The Sixth Demon: Book Two (PAPERBACK)

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ONE

“BRING IT, BITCH.” Neveah Lane watched the creature that had taken over Alice Ramirez with narrowed eyes. She was aware that for most people, taunting a being who’d recently killed five armed men with magic wouldn’t be the height of good sense—especially while trapped alone inside a hotel room with it.

As a part-time investigative reporter and full-time angel, Neveah wasn’t most people.

She had a plan, even if it was an improvised one. She was also mildly curious to discover whether Mab—the treacherous Fae Queen who’d escaped Hell by hijacking a human body—had been aware of what was happening around her during the period when she’d been weakened by casting that deadly magical blast.

After Mab’s control slipped, Alice had seen Neveah call a flaming blade from the ether and use it to hack off a demon’s leg so they could escape. By contrast, Mab should know nothing about Neveah at all, assuming she’d truly been unconscious inside her stolen body for the last several hours. The Fae would likely assume that Neveah was as human as Alice—and therefore no threat to her at all.

Mab’s smile was a grotesque thing in the light of the single hotel lamp. “Look into my eyes, little creature,” she crooned. “Be not afraid.”

A green glow had sparked in the depths of Alice’s brown eyes a few moments earlier, when Mab reasserted control. It began to grow as Neveah watched, until her gaze appeared fever-bright.

“Okay,” Neveah said agreeably. “I won’t be afraid. Though for future reference, if you want people not to be afraid of you, maybe consider not threatening them straight out of the gate.”

Alice’s dark brows twitched into a frown beneath the force of Mab’s sudden confusion.

“Oh, sorry,” Neveah went on, all faux innocence. “Were you trying to control my mind just now? I must have missed it. Try again? It might be performance anxiety—I’m sure there’s a lot at stake for you.”

Confusion turned to anger, and Nev had her answer… at least tentatively. The Fae Queen had apparently expected her to respond to the attempt at mental influence like a human would have.

“What are you?” Mab hissed.

“Do you know, you’re the second person to ask me that in the past week?” Neveah said. “It’s a rather personal question, too—seeing as how we’ve only just met.”

Mab’s eyes darted around the cheap hotel room, taking in her surroundings with a hint of caution.

“So much of this world must seem foreign to you,” Neveah observed, playing shamelessly for time. Her blade hovered in the pocket dimension where she’d hidden it after stealing it back from the demon Nigellus—but it felt ever-so-slightly out of her reach. She was weakening again, after a brief burst of adrenaline-fueled power that had sustained her during the fight against him.

Talk about bad timing.

“What do you know of such things?” Mab snapped. “The world is the world. This place is still home to backward savages. Now, answer the question, creature! What are you, to resist me in such a way?”

Neveah pasted on a fake smile designed to infuriate, even as she strained mentally for the damned sword. “Oh, I’m no one in particular. I suppose you could call me your jailer. Or Alice’s protector, if you prefer.” She took another few steps back and to the side, until she was blocking the room’s only exit. “My turn. How are you channeling Fae magic through a human body? You do realize you’re going to burn her to a crisp if you do too much of that, right? And then where will you be?”