Page 53 of Demon Demands

“No,” I interrupted. “Nope. I’m not drawing shit.”

“She can’t draw shit,” Jack announced cheerfully. “She can barely manage to draw stick people, much less anything that resembles… anything.”

“I’ll have you know,” I glared at Jack, wishing I had a fork to throw at him, “I can fucking color.”

There was a beat of silence where everyone in the room was staring at me, then all hell broke loose. It started with one strangled laugh, and that was the catalyst that broke them.

I sat, wide-eyed, as nine grown ass men, supes, giggled like teenage girls after smoking pot for the first time.

They fucking giggled.

I didn’t think I’d ever been so stunned in my life. I could have wrapped my hands around an electric fence and been less shocked.

Hyde came skidding through the doorway, stopping abruptly as her eyes took in the scene before me.

Several of the guys were wiping their cheeks, Dolyn was close to hyperventilating, and Grim kept taking deep breaths. As they started to settle down, one of them would make a sound, and the giggle fits would come back full force, contagious as fuck.

Glancing at me with concern all over her face, Hyde shook her head, perplexed. “I was getting ready to leave when I heard what sounded like,” she paused, studying the guys, “crying? Are they crying, Lo?”

“Help. Me,” I mouthed to Hyde, my eyebrows practically a part of my hairline with how wide my eyes still were. I felt a thrill run through me as she stepped fully into the room.

Hyde cleared her throat loudly, drawing nine sets of eyes in her direction as they struggled to calm down. With her head tilted ever so slightly, she raised a challenging eyebrow.

Dolyn coughed once, rolled his shoulders back, and bit his lips together to try to keep his face straight. He knew that expression, one I’d taught her at a young age to help her command his horde of demonic criminals.

In a room full of powerful supernatural creatures, Hyland Drake would always be in control if she so desired. Lilith and I had been grooming her to be my apprentice since she was eight, and I loved watching those hours of training come out to play.

Wearing a shit-eating grin on my face as her eyes scanned the room, I let her work in peace. Each male that met her eyes straightened up, sensing her mixed powers seeping from her pores.

Once they were all to her liking, Hyde smiled at me, and I was so godsdamn proud of her that I could have burst. She sat down opposite of me at the table, folding her hands in her lap as she formally addressed me. It was all part of her act, though.

“What were we talking about, Devil?”

“We need to find Satan, Hyde. While you're in town today, see if you can dig up anything new on his whereabouts or maybe where he likes to hang out at. Also, I have a list of prospects for the first legion. I’d like you to evaluate them and tell me what you think. And since we're talking business, we need to sort through the current councilmen. Some of them have run their course in Hell. Franklin can help with that, as can Papi and Lucy.”

“Of course,” she readily agreed. “Anything else?”

“No, that’s all for now,” I responded, smirking at the total silence around us. “I know you have your sources and ways, and they’re very different from mine. With the two of us on those tasks, we should be prepared for Satan’s wrath. Papi and Lucy know him better than we do, so they’re taking care of strategies, but we can look over them later.”

The guys volleyed their gazes between the two of us as we spoke, Hyde’s power essentially discombobulating them for a few precious moments. They heard and comprehended everything, but because she’d acted like we’d been in the middle of a conversation, they were too intent on listening to interrupt us.

We hadn’t been talking about anything when Hyde arrived, but that didn’t matter. What she said insinuated to them that we were, and that little hint was all they needed to fall in line.

Mixing small doses of lust from her succubus nature with the fear her basilisk produced, Hyde created the power of persuasion. The lust in her mixture made them want to do what she was suggesting, the fear kept them compliant. It wasn’t enough to scare them, but just a touch of the basilisk’s fear made them want to listen to whatever she said.

Hyde had clearly been practicing, considering how powerful the guys were. I'd already seen her pull the same trick on Dolyn’s horde numerous times, though I’d never seen Dolyn fall prey to her spell.

There were a good fifty or more of them, but they weren’t as powerful as the males surrounding us. To bear witness to her shutting the councilmen up with one look would make my little black heart so fucking happy.

“You did great,” I praised. “You can release them now.”

She flashed me a quick grin while simultaneously rolling her eyes. “If you want me to…”

Stone opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it once more before any words came out. “What just happened?”

“Hyde mixed her powers to gain our unyielding attention and focus,” Dolyn answered, aggravation lacing his voice.

Palmer appeared impressed as he studied Hyde, the gears in his mind spinning as his gray eyes grew stormy. He turned to Dolyn, frowning.