in the room was reaching new heights. The flavor of human unhappiness filled her mind. Delicious.
Jezebel chuckled, understanding exactly what Sheba was doing.
"Relax," Jezebel said. "I'm not here to cause you any trouble."
Sheba snorted. Of course Jezebel was there to cause trouble. That's what demons did.
"Great dress," Jezebel noted. "Hell hound skin. Terrific for inciting lust and envy."
"I know how to do my job."
Jezebel laughed again, and Sheba leaned in instinctively to catch the brimstone flavor of her breath.
Hell on Earth Chapter Four
"Poor Sheeb, still locked in half-human form," Jezebel teased. "I remember how good everything smells all the time. Ugh. And the temperature! Do the humans have to freeze everything with their wretched air-conditioning?"
Sheba's face was smooth now, controlled. "I get by. There's plenty of misery to go around."
"That's the spirit! Just another few centuries, and you'll be in the big-time with me."
Sheba allowed a smirk to curl her lips. "Or maybe not quite so long."
One black eyebrow arched high against Jezebel's white forehead, raising almost to an ebony horn.
"Is that so? Got something particularly evil up your sleeve, little sister?"
Sheba didn't answer, tensing again as Jezebel sent her own thoughts snaking invisibly through the crowd inside the ballroom. Sheba locked her jaw, ready to strike back if Jezebel tried to undo any of her schemes. But Jezebel just looked, touching nothing.
"Hmm," Jezebel hummed to herself. "Hmm."
Sheba's fists clenched hard as Jezebel's search touched Cooper Silverdale, but again, Jezebel merely observed.
"Well, well," the horned demoness murmured. "Wow. Sheeb, I've got to say it, I'm impressed. You got a gun in. And a motivated hand-full of alcohol to weaken his free will!" The older demoness smiled with something that looked strangely like sincerity. "This is really evil. I mean, sure, a middle demon working homicide or mayhem or maybe riots could set something like this up at a prom, but a human-form child on misery detail? What are you, two, three hundred?"
"Just one-eighty-six at my last spawn day," Sheba answered brusquely, still wary.
Jezebel whistled a tongue of flame through her lips. "Very impressed. And I can see that you aren't neglecting your assignment, either. That's one miserable crowd in there." Jezebel laughed. "You've ended nearly every promising relationship, broken a few dozen lifelong friendships, made new enemies... three, four, five fights brewing," Jezebel counted, her mind with the humans. "You've even got the DJ listening to you! Such attention to detail. Ha-ha! I can count on one hand the humans who aren't completely wretched."
Sheba smiled grimly. "I'll get to them."
"Ghastly, Sheeb. Seriously nasty. You do our name proud. If every prom had a demoness like you involved, we'd own this world."
"Aw, Jez, you're making me blush," Sheba said with heavy sarcasm.
Jezebel laughed. "Of course, you've got a little help."
Jezebel's thoughts twisted in a circle around Celeste, who had just twisted herself around a new boy. Jilted girls cried, while the boys Celeste carelessly tossed aside flexed their fists and glowered wrathfully at their competition; burning with lust, each was determined that Celeste was finishing the night with him.
Celeste was doing half the work tonight.
"I use the tools available to me," Sheba said.
"What an ironic name! What an evil mind! Is she fully human?"
"I passed her in the hall, just to check," Sheba admitted. "Pure, clean human scent. Revolting."
"Huh. I would have sworn she had some demon in her ancestry. Good find. But, Sheba, asking a date? Pretty amateur, involving yourself physically that way."
Sheba's chin jabbed upward defensively, but she did not answer. Jezebel was right; it was crude and time-consuming to use one's human form rather than one's demon mind. However, it was the results that counted. Sheba's timely interference had kept Logan from discovering his true love.
"Well, it in no way diminishes your accomplishments here tonight." Jezebel's tone was conciliatory. "You pull this one off, and they'll put you in the baby demons' textbooks."
"Thanks," Sheba snapped. Did Jezebel really think she could flatter Sheba into letting her guard down?
Jezebel smiled, and her mists curled up on the edges, mirroring the expression.
"A tip, Sheba. Keep them confused in there. If you can get Cooper to pull the trigger, then you might make some of these wannabe gangsters think they're under fire." Jezebel shook her head in wonder. "You've got so much potential mayhem here. Of course, they'll bring in a riot demon if it really gets hot... but you'd still get some of the credit for stirring it up."
Sheba grimaced, and glimmers of red flashed at her ears. What was