damn if they didn’t hit the mark. I felt the truth of them with every beat of my heart, settling into my consciousness, shifting my perspective. Bit by bit, the awkward embarrassment vanished, replaced by a growing sense of self-assurance, the confidence of a woman in touch with her sexuality, and not ashamed of it.
Ready? Azazel asked in my head.
Yes.
With another deep breath, shaking off the last of my earlier discomfort, I slowly pushed off his chest while he opened his wings. The cocoon fell away, cooler air rushed in all around me, the sounds once more louder.
Azazel’s voice in my mind. Give them a smile that makes them wonder what you’ve been up to underneath my wings.
Picking my nose without anyone seeing me? I replied.
His chest shook. Let them think your fingers explored something else.
When I met his eyes briefly, the grin flirting with my mouth wasn’t even an act. Taking that budding amusement in me and directing it outward, I half-turned toward the room, making sure my smile teased with saucy sensuality. I bit my lip for extra effect.
“Well, now,” Zaquiel murmured from behind me, “that is a lovely sight. I’ll have to return home, but I sure would like to take her with me. Tell you what, let me borrow her for a while, and I’ll sweeten the deal with an additional shipment.”
I stiffened, my fingers curling into Azazel’s shirt.
“Lord Zaquiel,” Azazel said calmly while his hand possessively grasped my hair, “I’m sorry to decline your generous offer, but I’m afraid I haven’t had my fill of her.”
“So I see.” Zaquiel’s eyes dropped to Azazel’s crotch in blatant appraisal. “Fair enough. It was worth a try.” One side of his mouth tipped up as he rose to his feet. “Should you tire of her, do let me know.”
Azazel inclined his head, directing me to stand as he got up as well.
Walk behind me, he said in my mind while falling into step alongside Zaquiel. And remember you’re a snack no one else will get to taste, however much they salivate for it.
With a deep breath, I loosened my muscles and made sure my steps flowed with languid sensuality, rolling my hips as I sauntered after the two demons.
Snack, I thought, holding my head high. Snackity, snack.
Dammit, but that actually helped.
I didn’t glance around the room, but I sensed the gazes of several other demons like licks of heat on my body. When before, their attention would have caused my steps to falter, my shoulders to hunch forward, now it made me walk even taller. I felt desirable, and it made all the difference.
I followed Zaquiel and Azazel out of the room, through the hallway and back to the big hall where the inferni had gotten me earlier. Azazel and Zaquiel paused for a moment in front of a set of giant doors and said their goodbyes.
Zaquiel turned to me. “I sure hope to see you again, Zoe. Perhaps in a more intimate fashion.”
I dutifully kept my gaze lowered and bowed deeply, careful not to show my revulsion. Beautiful and attractive he might be, but the casual way in which he regarded me as a commodity to be bartered for raised my hackles. If it weren’t for Azazel’s insistence to keep me to himself, I’d be on my way with Zaquiel now, with no say as to what happened to me.
The giant doors opened, and a blast of heat rushed inside. Daring to raise my gaze just a little, I peered through the doors, blinked at the view of the apocalyptic landscape. So this exit led directly outside, making this hall the entrance to Azazel’s mansion. It made sense, then, that this room was huge and impressive and decorated with statues and weapons and…I frowned, my eyes snagging on one of the 3D artworks on the wall.
Wait a sec— Those weren’t artworks at all.
Blood left my head in a dizzying rush as I took in the details of the decorations.
Wings. Black-feathered, large, just like Azazel’s, they hung mounted to the wall like a grotesque, oversized butterfly collection. My mind spinning, I turned on my heels and glanced around the entire hall.
There were dozens of them. Every wall boasted several pairs of wings, fastened to the stone evenly spaced apart, from the bottom upward. My neck hurt from craning it to look up, and I almost lost my balance following the gruesome display until I lost sight of the wings in the gloom of the ceiling.