The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,169

for me. "Just put everything on the counters, and I’ll worry about sorting it out later."

"I'm already making room," Ron called from that direction.

As we headed that way, I couldn't help but ask, "Where's Kacira?"

Uriel waited to answer until both Sam and I had our burdens safely settled on some horizontal surface. In some cases, that was simply the floor. Then, as soon as my arms were free, Uriel gestured towards the pantry, and the opening on the far side that led to the most private room in the house.

"Satan thought she would enjoy the library," he explained. Then he dropped his voice so it wouldn't carry. "And Beelzebub wanted to talk to me. He had… concerns."

Nodding in an attempt to make all of this new information settle into my brain, I followed him into the library. This historic Victorian home didn't exactly have the most ergonomic setup to the halls, but I was starting to realize that most of it was due to renovations. I had a funny feeling that Luke had bought this place just before the library had been turned into yet another bedroom. Thankfully.

But while the room was dusty and rarely used, it still had a small table set at the side with two chairs. That was where Nick and I had enjoyed our first date. In truth, the table was meant to be a centerpiece for a reading nook, not a place to eat. The two chairs on either side were the adorably Victorian-looking accent type. And across the room, there was a very, very old leather armchair that appeared as if it was about to fall apart. Nick and Kacira were standing beside it, looking through the windows at the traffic passing by.

"I'm so confused," I admitted.

Kacira sucked in a little breath and turned toward me. "Sia," she breathed. "This world is so fascinating."

"How did you two find out where I live?" I asked.

Folding his arms, Nick leaned back against a set of empty shelves. "I invited them," he admitted, flicking a finger upward to make it clear that wasn’t all. "I didn't expect them to show up immediately, but I did invite them."

Again, I found my head bobbing as I tried to make sense of this. Nick had invited my parents to my house? Did that mean he accepted that they weren’t a threat? Should I take this as a sign to trust them completely? I wanted to, but my father was still an angel. So far, he hadn't exactly done anything wrong, but I'd seen how angels worked often enough to know it was never that simple.

But what came out of my mouth was something much more mundane. "We really need to do something with this room."

Nick just chuckled. "I was thinking that filling the shelves would result in a wonderful vacation. We’ll go to France, England, Germany, and anywhere else your heart desires. Maybe buy some limited first editions, a few seconds if we can't find anything better, and make it a real library."

"And then ward it," I decided. "Protection from fire, theft, and all the other things that go wrong with a bunch of books. Oh, and furniture. I am definitely going to need a place to sit when I come in here to read." Which made me tilt my head back towards the rest of the house. "So maybe we should take this little family gathering to, I dunno, the parlor?"

"Show them the way," Nick said. "I'll get us some refreshments. I have a feeling Kacira might like to sample Earth cuisine."

Considering this was a college town, the phrase 'Earth cuisine' had me a little nervous. But Nick understood the situation a lot better than I did, so I was going to trust him. It also seemed like there was a little tension when it came to my demons and my father. Either Uriel was in trouble with my guys, or maybe my guys were in trouble with him. Possibly both, because what little I knew about fathers made me think my relationship might be causing a little tension. Then again, I could just be paranoid. It was a pretty normal thing for me.

It was a bit of chaos getting through the winding house - the kitchen was filled with guys being incredibly domestic, and the dining room with God sitting on the flowers - without losing my mind. I wasn't the hostess type, and I’d never had enough money or status to play the part. The people who