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The other demonic gang members stir as I reach the first, and from the corner of my eye, I notice one pick a weapon up off the floor. Fenriz swiftly and silently convinces him to put it back down. The demon before me casts nervous eyes around, realizing that he and his half-addled peers are surrounded by bigger, stronger, more vicious,and sober,demons.
“You’re Lucifer,” he deduces. He juts his jaw out defiantly. “What are you doing here? You aren’t welcome.”
A dark chuckle ripples up from my chest. “Not welcome? In my own domain?” Faster than light, I snatch his throat and hold him suspended a few inches off the floor. “You heard what happened to your misguided leader,” I growl quietly. “Reese, his name was, wasn’t it? Would you like a demonstration of what I did to him?”
His eyes bug out and he squeals. “No! No. What do you want?”
“I want to know where these recent attacks have been coming from. Andwhy.”
He shoots a look at one of his men, who barely moves before Moloch flattens him with an elbow to the face. The demon goes down, whimpering and swearing. The human women are beginning to stir. Not dead, then, just excessively intoxicated. I jerk my head at them and address one of my enforcers.
“Get those girls out of here.” His face twists into a dark smile, and I hold up one claw in warning. “Gently.”
“Hey, you can’t take them! We bought them fair and—”
Fenriz silences the outspoken demon with a blow to the jaw. He crumples to the ground beside his whimpering fellow.
“That’s enough,” I growl. “You tell your little friends to sit down and behave before I let my men tear them apart.”
He swallows hard and licks his lips nervously. “Chill out, guys. Let’s hear them out.”
The others slowly raise their hands in gestures of surrender, glaring balefully at me and my men. I toss my captive on the nearest couch hard enough to crack the frame.
The women are slowly coming around, staring in silent horror at the undisguised demons around them. They aren’t moving quickly enough for my enforcer’s limited patience. With a grunt of disgust, he scoops two up in each arm and carries them, screaming and wailing, to the foyer. He dumps them unceremoniously in the blasphemous chamber and returns for the rest, who are already panicking, scrabbling for their clothes and pulling each other toward the door.
“They’re going to tell everybody what they saw,” the demon on the couch says spitefully.
“Sure, they will,” I tell him. “And I’m sure their reputations are above reproach. Everyone will take their word as absolute truth. Certainly no one will accuse them of over-indulging in hallucinogens and falling asleep on a movie set.”
His scowl becomes a furious grimace. “Fuck you.”
“You’re not my type. Tell me who sent your boss after me. Who has Reese been working with?”
A flash of pride makes his eyes glow and nostrils flare. “We don’t work for anybody. People work for us.”
“I see, I see. So this leader of yours…”
“Rapaxes,” he hisses, giving me the demon’s real name and not his assumed human one.
“Very well, Rapaxes. He decided, all on his own, that he and a few of your buddies were going to follow me across the fucking continent, murder my loyal servant, and make a pathetic attempt on my own life. Am I understanding you correctly?”
He looks away from me. “It was brought to a vote,” he mumbles.
“A vote. And who voted?”
He presses his lips closed and crosses his arms, glaring across the room. Shrugging, I grab his leg and twist, snapping the joints. He screams, switches to his animal form, and howls. I give him ten seconds, then snap my fingers in his face.
“Put your skin suit back on.Now.”
He can speak an ancient language in his animalistic demon form, but he’ll have more trouble managing his wound if he’s trying to maintain a disguise. His growl is tinged with pain as he draws his human guise back over himself shakily. He bares his teeth at me, his eyes burning crimson.
“Speak,” I command again. “Or should I break your other leg?”
He casts shifty eyes around. His people have turned their glares on him now. A couple of them have tensed up, seeming ready to lunge if he opens his mouth again. Fenriz steps between them and the pathetic stand-in leader, effectively cutting the two of us off from the rest of the room.
My captive glares at me, breathing hard between his teeth. Foam builds around the corners of his mouth, fire burning in his eyes. His mouth trembles, but he doesn’t speak. Seems he’s more frightened of his peers than of me. That’s a shame. I sigh and reach toward him, more slowly this time, and he flinches.
“Okay, okay! Fuck. This is why, this is exactly why!” His voice reaches an uncomfortable pitch as he gestures at his ruined limb. “We don’t want to be ruled by you anymore. It’s not just us, either. Everybody wants you gone. Rapaxes is just the first to actually do something about it!”
