Page 36 of Demon Demands

“No, Vaughn,” Franklin replied, gaining the fae’s ever revolving attention. “Chlorophyll doesn’t work on demons, but it does work on fae.”

I shot Franklin a warning look. The very last thing that we needed was for Vaughn to spiral down a hole of paranoia that deep. We really had to be careful with him. He was going from excited to terrified to serious too quickly to keep up with. A bad trip was inevitable if we couldn’t get him somewhere safe, comfortable, and relaxed.

Holy Hell, the ride was going to take forever at the rate we were moving. But again, safe was best. I wouldn’t risk Vaughn’s mental state so that we could reach the palace sooner rather than later.

I tuned everyone out, opting to work on my mental communication with the hellhounds. My boys and I had a solid connection, but I wanted to better connect with Lira. She’d be a great asset to have on our side when it came to the hellish uprising.

For once, my demon was happy to take the back seat — and let me do my own thing in the Underworld — knowing that all her treasures were safe. Ish...

* * *

We’d arrived at the palace much later than expected. Mostly because we’d had to stop several times for Vaughn to get back on Helios or talk to inanimate objects.

He’d spent twenty minutes chatting up a boulder before Palmer finally got aggravated and shrunk it for him. Vaughn had cradled the tiny rock to his chest, whispering conspiratorially and cackling after short pauses in his one-sided conversation.

To say it had been a long ride would be putting it mildly. My fae was as bad as Jack with Cappa root in his system. The experience was adorably annoying, but by the time we’d made it to our destination, our entire group was ready to choke him.

He’d probably like it any other time.

After we’d dismounted, Lira, her pack, and my hellhounds had wandered off to start their nighttime hunting. Grim and Dolyn carried Jack through mine and Jack’s wing of the palace, both of them knowing exactly where the hellsteed’s suite was. Hyde and Franklin followed them, helping to get Jack cleaned up and situated in his bed until he regained consciousness.

York and Novak corralled Vaughn behind me to keep him from venturing off into the rest of the palace. He’d get lost in the sprawling maze of halls and grandiose rooms.

I led the guys straight to the kitchen in our wing. Everyone was hungry, half of them were so exhausted they were dragging their feet, Vaughn was still peaking with no come-down in sight. I needed coffee and a nap.

It had been a few days since I’d had any rest, and I was looking forward to cuddling up with one of my guys.

That thought stopped me as I opened the pantry to pull out some Earthly snacks that I kept stashed here. I was kind of excited about snuggling up to one of them. Or two of them… really any combination would work.

Okay. That was a lie. Vaughn was tripping his balls off. Trying to cuddle with him would be like trying to hug a fish while simultaneously having that squirming fish pet me like I was a dog.

Not tonight, Sloane. Not tonight.

Novak was going to have to stay with him while I got some rest.

I snatched armfuls of junk food off the shelves in the pantry and passed it all to Briggs. Then I went back for chocolate and popcorn.

Laying everything out on the island, I thought about how similar the kitchen was to the kitchen in my house on Earth. Jack and I had made tons of renovations so that we had all the comforts of home, but some things didn’t work properly in the Underworld.

Briggs raised his eyebrows, watching me as I opened the door of the microwave. “They have microwaves in Hell?”

“No.” I shook my head, feeling my lips pull down in a frown.

He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head to the right side. “You have a microwave in Hell?”

I waved my hand at the stainless steel device. “Of course.”

York peeked over my shoulder. “It works?”

“No. It’s just for show,” I replied sarcastically, laying the bag in the center of the tray and shutting the door. I hit the popcorn button twice and watched it whirl to life.

Briggs nodded thoughtfully. “How does it work? I know there are lights and shit here, but I haven’t seen anything that looks like it delivers electricity.”

I smiled at him.

“Magic, of course,” Palmer mocked. My accent was not that southern. I only lived in Tennessee, I wasn’t raised there.

“Demonic magic?” York questioned.