Divine Descent

Chapter Seventeen

My eyes have barely closed before they're open again, woken by a stranger moving through the room. Lifting myself into a sitting position, my gaze follows her movements intensely, tensing for a fight.

She's near the vanity when I creep up behind her, distrusting of my surroundings—and the people in them.

"Why are you in my room?"

She whirls around with a startled gasp, her hand clamping down on her mouth.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I've been sent to handle any of your needs." Her eyes zero in on the dusty clothes I arrived here in, draped across the chair of the vanity. "Tidy up when necessary."

I grab the candelabra off the wood, holding it up near her face, suspicions correct.

She has red eyes.

"You're a demon."

She nods, tucking her blonde hair behind both of her dainty ears. "I am."

With gentle features and a naturally nervous smile, she is hardly intimidating. She bends her back as I move closer, submitting but observing me closely while she does it.

"I've been raised to mistrust demons," I say.

"I am here to serve you, mistress. I've waited rather impatiently for this day, as has the rest of the realm."

"Everyone knew I was coming?"

"We knew it was a matter of time before Samael made himself known to you."

"I see."

"I haven't seen him so eager for anything in millenniums, truly."

Just nod. Just nod and agree. None of this is ever going to make sense.

"What time is it?"

She settles my clothes over her arm. "We don't keep time here, not like you're used to."

Alarmed, I give her a stiff glare. "What does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing bad. We just judge time by the moon. The Master is really the only one that keeps human time."

I'm frazzled. It's plain and clear for her to see.

"I don't need to be waited on."

"It's the custom."

"Yeah, well I don't want it to be."

I never thought I'd be able to say I'd seen a demon pout, and yet, it's happening. I eye her like a bomb that could explode at any minute. "I'm sorry, mistress. I should have warned you. I should have been quieter moving around..."

"No, it's not your fault..." I wait for her name. It takes her a minute to realize it.

"Donatella."

"Well, Donatella, it's not your fault. I just like my privacy."

"I've been honored to be your maiden, to be your confidant. Samael bestowed this duty onto me. Please don't make me disappoint him."

Her pleading both irritates and concerns me. "Will he hurt you if I send you away?"

"Samael? No, but I will fall out of favor with him."

"Right. So, what shitty thing did you do to get pride of place in this hellhole?"

"I dabble. A little corruption here, a little murder there, but the witch trials topped the cake."

She frowns when I begin to chuckle, wondering how the hell Satan got it into his mind that I'd actually want to stay here for all eternity. This is too easy.