Page 31 of Hell Bound

And taking him out with friendship definitely counted.

“What’s your name?” I faced him fully and made sure to keep my eyes on his face. All of them were naked after shifting back to their original forms, and they all appeared perfectly comfortable with it.

Eyes up, Lil. No peeking.

The hulking man jumped like he’d seen a ghost—well, heard one, I suppose—and stared at me with wide eyes through the golden dreads that fell over his forehead.

But he didn’t say a word.

His lack of response only made me more determined.

“Did you not understand the question?”

A snicker came from my other side, and I looked to see the demon biting his lips together to fight off a smile.

I liked him already.

Turning back to the reluctant demon, I crossed my arms and put on my most imperious expression. It really wasn’t hard; I’d perfected it over years of turning down men who didn’t understand the wordnothe first time.

“Jovran, my Queen.”

The “my Queen” made my skin crawl, especially after hearing it spoken with such derision just moments ago by Lucifer.

“Call me Lilith.” I stumbled as the words left my lips. Where the hell had that come from?

It’s just because that’s what they know you as, nothing more.

Honestly, that sounded like a cop out excuse, but I was gonna let my inner voice reassure me for the time being.

“I’m sorry, my Queen, that isn’t proper, I couldn’t—”

“Don’t you have to do what I tell you?”

“Of course, my Que—Lili-, um… Queen Lilith, but—”

“Man, just call her Lady Lilith. That was her title before, anyway.” I looked to the wiry demon on my other side and was met with a wide grin that tickled something in the back of my mind. “Right, Lil?”

Jovran choked on an inhale at his fellow wolf’s flippant tone, but I just smiled back.

“If you say so…”

“Deasley. Or, Lord Deasley of the Illicit Court, if you wanna get fancy.”

Right. I remembered Lucifer calling him that when they found me in Miami. “I’ll stick with Deasley, I think.”

“Good choice, the other one is a mouthful.”

“This is going to sound crazy, but… have we met? I could swear I’ve seen you somewhere before all this… well,this.” I waved my arm to encompass the dense forest of black trees and all the creatures I was certain dwelled therein.

“Not officially, but we hung out at the same coffee shop. And shopped at the same grocery store. Oh, and we both loved Firebrand, I’d see you there all the time.”

It was my turn to nearly choke. “Youlivedin Miami?”

“Well how the hell else was I supposed to keep an eye on you? Couldn’t do it from here!” His expression fell when I stared at him in abject horror.

“You.. you were watching me? Following me around?”

“Not in a creepy way,” he was quick to assure me. “I was sent to find you and report back, but I, uh, may have fudged the truth for a few years.”

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