He shrugged. “Have you ever heard the saying that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar?”
“No, and that’s a stupid saying. Why would anyone want to catch flies? What do you want?
We don’t have much time here.”
One side of his lips curled into a smile. “Kiss me. And I’ll tell you how we can find Julian.”
“Damn, you’re good,” Reggie said.
“You can’t be serious.” Val felt her cheeks flush with anger. Or embarrassment. One or the other.
“Very serious. Kiss me and I’ll tell you where we need to go.”
This was exactly why she didn’t want Nathaniel to be her demon guide in the first place. Was he going to use every opportunity to try to tempt her? She’d already told him that it was impossible. But were those just words? The kiss they’d shared the previous night came back to her. Not good at all. Well, the kiss had been good. That was the problem This situation wasn’t good. She didn’t want to get any deeper than she already was.
“Come here,” she said.
He crooked an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes.”
He approached so close that she could feel the heat from his body. He leaned over so their lips were only inches apart, and she looked into his gorgeous eyes.
“Nathaniel?” she murmured just before their lips were close enough to touch.
“Yes, my angel?”
“I command you to take me to see the person who knows where to find Julian. Right now.”
He straightened immediately and scowled down at her. “That’s not fair.”
“Tough.”
“I’m not promising anything, you know. He might not know where Julian is.”
Val crossed her arms. “So then what?”
He smiled unpleasantly. “Then I’d say you’re shit out of luck.”
His words hit her hard. They didn’t have any time to be wrong. Barlow didn’t have enough time for her to be wrong. Her eyes filled with hot tears that, before she could stop them, spilled down her cheeks.
Val turned so Nathaniel couldn’t see her wipe the back of her hand across her eyes.
Reggie patted her on the cheek with his paw, but he didn’t say anything.
“Let’s just get going, okay?” she said after a moment, glancing at Nathaniel who looked at her as if he didn’t know what to make of the crazy, emotional fallen angel he was temporarily bound to.
“As you wish.”
They quickly walked down the street. To get her mind off Barlow, she tried to take in the bizarre tropical surroundings.
It was warm, too. Hot even. She wondered if it was hot because of how close they were to
Hell. She was wearing warm clothes: jeans, a purple sweater over a white tank, a thick cream-
colored wool coat, and now she was sweating from the unexpected heat. It was early
December in Niagara Falls, cold and snowy weather, and she definitely wasn’t dressed for a day at the beach.
She heard Reggie panting in her ear from the heat. Or maybe it was just heavy breathing. She never knew with Reggie.
There were other people out on the street, too. Not a lot, but some. At first glance they looked normal. People out walking their dogs, or doing some window-shopping in fancy, upscale boutiques with names like Chez Dante.
At closer glance Val saw there was nothing normal about the people in the Underworld.
Though, perhaps people was the wrong word to use. Some looked human, but others were more like some kind of creature. Monsters, demons, out walking their little creatures, monsters, or demons. Seeing them this close up she felt fear suddenly grip her, thinking they might come over and attack, but only one monster even bothered to acknowledge their presence as they walked along the sidewalk. It tipped its hat—at least Val thought it was a hat—at Nathaniel.
“Hey Joanna,” Nathaniel said. “How’s married life treating you?”
“Fantastic.” Joanna was about seven feet tall and the color of split pea soup. She had three eyes and what looked like three breasts to match. Unfortunately she was also wearing a two-
piece bathing suit to show off her questionable figure as she watered her front lawn. “Haven’t eaten him yet, so all bets are off. Ha-ha.”
Nathaniel snapped his fingers, like, “aw shucks.”
He caught Val staring at him and he shrugged. “Friend of mine. I was invited to her wedding.”
Val tucked a long strand of blonde hair behind her ear to keep it in place in the light tropical wind. “I didn’t think demons had friends. Or weddings, for that matter.”
“Oh, and why would you think that?”
“I don’t know. Who’d want to be friends with you, anyhow?”
“Ouch,” Reggie said. “And Valerie gets in a zinger.”
Nathaniel gave her a sideways glance. “There’s a lot you obviously don’t know about the
Underworld. Or me, for that matter.”
He’s right about that much, she thought. “Why does the Underworld look like this, anyhow?”
Nathaniel stopped walking for a moment to take in the unusual surroundings. “Like what?”
“Like all Lifestyles of the Rich and Damned? All Melrose Place meets The Addams Family?”
He stared at her. “You’ve been watching way too much television.”