts stalking away, but Lanky quickly intervenes. “Sir, you cannot leave your offspring in the dungeon. The other Nihil will never let you live it down.”
Tazreel stops in his tracks and looks back at me, like he forgot about my actual presence, too disturbed by the crisis of my theoretical existence.
“Oh, right,” he grumbles with a put-out sigh. “Take her to a room, but I want her watched at all times,” he says harshly, sending me a warning look that promises Hellish retribution if I try anything. “I must get ready. Those Abdicated fucks will be pissing themselves to come here. I haven’t let anyone other than Luce here since the humans’ Black Plague.”
“That was a fun party,” Lanky chirps.
I look at him with exasperation, but he just comes forward, grabbing a skeleton key out of his pocket—he probably keeps it right next to the bone comb—and unlocks my cell door.
I step out into the corridor, lifting my chin up to face Tazreel’s aggressive stare. “I will find out which female birthed you and lied to me,” he promises darkly. “And when I do, she will be punished.”
My hackles rise. “My parents are dead,” I say again. “My mom did nothing wrong. And for the last time, she was a human.”
He makes a revolted face again. “I would never lie with a human,” he tells me, looking practically nauseated at the very idea. I bristle. “Which means someone lied to me and stole you away,” he goes on, every word making his austere face grow harder and colder. “She pretended you were a human, and I intend to make her pay.”
I swallow hard, trying and failing not to shake. I can feel wrath coursing off his skin, and for the first time, my brain really catches up to the fact that this guy is other. Menacing power prickles my senses and tugs at my arm hair. Behind me, my wings snap against my back, like they’re trying to hide beneath my skin.
“I will find out what you know and mete out judgment,” he promises me. In this case, I have no idea what I should even say back. How do I dig myself out of a hole that I didn’t even know I’d fallen into?
“I just answered a Help Wanted ad,” I reply lamely. One measly job listing put me right on the path to Hell. How’s that for fair?
His gray eyes shimmer, catching on the gold speckles. “Who are you? Tell me everything. Now.”
There’s zero room for argument, and that power of his is back in full force, nearly taking me to my knees. My teeth grit and my body locks as some outside force presses into me.
I take a deep breath, trying not to let it sound too shaky. “I’m Delta Gates. I’ve always thought I was a human. Never even knew demons existed until a little while ago. My parents were human, Tanya and Ray Gates,” I supply, the words just falling off my tongue without my permission. “I saw an ad for a job to guard a graveyard, but it turned out to be a job to guard a Hellgate. I didn’t know anything before that.”
An exhale expels out of me with force as my eyes widen. “Did you just…?”
“Yes,” he answers arrogantly while my blood turns hot.
My hands curl into fists. “If you could’ve just forced me to tell the truth this whole time, then why didn’t you just question me instead of sticking me down here?” I demand.