Ties That Bind: A Muse Urban Fantasy (The Veil Series Book 5) by Pippa DaCosta

Asmodeus replied.
    “Leave him. He can do nothing alone.” This from Pride.
    “No.” My father straightened his back. His wings eased open. “He is weak. He will perish, and his strength will be ours. With Destruction’s help, we can overpower him, and with our combined elements, scatter him. He would never let us near, but Muse… Muse he will permit inside his sanctum. She can lure him out.”
    Bored face. Keep it calm. Be demon. Be as cool as Stefan’s ice. “Baal is no fool,” I said.
    Asmodeus angled toward me, and the heat in his glare lapped against my skin. “He has lived too long in the human world. Like Greed, his mind has suffered. He will allow you close for his loyalty to Greed, if nothing else.”
    Loyalty. It was a foreign concept for demons. Could a King of Hell appreciate loyalty? I hoped so because I was going to him with my heart on my sleeve. He was my last hope this whole mess could be fixed.
    “And what am I to do when close to him?” Surrounded by the feared and revered Princes of Hell, I plastered a demon expression of mild interest on my face. And against all the odds, it worked. Akil would have been proud.
    “Convince him to leave his sanctuary. Summon the blade, and cleave his element from his physical body. We will do the rest.”
    I smiled, making sure to flash sharp teeth, while inside, my thoughts chased themselves in circles. “Convince him how?”
    It was Asmodeus’s turn to smile, but his turned my bravado into mush. “You entertained Mammon for years. You have talents. Use them.” Asmodeus nodded toward Pride. “Pride will teach you to summon the blade.”
    Oh joy, I got to spend time with him . I dipped my chin in acknowledgement and caught Pride’s sideways leer.
    The meeting ended without incident. I’d rather hoped I might sharpen my claws on some demon hides. In fact, as I walked away from the throne room and through the fortress corridors, it felt too easy. The princes might not be as reckless as the other higher demons, but they were all Princes of Hell for a reason. At least one should have tested me. Only Pride had seemed inclined.
    Speak of the devil…
    The sight of a delicious, black-skinned human male in my bedchamber, sprawled naked on my bed of furs, interrupted my thoughts and tripped my stride. Demon I might have been, but I wasn’t immune to blatant displays of raw masculinity. He wore human skin as well as Akil had, but Pride’s was so dark, he practically absorbed the light pooling in the valleys and ripples of toned muscle. I skipped my gaze away and attempted to ignore him, but he’d already seen my jaw drop and my eyes widen. Damn. Points to him for the surprise factor. While I couldn’t blush, fiery embers did trace through my veins as my heart rate increased.
    “Girl, bring that fine demon ass over here, and let us get down and dirty.”
    My mouth fell open. If the display hadn’t been enough, his contemporary speech did me in. I had no idea what to say.
    “I have been informed you prefer the human appearance.” And just like that, he’d switched to perfectly precise British English. No hint of a growl. He easily could have been a news anchor with that accent.
    Eventually, my thoughts reassembled themselves into a coherent order, and I could speak again. “W-why are you here?” I strode toward the cold fireplace, keeping him in the corner of my eye. He rolled onto his side, propped his head on a hand, and stretched out lean, toned limbs.
    “The blade.” He admired his sharp, claw-like human nails. “Mm, such fragile skin… It is a wonder they do not spend their entire lives bleeding.”
    Ah, the ethereal blade. The weapon I was supposed to use to debilitate Jerry. I was having trouble getting my head round a Prince of Hell who could switch accents the way I switched expressions and looked delicious enough to eat. If I asked him to cover up, he’d assume his nakedness unsettled me and would probably turn an inconvenience into