Page 8 of Prince of Ruin
Sera shot a glance toward those double doors in frustration. She needed to get through them. Somehow. But that was the same thought half the crowd clearly shared. They pushed and shoved, hands imploring for a chance as the demons dragged the Chosen away and slammed the doors shut.
A scan of the room showed an overseer, watching by the DJ booth. He sucked back on his cigarette, clapped a hand on the DJ’s shoulder and said something, then pushed toward a smaller door near the stage.
Access.
Sera planted herself in his path.
The demon froze.
Tall, hard, lean. His suit cut of expensive Italian silk. His eyes were like the dark pits of Hell—this was truly one of the Fallen. Not just an underling. Not just an imp, or demonspawn. But an angel who’d chosen to fight at the Morningstar’s side.
Her heart skipped a beat as she stared into his eyes. He wouldn’t recognize her—not in this form—but she wanted to hide any hint of her power deep within her.
“Hell yes,” Tay whispered in her head. “Now that is one pretty fuckboy. I want visuals on his ass, please.”
They were all beautiful.
All the better to tempt you with.
She wondered what Tay would say if she caught a glimpse of his true form.
“I need to get back there,” she told him, letting her desperation fill the air.
His gaze slid down her body. “Prince’s orders. He’s picked his five. You’re not on the list.”
Sera slid her hand up his chest. “Mmm. Maybe I don’t have to be an offering to the prince. Maybe… I can beyouroffering.”
Now she had his attention.
Loyalty, lust and fear warred within him. Nobody crossed Azazel. Nobody. But he couldn’t help looking at the white silk of the dress and then his gaze strayed to her wings, molting feathers all over the floors.
The wings had been a good choice.
“Fine,” he said, grabbing her by the upper arm and hauling her through the steel doors. “But don’t think it’s going to get you what you want. You keep your mouth shut—unless I tell you to open it—and you stay where I tell you to stay. I’ve got a few little jobs to do first, but when I come back for you…. You’d better be on your knees.”
“I promise,” she whispered.
Glory’s sweet kiss, she was in!
And better yet, she had a distraction for cover.
Five souls were on the table. None of the demons would be watching her. No, they’d be salivating over the reaping. The screams would cover her tracks, and if she let Tayla work her magic, nobody would ever even know she wasn’t sitting docilely wherever he chose to leave her.
3
Ascream cut through the inner sanctum as Sera tapped her toe against the floor.
She’d been shoved into a side room and told to sit on the red velvet sofa.
“Move and you die,” the demon had told her, before he’d slid a hand over her breasts. “I want this off. I want everything off. Everything but the heels and wings. Then get on your knees and press your forehead to the floor. And wait for me.”
And then he’d vanished, in order to finish “a couple of things.”
“Earth to space girl,” Sera murmured.
“Here.” Tay said. “I’ve just been trying to quietly not think about why they’re screaming.”
Sera had to be extra careful now she was in the inner sanctum. Extra vague. The music had covered her voice below, as the screams would now, but there were cameras blinking as they watched her.
