Page 89 of Demon Demands

Jack furrowed his brows, his gaze bouncing between me, Hyde, and Dolyn. “What did you—”

“Come in,” Hyde called, grimacing at me for overstepping.

I waved her concern away. Jack was going to be a jackass either way, so best to just rip the Band-Aid off, right?

Rissa opened the door on the far side of the room, her bright orange hair pulled into a ponytail that swished back and forth with each step she took. Her brothers, Cercy and Bert, came in behind her.

The identical twins and Rissa were triplets, and they were Cerberus and Drude’s only children. Together, the triplets could shift into the famous three-headed dog-beast thing that people always associated with Hell. Separately, they could take on a ghostly form just like their mother.

Soren and Charlotte rounded out our top five for the new First Legion. Soren was a total asshole, and his bite was as poisonous as a black widow. So was his mouth.

If you could get past all the shit he spewed, he was probably the most trustworthy of our picks. He and Dolyn were friends, and Soren was a member of his horde. The spider was loyal to a fault, loved to brawl, and could not stop flirting to save his own life.

Charlotte was where our problems were going to come from. She was a chameleon, a well-known assassin, and Jack’s ex girlfriend. As a chameleon, she could blend in with any surrounding she came across.

We’d had some issues with that when she’d dated Jack. She liked to eavesdrop, and while I hated that she wouldn’t stay out of my conversations with Jack when they dated, her particular skills were an asset to have on our side.

“Sloane,” Soren drawled, taking the seat on Rissa’s right side while she sat across from me at the head of the table. He kicked his legs up, crossing his arms behind his head, looking too relaxed for my liking. Dolyn knocked his feet off the tabletop.

“What? She loves me,” he simpered to Dolyn.

“I’d love to cause you physical and mental pain if you put your shoes on my dinner table one more time,” I assured him with a grin on my face.

“Aww, come on, babe,” he pouted, “Don’t be like that.”

“Soren, I swear to the gods, if you don’t shut the fuck up,” Dolyn muttered in warning, his nostrils flaring in immediate frustration at his friend.

Hyde wrinkled her nose as she smoothed down the front of her oversized t-shirt. “This is an official meeting. You should use her title. And I wouldn’t advise calling her babe in front of her mates, but I wouldn’t mind watching you get the shit beat out of you either, so...” She shrugged.

Charlotte sneered at Hyde. “An official meeting in your play clothes, how cute. Why don’t you let the adults talk?”

In a calculated move, Hyde slipped her hand into Jack’s, smiling sweetly at Charlotte as she breathed ice. “I’d also call this outfit play clothes. Would you like to know why I’m wearing them or what’s under them?”

Quirking a brow as the chameleon’s face heated with her anger, Hyde leaned across the table, the angle nearly putting her in Jack’s lap. “Nothing. I’m sure you can guess the rest.”

Fuck. I should have known this was going to go badly.

Briggs and Novak were glaring holes in Soren’s head.

Charlotte was vibrating with rage that was directed at Hyde and Jack.

Grim was biting his bottom lip so hard I was waiting for blood to start pouring down his chin.

Stone was watching York and Vaughn, but I didn’t have it in me to turn around.

Dolyn had a tattooed hand spread over his face, either horrified by what Hyde had said or worried about what Soren was going to say next.

Palmer was just smiling at everyone like he was enjoying the show.

After a moment of silence, Briggs whispered across the table to Dolyn and Jack, “He doesn’t look like a spider to me. He looks like a normal guy.”

“You don’t look like much to me either,” Soren noted, speaking slowly to my shifter. “Is the Devil keeping you around to feed off your fear?”

He leaned forward in his chair, placing his elbows on the table as he murmured, “What’s your superpower?”

“This isn’t a comic book, you fucking idiot.” Dolyn hissed.

“We make the Devil pray to the Gods. What other superpower do we need?” Novak shot back without missing a beat, a wide grin showcasing his bright white teeth, fangs and all, as he shrugged.