Page 72 of A Chip on Her Shoulder

“Oh. Oh, my. How unusual.”

“He wishes for her to have companionship while I’m busy, and they’ll be her guardians when she rests.”

“Is she recovering well?”

I yawned, settled against the Devil’s chest, and closed my eyes to resume my enjoyment of the bath.

“She’s well enough. She was quite enamored with my chest, and she energetically pursued her interests. When I tried to pursue my interests, I got bitten.”

“I’m sure you deserved it.”

“She’s very talented with her teeth.”

“I’m sure she is. Would you like to be rescued, Darlene? Belial is concerned you might delay your revenge indefinitely if you remain a hostage in Lucifer’s bedroom, and he has everything you require to bring ruination to the mortals responsible for your brother’s plight.”

I yawned and cuddled closer to the Devil. “Nap now, revenge in about eight hours. No rescuing, but tell Lucifer he needs to behave for a while.”

“You need to behave for a while, Lucifer. She sounds horrible. What did you do to her?”

“I just made her purr! I like when she purrs.”

“You are awful. I’ll get her a drink and something to soothe her throat. You’ve established your territory, so behave yourself. Help her acquire revenge before you resume establishing your territory.”

“But are you really sure I’ve established my territory?”

“There are exhausted succubi bodies all over your sitting room and some very happy incubi strutting around. I think you’ve made your point. I’m the only coherent female here, and the neighboring levels aren’t in much better condition.”

The Devil shrugged. “It’s not my fault she’s so lovely. I’m hoping I’ve earned at least a few spots with my performance. I’ll bring her out in a few minutes and find appropriate sustenance for her. I’ll also make sure the kittens are tended to. Please make it known they are not defenseless creatures, and they are not to be disturbed. I may or may not be inclined to replant any slain devils or demons who disturb her kittens.”

“I will make certain the other denizens are aware the kittens are lethal kittens, and that you will have no mercy on any who disturb them or your lady.”

“Good. Please ask Belial to come here so we can discuss the matters of revenge, and check on Jonas.”

“Jonas is in a rather subdued state at this point in time.”

“How many succubi got a hold of him?” The Devil snickered. “It’s their fault for making it clear I had to establish my territory.”

“He enjoyed the company of twins, and they’re still quite tangled together at the moment. Perhaps you should have given him a chance to adapt before setting him loose?”

“The best way to learn is through experience. He’s now somewhat experienced, content, and he’ll have his other nurturing instincts turned on when he has two exhausted succubi to attend to. I can’t have all the incubi being selfish fiends. Some of them need to be nurturing, or there’d be whining succubi when they wish to have children.”

I didn’t need to hear what my brother was up to, especially not if the Devil had transformed him into an incubus. “You turned my brother into an incubus?”

“I absolutely did. The other options would have been more disastrous, as your brother has significant violent tendencies. Becoming an incubus will smooth those particular instincts out and orient him more towards reproduction. Having tired succubi around in his early development will flip on the markers that will make him more inclined to be delicate with women. I expect we’ll be having a few more incidents like this before I’m confident he can be trained in other arts appropriate for his new species.”

I did the math: the Devil plus a bed equaled delicious exhaustion with time spent soaking in his tub with bubbles—bubbles the Devil enjoyed as much as I did. As the formula produced acceptable results, I said, “You can train him properly and thoroughly after I’ve acquired my revenge. We need to get the abused family of those fuckers to a safe place, too.”

“Yes, that is a situation I am monitoring. I will make certain your revenge accounts for them. You may not be able to personally handle that matter, but I have some excellent demons and devils who are able and willing to do the work.”

“I don’t care who handles it as long as it is handled.”

“Let me get you something to eat so you can enjoy your nap while I make other arrangements.”

“Don’t you sleep?”

“Only with you. I’m the Devil, Darlene. I don’t have to sleep unless I want to. I took a nap once. It lasted a hundred years. That was a nice nap, but for some reason, the fucking assholes in residence were cranky because the other devils had their way with the place for a while. I was asked to limit my naps to no more than nine hours after that.”

“Have you?”