“I tried that once. It gave me a migraine.” I narrowed my eyes as I thought. “Library?”

“Oratory,” she said with a shake of her head.

“Figures. He loves that room. He used to act out all of his old movies in there because the acoustics are so good. I have no doubt he’ll ham it up this time, as well.”

Sally didn’t say anything to my flip comment, but censure was heavy in the air.

Like the rest of Magoth’s domain in Abaddon, the oratory—which reflected more the original interpretation of the word (a place where one speaks) as opposed to the religious interpretation—was built with chilly walls of black basalt, and floors of even colder marble. I hadn’t been to any other parts of Abaddon, but I assumed the cold was just one of Magoth’s personal quirks and not a reflection of the general temperature of the place many mortals thought of as Hell.

Taking a deep breath before the double doors that led to the oratory, I lifted my head and threw open the doors, hoping against hope that none of the other demon lords had decided to come to the ceremony.

The room was packed, standing room only.

“Agathos daimon,” I murmured under my breath at the mass of bodies filling the room.

“My Latin is a bit rusty, but doesn’t that mean ‘good spirit’?” Sally asked, peering over my shoulder at the crowd. “Oh! How lucky! It looks like everyone has shown up.”

“ ‘Lucky’ isn’t quite the word I was going to—oh, gods.”

Despite my hope that the ceremony was going to be as unobtrusive as possible, the sight of the room full of people didn’t depress me. After all, I reasoned, what did it matter if all the demon lords and their minions watched while—clad in a scanty outfit straight out of Magoth’s twisted sexual dreams—I formally agreed to be his consort? Once the ceremony was over, I’d return to the mortal world, give Magoth a lecture about behaving himself, and send him on his way before flinging myself into Gabriel’s arms.

That was the first thought that ran through my sorely abused brain when I saw the crowd. But then I got a better look at who stood on the far side of the room, and I stopped dead in my tracks, wanting to turn around and run back to my room. “That bastard.”

“Pardon?”

“Magoth. He invited the dragons.”

She pursed her lips as she gave me a critical once-over. “Didn’t he say he wanted your dragon here?”

“Yes, but he was so damned happy about the prospect of getting access to the mortal world, he agreed to not invite the dragons for the ceremony. And just look—he not only brought in Gabriel and his two bodyguards; Drake is there with his men, and those guys in blue have to be the blue dragons. That bastard lied to me!”

“Well, he is a demon lord. Oh, one moment—let me just spritz you with a little bit of this delicious mist. We call it Sunset Afterglow, and it has the most wonderful iridescent sparkly things in it. You’ll love it. There! You’re perfect! Or as perfect as we can make you.”