He shook his head. “You and Nathaniel, huh?”
“Me and Nathaniel what?”
“You’re together?”
Reggie snored again, which distracted her for a second.
“No. Not other than the fact we’re currently traveling together. That’s all it is.”
“I’ve never seen him protect a fallen one before. And I’ve known Nathaniel for . . . for a very long time.”
“I guess I’m just special.”
“I guess you just might be.”
“So what does he really look like, anyhow?”
“Excuse me?”
“Nathaniel. He introduced me to Donovan, another demon, who was using glamour to look attractive. Nathaniel won’t show me what he really looks like, denies he’s using glamour at all. But I’m dying of curiosity.”
“He’s telling the truth.”
“Really? So he’s always looked so . . . so . . .”
“Dreamy?”
“I was going to say arrogantly handsome, but”—she shrugged—“that works, too.”
Lloyd rubbed his four-fingered hand along his gray chin. “Did Nathaniel tell you he was once human?”
“Yeah, he mentioned it, but he didn’t go into details. I figured he sold his soul to the devil or something.”
He smiled again, baring his sharp teeth. “As a human, Nathaniel was tempted by a demon named Alexa.”
Val choked on her latest sip of hot chocolate. “Alexa?”
“You know her?”
“Sort of.”
“She’s had her troubles, that one. An excellent Tempter, but not always focused. She made a grave mistake with Nathaniel.”
“What happened?”
Lloyd studied her for a moment. “Perhaps I shouldn’t be telling you this. Nathaniel probably wouldn’t like it very much. But . . . it is a good story.”
She leaned forward, making sure the interest showed on her face. “And you tell it so well.”
He smiled widely. “It’s a gift.”
“So tell me about Alexa and Nathaniel.”
“There was no Alexa and Nathaniel. Or rather, there never should have been. Alexa was assigned to tempt Nathaniel’s father, who bore the same name. Back two hundred years ago, Hell was recruiting fairly heavily for new demons. Hell and Heaven had a little scuffle—to put it mildly—that led to the demise of many angels and demons and when the uneasy peace was restored, the balance had to be restored also.”
“Use the force, Luke,” Reggie mumbled in his sleep.
Lloyd continued, “She was assigned to tempt this human with a reputation for being evil. A cold-hearted, corrupt human with no goodness in his heart. He would have made a fabulous demon.”
“But?”
“But she came across the younger Nathaniel first. He was bedridden, dying of consumption.
He didn’t have much time left to live. She mistook him for her actual assignment and made her offer to him. Probably sounded pretty good, too, I’m sure. Eternal life, good looks forever, power, influence. I don’t think he even considered any other options.”
“What other options did he have if he was dying?”
“Dying.”
“Oh.”
“Once he’d been demonized, the reality of what he was sank in. Humans are rarely successful demons, I’m afraid. No matter how despicable they were in their former lives, it is rare to find one who can stomach the tasks of working for the head office. And those are the humans who are evil to begin with. Nathaniel simply had the misfortune of being born to a horrible father.”
Val frowned. “So you’re trying to say that Nathaniel was never supposed to be a demon. But now he has eternal life and good looks, and he’s complaining? Please. Cry me a river of fire.”
“Not exactly. Alexa was punished severely for her miscalculation. Nathaniel’s father was to be a high-ranking demon. But his son, with no evil in his heart, but the face of an angel, was sent to the low-end ranks of Tempter.”
Lloyd leaned back in the sofa and took a thoughtful sip of his cocoa.
“Well,” Val said after a moment, feeling slightly stunned by what she’d heard so far.
“Obviously after two hundred years he’s gotten used to the job. He doesn’t seem to have any issues with tempting now.”
Lloyd snorted. “Is that what you think?”
She nodded.
“It’s true, most wide-eyed fallen angels and other targeted humans he may have been assigned to might look at him as if he’s their knight in shining armor. But he knew that what he’d been trained to tell them, that he’d be by their side forever and protect them, was all a lie. He knew that. And the guilt ate away at him.”
“So why didn’t he just stop?”
Lloyd placed his mug on a coaster on the coffee table. “Do you think it’s that easy? Just hand in your two-week notice and leave? Well, it’s not. It’s called Hell for a reason, Valerie. And not because it’s a super-fun place to be. Nathaniel had as much chance at quitting being a
Tempter as a fallen angel has of going back to Heaven.”
Val frowned deeply.