bedeviled & beyond 02 - bedeviled & bedazzled by sam cheever Page A

reached up and gave the hell spawn a jolt of power in the tip of one long, pointed ear. His pain-filled yelp could probably be heard in the furthest reaches of Demonica.
    Dialle grinned down at me and shook his head.
    I shrugged. Hey, what can I say? Halfling. Half devil.
    His warm laughter coated my mind. And I must say you do the race proud lovely Astra.
    As we entered the cavernous main room of the club we were met by a huge demon with a black body and snow white hair. The demon’s wide, simian brow hung over a pair of small, red eyes to the point that you could barely see them. He placed his enormous frame into a defensive stance and clasped hands that could pop a basketball behind his back. He simply stood there, glowering at us and saying nothing.
    We stopped in the middle of the dance floor and glared back at the thing.
    Dialle finally spoke. “Take us to Alcott. We are expected.”
    The black and white mountain didn’t move.
    I looked at Dialle. You want me to zap him?
    Dialle scowled but didn’t look away from the immovable demon. “If Alcott would like the ear of King Dialle the First, you will take us to him now.”
    The demon simply stood there.
    We made a move as if to go around him and he shifted to stay in front of us, his huge form seeming to grow to fill the available space.
    A commotion at the front door of the club drew our attention away from the stubborn demon and we turned to see what was happening behind us.
    I smiled as I saw who had joined us. Dialle did not smile.
    What’s he doing here?
    I invited him.
    Why?
    He’s my partner, I need his help.
    You do not need that pretend royal. You have me.
    Oh stop being such a baby. Emo has a way with demons. I thought he might come in handy.
    Emo strolled up to us, a cocky smile decorating his beautiful golden face. “Hey boss.”
    I smiled back. Something warm and tingly spread through my chest and headed south. “Hey yourself. Did you have any trouble getting through the door?”
    He laughed in response, causing the warm tinglies to kick up their heels and make babies. I swallowed hard, turning away from my longtime friend and partner. I was so not used to having those kinds of feelings where he was concerned. Barely a week earlier, when he’d been under a curse, he’d been squat and red and got on my nerves on a regular basis. But since he’d gotten his real form back, he looked like something on the cover of a sex novel and his eyes devoured me every time we looked at each other. My greatest fear, however, was that my eyes were returning the favor.
    As Emo scalded me with one of the aforementioned looks, I thought I heard Dialle growl. “What’s the problem here?”
    I gestured toward the immovable demon. “He won’t let us past. I think we’re going to have to take him down.” I tried to peer under the brow overhang on the demon’s face to see if my threat even registered in his eyes but the beady red things were entrenched in shadow and no body movement betrayed his feelings.
    Emo looked at the demon for a beat or two and then stepped closer. When he was standing barely a foot away from the thing he reached up and placed a hand on the demon’s oily brow.
    I couldn’t help grimacing. I knew firsthand what demon skin felt like and I was always repulsed at the idea of touching it.
    After a moment Emo turned back to me, studiously ignoring Dialle. “He’s under orders to keep Prince Dialle out.”
    Dialle scowled. “How do you know that?”
    Emo motioned to the black and white mountain before us. “This is a demon from the city of Dis in the lower circle of Hell. His kind have been stopping entry into the city for millennia.” Emo turned to Dialle and grinned. “And now he’s stopping you.”
    I frowned. Having read Dante in college I was familiar with the city of Dis. “You mean the city is real?”
    Emo looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “You’re joking right?”
    I guess that was that. Mentally shaking off the whole