A Beautiful Evil (A Beautiful Book. 1) #Wattys2015

Chapter Twenty-Three - Uncle Asmo

"Ah, you must be Mara," he said, his face still hidden by the shadows. His voice was silky and smooth, yet with a sharp bite that could keep a human woman on her toes. Lucky for me, I was family, and I wasn't human. "I've been waiting for you."

"You knew we were coming?"

He half purred, half growled. "We might be stretching it... But I was expecting you, yes."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, taking another step into the light. His face now glowed with a soft yellow, and my breath stopped.

He looked almost identical to my father, but his long black hair wasn't pulled back. It hung down his back with small waves that almost seemed to glisten. His face wasn't as old as I imagined - not like my father's - maybe in his middle thirties with striking silver eyes and black stubble coating his jaw. His eyelashes were long and curved, and his skin looked like porcelain. He was the Prince of Lust and he sure as hell looked the part.

"I need you to get something for me."

I growled. What was up with people thinking that I was a mail carrier?

"No," I snapped. "No, I won't. I came for the damned Pandora's box. Give it to me and we'll be out of your hair."

Asmodeus gave a small smile. "Sadly, little bird," he purred," I don't believe that's possible. You see, when your father gave me the box to protect, he didn't quite trust me with all that power. There is one person here in purgatory that has the key to the place where the box is stored. Get this person for me, and you can have your box."

"Asmodeus," I started. "If this is a trap..."

He flashed me an award winning smile. "Oh please, call me Uncle Asmo."

"Uncle Asmo," I started again, the words tasted weird on my tongue. "What do you need this person for?"

His smile dropped. "What makes you think that I need this person?"

"You told us to get something for you. And you wouldn't want us to go out and risk our asses to retrieve this person if it wasn't for your benefit. You need us to go get this person, which means you can't get them yourself. So I'll ask again. What do you want with this person?"

Asmodeus snarled. "You foolish girl. You're running out of time!"

"Time for what?"

Asmodeus looked over his shoulder, as if he was afraid someone was watching him; listening. "When your father gave me the box, he made me swear to protect it, for one day he'd bring me out of this prison and allow me to take my rightful place beside him as one of Hell's rulers. He promised. Your father is the only Prince of Hell left, besides me, that is."

"Only Prince left?" asked Charles. "How is that possible? There are seven of you."

Asmodeus sighed, reaching behind him to drag a bar stool over. He sat down, leaning his back against the bar. "I'm assuming you all know of the Seven Princes of Hell?"

I wasn't one hundred percent sure what they were, but I wasn't about to admit that I was clueless on yet another subject, so I kept my mouth shut. But I didn't need to, because Avery opened his mouth next.

"You proved that we don't know as much as we thought."

Asmodeus nodded. "Very well, I will tell you then. It all started when Lucifer was still an Archangel, the favorite of God himself. He was very cunning, very wise. By the looks of it, he still is but... He was different back then. I guess you could say he wasn't as paranoid as he is now.." He stopped and ran a hand through his hair.