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“I thought I dismissed you back to your position, Barimuz?”
The deep baritone that came from whoever was in the chair was a shock to my senses. I fidgeted as the chair swiveled, and Barimuz peeked up at the desk from his position on the floor.
“Forgive me, master. I was just curious about this meeting between you and… the girl,” he said.
Lucifer sighed deeply. “Stand up, Barimuz. How many times do I have to tell you that bowing and prostrating is too much for me? The girl is no threat to me, either.”
My first glimpse of Lucifer—the original fallen angel—knocked the air from my lungs.
He wasresplendent—high cheekbones, full lips, an unreasonably straight nose, perfect brows that matched his brow bone perfectly, white-blond and shoulder-length hair, and piercing blue eyes that had a shade I was sure no artist had devised a name for. He was blemish free, with not even a beauty mark marring his pale skin. There wasn’t a single wrinkle on him to indicate that he ever moved his face from the current stoic expression he wore. I might have mistaken him for suffering from albinism under different circumstances.
For an irrational moment, I wondered if the skin on his face wouldn’t tear if he laughed. It was pulled so taut, so…perfectly.
“Sorry, master,” Barimuz breathed, dazed. “You deserve the respect.”
Lucifer’s perfect mouth twisted as he took in Barimuz. Disgust morphed his marble features into something terrifying. “What have I said about this form when you are in my presence? Some illusions can hide evenyourhideous face. Make use of them.”
Barimuz didn’t seem offended by Lucifer’s remark. In fact, he looked… gross. I shuddered at the ecstasy on his face. He was happy just to be addressed by Lucifer. “Yes, master,” he crooned. “I won’t make this mistake again.”
Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Get out.”
The demon scrambled out of the double doors on his hands and knees at Lucifer’s command, leaving us alone with him.
He hummed when Sariel remained near the only exit in the room.
“I realize that Barimuz must not have explained Hell to you. All of this—” he gestured to himself and the view behind him and the office, “—is a projection.”
He waved a hand in the air, and the door shifted so that it was behind him, then to our left, and then to our right, before returning to behind us.
My brows furrowed. “A projection of what?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
“Whatyouthink Hell will be like, girl.”
He chuckled, clasping his hands on his desk and blinking lazily at us. “We are all in your version of Hell,” His eyes flicked to Sariel briefly. “Because if I chose the angel’s version of Hell, we wouldn’t be able to focus. The screaming in his Hell is… wildly exaggerated.”
Sariel shook his head sharply. “Are you trying to tell me what I’m looking at is not Hell?”
Lucifer lifted a disbelieving brow at him. “Do I really seem like the kind of being to enjoy corporate torture? Do you really think that low of me? Is that how bad my reputation has suffered? Do you think sinners come here to file and type away their sins?”
Sariel and I remained dutifully silent.
Lucifer guffawed, then sighed again after. “I think I’ll let you experience this…versionof Hell for now. I wish I could say corporate Hell is something new for me, but most CEOs have created their own Hell before they’re even dead.”
“You wanted to see us, right? To say something to us?” Sariel started, and I immediately squeezed his hand to stop whatever outburst might be coming. “We’re here now. What do you want?”
“Would you believe me if I said I was just lonely?”
Lucifer batted his lashes playfully. Sariel caught his growl seconds before it escaped his chest, channeling it into a cough.
“Join me for dinner,” Lucifer said. “We’ll discuss over food. I’ve learned that while time moves differently in Hell, people who aren’t dead still experience the need to eat and drink and such.”
He unfolded his big body from the leather chair. For a split second, his visage slipped, and I caught a glimpse of a mass of flesh and feathers that sent a spike of fear straight through me and down our bond.
He’s huge, Sariel. We’re dead if he tries anything.
He’s only four inches taller than me.
Sariel had the gall to soundaffronted.
