“I embellished just a tiny bit.” Envy giggled and tossed her long shiny locks over her shoulder.
“What exactly do you see in him?” Wrath asked Greed.
“Did you see the size of his nose?” She grinned suggestively.
“You’ve tapped that?” Envy asked, wrinkling her pert nose in disgust.
“No,” Greed said. “But after tonight I will. Excuse me.” She rushed off after the very disgruntled Dante.
In front of me stood Wrath, Gluttony, Pride, Sloth, Greed, Envy, but no Lust. I scanned the room for Ethan to make sure Lust wasn’t stupid enough to try anything else. Ethan had joined a conversation with Cole and the Guards. Smart man. Boobs didn’t work, but testosterone might.
“Who you looking for?” Wrath asked with a knowing grin.
“Santa Claus.”
“Interesting. I think he’s in Purgatory—with Lust.”
I froze and stared at her for a moment to see if she was telling the truth. She was. My body relaxed. I hadn’t realized how tense I was about bumping into Lust after what she’d heard. At least now I didn’t have to. My guess would be that Satan didn’t think she had the Sword or she would be here. I did need to have a little chat with my uncle, but that was going to be difficult. Shit.
“Dinner is therved,” Carl called from the middle of the room. He was flanked by Janet on his right and Myrtle on his left. Myrtle gave me a covert thumbs up and I shot her one back.
“Take your seats, my friends and family. The show is about to begin,” Satan bellowed joyously.
Lights. Camera. Action.
Chapter 25
Thankfully I was seated next to Ethan. The gorgeously laid out main table was for family and close friends. Several other tables, equally as lovely, were specifically for the Guards and their wives or significant others. The main table held Satan at one end and Wrath at the other. I assumed if he took Amanda as a mate that might be her spot. Amanda sat to the Devil’s left and Cole to his right. Seated next to Amanda was Envy, then Greed, Dante, and Gluttony. On our side after Cole was Sloth then Ethan, myself, Dixie and Pride. That put me directly across from the delightful Dante. Nice. One chair sat empty down at Wrath’s end. I assumed that one would have belonged to Lust.
The room seated probably forty or so and was now lit completely by candlelight. Janet turned out the electric lights as we were seated and Satan clapped his hands twice. A rush of magic that tickled my tummy blew through the room and hundreds of candles illuminated. The crowd applauded enthusiastically. It was beautiful. The crystal and heavy silver literally sparkled. The sheer amount of firepower in the room was a tad nervewracking, but the effect was stunning.
I tried to make eye contact with Amanda several times, but she avoided me like the plague. I suppose the whole lip popping incident had scarred her. Who knew?
“Ethan, did you learn anything from Cole?” I asked silently as I passed the basket of rolls that was making its way around the table. I wanted one badly, but knew that gagging at a formal dinner party would be considered bad form.
“Not much, but he seems to have a healthy obsession with Amanda,” he replied.
“Really? I thought he didn’t trust her.” I glanced down at Cole and Amanda, but they weren’t even looking at each other.
“I’m sure he doesn’t, but it might go a bit deeper than that.” He smiled and raised his glass. “Astrid, pay attention. There’s a toast.”
“Whoops,” I raised my glass, then put it to my lips. There was no way in hell I was going to drink anything, but I wanted to fit in. Much to my great surprise it was blood. WTF? I glanced up in surprise and caught Satan’s eye. He winked and I laughed, almost spilling my treat.#p#分页标题#e#
The dinner, which I didn’t touch, smelled heavenly. Wine and conversation flowed freely and the atmosphere was light. However, as the meal wound down something changed. I felt a chill. A dark magic unfurled and wafted through the room. My hands felt clammy and my chest constricted painfully. What was it? Who was it? The desire to get up and move was strong. The magic was dissipated and not coming from any one direction. I glanced over at Satan, who seemed oblivious. Running around the room might appear odd, even for the Vampyre guest, so I stayed seated.
“Do you feel that?” I asked Ethan.
“Feel what?”
“Dark icky Demon voodoo.”
“Did you say Demon doodoo?”
“Oh my God, no. Why would I say dark icky Demon doodoo?”
“You tell me.”
“I said voodoo. Not doodoo,” I snapped so loudly, his hand went his forehead and he winced.
“Sorry, I’ll keep my thought volume lower,” I muttered. “But do you feel it?”