Demons Prefer Blondes (Demons Unleashed #1)(4)

“It did not.” Serah crossed her arms in front of her.

She gazed down at her fingers and gasped. What the freaking hell?

“I see, so I am supposed to be gentle with your box, while it’s allowed to send jolts of electricity through my body. Look!” Lucy thrust her hands toward her, showing Serah her singed fingertips. “Well?”

“Maybe it’s hair dye from earlier.” Serah threw her head back in laughter. “And stop calling it my box. It weirds me out.”

“Whatever. Let me see this chest so I can set sail with Captain Morgan. It’s been a long day.”

Serah shrugged. “Fine by me, if I can stow away.”

“The captain says, ‘Aye aye. The more the merrier.’” Lucy hunched over the chest and rubbed her fingers across the lid. Tingly, but not as tingly as before. Wiping two hundred years of dirt and dust from the chest, she had her first look. Along with the fading inscription, weird symbols dotted the lid. Then she discovered a title etched deep into the sturdy oaken chest. A box with a title? Strange, indeed. Almost as strange as the hieroglyphics decorated all over the lid.

“Arca Inferorum.” Lucy said. Now if that wasn’t a title to try and scare someone away, she didn’t know what was.

“Arca what?” Serah’s blank expression filled her face. “What’s that mean?”

“It means Chest of the…” Lucy thought long and hard about the last word, and then Dante’s Inferno came blazing back at her. “Damned.”

“Damned?”

Lucy nodded. “Yes, damned. It was probably designed by some over-devout monk wanting to scare mankind into repenting for their sins. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a ‘Made in Rome’ stamp on the bottom.”

Serah wasn’t amused. “Whatever. Just read the inscription.”

Lucy wiped away more grime and traced her fingertip over the words. Stronger tingles zipped through her body. “It must be equipped with a security system. Every time I touch it, I get zapped.”

“Doesn’t happen to me,” Serah replied nonchalantly.

“Guess it’s my electric personality.” She leaned over the chest and began translating the inscription.

“At the beginning of the total eclipse of the winter moon, shall this chest be opened only by one of demon blood. They shall call forth the legions of the underworld. By the power of this one demon will Earth be theirs.”

Lucy shook her head. “Yep, it’s a hoax. I hope you get your money back.”

“Oh my God!” Serah exclaimed, oblivious to Lucy’s words.

Bemusement filled Lucy. Her gaze narrowed. “Oh my God, what?”

“There’s supposed to be a total lunar eclipse tomorrow night!” Giddy laughter burst from her lips. “This will be so cool!”

It was as if they were kids again and this was their first sleepover. Only they weren’t kids. Lucy was pushing thirty and Serah wasn’t far behind.

Rolling her eyes, Lucy shook her head. Here comes another one of Serah’s harebrained ideas.

“Even if what the inscription says is real, what part of ‘Only by one of demon blood’ do you not understand?”

“There’s a demon inside me,” Serah replied.

Oh brother, Serah and her demons. “But you usually shut the bitch up with chocolate.”

“Even so, wouldn’t it be fun to at least try and open it?”

“Whatever,” Lucy replied with a shrug. “If you want to wait until tomorrow for me to translate the inscription better, that’s fine.”

“Demons in a box, how cool.”

“Yeah, cool. Too bad demons don’t exist.”





Chapter 2


“Your father would be disappointed in you.” Her mother’s admonishing voice echoed on her eardrum. “Richard Fenton is a nice young man. Why won’t you go out with him?” Her loud huff boomed in Lucy’s ear. “It’s bad enough you dropped out of med school. For what? Doing hair?”

Adjusting the cordless phone, Lucy sucked in a deep breath. This wasn’t the time or the place. “We’ll talk later. I’m working on Mrs. Carlson’s perm.” The noxious odor of chemicals wafted to her nose, sending her head spinning. Permanents weren’t her favorite treatment, with all their disgusting odors. They did pay the bills, though.

“Fine, darling.” There was no tone of affection in the endearment. “I’ll see you for dinner.”

Was that tonight? Too late to cancel now.

“Bye.” She hung up the phone and slammed it on the counter with a little more force than intended.

“Such anger!” Mrs. Carlson clucked her tongue and shook her head. “My Josh is lucky you left him.”

Lucy turned her attention back to Mrs. Carlson. She sat high and mighty in the chair, staring down her long aquiline nose at her. Clearly, she’d allowed being the mayor’s wife to go to her head. Either that or she still hadn’t forgiven her for “breaking her baby’s heart.”

Then again, neither had Mom.

So what that Joshua Carlson attended an Ivy League med school. So what that he was gorgeous. So he had brains and a body. But he was boring as hell. Every time he opened his mouth, Lucy wanted to fall asleep. As for breaking Josh’s heart, the breakup was mutual. Too bad Mrs. Carlson and her meddlesome mother couldn’t seem to realize it.