AllFreeNovel
Share Us
On the left side of his massive neck, the bull head snorts smoke.
“Casziel is living as a human with the woman, Lucy Dennings, free from his duties to us. Ashtaroth is no more. These are consequential losses to our hierarchy, and you were the sole witness to what transpired.” Asmodai leans forward, all three pairs of eyes trained on me, his clawed hands gripping the skull armrests. “Have you done nothing to subvert our agenda? Think carefully about how you answer, Ambri.”
I swallow hard, wishing I was permitted to retain my demon form. I’m weak and flimsy in my human body here…which is precisely why Asmodai commanded it so. He can consign me to Oblivion with one swing of his fist.
But I’m not entirely helpless. I have my own arsenal of weapons, so to speak. In order to be believable, a good lie is peppered with facts. Those little flakes of truth flavor the lie so that the entire thing goes down easy. Palatable.
And I am a master chef.
Thinking quickly, I concoct a little dish that ismostlytrue, leaving out the icky bits that will likely get me killed.
“Casziel was tired of immortality and sought Oblivion. A terrible loss. But he loved Lucy Dennings. I figured if she were one of us, Casziel would stay, so I provided Lucy with the means to summon Ashtaroth so that he might turn her to our dark cause. I could not have predicted the interference of an angel. That holy specter destroyed Ashtaroth and freed Casziel from our ranks. I did my best to save them both.” I put on my most winning smile. “If you look at it that way, I’m something of a hero.”
The ram, the bull, and the human head all watch me with black eyes, and it’s all I can do to keep my chin up and my gaze unwavering. The seconds tick, counted by my pounding pulse, as I wait to see if the demonlord will swallow my story or spit it back out.
“I hear you’re a clever one,” Asmodai says finally. “Wily, like a cockroach. Able to slip in and out of trouble. Surviving while all else perish.”
I chafe at the insinuation. “Kind of you to say, but I’m morebeetlethan—”
“Ashtaroth was sloppy. He let Casziel dwell in his infatuation for the human girl for too long and didn’t keep close watch on you. As your new liege lord, I won’t make the same mistake.”
Oh goody.
Asmodai sits back on his throne. “I feel the lies falling from your clever tongue, Ambri. I should rip it from your mouth and feed it back to you. I should flay the flesh from your human hide.” He cocks his heads thoughtfully. “Or perhaps, I shall burn it off, inch by inch. Just like old times…?”
“I swear, my lord, I did nothing—”
“Aye, you didnothing. You failed. Or worse, you betrayed us. Youarethe cockroach of your anicorpus, a bug beneath my boot.”
“Beetle,” I mutter under my breath.
“If you wish to save yourself from a millennium of pain, Ambri, you must prove your loyalty to the darkness.”
“Whatever you wish of me, lord. Anything. Say the word and I—”
“I want a human,” he says. “Fresh. Pure. A human who shines brightly through the Veil.”
“Consider it done,” I say with relief. “Corrupting humans is my favorite pastime. I can do it in my sleep. In fact, I prefer it that way. Don’t have to get out of bed—”
“I’m not interested in your carnal exploits, Ambri. You will bring a human to me. Here.”
I frown. “We cannot kill, Lord Asmodai.”
“You take me for a fool?”he thunders in three voices, and the very ether trembles with his rage. “You will be the agent of their Crossing Over. Cajole. Whisper.Seduce.That is your forte, is it not?”
“I seduce them to the sins of lust, my lord. Not…their own death.” My frown deepens. “May I suggest Mammon? He would be much better suited to such a task. Or perhaps, Kali? Bloodthirsty little viper, that one. She once enticed a man to eat his own cock—”
“Silence!”
I fall back as Asmodai is suddenly the size of a mountain, dwarfing his throne. Behind him, the sky boils with black clouds streaked with purple lightning. Fire spews in great vomitus streams from all three of his mouths, but I hear his words emanating from the ground, the sky, from inside my own head, threatening to burst it apart.
“Prove yourself to me, Ambri. Prove you are a loyal servant of hell. Drive a human to ultimate despair. Persuade them to end their miserable existence, and then guide them to me. Fail, and you will know eternal agony.”
I fall to my knees as pain grips my head in a vise so strong, tears stream down my cheeks and onto the stone beneath me in dark drops.
Not tears, blood.
Blood is streaming from my eyes, my nose, my ears. I hold my head as if I can keep it from exploding. I squeeze my eyes shut to keep them from popping out of my skull. The agony goes on until my body is pressed flat onto the bloody stones by the unseen power of Asmodai. Like a hand crushing me to the earth.
