I crossed my arms, raised a single brow, and scraped the human woman with my gaze. Demons weren’t the only sneaky bitches of the world. Humans could be just as conniving. I’d only seen her once before and that had been on a postcard Uncle Luc had sent me.

A year ago.

Which didn’t add up since she’d been pregnant then and was still pregnant now.

“Should you have popped that by now?” I gestured to her large belly. “Do you need help with that?”

Look, the chick could be as sweet as pie, but I’d been around long enough to know how to count.

“Hey!” Nancy clutched her belly with both hands.

“Now, infans…”

Really, I hated that nickname now. I’d loved it for hundreds of years and now I wanted to hit something every time I heard it.

Uncle Luc took Nancy’s hand and led her to the sofa. “You of all people should know that the children of immortal beings do not follow mortal rules.” He smiled down at the woman. Him. Satan. He smiled. “Though Nancy is due quite soon.”

I pursed my lips, staring at my uncle’s lover. She didn’t look like much. She had a sort of vacant expression on her face that made me think Uncle Luc hadn’t picked her for her brains. Which was probably why Uncle Luc and Marilyn hadn’t lasted long. She was one smart cookie.

But I supposed Uncle Luc was right about how pregnancy worked when the father of the child was a fallen angel and ruler of the infernal realms. Nancy’s pregnancy was probably nothing like a human’s.

“Okay,” I drawled. “I hope you didn’t come here expecting a baby shower because we’ve got too much shit to deal with at the moment.”

“Don’t say ‘shit.’” Nancy pointed at me and then turned her attention to Uncle Luc. “Tell her she can’t say ‘shit’ around my baby.”

“Seriously?” I snorted. “The kid is literally the spawn of Satan, but nooo,” —sarcasm, I had it— “let’s not harm its unborn virgin ears!” I clapped both hands to my cheeks. I thought I’d finally lost my mind.

Uncle Luc shot me an annoyed look. “Caith, infans, we’ve had a long trip and I’m sure Nancy is tired. And quite hungry.”

Nancy perked up, clapping her hands and bouncing in her seat. “I’m starved! Do you have any yogurt? Nonfat, please. I’m trying to keep my figure.” She ran her hands over her rotund belly.

“Right.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure Momma has something in the kitchen.” Uncle Luc shot me a speaking glance and I sighed. “And I guess Uncle Luc and I will go and get it.” I flashed Papa Al and apologetic smile. “You’ll keep Nancy company, won’t you?”

My father’s glare told me I’d be paying for leaving him with the very pregnant—and already getting on my nerves—Nancy. Uncle Luc and I headed into the kitchen and I immediately went searching for something for Nancy to eat.

Something fatty. And high calorie. And sure to clog arteries.

I found one of Momma R’s casseroles. Boom.

I stuck it in the oven to reheat and then turned to face my uncle. “So, what brings you to town? Finally.” My blood stirred, all of the pain, anger, and heartache of the last year surging inside me. “Do you have any idea how much I’ve needed you? Especially last year when all of that shit went down?”

Uncle Luc spread his hands apologetically. “Caith, infans, you know how sorry I am.”

I snorted. When the evilest being in existence said sorry, it was best to take it with a grain of salt.

“I’ve obviously been busy.”

I nodded toward the other room. “I can see that. Knocking boots with a human? Please tell me this wasn’t planned. Did the condom break? Did she forget to take her pill?”

Uncle Luc frowned. “You know my seed cannot be implanted except deliberately. I chose this—I chose her.”

“Why?” I peeked into the other room, spying the ditz waving her hands as she animatedly talked to Papa Al. “And why her? She looks like a tramp. Remember your mistress in the 1500s? I liked her. She was beautiful and smart. Or for the love of On High, get with Marilyn again. Has the silver-tongued devil lost his charm and been relegated to,” I gestured at Nancy, “that.”

“Watch your mouth, Caith,” he snapped at me, eyes narrowed, and a stinging whip of hellfire snapped my cheek. A slap from Satan. Not a hard one, but enough to tell me I’d hit too close to home, so I backed off.

“My reasons for choosing Nancy are my own. There are important factors—more important than her mind or looks—to consider when choosing the mother of my spawn.”

“She’s too hippy for my taste.” I ignored the hit and he played along.

Uncle Luc rolled his eyes. “Regardless, Nancy is to bear my offspring. It will be a monumental occasion when our child is born. I had to keep her safe until the child had come to term, and there were preparations to be made.”

I propped my hands on my hips. “Is that why you sent your devil’s advocate? Killian Howe is the most cryptic, useless son of a bitch I’ve ever known.” I was being a hint harsh, and I knew it. Killian had helped me to a certain extent, but he’d been operating under some strict limitations, and the knowledge he could share had been greatly limited.

Uncle Luc grinned. “You have no idea how much that pleases me.”

I glared. “So you wanted your lawyer to be a pain in my ass? Goody.”

“No.” He waved a dismissive hand. “I wanted him to be careful of what he did and said. Eavesdropping is rampant and even the lower realms aren’t completely secure. That’s why I haven’t made an appearance myself. I wanted Killian to help you, but I had to make sure nothing he said would give away too many of my secrets to the wrong ears.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. I supposed that made sense. Confidentiality was one of the major tenants of lawyers, right? I just wish it hadn’t made things so difficult for me. “So, are you just here to show off mommy-to-be? Because as much as I’d love to play house and get to know my new aunt and Hell spawn she’s about to push out, I’ve got a little situation here. Something I could use your help with, by the way.”

I shoved the last words through gritted teeth, frustration getting the better of me.

Uncle Luc smirked and gestured at the kitchen table. “Sit. We have more to discuss than you realize.”

I glared at him, not liking the order to “sit.” I wasn’t a dog, dammit. But if he was going to share, I’d play nice. Plus, there was the whole getting smacked by hellfire thing.

Uncle Luc made a casual gesture at the doorway that led to the living room. There was no visible effect, but I sensed the change in the air, the subtle shift of magic and reality in the tween. I narrowed my eyes and focused on the archway, catching sight of the barely-there barrier he’d erected. Ghosts—damned souls—hovered along the edges. They could serve as an effective warning against intruders, but I also knew they could serve as a barrier against sound.

“What’s going on?”

“First,” he pulled out his chair and slowly lowered himself, unbuttoning his jacket as he sat, “tell me what you’ve learned so far. I know some, but I want your details.”

I leaned back in my chair, balancing on the back legs while I explained everything that’d been happening lately. Bry’s weird writing and speech as well as the troubles with the temple, tantric rituals and Jezze’s missing boyfriend. “As far as we can figure, Lucia and Silaran are gathering power to make a move against you or On High. Possibly both. They’re gathering followers, tricking them into worshiping them, and then drawing their energy. We just don’t know what they’re doing with all of that power. Or how to stop them. Or, fuck me sideways, how to do much of anything, for that matter.”

Uncle Luc nodded. “The temple here in Orlando is one of many. They’re all over the world. Some draw more followers than others and each is operating a bit differently, but they’re spreading. New Age spiritualism is effective against the Westerners, but it’s a different approach in, say, India or China.”

“Okay.” I drew out the word, shifting my weight so the chair landed on four legs. I leaned my elbows on the table, letting his words sink in. “That’s bad, but it’s not going to make a difference. We already knew they were gathering power. It’s just more than we first thought. We still don’t know what to do about them.”

“There’s more,” Uncle Luc murmured. “A lot more.”

“Care to enlighten me, o wise and all-knowing source of evil?”

He narrowed his eyes, annoyed, and I shrugged. “Lucia has managed to turn herself into something different. When she was alive, she dealt with a lot of dark magic. The kind of thing that hadn’t been witnessed in the tween for millennia.”

“That shouldn’t surprise me.” I shrugged. “Her brother was a warlock and we had a hard time taking him down. I guess black magic runs in the family.”

Uncle Luc sighed and hung his head. “I didn’t know what she was up to at first. When she killed herself, I thought it was so she could join with Silaran in the lower realms. So I channeled her soul into the deepest circles, outside his reach.” He sighed. “It turns out that was a mistake.” He lifted his head and met my stare. “She didn’t simply commit suicide.”

“She didn’t?” I arched an eyebrow, confused.

“No. If I’d investigated further, I would have known.” His gaze was intent on me. “Lucia killed herself as part of a ritual.” His tone was dark and deadly serious. “It was meant to transform her spirit as it left her body. Like a caterpillar needing to enter its cocoon before it can undergo metamorphosis. She needed to shed her mortal body to transform into this new state.”

“And what state is that?” I didn’t want to know the answer, but it had to be asked. Fuck.

“She’s become something like a demon and yet more. A twisted creature that can feed on the souls of the innocent to grow stronger, but she isn’t bound to Hell in the way I am, the way most dems are.”

I took a slow, deep breath, not liking this one bit. “That’s… unusual.”

“Indeed.” He nodded and his lips were set in a thin, grim line. “She began devouring souls in Hell while I was distracted with other matters.” He glanced over his shoulder, gaze on Nancy as she sat in the other room with Papa Al. “By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late. I wasn’t prepared for a damned soul to consume other damned souls. It’s something only dems can do and none under my rule dares to commit such an act. They know better. They know the consequences.”

“You took her into the lowest circle,” I said the words slowly, my thoughts focusing on his words. “Where the darkest, ugliest, most powerful souls of the damned in all of history are held. You played into her hand.”

“It was a horrible mistake.” And Uncle Luc looked as if he was actually sorry. Because he might lose Hell? Or because of the trouble Lucia caused? “I banished her, but it was too late. She and Silaran have been using the energy to create something new. It started with Silaran last year then Lucia added her newfound power. Now they’re adding even more through these prayers and tantric energy. It’s growing by the day.”

“Growing?” I so didn’t want to know. “What are they doing with this power?”

“They’re creating a demiplane of their own.”

“A demiplane?” My understanding of planar cosmology was more than a little limited. I knew of On High, Hell, and the tween.

“A pocket dimension of their own creation. Consider it a parallel universe—their own little Hell.”

“Where they have supreme power.” So not good. “Like you.”

Seriously, I got that Uncle Luc was the devil and super evil, but it’d been a long time since he’d indulged in genocide. I didn’t think Silaran and Lucia would be as conservative.

He nodded. “You know I can’t exercise my power fully in the tween. I’m limited here. But in Hell, my will shapes reality. One day, when I gather enough power, I will challenge On High and extend my domain.”

“So Lucia and Silaran are horning in on your territory. They’re making themselves you in their own little dimension. Then what? They eventually overthrow you and turn against On High?”

“That seems to be the plan.”

I propped my chin on my hand and tapped out a rhythm with my fingers on the table top. “But wouldn’t it take them millennia to gather enough power? I mean, you’ve been working at this for six thousand years? They’ve only got a year under their belt. They can’t be close to challenging you.”

“They’re not powerful enough—yet. But that’s not all of their plan.”

“The rest?” I waited for him to answer, but all he did was turn and look at Nancy, silently watching the animated woman. “I don’t get it. Your kid? Are they going to try and turn your demon spawn against you?”

I could have told them to just wait. It was nearly a guarantee that Uncle Luc and Baby Devil would hate one another.

“It’s complicated, but if they get their hands on Nancy, it will be the end.” Dark eyes met mind—dark worried eyes. “As long as the child is inside her, we’re connected, she and I.”

Reality punched me in the gut so hard it was ten times stronger than Uncle Luc’s hellfire. “Oh fuck. They’re connected to you. They could be used to get to you.”

A wicked grin spread his lips. “Precisely. I would be proud of them if they weren’t trying to destroy me. Nancy is mortal and I’ve used all of the dark magic available to me in Hell to protect her. But at the end of the day, she is human. Her weaknesses are now mine. With the right ritual, Lucia could devour the child’s energy, its soul, and all of the power that comes with it.”

“Which would drain your power,” I whispered. “Lucia becomes the new Lucifer. She’d have the power in her new dimension plus yours, all at once.”

“It may not be enough for her to move against On High, but I don’t care about how the gels and holy spirit fare in this. I need to protect my interests.”

There was the ruthless Uncle Luc I loved.

I looked back at Nancy, reading her lips, and I wondered how Papa Al was enjoying talk of Nancy’s breast tenderness. “Why here? Is it too dangerous for her in Hell?”

“It’s more a matter of it being easier to protect a living human in the mortal realms. The greatest protections the dark magic of Hell has to offer is only powerful enough to protect the spirits of the damned. Keeping a living, breathing human from harm requires magic of the flesh, not spirit.”

“Sooo…” I refocused on Uncle Luc. “We just need to keep her safe? Until when? After the kid is born?”

He nodded. “Once it is born, I can take it to Hell. The child will be a demon from the moment of its birth and will be fully protected in Hell. It is only while it shares the mortal body of its mother that it is so vulnerable.

I drummed my fingers on the table a few more times. “Okay, we keep her safe. In the meantime, what do I do about Lucia? The temple? The situation here is getting out of hand and that was before you dropped your baby momma in my world.”

Uncle Luc rose, buttoning his jacket and straightening his perfect suit. “To begin, now that I’m here, I have some business of my own to take care of in the tween. Lucia and Silaran have been sending their agents here through ritual circles. I need to personally close those circles. Which is why you’re going to keep an eye on Nancy until I get back.”

I stood up so fast I nearly knocked my chair to the floor. “Whoa. Slow your roll and back that Hell powered dumpster truck up. You’re leaving her here? With me?”

I pressed a finger to the center of my chest just in case he didn’t understand what I was saying.

Uncle Luc looked around the room. “Helene Renard has some of the most powerful magic in the tween, and her wards are quite effective. You are here, as is your friend, the witch. Your werewolf father’s pack has been prowling outside since before I got here. Then there is the fallen angel you’ve become so fond of.”

I clenched my teeth, swallowing my rage when he mentioned Sam. I loved my uncle as much as the niece of Satan could, but his involvement in Sam’s fallen state and his missing angel feather made me hate him more than a little.

He pointed at me. “That’s before you call in the cavalry for help.”

I shook my head, waving my hands in front of me. “No way. I have to open the bar and I’ve got my own shit to deal with.”

Uncle Luc straightened his tie and looked down his nose at me. “I’ve arranged for help at your bar. The half-brownie fellow… Bergamot? He’ll have additional help from capable hands. Don’t worry.”

Right. Don’t worry, he says. It’ll be fine, he says.

“Uncle Luc, wait a minute. You can’t— “

I wanted to tell him he couldn’t just do that—stomp into someone’s life and fuck it all up with one demand. Unfortunately, that was the moment he disappeared, leaving the faint scent of brimstone lingering in the air. I spun in place, glaring at the walls while I shouted his name.

“Uncle Luc! Get back here! You can’t do this!”

“Is everything okay?” That voice grated on my nerves, scraping them with its sickly sweetness.

I turned to find Nancy staring at me from the doorway, one hand splayed over the roundness of her stomach and the other… twisting a few strands of her hair. The spirits Uncle Luc had placed there now retreated into the walls, flitting about the edges of the dimension and protecting us from harm.

“Yes.” I tried to smile but I was pretty sure all I did was bare my fangs. “Everything is peachy.”

“Oh, goody.” She clapped her hands and smiled at me like a perky little sunflower. “Is it time for lunch?”

Had I mentioned I hated sunflowers? And all things perky?

I growled and went to the oven, yanking the casserole out. Nancy yelped when she saw me snatch it with my bare hand, her blue eyes wide and face pale. Apparently, even after shacking up with Satan for a year, she hadn’t realized that little things like heat didn’t hurt “people” like us.

Nancy slowly lowered herself into a wooden chair at the table and released a soft sigh when she was finally settled.

Even her sigh was perky.

I joined her at the table, nudging a plate heaped with Momma R’s casserole toward her along with a fork.

Nancy ignored both. “Oh, Caith. You have no idea how glad I am to meet you. Your uncle has told me so much about you! And now we’re family!” Her blue eyes went serious and she reached for my hand.

I shot her an irritated look.

She ignored me.

“I want us to be friends.” She smiled widely. “Good friends. The best of friends!”

I lifted the knife to cut a square of casserole for myself and, for just a moment, I imagined ramming it into her perky little face.

I was proud of myself because it was only a teensy moment. For better or worse, she was family now.

Gag.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Friends. Great. As long as you don’t get killed, cut open, and used in a ritual sacrifice first, eh?”

Nancy laughed out loud, clapping her hands together while her giggles slipped through the room. “Oh, you have such a great sense of humor! Just like your uncle.”

I laughed and shook my head, playing along for the dim human woman. If Nancy was really as clueless as she seemed, then this babysitting mission was going to be one hell of a mess.