Page 13 of Not Today, Satan
The door blows open.
Nathan Reynolds flies forward and I’m thrown onto my bed, my pillow sinking to the floor. He collapses on top of me. Heat builds through my body as his legs entwine with mine. We pant in tandem, his breath tickling my face.
“Your Highness!”
Attero’s eyes are as wide as saucers.
Not that I blame him. It’s not every day the devil’s daughter is caught half-naked with a shadeling on top of her.
Actually, this is the first.
Atty blinks rapidly, then wrenches Nathan Reynolds off me and slams a sword to his chest. “Are you all right, Your Highness?”
I push myself off the bed and lower my friend’s arm with my hand. “I’m fine, Atty. This shadeling just wanted to talk. We fell when you came charging in.”
Attero narrows his eyes as he drags a pleading Nathan Reynolds to the door. “I’m sorry he bothered you. Don’t worry, he’ll be severely reprimanded.”
I chew the bottom of my lip. If Atty takes him to Father, Nathan Reynolds doesn’t stand a chance. He’s already bruised and bleeding.
“Wait.” The word is out of my mouth before I can stop it. “Please don’t say anything to Father. This human made a mistake, but he didn’t hurt me. He’s already in Lot Thirteen. That’s punishment enough, don’t you think?”
“Your Highness—”
“Devica.”
Attero slaps handcuffs around Nathan Reynolds’s wrists before studying my face. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I place one hand on my hip, swearing that from now on, I’m wearing more than a flimsy nightgown to bed. Either that, or I’m getting a lock for my door. “He’s going to pay for what he did on Earth for an eternity. No need to add to that.”
Attero blows out a stream of air. “Fine. I won’t say anything. I’ll tell them he was concussed and wandered out of his lot by accident.”
I relax against the wall. “Thanks, Atty. I appreciate it.”
“Thank you,” Nathan Reynolds echoes.
Attero snarls at him. “I wasn’t talking to you.” He pushes the shadeling to the door, then turns back to me. “I’m going to hand him over, but I’ll be back to check on you.”
Warmth blossoms in my chest, and I send him the first genuine smile I’ve given in months. It may have taken him thinking I was in danger to come back around, but I’ll take my friend back however it happens.
Nathan Reynolds winces as he’s dragged out of my room.
He utters, “Devica, please,” before he disappears around the corner, and the smile dies in my throat.
I wrap my robe around me and hug it close. Tossing the pillow back onto the bed, I prop myself against it, tracing lines across my bedspread as I await Attero’s return.
I had no choice but to send Nathan Reynolds back to his lot. I know that. He deserves to be here, even if I can’t see it.
And at least I spared him further torture from Father. I did the right thing.
When he knocks on my door twenty minutes later, Attero’s carrying a tray with two drinks.
“Here.” He hands me a clear glass filled with bloodwine, a popular carbonated strawberry drink down here. “I felt bad about the other night. Figured it’s the least I can do.”
A smile tugs at my lips. This is the Atty I know.
“Thanks.” There aren’t any chairs in my room, so I sit cross-legged on my bed, shuffling over to make room for him. I take a sip of the sweet drink, the bubbles tingling my tongue.
We sip our drinks in silence—or as silent as my room can be, with the faraway screams that permeate the walls. I listen for Nathan Reynolds’s wail among them, but they’re a chorus making up the worst choir in the universe. I have no way to pluck him from the crowd.
