Page 114 of Demon Demands

The ceiling sparkled like thousands of stars were held captive inside, and a small brook of bright blue water curved through the cave. Sloane stood in the dead center, the bioluminescence displaying living patterns across her creamy skin, making her seem otherworldly.

“Why’d you bring us here?” I murmured in her ear as I pressed against her back, tugging at the ends of her hair until she was looking at me. “Not that I’m complaining. It’s incredibly beautiful.”

Sighing, she twisted around and leaned into me. “I realized that I haven’t been the easiest person to get to know, so I wanted to try a little harder. I’d never shown anyone this place until I brought Palmer the other day. Not even Jack.”

“This is your roof when you're in Hell, isn’t it?” York wondered.

She nodded, her cheek brushing against my chest.

Movement in a purple bush caught my attention. It was a small animal with long, upright ears and two fangs sticking out of its lower jaw. Beady, black eyes locked on mine, swirling marks on its fur matching the bioluminescence around us as it hopped into a hole.

“Are there animals in here or am I having a flashback? I’m not ready to trip again, so I need someone to say that they see them too.”

Lo shrugged. “There are rabbits in here, some small birds and bugs too. Where did you see them?”

“There,” I pointed to the bush. “They popped into a hole near that tree.”

My mate ambled over on quiet feet and stuck her hand into the hole. I felt like I was going to be sick at the thought of what else could be hidden in the dark channel. She hissed, then retracted her arm, pulling the colorful creature out by the ears.

“That is not a rabbit,” I informed her as she cradled the beast.

Stone chuckled. “Close enough.”

“Look at its teeth, Stone,” I whisper-shouted at him, worried I was going to startle the murderous thing into a fit of rage.

“Is it like the rabbit in that one Monty Python movie?” Palmer snorted, pointing two fingers at me. “I’m warnin’ ya.”

“What’s he do? Nibble your bum?” Sloane quoted, mocking the holy knight’s English accent.

The mage grimaced, hooking his fingers down to look like fangs. “He’s got huge, sharp—” Holding his hands a foot apart, he shook them. “He can leap about… Look at the bones.”

When he threw his hand out toward the rabbit’s hole, they both fucking lost it, cackling like fools while the rest of us stared at them.

Stone turned to me, replying to my comment and overlooking their outburst completely. “Earth rabbits have teeth like that too.”

“No. Not like that.” I shook my head, pinching my nose in exasperation. “Is there anything in the Underworld that won’t try to kill us?”

The demon quirked a brow at me. “Everything in this realm is deadly.”

Palmer grinned at Sloane. “Put the rabbit back, Love. Yer scarin’ the fae, and we don’t have the holy hand grenade to defeat the rodent.”

“Rabbits aren’t rodents,” Briggs told Palmer, shaking his head.

“It’s in the movie,” York retorted, his teal eyes full of colors from the cavern as he rolled them. “If Palmer hasn’t made you watch it yet, then Lo definitely will. If you can get her to stop quoting it, then you may actually hear what they’re saying.”

She scoffed at him, sitting down on the glowing, greenish ground cover. “I’m not that bad. I don’t know every line.”

“She does,” he assured us.

“Have you ever watched a movie with Palmer?” The shifter asked York as he dropped down too, stretching one leg out. He bent the other, resting his crossed arms over his knee.

“I couldn’t,” York confessed, laughter thick in his voice.

Stone looked at Sloane. “It’s fucking torture. He talks through the entire movie, and he has to have candy or it’s the end of the world.”

“What’s your favorite candy?” Sloane questioned us before smiling at me. “But not you, I know that answer.”

I snorted at her, recalling the night we’d had in her club. It hadn’t been that long ago, but it felt like months had passed us by.