“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” said someone behind me with a sensual baritone that made all the hairs on my body stand on end.
I tried using my knife on him, but he had pinned my arms to my sides with his muscular arms. I opened my eyes to darkness, blinking vigorously until my eyes adjusted to the gloomy light.
The cavernous room was dark save for the torches that floated in the air. The walls moved with what looked like streams of water running upward instead of downward. And on one side of the room was a neatly made bed and a chest of drawers, and on the other side, a maroon couch. The last thing I expected was to land in someone’s bedroom and struggled against his tightening grip.
“Easy princess,” he said against my head, sending another wave of sensual pleasure throughout my body. “I’m not the enemy,” he grunted, squeezing harder, taking my breath away.
When I moaned in pain, he slowly loosened his grip. “I won’t hurt you, I promise. My name is Osmodeus, or Os for short,” Os said, still holding tight. “Now, do you promise not to stab me with that huge knife in your hands when I let you go. This isn’t the type of foreplay I’m into,” he said with a chuckle.
I nodded, trying not to think of his naked body pressed up against mine. “Just let go,” I breathed, as I stopped struggling against him. I exhaled and relaxed my body.
A purple tail came into my peripheral vision as the demon slowly let go of me. “Now no sudden movements. I’d hate to knock you out.” He helped me stand on my own and without swaying.
“What happened, and who are you?” I asked, turning around to look at the demon, the lines between my eyes deepening.
“Take all the time you need,” Os said, stepping away from me, wearing a salacious smile. His dark gaze raked up and down my body like I was food. Then my body betrayed me by responding to his temptation.
I scowled, making Os laugh. The purple demon stood almost six feet tall, very muscular, with black eyes and pointy horns protruding out of his head. When he smiled, his sharp teeth left me on edge because I knew those teeth could easily rip me apart.
I rounded my shoulders and sheathed my knife. I clutched the satchel against my body, but when there was nothing slung against my body, I panicked.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” Os said, holding up my satchel.
“Give that back,” I said, reaching for it.
Os pressed his palm against my face and kept the satchel out of my reach. “Easy there princess—”
“I’m not a princess,” I growled.
“Are you sure about that?” he said, arching a purple eyebrow. “I’ll give this back if you tell me what you are doing here?”
“Well, for one, I don’t know where here is?” I said sarcastically and pointed at the bed. “I take it this is your humble abode?”
“Yes, and the last time a human fell into my room, she bound herself to me. But I don’t see that happening now,” he said, staring at me from my head to my toes, “so I ask again, what are you doing here?”
“I’d love to know. I don’t even know who you are,” I grumbled. “But it has to be the Underworld?”
Os nodded.
“I told you why I was here now. Please give that back,” I said, reaching for my satchel.
“Fine,” he grumbled and handed it back.
“Did you see my brother? Tall guy with yellow eyes?”
“Nope, you’re the only thing I’ve seen all day. I was about to go back to the human world for a midnight snack with my lady friend when you fell into my lap like a present from the gods.” He chuckled.
I groaned when I noticed his growing erection. He was purple, a demon, and provided sensual pleasure.
“That’s right honey, incubus at your service.” His grin was like an aphrodisiac and could set a woman’s panties on fire, but luckily, I had my father’s power and extinguished it like cold water. Os frowned as if sensing what I’d done. “What are you?” he said, walking around me. “You are no plain human female, although you look the part and almost smell the part. No, you are not like them at all… you are, however, something most delicious and I want a taste.” He snapped his toothy jaw at me.
I snorted. As much as I tried to be ladylike around new people, every now and then, my defenses slipped, and my laugh sounded like a snort.
“Let’s just say I can block wiles of vampires and incubi.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I’d like to know the same thing. One moment I was with Zenon in the secret tomb, the next moment the strange demon-goat grinned, and everything went black and I landed on top of you.”
“Demon-goat?” Os said, clearly confused.
“Yes, he had cloven hooves. His muscular upper body looked similar to a man with double arms and hot red tattoos that moved, and steam coming out of his pores.”
Os’s expression changed from confusion to knowing exactly what I was referring to.
“Secret tomb, you say?”
I nodded.
“Shit,” he said, rushing past me. “Come, princess, we have to go.”
“Wait, what do you mean? What’s going on?”
“We can walk and talk,” he said, opening a wooden door at the far end of his room. “I think I know what’s going on, but my brother will know more.”
“Who is your brother?”
“Osmodos, or Ossie.”
“Are you twins?”
“No, Osmodos is my older and apparently wiser brother,” Os grunted as we traversed the hallways of the Underworld. “It’s only because he reads words all day, every day. Sometimes he performs spells and uses his magic for good—”
“And he’s a demon?” I’d never heard of any demon using magic for good. If there was a decent demon out there, I wanted to know more about him.
“Yeah, I know. It doesn’t happen often, but I promise you we are good demons,” Os smiled, glancing over his shoulder and winked wickedly. “It’s a pity it doesn’t work on you, or you’d be dripping in your juices by now.”
“Thank goodness it doesn’t work,” I grumbled, then almost slammed into his back.
“We’re here,” he said, standing near a portal.
It was my turn to grunt when I saw the shimmering doorway. “Where does this go?” I asked, not impressed, and not wanting nausea to flood my system again. And I didn’t know we had portals within the Underworld, but then again, I didn’t know everything there was to know about my father’s world.
“It will take us directly to my brother’s library.”
Os held out his hand for me to take, and the moment I did, I caught glimpses of images. He had changed form and was human, with blond hair, and gorgeous. He was helping a woman, and another man—
Os cleared his throat, cutting the vision short. “No spying on my life, princess. Those memories are mine.”
“Sorry, I didn’t know I could do that,” I said, staring at the hand that held Os’s, not believing I could see someone else’s memories like that. It had never happened to me before. “Who were those people?” I asked, wanting to understand more about what I saw.
“Me and my brother helped a female escape this place and her terrible situation in the city. It happened a while ago. But we can’t talk about it now. Let’s go.”
I nodded, grabbing Os’s hand once more and walked with him through the portal. This time, I saw no memories but sparkly darkness, and I experienced no nausea. We entered through the doorway and into the largest library I’d ever seen. There were rows and rows of shelves filled with large tomes. The library was so big I couldn’t see the end of the rows; they continued on and on.
The library was beautiful, with intricate carvings stained with gold on the wooden bookshelves. Adorned on the cream-colored walls were golden torches that created the perfect lighting. The air smelled fresh with a gentle undertone of bibliosmia. This place was nothing like my father’s rooms or any library in my world.
“Wow,” I said, marveling at the place. “It’s stunning.” The large glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling brought an ambiance to the place like no other.
“Yes, yes, an educated woman’s wet dream. Just don’t fall for my brother. He’s a complete nerd for a Demon Lord—”
“He’s a Demon Lord? Are you?” I asked, almost running to keep up with him.
“See, I just mention this, and you’re practically drooling,” he said with a sly smirk.
I rolled my eyes.
“Anyway, as I was saying before you rudely interrupted me,” he said seriously, but smiled. “He loves this place; it’s his home. He maintains order within the Underworld Library, and he keeps the tomes safe. He is the keeper of information, and nobody can lie to him. It’s quite a gift if you ask me. And if anybody removes a tome, he makes sure they returned them swiftly—or he won’t blink twice to remove fingers, arms, legs, and even heads.”
My eyes widened at that, and Os chuckled.
“But only if they deserve it.”
“Naturally,” I said, agreeing but secretly afraid of what both demons could do to me. “Is he also an incubus?”
“No, just a very scary and very powerful demon.”
“Where does he keep the important tomes?” I asked as we traversed down the main row of the elegant library. My eyes bounced around the large room, taking it all in. I’d love to sit here and read.
“Ha, like I would tell you. But Osmodos keeps the important tomes on shelves locked behind secret doors, and he is the only one with a key.”
I nodded. I didn’t blame him. If I worked here, I’d do the same thing. “What are the tomes about?” Victor never shared with me the details of any room inside the Underworld. Knowing that there was a library filled with so much information was a treasure.
“Everything and anything. It explains all you need to know about demons, angels, vampires, were-animals, fairies, etcetera. All events that have happened before and after. Some tomes hold the future… but that one nobody has opened. Not even Ossie.”
That caught my attention, and I stared open-mouthed at Os.
“Close that, princess, before I put something inside for you to suck.”
I promptly closed my mouth and fought not to smile. He was a pervert, but at least he was funny.
“Now where is that blasted brother of mine. Ossie!” Os yelled.
“Must you always yell, brother?” Ossie said, coming into view a few rows away.
I stopped dead in my tracks. My mouth hanging open as I stared up at Ossie. Although I didn’t know the extent of Ossie’s power, I sensed how great it was. The air surrounding him pulsed with electricity and the hairs on my arms pebbled.
His powerful black/metallic scales rippled in the dim light. His horns were large and pointy, and his eyes were as black as night. He stood almost double my size, and all I did was gawk up at him. All the years I’d been alive, I’d never seen someone as dangerously beautiful as him. My father was powerful, but Ossie was something else.
Ossie sensed my uneasiness and morphed into a more appealing human form. He slunk down to size and had long, silky black hair tied in a ponytail, bright green eyes, and a charming smile.
“Not again,” Ossie said. “I swear I promised nobody. Whoever this female is, she isn’t mine.”
“Haha, no, it’s not that. This is,” Os said, staring at me. “What’s your name, luv?”
I licked dry lips but never glanced away from Ossie. “Ah,” I mumbled, forgetting my name. “Scout, my name is Scout.”
“Shit,” Ossie said. His eyes flitting between Os and me. “You’re Victor’s daughter, aren’t you?”
“Fuck,” Os said, standing farther away from me. “What have you done, luv?” he said to me.