Page 33 of Demanding Discord
The devil gently picked up a dark blue, satiny chemise and pressed it to his nose, closing his eyes as he inhaled deeply. His fists tightened on the garment, and he opened his eyes, his irises glowing red as he ripped the shirt into two.
He huffed and dropped to his knees, clutching two more garments to his chest and letting his head drop back as he heaved.
My entire abdomen cramped. Tears poured down my cheeks. Snot leaked from my nose, threatening to curl over my lip as itchy, stinging pressure built and built and built, my entire body tensing with the need to release it. I couldn’t sneeze. My life depended on it. I would not sneeze.
My body convulsed, but I held it in…and farted instead.
13
CINDER
The sound was short and brash like a trumpet blaring, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the imp had to cackle like a hyena.
“Who’s there? Show yourselves.” Lucifer flicked his wrist, sending the dressing screen flying across the room, and he ignited a ball of blue flames, floating it toward us to illuminate the intruders.
Discord whispered an explicative I dared not repeat, and the imp squealed, latching onto my leg and sliming my pants. Had I not just been caught trespassing in the devil’s lair, I might’ve been mortified. Not only had the sound of my butt trumpet been loud enough to wake the undead, but the stench it unleashed was bad enough to singe my nose hairs.
Hey, at least I’d lost the urge to sneeze.
Lucifer made a disgusted face like he’d whiffed a foul fart…which he had…and his brows slammed down over his eyes in a menacing expression.
Oh, but his eyes betrayed him.
For one, they glistened with unshed tears. Yep, the King of Hell had just been on the verge of crying. Second, they widened ever so briefly in an oh shit, you weren’t supposed to see that look. And third, even facing the two people he hated most in the world, his gaze bounced to the mess he’d made of his true love’s room three times before he focused on us fully.
Discord stepped forward, shoving me behind him, and Lucifer wiped beneath his nose before straightening his spine. I moved to stand next to my demon—no way was he facing the devil alone—and the imp still clung to my pants, trembling and pressing his face into the side of my knee.
“I don’t know whether to applaud your audacity or to remove the thorn from my side and obliterate you both immediately.” Lucifer extinguished the flame and made a come here motion with his hand. “Step into the light.”
Discord moved forward, so I followed.
“How about neither,” I said. “We didn’t come here on purpose.”
My demon growled low in his throat, a warning to keep my mouth shut. You’d think he’d know me better by now. I turned my persuasion magic on full-blast and focused every ounce I could draw upon into Lucifer.
“If you let us leave peacefully,” I said, “we will find Hecate. We’re so close.”
He blinked, my magic taking hold for a second before he figured out what I was doing. “Insolent witch. Your feeble little parlor trick doesn’t work on me.”
It did work, though, if only briefly. But it wasn’t enough to stop him from flicking his wrist and knocking me off my feet. My back slammed into the wall, all the bottles and cans in my pack jabbing into my muscles as my head whipped backward and smacked the stone. Ouch.
Discord glanced at me and then charged at the devil. He angled his body forward, ready to tackle him, but Lucifer simply laughed and waved his arm, forcing my demon to his knees. Discord strained, his muscles bulging as he fought against the invisible restraints, but it was no use. With his powers bound, he was no match for the King of Hell.
Lucifer pointed at me and crooked his finger. A low vibration surrounded me, squeezing like a python as it dragged me forward and forced me to my knees next to Discord. The imp climbed up my back and tried to hide in my hair. I’d have swatted him away if my arms weren’t magically pinned to my sides, but alas…I couldn’t move. I’d have to comb out the imp’s nest later.
If we lived to tell this tale.
The devil narrowed his eyes, cutting his gaze between us. “Why are you here?”
“I told you?—”
“Hecate sent us,” Discord said before I could finish my snarky reply.
Lucifer’s nostrils flared, his posture stiffening as he focused on my demon. “You found her? Where is she?” Was that desperation in his voice? Just how hard up for the goddess was he?
“Cinder has connected with her. We were at her home in The Hollow. She’d created a travel circle there, and we used it to escape a horde of imbeciles.”
“We did you a favor,” I blurted. “Mr. Beefy and the centaur almost got us, but we took them out. You’d have hated to have those two idiots by your side.”
