An audience with the Demon Lord always involved some form of humiliation. Like being forced to take the scenic lake route, and then showing up before Lucas dripping wet and chilled to the bone.Huxley waded out of the lake and trudged up onto the shore. Pausing for a moment, he shook his head, then peeled off his soaked tee and wrung it hard. Water hit the sand with a muffled splash. Ten years. Ten damn years of working for the son of a bitch, and he’d never figured out another way to reach Lucas lair. And there were other ways. Those closer to the Demon Lord traveled back and forth without arriving soaking wet.He eyed the crumpled, soggy lump in his hands and grimaced. He’d rather have the cool night air assaulting his bare skin than put that dripping wet T-shirt back on, but appearing topless before the Demon Lord was not an option. Not that Hux had any problem with showing some skin, no. Lucas s

They should be here by now.Staring at the digital clock on the nightstand, Cara clenched her jaw, her heart pounding in her chest. Her hands and feet were tied, the rope also fastened to the headboard of the bed the brutes had thrown her on after dragging her into the house, so Cara had no way to get free. It had surprised her how normal the house seemed, with nice if bland-looking furniture straight out of a catalog, and a level of cleanliness suggesting that either whoever lived here had some OCD going on, or this was a model home in a new community.She tried—again—to loosen her bonds. To no avail.Honestly, where were Marga and the others? They shouldn’t need this long to track her.Sounds of movement in the hall. She snapped her head up, her body tensing for whatever—whoever—was coming. The door to the room opened, and two demons slipped inside—fem

“Cara, no.” Venina cowered against the door, her face tear-streaked. “I’m not worth it. Don’t let—” Jacob’s raised arm silenced her without even striking.Trembling, Cara met Venina’s red-rimmed eyes. And saw something she hadn’t noticed before. There was steel in that emerald green, a courage Cara hadn’t reckoned with—no one had reckoned with, judging by how carelessly Jacob turned his back on Venina, his focus on Cara.Away from a threat he’d clearly underestimated.It showed in the surprise in his icy eyes when Venina wrenched the dagger from his hand. In the moment of shock when his features slackened after the young witch-turned-demon slit her own throat. In his gasp when she managed to slice through both femoral arteries on her thighs as well before she collapsed. Her blood gushed onto the floor, ruby red on the white carpet.Read more