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I scowl at him as he skips around to my front again. "Penelope," I say keeping my voice calm as if I'm dealing with a petulant five-year-old. “What do you want from me? I’m Mammon's wife, and I won’t be traded to anyone else.”
He laughs. “If I wanted you to be my bride, you already would be, Phoebe. I would break and train your mind to be mine.” He gets in my face, allowing his smoky hand to become corporeal while he strokes my cheek. “I assure you that’s not what this is about. Consider it proving a point. And a warning. One Mammon obviously needs since he seems ready to bow out. I can feel it. He wants to get back to you and take you…” Lucifer points upward.
“You’ve always allowed him to go to The Above. What’s so different now?”
Lucifer's expression becomes menacing. He’s no longer playing, and the wickedness in his crimson eyes shakes me to my core. “You are what is so different, Pamela. He has enemies, and you are his weakness. I like Mammon, as much as I like anyone, so I protect him from those enemies, maintain his powers, and give him a safe place to be. You are now a part of that protection. But you’re also my bait, especially when he’s slipping. He needs a wake-up call.”
I shake my head, not wanting to believe it. Mammon warned me about the dangers to me, but I never thought about how I could make it worse for him. Like Lucifer said, I'm his weakness. But I'm done being weak.
I raise my chin and stare The Devil in the eye. “We’re still going to The Above. Now, if I’m going to be staying here for a while, I need something to eat and somewhere to sit.”
Anger simmers in Lucifer's eyes, and his lips pull back in a snarl, revealing razor-sharp teeth. He stalks toward me. "Well, well, it seems little Patricia has claws of her own."
"It's not Patricia, it's?—"
"Penelope!"
My husband's voice booms from behind me.
I cross my arms and smile smugly at Lucifer. He says nothing, so I call out. “I’m here and fine, Mammon!”
He appears before me, reaching for me and checking every inch of my body to ensure I’m unharmed. Still clinging to me, he turns on Lucifer. “You touched her. You took her!”
“Yes, and now my suspicion is confirmed."
Mammon's eyes narrow. "What suspicion?"
"You care for the human," he says as if the thought disgusts him. "You need to be careful, Mammon. You are neglecting your duties and walking a very dangerous path."
“I am your servant, Lucifer. I have never let you down. You want more souls, fine. I’ll double my daily count, but only when we return from The Above. My wife needs sunlight and fresh air if she is to survive down here."
Lucifer growls but gives a dismissive wave. "This is your last warning. Do not disappoint me again, or you will no longer have the benefit of my protection. Now, off you fuck, the both of you."
Lucifer turns his back and disappears in a flash of light.
I focus on my demon as he grabs me, snaps his fingers, and takes us home.
On the second day of our trip to The Above, I notice something. When Mammon goes into the house at night, an odd sensation prickles along my spine. At first, I dismiss it, but on the second night, when he goes into the house to get another bottle of wine, the sensation returns with a vengeance.
I look around the pool area and beyond, reclining on a lounger, the pool lights illuminating the area. Someone is watching me, and it makes me feel…dirty. I pull the towel from the table beside me and place it across my bikini. The towel doesn’t make me feel more protected, but at least I’m less exposed.
“What’s wrong?” Mammon asks as he steps through the sliding glass doors, an uncorked bottle in his hands. One glance, and he knows something is amiss.
“Probably my nerves, but when you go into the house, I feel like I’m being watched,” I say, laughing nervously at my overactive imagination. “It’s probably nothing.”
Mammon is immediately on alert. “You have good intuition. Give me a second,” He vanishes in the blink of an eye before reappearing. “I’ve instructed my security to increase the guards around the perimeter of the house.”
“Thank you,” I say, feeling silly for bothering him with my worries. “It’s probably me, still getting used to this new life.”
“No. You need to be aware of things like that, Pen. I have enemies who would love to steal you away from me, not that I would ever let that happen, I promise.” He leans down to kiss me before sitting on the lounger beside mine. “I’ll kill anyone who tries to harm you and have them tortured for eternity.”
I smile, taking his hand. “Aw, you really know how to charm a girl,” I tease.
I know he means to reassure me, but his conviction and fierceness are a little scary. It reminds me that he’s a demon and would be any other woman’s worst nightmare. But not mine. Because I’m in love with my husband. And nothing will harm me as long as he’s here to protect me.
Still, I know something is wrong. Since my world was turned upside down and I became the bride of a demon, I’ve questioned my instincts and intuition, but this unease is bone deep—the sense of danger present whenever Mammon isn’t close by.
I play with his fingers, blushing when I note he’s filed his claws. I know why he’s filed them, why he’s rounded the pointed edges, and it’s all about pleasing me. He wants to use every inch of his body to please me. My blush deepens when I spot his tail waving in the air as if reading my thoughts.
