Okay, so that was good. Kind of. At least I wasn’t hallucinating these weird zipping sensations. On the other hand, it must have had something to do with magic and demons and souls and deals. Az, the Prince of Hell, didn’t know what it was. And if he didn’t know what it was, then it could mean anything.

“Hello, Asmodeus,” a sickly-sweet feminine voice purred right beside my ear. I jumped two feet in the air, knocked out of my strange reverie with Az. Who was now…pulsing? Shadows leapt across his body in vibrant swirls of grey and black. His eyes turned pitch black. Tightening his grip on my hand, he pulled me behind him. A single feather poke up out of his shirt.

“Eisheth.” Az’s voice was pure steel, and it packed a powerful punch. If I’d been on the receiving end, I might have flinched. Who was this girl? Frowning, I leaned over to get a glimpse of her on the other side of him. Sleek raven hair hung down to her tiny waist, accentuated by a glistening silver gown. Diamonds dangled from each petite earlobe. Despite her small stature, she commanded attention. Power radiated off her body in waves.

She was also fucking gorgeous.

“It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen you, sweetie,” she said with a curving set of full lips that most girls could only dream of having. “I didn’t think you liked to come to this kind of party.”

“Maybe I’ve changed,” he growled back.

She clucked her tongue and sighed. “No, I don’t think so. You seem the same to me. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your little friend?”

“No.” He stepped closer to me, his back pressing into my chest. “I’m here to network and nothing more. Stay out of my way, Eisheth.”

“It’s my party,” she said with a pout.

Az whirled on his feet, grabbed my hand, and practically dragged me into the hallway. I cast a glance over my shoulder at the woman staring after us in her perfect, sparkling gown. So many questions flew through my head. Who was she? Why had Az reacted the way he had? And how come she wasn’t put off by his rudeness? It was almost like she’d expected it.

But all those questions fled from my mind the second my back hit the wall. While I’d been distracted, Az had pulled me into a quieter, darker corner of the hallway. We weren’t alone. Several of the other party attendees were nearby, but it was as secluded as we would get without going into one of the bedrooms.

Not that I was thinking about going into one of the bedrooms.

Not at all.