Page 47

The appearance of one of Hades’ most favored shadow demons could mean a multitude of things, none of them clear.

“Does this mean they’re returning soon?” I asked the cat hopefully.

It sneezed at my feet, leaving a smear of ash on my shoes.

I sighed, closed my eyes, and disappeared to the ‘real’ world.

Normally I’d just shiftright to G’s house, but I was still a bit skittish from our last encounter. It may be cowardly, but I wanted all of my brother’s behind me (or preferably in front of me) when we confronted him about Hades.

To my surprise, my magick led me to one area, suggesting most of my brothers were already mostly concentrated.

Odd, for them. Us.

“Eternal Matches.”

I snorted at the sign over the doorway, still thinking it was a shit name after all these years. Diana liked to lean hard into everything she did, and immortality was certainly not exempt. Oh well, Lust was as good a place to start as anyone else. A large poster had been taped to the glass of the front door, advertising two missing children: a fae child, and a dryad.

Odd.

“I’ll be with you in a moment!” The secretary peered around the hunched figure taking up the space in front of her desk, smiling brightly at me.

A werewolf.

He turned and snarled at me, as if my presence was interrupting something very important. That put me on edge.

Juniper’s ex was a werewolf. I’m sure it was simply a coincidence.

“Don’t mind me,” I said easily, taking a seat as far away from the desk as I could manage. I pulled a magazine from the stack next to me, pretending to be instantly engrossed in the latest tips to ‘tame your frizz’.

The wolf lowered his voice, but my hearing was well above a normal mortal’s. “She works here. I just need her name.”

My eyes flicked up without moving my head, watching as the secretary offered the wolf a cheesy grin.

“Sir, that’s not something I can give you. We have many females who work here. If you need a date, I suggest making an appointment.”

She handed him a card.

He took it with ill grace, his meaty hand crushing the delicate cardstock. “Fine.”

Shooting me a furious glance, he stormed out of the building.

“Well then. What can I help you with?” the secretary asked, her fake smiling melting into a genuine one as the aggression left the building with the mangy mutt.

“I...er, here to see Lust,” I managed, trying hard not to stare at her backside. The tight mermaid skirt wasn’t helping, either.

Her nose wrinkled, then her eyes lit with excitement. “You’re another one ofthem, aren’t you?” she whispered excitedly, leaning over the desk to give me an ample view of her cleavage

I tried to focus on her face, but all I could imagine were her lips wrapped my–

Oh, succubus! Right.

My mental shields slammed into place, and immediately my mind cleared as I relaxed.

“One of them?” I asked pointedly.

Not deterred in the least by the sudden change in my demeanor, she grinned saucily at me. “Them. A sin!” Her gaze raked me from head to toe, and I blushed at her hard scrutiny even with my shields up.

“If I guess which one will I get a prize?” she asked breathily.