Page 25 of Promised to the Demon King (The Demon Brides #1)
The music filled the room, the bass rattling the wall. Nova didn't mean to have it as loud as she did, but Roz was an instigating extraordinaire. Her bad influence in most things was Roz. They never broke any laws or caused any damage; no, her reputation was always to be maintained, even in Roz's eyes, but Roz enjoyed pushing Nova to rebel slightly occasionally. She called it living. Nova was happy to have someone like Roz. Someone to push her out of her boring routines on occasion.
This engrossing Dance Dance Revolution match was no different. With the sub-woofer and sound bar pulsating, both Roz and Nova battled with intense focus. Of course, the focus was on one player, seeing as Roz couldn't physically play, but she stood next to Nova and battled to win, nonetheless.
As Allister and Thomas stepped inside the lively penthouse, laughter and grunts filled the undertones with the music.
Against their reputed natures, both men smiled brightly, both men staring at their own claimed females. Thomas, or rather, Lord Thalon, was a notoriously ruthless and calculated demon Lord. His natural beastly form brought fear from most around him.
Being a Cerberus descendant gave Thalon unimaginable strength, which King Wrath failed to see while claiming the abused and dismissed beast. Kept in a cage and only released for unimaginable tortures, Thalon was unaware of what he would ascend as if he survived.
Cerberus demons were incredibly rare. It takes decades for a soul to develop those characteristics, often going unrealized.
Thalon was a hallowed shell of a mortal man before he pledged vengeance. He was too weakened from the abuse to ascend to a full Cerberus demon.
All that changed when Asmodeus was visiting Wrath for an unrelated matter. When King Asmodeus' whitened eyes fell on the tortured, fragmented souls, he knew what Thalon would become.
"I shall make you a deal, Wrath. The wager shall be that pathetic wretched soul in the cage." Asmodeus spoke in a bored tone. He watched as Wrath smirked with greed at the prospects of a new plaything as the broken soul locked up had lost his appeal.
"If I win, I gain three new souls, and you help me with my little problem. You win, you get the caged pitiful soul, and I will tell you what is being planned for you by someone close. That seems fair, doesn't it, brother?"
"Agreed." Asmodeus snarled. He knew Wrath would take the bait but also knew more than he was letting on about what Greed had planned.
Thomas shook his thoughts clear from his past. His eyes stayed locked on Roz and her seductive movements. They've been each other's companions for nearly a century. Neither was willing to concede and claim titles, but anyone who had seen their eternal spark to one another knew that Thalon took no other female and had killed a dozen males. He thought Roz was aware, but after their conversation the other night, he realized he was hiding his heart, even from her.
He planned to speak with his King and request a pledging ceremony. No other female was permitted in his private chamber other than his perfectly sinful temptress, and he wanted to make sure it stayed that way. He adored Nova, but he would only ever have another with Roz.
When Asmodeus demanded that Roz take over as Nova's official guard, he hated not seeing his beloved every day, but like his King, he would trust no one else to watch over his daughter. Roz was the mother Nova always deserved.
Roz was a demoness.
She was full of devious and sinful intent but incredibly attached to Nova. Unlike what mortals believed, demons could love, just like anyone else. They were merely more selective about who they gave that emotion to. Humans often handed it out carelessly, but a demon is more decisive.
When a demon feels an emotion towards another, it is forever. A demon's first impressions are the most realistic of emotions. They never change. Love or hate, that is it.
A demon starts as a soul and learns to evolve into something else, minor or major. The soul can determine a person's most authentic intent if honed enough. You are forced to rely on instinct and first impressions when starting from depravity. Arrogance can often interfere, which was the decline of martial enlightenment, but a demon understood better. It was how an emotion was granted quickly.
Being in Hell, the stigma is true in many ways.
There were many more criminals and nefarious souls, but the Lords, enforcers, and Kings imposed much harsher punishments to balance the negatives and keep order.
When Roz was assigned to guard over Nova, she fell in love with the tiny Queen. She pledged her life to guard her right then and there. A pledge like that was eternal. A pledge made in Hell was the bound to one's soul; it can not be broken until death.
He would make the same pledge to Roz; she needed to know her value in his life and heart.
Seeing Roz over the years with Nova only solidified his unwavering loyalty to her. He knew that eventually, especially seeing Roz and Nova laughing. At the same time, they competed in their silly dance game on television; he would go through the ritual of consort and take Roz as his completely once they returned to Hell. He hated that she was blindsided and held in her pain, with Nova being his offspring. Thalon thought she was informed by their King.
‘It looks like your tiny legs can't keep up with my superiority, little Queen,’ Roz teased as she gyrated her hips with permission.
"Says you, grandma!" Nova shoots back and jumps around and then twists back.
Thalon forced himself to take his wanton eyes off the sexy demoness before him and turned to look at his King.
Asmodeus was in no better state than he was. His lust-driven gaze was locked on the movements of his future Queen. Both females continued to battle it out, unaware they had gathered a devoted audience of two.
Thalon smirked and gave his King a quick nudge, pointing at the shelter his King's vessel was now offering with the sudden and prominent pop-up tent in his trousers.
With a hiss, Asmodeus turned his back to the females, adjusting and hiding his state as best as possible. He planned on pulling Nova to his bed chamber within his own plain again that evening. He missed her scent, taste, and the sounds she made while he explored every inch of her beautiful body. He missed falling asleep next to her already. He was waiting on his oracle, Sacha, to finish a larger batch of the elixir to safely summon Nova back to his realm. He refused to get too close to her while in his vessel form. He didn't want to risk her choosing Allister over Asmodeus.
‘I think the two perverts watching us in silence now owe us pizza tonight for being creeps.’ Roz announced, drawing Nova to an immediate stop in her game. Her face flushed with the game's activity and the announcement that she wasn't alone.
"I think that's fair," Nova whispered. She placed her hands on her hips and looked disapproving, like a mother scolding a misbehaving child.
"In our defense, you would have heard us arrive if you didn't have the sound as loud as you did." Thomas retorted, his eyes locked onto Roz, but Nova didn't notice. Roz, however, smirked and gave him a naughty wink.
‘Play your cards right, and I'll show you more of my hidden moves, big boy!’ Roz purred teasingly.
Nova's eyes widened at Roz's words. She was mortified at her teasing, but thankfully, no one else could hear them—or so she thought.
Looking back at Roz subtly, Nova missed the flash of Thalon's demon essence in Thomas' eyes.
"I apologize for the intrusion, Nova. Pizza is definitely owed. How about you order a few kinds so that we can experience them. I've never had pizza before, and neither has Thomas." Allister stated as he stepped into the penthouse more. He quickly excused himself to secretly relieve himself but announced he would change into something warmer.
He couldn't wait to return back to Hell. This time, he would have his Queen by his side forever.
Nova watched as Allister left the living room and entered his private room. Thomas busied himself and then announced he would do the same. Roz excused herself, and now only Nova was alone, standing in the living room confused.
"How did Allister know Roz said we were owed Pizza?" Nova mumbled, still staring into the hallways where both men exited through. She couldn't shake the feeling that they could see and hear Roz. She reflected on many moments where it seemed that they would freeze after she would say things, or they would be looking in the direction Roz would be.
No one ever saw or heard Roz; how could Allister and Thomas?