Alexis

“Do I look like a child to you?” I shouted, and then immediately cursed under my breath. It was one thing to let my father get me upset. It was another to raise my voice to him.

I took a deep breath and glanced at him, trying to determine if I had pushed him over the line. He wasn’t known to be the most patient of the rulers in the Underworld, but I could usually push him a little more than most without inciting his wrath. I was his only daughter, after all.

He stood next to the massive table in our dining room. He crossed his arms slowly, deciding whether or not he was going to have this argument with me again. I took a small step back, regretting my outburst, but I was just so utterly sick of being kept in this castle like a prisoner. Just because my mother had been killed by a rival king of the Underworld shortly after I had been born, I was the one who ended up getting punished. It was so unfair!

“It is easy to assume when you are screaming like one,” my father said with a slight growl.

He was baiting me. I could feel it in my soul, and I wasn’t going to fall for it this time.

“I am twenty-eight, Father.”

“I know this. I was there when you were born.”

I continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “And yet at every turn, you treat me like I am fragile glass. All the other girls have been to the other kingdoms. Some have even been to Earth.”

Careful, girl. I was borderline whining.

“That has nothing to do with me. I am not their king, and they are not my daughter.”

I rolled my eyes knowing where this was going. I could see it coming. “You are my responsibility. It was your mother’s dying wish I protect you.” That was the whole reason he was super protective. Overprotective.

As he got to the end of his spiel, I joined in so that we ended up saying the last sentence together, “… and you are not a commoner.”

He jerked back, stunned I would mock him to his face, but then he smirked. “It’s nice to know you have been listening.”

“Of course, I have. You’ve been saying the same thing for as long as I can remember. It doesn’t change the fact that I can take care of myself.”

He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, his eyes piercing me intently. “How do you know you can?” he challenged.

“How do you know I can’t?” I said, throwing my hands in the air. “You have never given me the chance. I might as well be chained to this kingdom. What is the point of having everything if I don’t have freedom?”

He scoffed. “You are exaggerating.”

“Am I?” I stood, the need to pace too strong, much stronger than my need to appear unaffected. “I have no job, no friends because I’m not allowed to go to their kingdoms, and if I hadn’t begged you to go to school, I would still be tutored at home. You must know you cannot keep me here forever. If I didn’t love you, I would have already revolted.” I stopped in front of him needing to look him in the eye as I spoke. “Tell me, Father, is this the life Mother would have wanted for me? To feel cooped up and…trapped?”

His eyes wavered but held my gaze.

“There must be more to life for me. How can I know who I am and what kind of demon I can be if you won’t let me outside of these walls?”

He took a deep breath and looked away. The game had been set, and I watched my father to see who would win or lose.

“Alexis, I like to think I know best and I have heard you every time you said you needed to get out.”

“Have you?” My voice was as doubtful as I could make it without being disrespectful.

He chuckled. “Yes.” He paused dramatically, “Which is why I found you a job.”

My eyebrows raised in disbelief. “What? Really?”

“Yes,” he said, walking to his office. “I did.”

“Where?” I would hold off the excitement until I was sure this was real. It could be a ploy, and the job was somewhere in the castle.

“At Damien’s house.”

I chewed my lip. Damien was a popular name. Most of the Underworld kings named their sons Damien or gave the name as a middle name to honor the ‘true’ Damien - the Devil himself.

“Which one?” I asked slowly.

“The Damien, the Supreme Ruler of the Underworld.”

Only Hades himself kept my jaw from hitting the floor. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

My father walked around the couch to his liquor cabinet. I didn’t need to turn around to know from the tinkling of glass and the splash of the liquor pouring that he was drinking scotch. “He mentioned to me at the last congregation that he was looking for a nanny.”

Damien had two sets of twins, one from each of his wives. And since he was now ‘wifeless’, it made a lot of sense that he would be in need of a nanny.

“And he gave the job to me?” I was still skeptical.

“Yes,” he said, seating himself in his favorite chair, resting the glass of liquor on his knee.

“Out of all the six kingdoms of Hell, he wants me to be his nanny?” I hoped repeating it would show him how ridiculous that sounded.

“Yes,” he said with a tiny smirk on his lips. “I told him how responsible and mature my daughter was, and on my recommendation, he agreed to give you a chance.”

“Just like that. No meeting, interview, or questions needed.”

“Just like that,” he said, finishing the last bit of his amber liquid.

“When do I start?” I asked, finally getting nervous about having a real job.

“He said you can start tomorrow.” For some reason, my father looked like he had won this argument and it made me nervous. Why would he be so happy about me getting a job finally? I didn’t realize that my father knew Damien and therefore he also knew that Damien was too busy ruling the Underworld to ever be home much. And when he was, he was busy taking care of his own pantheon. My father assumed I would basically be stuck in Damien’s mansion with four kids and no real danger to speak of. After all, who would attack the Damien’s place? The perfect job for his delicate, innocent daughter.

“So, I’m the Devil’s new nanny.”

He laughed, a full-bodied laugh like the joke was on me as he stood and walked out of the room.

“Better than ‘always being trapped in this pile of stone’, right?” floated back to me as he left.

He didn’t wait for an answer, and I was left standing in the living room, no longer worried about never getting out the house. I had bigger things to worry about now. Like what do you wear when you’re working for the Devil?

I decided the next day that jeans and a cotton shirt would be best since I’d obviously be working with children. I stood in his ‘parlor’, waiting for someone who was supposed to take me to him. Apparently I was lucky that he was home today. It hadn’t been fun getting through all the security he had outside his main door. Was it really necessary? Who would be stupid enough to attack the devil?

A seven-foot, red skinned demon in a uniform came to collect me. “Come on, he’s waiting for you”, he said gruffly.

He was waiting for me? Why had my dad made me think I wouldn’t even meet him?