The Angel Wore Fangs(23)

Not going to happen. Not that it wasn’t a great idea, but it would be too expensive, and they didn’t have any lion keepers among the current batch of Lucipires.

“Moving on. Yakov, your long years of service to Satan and to me are noted and appreciated.” Yakov maintained a headquarters named Desolation in Siberia. “Therefore, you are being transferred to Gloom.”

That caused Zeb to sit up more alertly. Gloom was Zeb’s command in the honeycombed volcanic caves of Greece. He had to wonder what Jasper had planned for him.

“I am sure you will find the climate in Greece much more to your taste,” Jasper said to Yakov.

“As you wish,” Yakov said with a smile.

“And you, Heinrich.” He turned and looked directly at Heinrich. “Our esteemed Lord Lucifer wants to reward you for services well rendered, and I of course agree. You should be given a position on the High Council.”

Someone snickered at that last remark. It could be anyone. Everyone knew how much he detested the Nazi, except for the Nazi, who was beaming like a bloody moron.

Not for long.

“And isn’t it fortunate that we have the perfect opening. You will take Yakov’s place in Siberia.” He cast a fangy smile at the Nazi, who didn’t seem to understand what he’d just said.

“Huh? What? No.”

“No? You no longer wish to be on my High Council?” Jasper asked.

“Yes, of course. I mean, no, not in Siberia. Why not Haroun’s old territory, or Germany. Yes, Germany would be good. I could regenerate anti-Semitic sentiments and—”

“Are you questioning my judgment? Already? Keep in mind, you are a mung, Heinrich. This is a great honor I bestow on you. Mayhap you will even rise to the level of haakai someday, if you prove yourself worthy. On the other hand, you do not have to accept.”

Realizing his mistake, Heinrich bowed his head. “As you wish, master.”

“Good, good,” Jasper said. “Yakov can give you some tips before he leaves today.”

“Invest in a good pair of long underwear,” Yakov said, and everyone laughed with him.

Heinrich was not amused. Already he was pulling out his cell phone on his lap, placing what he thought was a surreptitious text. To Satan, no doubt. To complain. Little did he know that Jasper had commanded one of his geek minions to place a block, or whatever you called it, on Horror for the day so that no communications could go in or out. Jasper would inform Satan of his decisions on his own, thank you very much, Nazi asshole tattletale.

A murmur of low conversation went on around the room as folks discussed among themselves these changes.

“Good call!” Zeb murmured from his right side.

“I know. I can just picture him goose-stepping over the tundra,” Jasper whispered back.

“Maybe the ink on his rubber stamp will freeze,” Zeb offered.

“We can hope.”

“You mentioned three new appointments,” Hector reminded him from his other side.

“Ah, yes.” Jasper used his anvil to hammer the room to order again. At the same time he made a conscious effort to wipe the smile of satisfaction off his face. It was hard not to smile when Heinrich was obviously miserable. “Now you, Zeb.” He felt Zeb stiffen beside him. “With Dominique’s passing, we have a huge hole in the United States.” Dominique had run her operation from a restaurant named Anguish in the French Quarter of New Orleans. “You will take over the southern half of America, from the East to the West Coast. Virginia to California and Nevada. Lots of sinful cities in that territory. I will leave it up to you to decide where you want to settle. New Orleans would be good, or Las Vegas, but you may have a better idea.”

No one questioned Zeb’s suitability for that location since he worked so often in the States, in particular California where the Navy SEALs were located. SEALs were a group of elite militants that Jasper yearned to capture. Even one SEAL-turned-Lucipire would be a huge coup.

“As you wish,” Zeb said.

“We need another woman on the council. Equal rights and all that,” Jasper kidded. He could care less about equal rights, but he did have a good female candidate. “Red Tess will take on the northern part of the United States, from Maine to Washington State, up to and including the Canadian provinces. Stand and introduce yourself, Tess.”

Up stood a tall Amazon of a woman with pale green eyes and flaming red hair so bright it hurt the eyes. She was almost six feet tall, even in human form. She wore tight leather braies covered by a belted tunic of finest brushed green wool. Large gold hoop earrings hung from her ears. Wide gold armbands graced her muscled upper arms. She was beautiful, even with the scar that ran from her left eye to her chin, causing her to look like she was smiling lopsidedly, all the time. “Tess was a notorious pirate sailing the Spanish seas three hundred years ago. In her time, she caused many an innocent to walk the plank. How many would you estimate, dear?” he asked her.