Free The Devil's Due by Jenna Black Page A

to gain myself—and, of course, you—some measure of security.”
    Angry as I was, I couldn’t argue with that logic. “And how do you plan to do that?” I asked.
    Lugh sat up straight in his throne, his back held stiffly upright, his chin held high, his eyes blazing amber. “I may have been ousted from my throne in the Demon Realm,” he said, “but unless Dougal succeeds in his attempts to kill me, I am still the king. It is time for me to set up my court, and in the face of necessity I shall do so on the Mortal Plain.”

Chapter 8
    Lugh’s words rang in the empty hall, full of weight and portent. The thing was, I hadn’t the faintest idea what they actually meant . Set up his court? I was trying to frame a question that wouldn’t make me feel like an idiot, but Lugh answered before I succeeded. Sometimes, I don’t know why I bother actually talking to him, seeing as he knows perfectly well what I’m thinking at all times.
    “I need to gather a core of faithful supporters. In the Demon Realm, I have a council of advisors, although I don’t know how many of them are truly loyal to me. I inherited them from my father, and some of them are no doubt as enamored of the old ways as Dougal and would be happy to be rid of me. I need to build a new council, one that will serve me on the Mortal Plain.”
    “Okay,” I said slowly. “How do you plan to do that?”
    “I will start with those I already know are loyal to me.”
    I frowned. “In other words … Adam. Not much of a council.”
    He watched me warily. “I am including Raphael. I know you aren’t convinced of his loyalty, but I think he genuinely wants to put me back on the throne.”
    “But—”
    “He told you far more about what happened in the Houston facility than he had to.”
    I laughed, the sound swallowed by the cavernous hall. “Were you listening to the shit he was telling me? He’s not one of the good guys, Lugh.”
    He shrugged. “Consider him a necessary evil, then.”
    I didn’t like it, but the fact was Raphael was too deeply entangled in my life and Lugh’s to exclude. “Fine. Your council consists of Adam and Raphael.”
    “And you and Dominic.”
    “Practically an army.”
    I wasn’t sure, but it looked like Lugh was counting backward from one hundred. I had that effect on him, and it wasn’t exactly by accident.
    “At this point,” he said when he overcame his apparent desire to strangle me, “I can think of only one other demon I would trust enough to draw into my inner circle.”
    I don’t know if it was an out-and-out premonition or whether I just made an assumption based on the look on Lugh’s face, but the stupid corset suddenly seemed to be squeezing the air out of my lungs.
    “Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say,” I begged, and the regret in his eyes told me I’d guessed right.
    “Saul was particularly targeted because of his loyalty to me, and he and Dominic proved to be compatible. There will be … complications if he joins us on the Mortal Plain once more, but I need more allies.”
    I shook my head as I struggled to breathe. Never mind that this was just a dream, and I didn’t actually need to breathe. “No!”
    I had never met Saul. I don’t consider the short time we spent together while I was exorcizing him as a real meeting. But despite my sometimes bad attitude toward Dominic, I had to admit I considered him a friend. I didn’t want to lose him, as I’d lost everyone else who’d ever mattered to me.
    Okay, that was melodramatic. I hadn’t actually lost Brian, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. But I’d lost my best friend, my father, my brother … It was enough.
    After my moment of self-pity, I allowed myself to think of others. “You can’t do that to Adam!” I protested. I might not like Adam, but even the most clueless idiot could see that he loved Dom. He’d been in a relationship with Saul before, but from everything I’d observed, I knew that relationship