Beelzebub Girl (14 page)

"You'll be happy to hear Dallas and I stay on different floors," I said.

My answer seemed to please her because she backed off a little, or so I thought until she asked, "What a coincidence you met again, huh? What are you two up to?"

"Amber, you're being rude," Aidan hissed.

She shot him an irritated look. "I just want to know how my brother met the love of his life and what he's doing with all his time."

"Let's just say we're not wasting a minute watching television."

Dallas winked at me. He was winding her up, which made me like him even more. Whatever Amber's problem was, I'd never been one to back off from an argument.

"Can we talk for a moment?" I grabbed her upper arm to pull.

She didn't budge.

Told you,
Pinky whispered. Slowly, his words started to make sense. When did he turn her? Someone
must've
warned him about the consequences. Dad would be so mad when he found out I brought home not one but two immortals.

"You're worried about him, I get it," I whispered as soon as we were outside.

She took a deep breath, eyes piercing into mine. "He doesn't know anything about your world which makes hanging out with you even more dangerous."

"Mate, you know nothing about me or my world," I hissed. "I helped you without asking questions, but that doesn’t mean I don't know what's going on." That was a lie. In fact, I had no idea what was happening, but it was only a matter of time until I found out. "What makes you think hanging out with an angel's more dangerous than a bunch of vampires who're running from a jealous succubus goddess?"

"That's not all we're running from," Amber muttered. "You've no idea, Cass."

I inclined my head, taking in the nervous tinge wafting from her. "He's safe with me."

She sighed. "You're probably right. At least you're not going to kill him to hurt us. Just don't break his heart. He really likes you."

"I like him too." I grabbed her hand. "Stay here for as long as you want. I'll pop back in the next couple of days to sort out a few things."

"Like?"

I shrugged. "This and that. Just trust me."

Various emotions crossed her face. Curiosity, hesitation, even scepticism, but she didn't insist.

"Anything else you'd like to run past me?" I asked.

"Let me think." Amber stared out at the expansive wonderland of rock formations and cinder cones strewn across the barren landscape in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. A puff of air made her jump. Huge plumes of sulfurous fumes and steam poured out through long cracks and fissures along the baked, dry desert ground.

The sound of rumbling filled the air; a red light from the fountain of glowing lava shone in the distance.

"Anything?" I prompted.

She shook her head. "Not really. But I have a question or two."

She pointed to a glowing cascade of lava way off to the east. "How did you explain"—she cleared her throat—"the fiery waterfall to Dallas?"

I smiled. "Special effects. It's Disneyland, right?"

She grinned. "You might get away with that, but how do you explain the temperature?"

"Everyone knows it's hot in California."

"So what's with the heat anyway? This place reminds me of a desert," Amber said.

I snorted. "I believe you'll find a desert's cooler."

"That's California for you." She laughed and we returned to the cottage. I could see from the faint smile on Aidan's face he eavesdropped on our conversation. The problem with vampires is they have too many abilities for their own good.

We arrived at Dad's mansion with half an hour to spare before dinner. Ginny wasn't here so, to avoid provoking Dad's suspicion, I decided to play waitress tonight. Lucky for me, Dad didn't join us.

"How's the campaign going?" Dallas asked.

I took a bite of my Chicken Tikka Masala, burning my tongue.

The trouble with Hell was, even the food never cooled down.

"Are you okay, babe?"

I nodded, swallowing down the chunk with a mouthful of water.

"I'm fine. In case you haven't noticed, we've been away all day. I didn't get a chance to spend time on brainstorming."

"I've been thinking about something that could really make an impression on prospective visitors."

He had no idea. Hell never failed to leave an impression, particularly not when Dad showed up in his business suit, carrying his briefcase aka torture instruments box with him.

"What do you have in mind?"

Enthusiasm sparked in Dallas's gaze. He put down his fork and grabbed my hand. "Imagine this: darkness, creepy music. Suddenly, a masked guy with an axe jumps from behind a bush. People will be scared to death."

If they don't laugh themselves into an early grave,
Kinky muttered.

I smiled. "How did you come up with that?"

"You like it?"

I nodded. "Yes, but how does it fit in with Disneyland?"

"Don't you see, babe?" Shaking his head, he moistened his lips.

"What's more sensational than a mad murderer?"

One's got to admire his zeal and dedication. "Disneyland's about fairy tales, princesses and castles."

Dallas held up a hand, interrupting me. "You forget
Freaky
Friday
."

He couldn't be serious. "Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the scariest part of that movie was a teenager being stuck in a middle-aged woman's body and the boyfriend trying to make out with one's mother. Did the mass murderer escape my attention?"

"You have a point." Dallas picked up his fork and resumed eating, speaking with his mouth full. "I'll come up with something else."

"I'm sure you'll do."

He peered at me, smirking. "You're winding me up."

"No." I shook my head, taking in his sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks. "I'd never do that. I love your ideas."

His fingers closed around mine, drawing circles. The sensation travelled up my arm and down my body, settling in the pit of my stomach. "What did Amber tell you about their situation?"

The sudden change in topic took me off-guard. "Nothing."

"She didn't tell you why they needed to leave London for a while?"

I shook my head, hoping my expression looked innocent enough.

"Did they rob a bank?"

He laughed, but I could see a frown forming on his smooth forehead. "Trust me, I wish it was the case."

"Do you want to tell me about it?" This was his chance to open up to me and establish the sort of trust that defines whether a relationship is long-term material. If he betrayed Amber's secret, I knew he saw me as someone he'd like to keep in his life. I might even be inclined to share with him a few details about my own life.

My palms started to sweat, this time not from the heat. Dallas ran his fingers through his hair, hesitating. Eventually, he grimaced. "I can't. She wouldn't want me to."

I wished I could yell that I knew everything already, so what was the big deal? But that wouldn't help us make progress in our relationship either. Fortunately, my big plan would go into action tomorrow. Soon, he'd be bound to realise it was time to leave the family nest and start a new life with me as his top priority, hence, no more secrets or words unspoken. Nothing against Amber, but she stood in the way of our predestined bond.

Patting his hand, I smiled. "I understand. I'd never want you to do something behind her back and betray her trust. It wouldn't be right."

"You're so gorgeous." He stroked my arm. "Let's do something together, something romantic. Just the two of us."

Romance sounded great. "Tomorrow?"

"Or today." He raised his brows meaningfully. Whatever he meant, I'd have to shatter his hopes because I wasn't that kind of girl.

"We could head to LA tomorrow, do a Hollywood tour if you're into movie stars. I know where a few of them live." I didn't mention that I stalked half of them into their mansions in the hope of a flash of inspiration regarding my next career move. After trying my hand at being a personal shopper, which failed because people had no taste, I came up with the idea of gathering work experience at Skylife and then taking on the
Amazon
imperium.

"Hollywood isn't my thing," Dallas said. "We could go shopping though."

My jaw dropped. A guy offering to go shopping was about as rare as catching a snowflake in the Amazon Rainforest. Come to think of it, maybe it wasn't such a rarity after all given that Dallas owned twice as much stuff, and I was already the hoarding kind, collecting whatever junk I could find. No wonder my clatter didn't bother him.

I nodded. "Great. Let's leave right after lunch so we have enough time to crash Rodeo Drive." Ginny should be finished with all preparations.

We ate our dinner chattering about this and that, then snuggled on the sofa in the living room. I had no idea where Dad was, but I couldn't shake off the feeling he was avoiding us. Maybe he had started to see the bond between Dallas and me, and kept away to give us privacy.

Who was I fooling? He didn't seem to take a liking to Dallas during our only dinner together. Knowing Dad, he was plotting the demise of my blossoming relationship this instant. If so, he underestimated me because I was already a step ahead.

Dad didn't turn up for breakfast either, but he left a cryptic message mentioning something about finding one of the gates open. I instructed the chef to employ new kitchen help and clean up himself in the meantime, then retreated to my office. Dallas had left for the cottage to spend time with his sister. It suited me just fine because I'd rather work to take my mind off my plan. The anticipation kept me awake most of the night already.

The campaign was still stuck in stage one aka brainstorming. I spent half an hour staring at the towering plumes of dark grey smoke rising from the volcanoes in the distance, trying to decide what the patterns in the dark swirls looked like, then another ten minutes peering between my screen and the empty sheets spread across my entire work surface.

Hell didn't feature in the 'Top 10 Destinations to Visit'. Heaven might be the more obvious choice. How did one make the one place popular that had been slandered for centuries? Even if the right advertising could change people's perception of what it was like to live down here, Dad's reputation as a trickster would be hard to shift.

Still no idea? You've been spending hours on this assignment
and it's getting boring.
Kinky leaned over my shoulder, making me jump.

"Could you stop creeping up on me like that?" I frowned. "May I remind you I've been busy with more important issues?"

Like hiding two vampires in Hell? Your dad will be so proud.

"Shush. They'll be gone before he knows it." I started flicking through my papers in the hope he understood how busy I was and made a beeline for the door, or my purse. But Kinky had never been the perceptive kind.

The idea with the murderer wasn't even a bad one. We could
send a few demons up there and offer people the opportunity to hide
in Hell. Once they see how lovely it is down here, they won't want to
leave.

"That's sneaky." I rolled my eyes. "How is your little plan of misleading mortals into coming down here helping Dad's reputation?"

Kinky shrugged.
You don't want to acknowledge how grand my
plan is because you're so competitive.

What about inviting some journalists over?
Pinky asked.
They
could have dinner with your father.

My jaw dropped. I stared at him unbelieving. "Pinky, who in their right mind would accept an invitation to dine with," I held up my hands, imitating direct speech quotes, "
the devil
?"

I know a few
, Kinky said.

"Go away, you two. I need time to think and you're not helping."

She's jealous because she can't keep up with my imagination,
Kinky whispered.

"Go away," I yelled. "If you don't disappear this instant, I swear I'll find a new job for you—feeding my lovely pet."

That beast of a hound? You're so mean. I was only trying to
help.
Kinky scoffed and disappeared.

I pointed at the self-satisfied Pinky. "You too." Shooting me a pained look, he vanished in his usual puff of white smoke.

The room fell silent again. I took a long, deep breath before I dared return to my work. My muse didn't seem to want to honour me with her presence today. I spent hours jotting down half-baked ideas, then tossed them into my mental wastebasket. I was even starting to consider giving Pinky's dinner invitation a chance, just to have at least one plan to show off.

By midday I gave up and headed for the cottage to pick up the man of my dreams. Dad's campaign might not take shape the way I hoped, but at least my relationship flourished, and soon we'd take it to the next level. No curse would keep me bound to this place, devoid of a social life, with Dad as the only company. I shivered. Nothing against Dad, but his ideas of fun involved working from dawn until dusk, and watching lower demons feed the hound guarding Hell's main gate who was quite prone to biting off a limb or two in the process.

Dallas chattered all the way to at The Boulders of Hell on Dragon's Path where I pulled out my phone to open the portal. As though sensing what was about to happen, he frowned before we stepped past the stones and through the invisible portal, reminding me of a conditioned pet that feared the electric shock right before he was being served dinner. Soon, he'd start questioning the sudden presence of charged particles in the air. From then on, it was only a matter of time until he suspected a connection between the electric jolts and me flipping open my phone.

"Did you feel that? My hair's standing." Dallas shuddered.

"It's the Golf of Mexico. There's probably a thunderstorm in South America. Happens all the time." I put the phone back in my pocket. "You'll get used to it."

He frowned. "It's only when I'm in this particular place, nowhere else." He was quicker than I gave him credit for.

"Really?" I peered at him, faking surprise. "Are you sure, babe?