"He's a little busy, but he sends his love."
I froze and gaped at her.
"Did you hear me?" she asked excitedly.
Her lips never moved, but her eyebrows waggled like crazy.
"Is that you, Bambi?" I asked, sure I was going nuts.
"Yes! Your powers are near if you can hear me. I've waited so long for this, my sweet child."
"Um. . .are you talking through your eyebrows?" I didn't want to insult her, but I had to know.
"Oh yes, dear. We eat with our mouths and talk through our brows. Never have bad breath that way." She leaned in and quietly informed me, "And we've been known to poop rainbows."
I bit down on my lips hard and tried to stifle my laugh. She made bizarre sense and that concerned me, but I was so happy to talk to her I ignored the oddities and the ass shooting rainbows part.
"Have you always been able to talk?"
"Yes, of course, but you couldn't hear us until you were ready," she replied.
"Can everyone hear you?"
"No, no, only the special ones. Your cousin Astrid could hear us," she said as she giggled joyously.
That didn't surprise me at all. Astrid was a True Immortal and as special as they come. I couldn't wait to visit her on Earth no matter how crabby her pregnancy had made her.
"I feel like crying," I told her as I leaned in for comfort. "I used to pretend you were my mom."
"I know, baby. I love you like my own and I always will. Go in to the party before someone sees us. Maybe I could come over for a sleepover before you leave."
"I would love that. Do you promise?" I asked.
"Do I promise what?" a thin and nasal voice demanded. "Dixie, what are you doing loitering on the front steps with the animals? It's not fitting and your father will not be pleased."
My father's pregnant consort Amanda looked me over with disdain.
"I was just. . ." I mumbled as I tried to think up a legit lie.
"Were you talking to your imaginary friend?" Her condescending laugh grated on my ears and brought tingling to my fingertips. My sisters could give me all the crap they wanted about Blanche—they loved me. This bitch could not.
I turned and leveled her with a stare I'd learned from my father. To my great delight she backed off in fear. "What I do and whom I speak to is no concern of yours, Amelia," I said in a voice I didn't know I possessed.
"My name is Amanda," she hissed, drawing up to her full height, which was a good six inches less than mine. At five foot nine I dwarfed her.
"Whoops." I smiled and shrugged. "My bad. And Amanda, I wouldn't call the Hell Hounds animals. They get insulted easily and they're always hungry."
Her overly made up eyes widened in terror and she made a hasty retreat back into the palace. Why the Hell my father decided to knock this one up was beyond me. Sure, she was beautiful, but he'd had some fantastic consorts over the years. For the life of me, I didn't get this one.#p#分页标题#e#
"You might want to try being nice to your father's lover," Cole, my father's second in command, admonished me as he stepped out of the shadows. Geez, this freakin’ guy was everywhere.
"Yep, you're right. However, that goes both ways, Cole, and my father's consort is rude."
"She's an elder and should be respected. She carries the heir to Hell in her body," he said reverently.
That was up for debate according to my sisters, who were positive the child wasn't my dad's, but I had no desire to debate that rumor with the humor-free Cole.
"You're right, Cole."
His eyes shot to mine in surprise. "So you will apologize?"
"I certainly will," I gushed sweetly. "As soon as she apologizes to me."
With that I brushed past him and made my entrance into the palace. I could swear I heard Bambi giggle as I left a shocked Cole in my wake.
***
“Dixie,” Stella squealed as she ran up to me. “Damn, you look hot!”
I was so glad to see a familiar face I was shaking. I hadn’t realized how nervous and uncomfortable dealing with Cole and Amanda made me, plus I was thrown by the electricity in my fingertips and Bambi's talking eyebrows. I squeezed her hard. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m not sure.” She giggled and adjusted her black Armani shift. She was the cutest Demon in Hell, with her wild ginger curls and freckles on her little turned-up nose. “Mom and Dad informed me about an hour ago that we were coming to the Dark Palace. What gives?” she asked as she tucked a stray hair behind my ear.
“I have no clue.” I was bewildered and getting worried. Still no sign of my dad. That was not so unusual, as he did love to make an entrance. “I thought I was coming here for my deportment date.”