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“What does Lucifer ever want?”
“I don’t know,” I snapped. “I’m new, remember?”
She waved off the guards when we exited the room. “No one ever knows—that’s my point. I have known him longer than almost anyone else, known him better, and I still have no idea why he does anything that he does. I have found it’s best to not try and figure it out. When he’s ready, he’ll come out with whatever he needs to say.”
“Easy for you to say. You weren’t kidnapped.”
“Perhaps not, but I do spend half my life here, away from my family and my friends and mylife,so I do understand loss and loneliness.” Even as she spoke, her steps never faltered. A slight quiver in her voice betrayed her, but that light she had didn’t dim in the least, as if she refused to allow the reality to get her down.
Did I ever have that sort of optimism? Probably not…
“At least tell me what sort of party this is.”
“Lucifer loves to throw parties—at least, he used to. The wardens help bring people from other areas of the afterlife, allowing us to mingle in a way we normally wouldn’t be able to. We even get people from the living realm, such as important immortals, some of the elder ones, things like that. Oh, I love to hear how earth is doing. I’ve never been, you know? Maybe we could sit down sometime, and you could tell me everything.” Her expression turned dreamy, as if she were thinking about earth, about how badly she wanted to see it.
I could have told her it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, but dashing her dreams felt rude.
“I’m sure we’ll have entertainment,” she went on. “Lucifer has been hosting more competitions lately, but fewer parties. No real ones for a long time. This is the first time I’ve seen him out from his room in months.”
I recalled Hunter talking about the shows. “Is that where people fight demons?”
“It’s barbaric,” she said. “I personally miss them whenever I can. However, he likes to make them a central part. I suspect he’ll have the competitors at the party tonight, before the first round. He likes to host those competing, to show them off like toys, to let people get their bets in.”
“First round? How long is the party supposed to be?”
“A few nights, at least. Don’t worry, we rest during the day. Given he hasn’t hosted any real parties in years, this one will be one to write home about.Everyonewill be here.”
“Any chance I can get a few invites of my own, then?”
“Oh, I wish I could, but Lucifer said specifically that you were not allowed a plus one. I found it rather rude, but he outranks me here. Don’t worry, though, I’ll make sure you have fun without it.”
I blew out a breath, ready to face the disaster of surviving a fewdayslong party in hell all on my own.
Just when I’d convinced myself I could manage it, a large set of doubt doors opened in front of Persephone and me, and the large courtyard I’d spotted through my balcony was there,fullof people, who all turned to stare at me.
I am so not ready for this…
* * * *
Persephone, the cheery women who was difficult to hate, had abandoned me within thirty seconds of arriving at the party when she spotted someone she hadn’t seen in months.
It left me standing awkwardly by what was either a morbid display of body parts or abuffet table.
Or both.
Being in parties had never been my thing, but it turned out there was nothing quite as uncomfortable as doing that in hell. I didn’t know anyone and starting up a conversation with people who sometimes had hooves, horns and occasionally actual flames on them was outside of my realm of knowledge.
“So what do you think, Ava?”
The familiar voice was like a hug I hadn’t known I’d needed. I turned to find Gran standing there, beside the table of bloody bits, and before I had the time to even think about it, I threw my arms around her.
It felt like it had been so long since I’d seen her, since I’d been anywhere I understood, that she was a connection back to my real life, to the normal world. Funny that I never thought I’d miss my old life so much.
She was my past, the only true constant for me. I’d spent so much of my time in her occult shop, the one place I’d had where I felt as though I truly belonged. During a life of being unnoticed and unwanted, Gran was the person who had always seen me, always made time for me.
She huffed a soft laugh before hugging me back. “I take it you’re not doing so well?”
I pulled back and wiped my thumbs beneath my eyes for any stray tears that dared to escape. “It’shorrible, Gran.”
