Page 29 of Promised to the Demon King (The Demon Brides #1)

After what happened at lunch in the food court, Nova didn't waste any more time once Patricia left and rushed upstairs to Allister's office. She was about to knock, but before her knuckles even grazed the hardwood of the door, Thomas opened it with a big, welcoming smile.

How did he sense her? She wasn't sure, but it wasn't what was important right then.

"Nova?" Thomas looked concerned at Nova's sense of urgency. "What's wrong? What happened?"

She saw him looking around behind her as if he were looking for someone. His brows kissed with his scowling expression. "Why are you alone?" he asked her, upset.

"Uh—I left alone. I am definitely not making friends here, Tommy." Nova chuckled. He couldn't possibly be referring to Roz. None of that's essential. "I need to try something. May I come in?" Nova rushed out as she passed Thomas in the doorway.

"Uhh- of course. Allister will be right back." Thomas said, closing the door behind them.

"Okay. Stand in front of me." She grinned like the cat that got the canary. Thomas followed her instructions without questioning it.

His expression instantly softened when they locked eyes, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly.

"Okay, I need you to be serious when you do this. I need you to try and deceive me. Tell me two truths and a Lie." Thomas tilted his head at her words but nodded regardless.

Thomas smiled as he cleared his throat. He was pleased by this level of excitement in her. As her biological father, he already sensed inner demoness energy sparking to life. She was awakening a little bit each day. Asmodeus and Thalon's presence in her life was helping her progress, as well. He loved her enthusiasm; he couldn't wait to show her all his little tricks as a Cerberus demon.

"Okay, I was born in Canada. I am allergic to peanuts, and I have an army of souls under my command back home." He spoke confidently as he watched Nova's face crinkled with confusion. He knew what he did. He reversed her request to truly test her demoness ability. He told her two lies and one truth instead. His truth, however, was an unbelievable one. She would undoubtedly be confused.

"Wait, I am confused now. I may not be a human lie detector after all. I felt that there were two lies and only one truth."

"That is correct, Nova. I went to test you unprepared. Now, which of the three was the truth?" Thomas grinned with pride.

"The truth I felt was that you have an army of souls at your command? But that is a weird way of saying you are a boss." Nova spoke, unsure of herself.

"You are correct. That was the truth. Well done, Nova." Thomas' confirmation didn't ease her doubts. If anything, he confused her more. She was a mixture of disbelief and pride.

"Wait," the reality of the moment finally sunk in. "I was right?" Nova's question was barely a whisper, but Thomas still caught it.

"Yes, I am proud of you, Nova. You should be as well." Thomas puffed his chest out ever so slightly; he couldn't express the extent of his pride, but he needed her to know she was excelling greatly. She shouldn't be awakening until her eighteenth birthday but showed clear signs of an early bloomer. This was a display of great strength to come. She would make a mighty Queen.

"I need to test this on Asmo." Nova was now vibrating with excitement.

While the pair waited for Allister to return to his office, Thomas continued to test Nova and her ability to read others' deceit. She continued to succeed, much to her confusion about the random and unusual truths. His unique truths didn't make sense, but she was instilled with an overwhelming certainty in her answers.

After about thirty minutes of tests and bantering back and forth, Allister finally returned to his office and found the pair sitting across from one another, playing their game.

"What have you two been doing?" he asked, squinting with playful suspicion.

Nova rolled her eyes and smiled. "I need to try something on you. I need you to commit to your answers to try and trick me." This piqued Allister's attention. He caught Thomas nodding next to her with a smile of pride on his face.

"Alright, what do I need to do?"

Allister followed the instructions, and each time, Nova was correct in detecting deceit. Both of the men showered her with praise and decided to go out to celebrate over dinner.

"How did you figure this out?" Thomas asked.

"Carol," Nova answered simply.

"What do you mean?" Allister leaned in closer from her large leather chair, his elbows digging into the polish of the desk.

"I went to the food court and saw her. She was sitting with Patricia Cruz. They exchanged a flash drive, and then Carol got a weird message and abruptly left. I decided to ask Patricia a few questions and noticed she was lying, so I kept poking around. There was something on that USB stick. Something company-related; you may want to look into that. Plus, while in the filing cabinet, I noticed that Timothy's and Patricia's authorization codes are associated with a lot of shifting money. You may want to look into that, as well." Nova details all the information she knows. She watched as Thomas and Allister exchanged a glance.

"What?" Nova asked after a long pause of silence between everyone.

"What we say has to stay between the three of us. Is that clear?" Allister spoke. Nova nodded.

"We are setting Carol up." Allister started, and Nova's eyes widened. Allister continued to explain that Patricia Cruz came into his office yesterday and confessed that she was being blackmailed for inside information. She went into detail about suffering a gambling addiction but has never stolen any money.

She has suspicions that Carol was behind it.

Initially, she believed Timothy Carter was guilty. Still, after Carol tried to extort her, she started reflecting on times and dates when Carol had access to her office while Patricia was busy with meetings. At the time, she never thought anything of it, but realizing Carol was a manipulative snake, she looked into the finances deeper.

When Patricia presented this to Allister, he confirmed what she had been saying. Using security footage, they confirmed that the timestamps that Patricia's codes used were during periods when Carol was in the office alone and Patricia was in meetings. Carol was clearly unable to be shuffling finances around.

They devised a plan to smoke Carol and her nefarious acts out into the light. A flash drive was loaded with fabricated information, including the evidence of Timothy's affairs. These affairs have already been debunked as false, and the evidence presented has all been dismissed. Timothy never had affairs within the office; it was merely an attempt to stir up drama for entertainment-- Asmodeus himself. He wanted Timothy to suffer for trying to take advantage of Nova. Of course, no one else but the trio knew that tidbit of information. To the rest of the company, it was still a mystery who the perpetrator of the evidence was.

Nova sat and listened; she couldn't believe the extent to which these two men had gone to help her gain her revenge. She also was excited to see how this plan all played out. Carol was going to file for divorce, thinking she could challenge an ironclad prenup where she gained nothing in the end. She would present false evidence as an attempt, but once it was dismissed in court, Timothy could finalize the divorce, and Carol would be left penniless.

However, that was only the first thing Nova wanted to happen to Carol. She also wanted her to suffer more, and she expressed that to the men.

"If that is only the start of your vengeance, what else do you wish to happen to her?" Thomas asked, his eyes filled with the promise of mischief and excitement.

"Carol killed my father!" Nova stated blankly. "I don't have the proof to prove it, but I know she did. I want her to lose it all, and then after that, I want her to suffer in the darkest pits of hell where she belongs. I want her tortured repetitively every single day of her soul's existence. I am not someone who favours violence, but I want her to suffer it all. She took away my father; I want her to beg for mercy only to suffer over and over again."

The room fell silent. This side of Nova had never been seen by anyone. Both men knew the growth of her demoness essence fueling this vengeance quest so fiercely.

"Then that is what you shall have, My Queen. I shall always give you what you desire the most." Allister spoke, his eyes not leaving hers. She saw something she wasn't sure was real: a flash of frost gleam across his eyes. It reminded her of her Asmo.