Luci chirped madly, scratching at the door of her cage and distracting me from the Devil’s odd reaction. She loved ferret play dates, and it seemed she assumed that was what was happening here.

No bloody way.

“Get them out of here!” I demanded, poking him in the chest. “And while you’re at it, get yourself out of here, too! You can’t just barge into my home whenever you like, asking me personal questions and letting your filthy pets come along for the ride!”

“Hey! Who you calling filthy? I’m not the one here shouting about ‘sucking’ and ‘holes’!” a tiny voice hissed. My jaw dropped.

“Did that … that one just speak?” I yelped, pointing at the one with a tiny white spot on the side of its little ferrety snout.

Satan Junior’s brow furrowed. “You knew they could speak. You heard them in my chambers this morning.”

I met his gaze. Gosh, his jaw was so sharp. I wondered, if I touched him there, would I feel stubble? Could devils even grow a beard? Maybe just that evil pointy goatee style?

My fingers itched to explore the theory. Stubbly, or smooth under those carved lines of his masculine jaw …

Nope! I could not wonder these sorts of things about the son of the Devil!

“Yes, but this morning still feels like a bad dream to me,” I argued, gesturing towards the ferrets without taking my eyes off him. “This feels very real. We’re standing in my laundry room, for crying out loud!”

A tiny smile tickled his mouth, his eyes sparkling wickedly. “And what a delightful room it is.”

He probably had demon wenches who laundered his clothes for him. Cleaned his rooms … serviced him …

“Right!” I snapped. My mind was wandering to some very odd places, and having him and his larger-than-life presence in my space wasn’t helping. Him and his smooth, deep, posh voice. And those sinful eyes …

“If you have a repayment you want me to make, tell me now, and then get out. And take your shifty little shifters with you!”

“Jem!” Ezra called, the bathroom door creaking open. “Who’re you talking to? I’m not dressed for company right now!”

Shit. I’d practically forgotten he was even here, what with dealing with the Son of Satan and his wayward weasels.

“No one!” I called out, giving Satan Junior a warning glare and racing off into the hallway to distract Ezra. “Just … talking to Luci.”

“I could have sworn I heard a man’s voice,” Ezra said, poking his head out of the bathroom. Steam billowed out around him, and a matching flash of heat blasted from behind me.

“I was … uh … just trying out a new training technique. Apparently ferrets respond well to a deep voice, so I was … um … testing that theory.”