Page 95 of Demon's Heart

The woman grabbed his arm. “Shut up.”

“We could’ve taken one Hound alone, not two, not one with Lucifer.” He glared at her, green eyes flaring. She glared back.

“How did you escape the Realm of the Damned?” Dante asked, changing tactics.

The man swallowed. “The seal was broken briefly, and we slipped through before it closed.”

“I see.” At least that lined up with Ren’s story. Dante pretended to consider the man’s words. “Then why not run off and hide?”

“If Lucifer ever found out we escaped, we’d be hunted. You have his permission to be here and would have come after us as soon as he asked. There’s no hiding forever. I’d heard one of you controlled the birds?—”

“That’s enough,” the woman interrupted, and he fell silent.

So they’d been hoping to rid themselves of an enemy. What had they been planning to do to Dante? Surely not kill him.

He suppressed a shudder.

“Did you ever consider I might not be on Lucifer’s side?”

Shock transformed their faces, the woman’s stern features cracking for the firsttime.

“Youescaped? He didn’t send you here?” The first demon rounded on his companion. “I told you. I said Lucifer planting them here didn’t make as much sense as the other rumors. How could they be looking…?” He shut his mouth, silencing himself for once.

He seemed to have heard a very different story than Ren. Had Luc spun a lie saying he sent his Hounds to Earth? It was plausible. He’d have wanted to save face. But what did this demon think Dante and the others were looking for? Surely not mates.

Lucifer had clearly given up on mates. But was there an advantage to convincing his masses all wasn’t lost?

It was a mess. No one in the Realm of the Damned knew the truth. There were probably dozens more stories circulating. Confusion was certainly to Luc’s benefit.

“He could be lying,” the white-winged demon muttered. “Lucifer could still be hiding right behind him.”

“Well, we’re screwed if that’s the case,” the first reminded her.

At least Dante could be reasonably sure these two weren’t working for Luc. His lackeys tended to go for threats and intimidation, never giving up when they thought Lucifer was in their corner.

It was lucky for Dante that Luc seemed to have no allies. All he apparently needed to get past Dante’s counterspells was a little backup.

“What are your names?” Dante asked.

After a pause and a reluctant nod from his companion, the first demon said, “I’m Maxwell, and this is Lillian.”

“All right, Maxwell and Lillian.” Dante drew in his wings. “I might have forgiven you for thinking I was on Lucifer’s side. I’m sure he worked hard to convince everyone of that. But I can’t forgive you for killing my birds.”

Maxwell shared an outraged look with Lillian. “They’re animals.”

Dante growled. “You think animals should be killed for no reason? I disagree. And what were you planning to do to me when you drew me out into the open? Have a civilized chat to figure out whose side I’m on? Let me go on my way unharmed afterward?”

Their silence was heavy with guilt.

“I didn’t think so. I’ll give you credit and assume you weren’t planning to commit the offense of permanent death, but you’ve still made an enemy of me.”

“Wait,” Lillian held up a hand. “You’re right. We should have considered the other rumors more seriously, but it seemed naïve to hope you’d escaped and were no longer in Lucifer’s pocket. What else were we supposed to do?”

They would have had to risk exposing themselves. Ren’s peaceful move was bolder than Dante had given her credit for. Could he really blame these two for not doing the same when they had a very different impression of where Dante’s loyalty lay?

Maybe not, but he couldn’t appear too forgiving and risk being taken advantage of. “If you escape again and find me without your fangs drawn, maybe we can start over.”

Lillian’s eyes flashed. “Escape again? No, please. Don’t send us back!”