Days of New: The Complete Collection (Serials 1-5) (55 page)

“I understood both sides of the story,” Lucifer said with a delicate sniff. He carefully rearranged the table, settled the roses back into proper alignment, and brushed off his pants.

“Of course you would.” Maya grinned.

“Would you like to see the rest of the house?”

The tour of the house was long, but Maya enjoyed every second. The place was more than just a structure that had been around for nearly two centuries; it was Lucifer’s pride and joy. She noticed signs of looting and damage from the riots, but Lucifer took great pains to restore the house back to its former glory. She imagined how grand it had once been with Confederate officers parading about while slaves slipped to their freedom right below the soldiers’ feet. The house was a perfect dichotomy, just like Lucifer.

The rooms were numerous, and Maya felt like she was walking through a maze, wandering from space to space, all containing fine antiques, elaborate paintings of striking young men and beautiful women, and gorgeous fire places with blazing infernos. The house was warm, the scent of more fresh flower blossoms wafting through the air. By the time they’d made their way back to the foyer, a small demon wearing a frilly lace apron met them at the base of the stairs.

Maya narrowed her eyes. The demon looked suspiciously similar to the one she’d seen in Clark’s window. This demon had a similar round body with bulging eyes and batlike wings. It swept into a low bow in front of Lucifer and Maya. It didn’t speak or met her eyes.

“It will show you to your room.” Lucifer gestured toward the creature in front of them.

“You’re the one who was in Clark’s room, aren’t you? You left my sister’s bonnet on his bed!” Maya’s eyes cut back to Lucifer. He had the good grace to look sheepish.

“Ah, yes. Sorry about that.” Lucifer cleared his throat. “Anyway, dinner will be served at seven tonight. I’ve taken the liberty of laying out a dress for you. You’ll find that your room has access to hot water and electricity. You’re welcome to it.”

Gone was the relaxed, almost-fun Lucifer, Maya realized. She wondered what had happened to flip the switch inside him. She sighed. “Fine.”

“See you at seven then.”

Unable to resist, Maya curtsied in front of him before turning to the demon. “What’s your name?” she asked.

The demon was an ugly creature, which made it hard for Maya to recognize the completely shocked look on its face when she asked it a question. Its legs were short, thin spindles on which its overly round body wobbled. It looked like an overinflated balloon attached to two toothpicks. Maya wondered if the demon could just float away at any second. The mucus-slick skin around its face turned bright red.

It made an odd chirping sound as it bounced on its feet, long toenails clicking against the floor.

“They don’t have names.”

Maya turned and saw that Lucifer was standing in his office door looking back at her. His face was carefully blank, his eyes directed to a spot just slightly over her shoulder. Maya rolled her eyes at him before turning back to the creature beside her. “You really don’t have a name?”

“It can’t talk either,” Lucifer added. Maya didn’t acknowledge him.

“Would you like a name?”

The demon chirped some more and rustled his batty wings. It tentatively reached out for her, like it wanted to touch her. Maya nodded. The demon wrapped a tiny finger around her pinkie and pulled gently. Maya let herself be guided to the stairs, where the demon led her away.

“I need something to call you,” Maya said as they walked along the hall. She didn’t bother looking around at the furnishings or noticing anything about the rooms they passed. She didn’t care about it all if Lucifer wasn’t there to point out the details. Without him, it was just a big house with too many rooms. “Surely you call yourself something.”

The demon shot a nervous glance over its nonexistent shoulder and tugged her farther down the hall.

“What about Bob?”

The demon let out a plaintive bleep and a shudder.

“Okay. Not Bob.” Maya smiled, enjoying this game. Really, if she looked past the mucus and odd shape, this demon wasn’t so bad. It was actually kind of cute. “What about Timmy?”

Another bleep.

“Andrew?”

“Ferdinand?”

“Oh! Are you a girl?”

The demon screeched to a halt and spun around. Maya imagined that if the creature had eyebrows, one would be cocked sardonically at her. She laughed. “Okay. You’re a boy. So what about Ryan?”

The demon let out a puff of air and dropped Maya’s hand. He looked around the hall, bulbous eyes landing on a nearby table, where another large vase of flowers and a telephone sat. Next to the phone was a notepad and pen. He took both, clenching the pen awkwardly in his disjointed fingers. He scratched something out. When he was finished writing, tongue caught in his teeth the entire time, he looked up at Maya and offered the notepad.

Taking it, Maya looked down at what the demon had written. She couldn’t hold back her grin. When she looked up at the demon, he was grinning at her too.

“Your name is Dante?”

The demon nodded, hopping some more in excitement.

“That’s awesome!”

Dante’s bat wings fluttered before he took Maya’s hand and continued leading her down the hall.

“So can you read? You found your name in
The
Divine Comedy
?”

Dante nodded but kept his eyes trained ahead.

“I take it Lucifer doesn’t know.”

Dante slowed slightly, his grip tightening on Maya’s hand.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell him,” Maya said.

They reached the end of the hall. Dante looked up at her and smiled, the sweet expression smoothing out his blunt features. His eyes were wide and glistening as he blinked up at her before turning to the doors in front of them.

They were rosewood with elaborate bronze handles that spiral into the shape of a rose. The work was nothing that could have been done by a human’s hand, leaving Maya to hope that Lucifer had crafted the door handles himself. Distracting her from her vision of Lucifer molding metal with his strong hands, Dante pulled out a metal key with a rose fretwork design. He had to strain to reach the lock, but he managed to open the doors. He stepped aside so Maya could enter.

She took one step inside and stumbled to a stop. The ceilings were vaulted, with delicate crown moldings wrapping around the edges. In the center was a rose-shaped skylight that let in the moon’s silvery light. A chandelier hung from the middle of the skylight, like it was an extension of the window. Its glass reflected the moonlight and sent prisms dancing through the room. Nearly fifty Edison bulbs graced the chandelier and emitted a quiet, warm glow.

Maya had to force her attention away from the sight above her to look at the rest of the room. It was all white, which didn’t surprise her. Lucifer thought her a pure, innocent girl. He would have had her room decorated to match his assumption of her. The bed drew her eye immediately; it was sprawling and laden with white pillows. The comforter looked like a cloud that Maya could sink into and never return. A dresser and makeup vanity filled out the rest of the space, all made out of rosewood.

Another set of doors led into what was likely the suite’s bathroom. But next to those doors was an archway. Hanging on the arch was a ball gown. Maya gasped at the sight of it, her feet already moving toward the dress without her command.

The material was the softest blush color she’d ever seen. Her fingers slid over the bodice, where the material ebbed and flowed in circular designs that nearly dizzied her. The bottom part was made up of thousands and thousands of blush feathers that sifted through Maya’s fingers like warm summer air. The dress was like a dream, especially when Maya saw the tag: Atelier Versace.

Maya turned back to the room, her mouth hanging open in shock. Dante was just coming out of the bathroom, where she heard the faint sound of water running. He’d drawn her a bath. He smiled up at her, waiting for her next command.

“Did you do all of this?”

Her question surprised him, she could tell. Finally, he gave a slight nod.

“Did you find this dress for me?”

Dante withdrew, his eyes darting around. When he looked back at Maya, his throat was bobbing, his mouth contorting. He took a few steps closer and whispered, “Master approved it, Miss.”

Maya smirked. “So you
can
speak?”

“Please, don’t tell Master, Miss.”

“I won’t. So long as your promise to stop calling him ‘Master’ around me. And stop calling me ‘Miss.’ My name’s Maya.”

Dante grinned and nodded, hopping slightly again. “I drew Miss—Miss Maya—a bath. I laid out towels and washcloths. You’ll find all you need beside the tub, but I will be outside in the hall should you need me.”

“Thank you, Dante.”

Dante’s grin grew, and he hopped faster. His wings rustled against his back, like whispers of velvet. Before turning for the door, he bowed. Maya grinned to herself as she watched him skip away. The doors closed behind him with barely a sound.

Like Lucifer, these demons had been turned into monsters by uninformed opinions and notions. Even Lucifer had demonized them. Quite literally, actually. But in just minutes, she made a friend with one. Dante seemed like a kind, sweet creature. She didn’t want to get him in trouble, but she would have to talk to Lucifer about his treatment of the demons. They should have proper names and be allowed to talk.

With a sigh, she headed toward the bathroom, already smelling the sweet scent of bath bubbles.

It was already very late by the time Maya descended the stairs, the dress’s feathers rustling against her legs as she walked. Dante scuttled down in front of her. His round shape and little legs made Maya smile; he might be hideous to others, but she thought he was cute. He hit the main floor half-running and half-flying.

“This way, Miss,” Dante said when Maya turned toward the dining room. The room hadn’t been a part of Lucifer’s tour earlier, but Maya had guessed the room’s purpose, even though the doors were tightly closed, by process of elimination.

“We’re not eating in the dining room?”

“No, Miss.”

Maya dug her heels in as Dante fluttered about nervously in front of her, purposefully trying to draw her attention away from the closed-off room. “Why not?”

“Miss, please.” A red flush spread across Dante’s entire body. He too had changed for the formal meal, swapping out his apron for a toddler-sized tuxedo jacket.

“You can tell me, Dante,” Maya said, lowering her voice.

After a long, tortured pause, Dante finally checked around the foyer, as if he didn’t believe they were alone, and crossed a few steps to Maya. With a flick of his fingers, he gestured for her to crouch down. The feathers of her skirt and her tight bodice made it complicated, but Maya managed, and Dante leaned in close so only she could hear.

“It’s still bloody.”

“The room? Why?”

“The angel…”

Maya understood then. She shuddered. “Camille.”

“Yes, Miss. Master didn’t want to upset you. Please don’t say anything.”

“Of course not,” Maya managed, straightening to her feet. Thinking about how messy the room must have been if the demons were still trying to get it clean enough made Maya dizzy. “You have my word.”

“Thank you, Miss.”

Dante led her toward the back of the house to another room she hadn’t seen. The little demon swept ahead of her so that he could properly introduce her, which she had told him was unnecessary, but Dante was a stickler for etiquette. He beat her to the dining room doors.

“Master,” he puffed, standing in the threshold to the mystery room. He bowed and swept his arms toward Maya. “Miss Maya has arrived for dinner.”

“Thank you,” Maya whispered to the demon as she passed him. He couldn’t hide his pleased smile before scampering off to the kitchens.

Still feeling queasy about the dining room, Maya tried to paste on a smile as she turned to Lucifer. “You really should be nicer to them,” she said, ready to tease him about the demons, but as she opened her mouth to launch into her demon rights tirade, the words dried up in her throat.

The room Dante had led her into wasn’t a second or informal dining room at all, like she’d expected. Instead it was a sunroom off the back of the house. An entire wall was comprised of floor-to-ceiling windows. Skylights stretched across the ceiling, letting bright moonlight slink through. A thousand candles twinkled along the floor and across the grand mahogany table, where, at the head of the table, Lucifer stood, wearing a fresh suit. Maya was certain he looked deliciously dapper, but her eyes were drawn upward.

A huge crystal structure stretched between the skylights, connecting one opening to the next. It could be a chandelier, but Maya saw no electrical lights inside, nor any light bulbs. But ensconced in the fine glasslike fingers that stretched like a hundred slender tree limbs across the top of the room, were countless—likely thousands—of tiny little tea lights. She couldn’t imagine the poor demons who had taken hours to light each one, but the beauty of the unique light—and the way it reflected the moon’s light down onto her—took her breath away.