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While I contemplate names, the others set to the arduous task of planning a wedding in Hell. Questions come from all around me as they excitedly ask if I’d want this color flower or that, forgetting that flowers tend to wilt in Hell’s heat. I can’t help but smile and play along, daydreaming of the blessed, unholy event. Az stands behind me, a protective hand on my lower back, as though He can keep all the armies in Hell at bay just with His presence.
And He might. Now He’s the Prince of three Sins: Lust, Wrath,andEnvy. Something about that needles at the back of my brain, but I don’t have a chance to think too hard on it before I’m thrown into party planning prep.
Chapter 28
Asmodeus
Callie’s friends allow me to attend the birthday portion of the festivities, which is pleasant, if a bit confusing. Why is she blowing on candles?
True to her word, Cherry arranged for Bob’s to be open for our group only. No one comes in from the street, which is a bit of a blessing, as Callie still can’t dismiss her wings. Once it comes time to celebrate her pregnancy and our upcoming wedding, though, Cherry, Lena, and Molli shoo me out of the bar, along with My Sons, the fae men, and the male wolves.
“This is a girl thing, guys. Y’all wouldn’t understand” is all Lena says before slamming the door to the bar in our faces.
Holden cracks a crooked grin. “Well, thankfully for us, Nowhere isn’t a one-bar town.” He turns to the rest of us. “Who’s up for Jimmie’s? It’s across town, but it has booze and, as an added bonus, babes.”
“Babes?” I ask, confused as to what’s happening.
Kalen, the red-haired fire fae, laughs. “It’s a strip joint, Asmodeus. I would think you, of all people, would have a keen awareness of those places.”
I balk as they start shoving me towards Holden’s van. “But I’m about to get married … Why would I want to go to a strip club? I have no desire to be unfaithful to Callie, especially not the night before our wedding!”
Rick and Billy exchange wolfish glances before Rick answers. “Dude, You don’t have to be unfaithful. Just enjoy a lap dance or two.”
“I hate to tell you this, man, but Cherry probably already has a male stripper scheduled to show up at Bob’s,” Holden says as he climbs into the driver’s seat. The van is crowded, but we all fit. “This just levels the playing field.”
Billy leans forward from the middle seat, punching Holden on the shoulder as he backs out of Bob’s parking lot and almost causing an accident. “Bro, remember when we all went to Jimmie’s for our twenty-first birthday? Geiger’s face was so fucking red!”
The mood in the van sobers a bit, and Holden’s smile becomes more forced. “Yeah. He thought it was inappropriate.”
Seemingly realizing his blunder, Billy clears his throat and adds, “Cherry still talks to him, y’know. To him and her grandma. She’s out at their graves every day. She brings the twins out there, too. We shouldn’t just forget that the four of us used to be five. I’m sure Geiger’s spirit is with us tonight.”
After a long, awkward pause, Holden nods. “Yeah. You’re probably right. I can hear him now, chastising us for ogling women who aren’t Cherry.”
Rick pipes up. “It’s not like Cherry hasn’t said it’s okay to look. We just can’t partake.” He flashes a wicked grin. “She looks, y’know. Just last week, when there was a fire in the kitchen at Bob’s, she was pretty much drooling over the firefighters that came to put it out.”
Holden scowls. “They weren’t all that. I don’t know what the big deal was.”
Rick and Billy burst into laughter, breaking the spell of mourning on the wolves in the van.
I turn to the Omega wolf, Matt, with a questioning glance. “And where are the children tonight? It seems everyone is in attendance at the parties; who’s watching your pups and My Grandchildren?”
Matt shrugs. “There’s a family outside of town who have a little girl about Niki’s age. They all play together sometimes, so Kellar and her guys offered to watch the kids for us tonight.”
Remembering the ley lines that intersect under Nowhere in abundance, I wonder if that has anything to do with so many pairings of young women with multiple men. It’s amazing that this town has passed under my radar for so long. One would think I’d be aware of a place like Nowhere that has such a draw. As Lord of Lust, I must be slipping in my old age.
Not that I’m not grateful that Callie hasn’t fallen under Nowhere’s spell. Selfish as it may be, I’m overjoyed that she has chosen me and me alone as her partner in this life.
After about a twenty-minute drive—because nowhere in Nowhere takes more than twenty minutes to get from A to B—Holden pulls into a parking lot sporting a large neon sign declaring this “Jimmie’s Jimmie Joint.” The sign has a neon silhouette of a voluptuous woman, and the lights flash in an alternating pattern that makes it look like the woman is dancing.
The dozen of us file out of the van, and I find that my heart is racing as we approach. Will Callie be angry that I’ve been here? I can’t imagine she would, but then again, sheisElena’s sister. I glance at My Sons and wonder what punishment they’ll be in for when they get home.
A burly bouncer at the door checks our IDs, and I thank the stars that I had the foresight to procure human papers long ago. My fake birthdate of February fourteenth thirty years ago causes the bouncer’s lips to turn up in a grin as he checks my card for authenticity before handing it back.
“V-day baby, huh? You probably got laid all the time when you were a kid.”
He has no idea the accuracy of that statement.
Rick and Billy snicker behind me, and Holden rewards them for their antics with dual slaps upside their heads.
