Page 118 of Demon Demands

“You remember what he taught you?”

I scoffed at him. “Like it happened yesterday. It was one of the first few conversations that I memorized.”

I didn’t ask or warn him, I just pulled Stone into six-year-old Sloane’s memory, showing him the afternoon lesson with Jin.

The snarky demon in Lucy’s office pointed at my book. “Well, what would you do if you were in charge, Lo?”

I snorted. “If I was an adult, I’d tell them it was treason, and then I’d have them put in jail. That’s the word, right?”

“Ah, but you wouldn’t know, now would you?”

“You asked what I would do, and I would know that.” I leaned in, whispering my secret to him, “I can read minds, Jin.”

He laughed as I made sure no one else was around to hear me, and then he asked, “But Lucifer can’t. So what would you do if you were him?”

“I would… question them? Listen to their answers and see if I could find any holes in their story? Like Father does when Jack and I lie.”

“And if you couldn’t find any holes?”

I thought long and hard before I answered him. “I’d watch them, keep them close to me.”

“I see Earth has taught you to keep your enemies close.”

“No, Lucy taught me that.” I giggled.

He continued with his questions, though. “And what would you do if you were wrong?”

“Say that I’m sorry. But, Jin, what if I wasn’t wrong? What if I just couldn’t find proof that my gut was right?”

“Sweet Lo, you play your part.” He grinned at me, tapping my temples and ears with his index fingers. “You keep your eyes and ears open, you make them think that you don’t know, and then you destroy them with quiet intensity.”

He raised his brows at me. “If you told me all of your plans, what do you think would happen?”

“Nothing good,” I muttered, making him chuckle.

“You can’t control everyone, Lo. Sometimes you have to keep your plans to yourself,” Jin whispered, being sneaky and silly.

“Because it’s easier to predict how the people around you will react if you don’t try to change their natural reactions. If you over-plan for a battle, you leave yourself open for mistakes that would cause you great grief. If you under-plan, you’re constantly rethinking your strategies, adapting to split-second changes.”

I nodded my head, not quite understanding him, but knowing I would when I was bigger. He hummed a song under his breath as he looked over the homework Lucy had given me.

“The answer to this one is one thousand, nine hundred and thirty-six. That’s how many peace treaties it took for Lilk and Kelzark to come to a mutual understanding. But don’t tell Lucifer that I told you.”

“That,” Stone started, searching for the right words. “That makes so much more sense now,” he muttered.

“I was wondering how you could plan a whole neighborhood but couldn’t make a strategy for battles. But you were, weren’t you? You plan for every minute detail and any changes that may occur so that you can adapt and roll with the punches.”

“I don’t like to think too hard about it,” I confessed. “I didn’t realize that Dara and Jin were your parents.”

He squinted his eyes, staring off into space. “I feel like I vaguely remember seeing you at their memorial, but I could be making that up.”

I smiled as I thought back. “I threw a fit when they tried to tell me that I couldn’t attend.”

“I imagine that means that you murdered the babysitter,” he playfully accused.

“Something like that,” I repeated, shaking my head. “Well, not murder. Light maiming may have happened, though.”

Stone pulled his head back suddenly, staring at me like he’d just had an Earth-shattering revelation. “Holy shit. Your eyes.”