devil 04 - the devil you know (15 page)

“King Nerul, it has come to my notice that you wish to offer your services in vanquishing my father. I will hear your proposal now.”

I jerked upright in my throne and cast my eyes out into the crowd, which was still pulling itself together after Dialle’s anger barbecue.

The crowd was shoved aside as a large number of the Royal guard pushed their way through. These guards were dressed in black, with silver decorations at their cuffs and on their broad shoulders.

These weren’t Dialle’s guard. My heart sank. There were only two other Royals who would have their own armies. One of them was supposed to be dead and the other in indefinite servitude to the Serpent.

Obviously one of them wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

The soldiers pushed to the front of the crowd and spread out in both directions, forming a buffer between their liege lord and the riffraff in the room. I didn’t have to wait long to see who they belonged to, groaning in disgust as a familiar face and form emerged from the center of the guard.

King Nerul, as evil a royal devil package as there ever was. And apparently risen from the dead.

I stood up.

Not a word, Astra.

I flicked a glance at Dialle and snorted.
Sorry, bud. I owe this jerk some serious grief. I’ll let you have whatever’s left when I’m done.

Dialle reached out and grasped my hand, holding it in an iron grip.
Sit, stay.

I growled low in my throat but allowed him to pull me back to a seated position.

Dialle inclined his head toward King Nerul in greeting. “I await your proposal, Nerul.”

Nerul was tall and slim and, just as I remembered him, not wearing very much. He wore only a gold armband on his upper arms and a pair of tight black leather pants. His golden chest was covered with soft, curling black hair and he wore his glossy black hair tied back in a ponytail. The midnight velvet of his eyes, which were deep-set and tapered up like cat eyes beneath thick black brows, sparkled in the candlelight and left a trail of fire on my body wherever they focused.

My Settling sparked hopefully.

Disgusted with myself, I focused on Nerul’s history as a form of distraction, marveling that he kept cropping back up in my life. I knew that Nerul had taken a group of followers in the human year 2001 and split off from the main court to set up his own court. Up until then Nerul had been third in line for the throne. However, his scheming and backstabbing ways had landed him in trouble a few too many times. The general belief was that Dialle’s father, King Dialle the First, was going to dismiss Nerul from the court within a matter of weeks when he finally took his band of cutthroats and skedaddled.

Nerul wanted to be the Devil’s one true leader on Earth.

Before Nerul left the court of Dialle the First, there had always been only one Devil Court. Although he called himself King Nerul after establishing his little kingdom, his leaving didn’t change the fact that the devils only recognize one true king.

Humans think Satan is the king of devils, but the true king is actually Satan’s direct servant. His power is subjugated by Satan’s. Satan rules the entire dark world through a single devil king, which is why it is such a coveted position.

My Dialle was the first devil king to tamp down on Satan’s influence within his court. He’d vowed to consider the human and magical worlds in the course of leading his court. Which was why he’d been called the great unifier in prophecy.

Now Dialle was newly placed upon the throne to lead the dark world, and I was looking at Nerul again.

This could not be good.

Don’t trust him, Dialle.

I do not.

Nerul’s pretty, dark eyes landed on my face and his wide, red mouth tipped upward at the corners. “We meet again, pretty Tweener.” His tongue slid out and swiped across his lips and his eyes sparked lustfully.

My Settling roared. I determinedly tamped it down, but not before Nerul’s nostrils flared in recognition. His smile widened.

Holding Nerul’s gaze, I kept my face as neutral as possible and said nothing. I could be political when I had to…if something irresistibly snarky didn’t leap into my head first.

At that moment, a sense of foreboding was clanging around in my chest and I didn’t feel motivated to be flip.

I hoped Dialle knew what he was dealing with.

Nerul inclined his head toward Dialle. “It is my pleasure to serve, King Dialle.”

I snorted, drawing an angry look from Dialle.

Nerul’s lips tipped upward in a slight smile. He’d always enjoyed my lack of decorum. Our devils had that in common.

I shuddered at the thought.

“King Dialle the First has barricaded himself near the fires. He is gathering subjects and unwilling participants as we speak. He fully intends to take back his throne and rule again.”

Dialle’s face was unreadable. I figured I was the only one who noticed the change in his scent that told me he was angered by Nerul’s words. “He cannot escape Hades.”

“No. But he intends to rule from here.”

“Can he do that?” I turned to Dialle, my eyes widening in panic.

He ignored me.

Nerul apparently decided my question had been directed at him. “Yes. Technically. Though it would be difficult to retain power under those circumstances. If he has
trustworthy
lieutenants on Earth he can manage it.”

I didn’t miss the inflection. “And would you be one of those trustworthy lieutenants on Earth, Nerul?”

He grinned. “I will not lie to you, my queen, I will side with whomever wins.” He turned to Dialle, who’d stiffened at his words. “But I prefer to pick the winning side.” He bowed slightly. “I pick you, Your Majesty.”

Dialle stared hard at the nasty piece of work standing before him for a long moment, the temperature in the room climbing slightly as he fumed and mused over Nerul’s offer of support.

Finally he said, “What do you propose?”

Nerul lifted his hands, indicating the impressive ranks of soldiers ranged around him. “I have many faithful followers, majesty. I put them at your disposal, of course.”

Dialle nodded. “Acceptable.”

“And I offer myself as spy and negotiator. I have access to First and he trusts me. I can give him bad advice, which will put him in the position to succumb to you at the place and time of your choosing. I can work from inside First’s organization to help you win. If I might be so bold, King Dialle the Second, your father won’t even know what hit him.”

Silence reigned in that room for several moments. Dialle’s thoughts were not clear on his handsome face. I tried a tentative foray into his mind but found myself completely shut out.

He was angry with me. I knew that. But he was about to go to war with his father. It was going to be ugly.

Very ugly.

And he was faced with choosing an archenemy, with proven and professed aspirations to be king himself, as an ally in the war.

He was alone, with no one he could trust. And, with my Settling roaring down on me and worries about my family pulling my thoughts away, the person he should be able to count on was nothing more than a distraction to him.

I felt bad. I realized I would have to put my own concerns aside and help him. Of the three Royals vying for power, my Dialle was the only one I could trust to protect the human realm from the dark world.

Far from perfect, my Dialle at least understood that humans needed protection and saw that they had some value. It was the best I could hope for in a leader of the notoriously nasty and unpredictable Royal Devil race.

After several moments of tension-filled silence, Dialle finally inclined his head toward Nerul. “I will consider your offer, Nerul. Until we strike a bargain, I expect you to stay within this palace and cease communicating with my father. I will be watching you closely to determine if you are truly willing to help me—or if you are here to serve only as a spy for my father.”

Nerul’s dark eyes narrowed very slightly in affront but he pushed past the emotion quickly, too quickly, and smiled. “I accept those conditions, my king.”

He bowed and Dialle stood, offering me his hand. I stood too, placing my hand in Dialle’s. As we moved through the crowd, several layers of Dialle’s soldiers between Nerul and us, I captured the nasty Royal’s gaze and held it. He and I would be having a conversation in the not too distant future.

Nerul inclined his head slightly as if he understood the meaning of my glance.

And then we were swept past, and toward the back of the massive room, where we were ushered through a different set of doors and into a wide, silent corridor.

Dialle turned as several Royals pushed through behind us and flipped a hand toward the door. “Leave us!”

The Royals sent me looks filled with both curiosity and resentment and bowed their acquiescence.

But they didn’t go back through the door into the council chamber. I felt their burning gazes on my back as Dialle drew me inexorably toward the single set of doors in the center of the hallway.

I was used to resentment within the Royal Court. I was an outsider, and Dialle had elevated me to a position of power over most of them. I knew any one of them would kill me in a heartbeat.

If they thought they could get away with it.

Fortunately for me, between Dialle’s power and my own, we were a formidable pair. And that had been enough to keep me alive to that point.

But the power had shifted. I was several layers deep in Hades, and I was fighting off the debilitating effects of my Settling.

Any devil worth his salt would recognize the elevated temperature, sensitive skin and scent of lust that clung to me.

I was a walking sex addict, drunk with desire. And they knew it was a distraction that could be my undoing.

Given the right circumstances.

Dialle dropped my hand as soon as we entered his chambers. He moved to a long wall of windows that were reminiscent of the windows in his chambers at home in Angel City. But these windows looked out on a bleak and fiery landscape, filled with burning pits and heat-bleached plains.

Gray, cooling ash floated against the sky like dirty snow.

I knew that, if I left the safe environs of Dialle’s castle, the world outside would be filled with screaming and the cries of pain and suffering.

If I’d managed to forget that I was in an ugly place, what I was seeing outside those windows was a stark reminder.

A sobering one.

“What exactly is going on, Dialle?”

He stood staring out the window, legs spread wide and hands folded behind his back, resting on the firm curve of his delectable behind. I licked my lips, thinking about how those yummy buns felt in my hands as he…

Shaking my head, I berated myself. Damn! I needed to focus.

His scent wafted to me across the room and my knees wobbled. Closing my eyes, I prayed for strength. It had been too long since I’d released any of the sexual tension throbbing within my body.

Way too long.

He finally turned around, his dark eyes flitting over me hungrily. “I can smell your lust from here, Astra.”

I gasped, biting my lip. “You know I can’t help it.”

“Normally I would be pleased to help you with that little problem. But I have problems of my own that need to be addressed. Much bigger problems.”

Disappointment swamped me. A small part of me had been hoping he’d grab me and fling me to the ground and rid me of the soul-eating hunger gnawing at my insides.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, fighting to regain control. After a moment I felt as if I could talk without screaming. “All right. Tell me.”

Dialle fixed me with his probing gaze and frowned. “My father plots our death, Astra. Yours and mine. He has your sister and intends to wed her. She will be his queen when he regains his crown. And his intermediary on Earth until he can return to the human realm.”

“Holy shit!”

That certainly wiped the lustful thoughts right out of my head.

Momentarily at least.

Chapter Ten

The Elephant in the Room

One matter requires a kingly touch, a serious matter true,

But our Lady’s needs can’t be ignored, so he’ll frunk her thru and thru.

“Huh? Dialle the First wants to kill us? Me? He’s planning
what
with my sister? Has he lost his mind? Has he spent two minutes with the woman? Tell me you’re joking, Dialle!”

Dialle opened his mouth to respond but a sound not unlike that of bricks hitting the outside of the door stopped him. He frowned at the interruption. “Come!”

The door opened and a giant, well-decorated guard came through it, looking professionally competent despite his enormity.

“Your Majesty.” The faithful Gerch, Dialle’s Captain of the Guard and his most loyal friend on the court, bowed slightly, casting me an unreadable glance. “I’m sorry to intrude, but I have news from the court that I think you need to hear.”

I watched Gerch carefully, trying to read his mood from the movements of his seven-foot-tall, thick red body and wide red face. He was the consummate soldier, giving nothing away in body language. But his black eyes sparked with emotion as he looked at me.

“What is it, Gerch?” Dialle paced in front of the wall of windows, looking agitated.

Gerch’s long red tongue swept across his craggy lips. His eyes danced in my direction nervously. And he shuffled his huge feet before responding.

I wondered what he could possibly be trying to report that would be causing him such discomfort.

“Hades, Gerch, spit it out!”

Gerch inclined his head and, studiously avoiding my gaze, focused on his king. “Your Majesty, do you remember what we discussed a few days ago? The small matter that had me greatly concerned?”

Dialle frowned, nodding ever so slightly.

Gerch filled his massive lungs and cast me a flicker of a glance before going on. “I believe it has gone beyond the point where we can ignore it, sire. In my opinion you must take steps, immediate steps, to put it to rest.”