Speak of the Devil Read online

  When you accuse Raphael of lying, you’re right at least fifty percent of the time, so I believed Lugh. Trouble was, Raphael would stick to his lies like superglue until confronted with irrefutable evidence.

  “You sure you don’t have any ideas?” I prompted, but it was a halfhearted attempt at best. I’d have dropped dead on the spot if Raphael had suddenly admitted he really did have an idea.

  “Of course I don’t,” he responded with his trademark sincerity. Anyone who didn’t know him well enough would be convinced he was the soul of honesty. “What possible reason could I have for not telling you if I did?”

  “Good question.”

  Raphael gave me a look of pure disgust. “I swear, you’d think I was lying if I said water was wet! I don’t know why I bother talking to you at all.” He turned on his heel and headed for the door.

  Was this a real fit of pique? Or was this an attempt to deflect the question?

  “Raphael!” I called, on the off chance he was really upset and didn’t deserve the suspicion.

  “What?” he asked, turning to me with a snarl.

  “You did a really good thing, arranging for Blair’s care. Thank you.”

  His Adam’s apple bobbed, and for the life of me I couldn’t recognize the expression on his face. He turned away without another word, slamming the door behind him.

  “Think he’ll tell us what he has in mind?” I asked Lugh.

  He might not need to. I’m afraid prolonged contact with him and his Machiavellian ways has had an unsavory effect on me.

  I couldn’t feel Lugh’s emotions like he could feel mine, but there was a world of tension in his phantom voice. “What exactly does that mean?”

  Lugh didn’t answer, which was probably just as well. If whatever conclusion the Brothers Grimm had come to made them both so uneasy, I didn’t want to know about it. Maybe if I was a good little exorcist-cum-demon-host, I’d never have to. Ignorance is bliss and all that.

  Somehow, I didn’t think there was a whole lot of bliss in my future.

  About the Author

  Jenna Black is your typical writer. Which means she’s an “experience junkie.” She got her BA in physical anthropology and French from Duke University. Once upon a time, she dreamed she would be the next Jane Goodall, camping in the bush making fabulous discoveries about primate behavior. Then, during her senior year at Duke, she did some actual research in the field and made this shocking discovery: Primates spend something like 80 percent of their time doing such exciting things as sleeping and eating. Concluding that this discovery was her life’s work in the field of primatology, she then moved on to such varied pastimes as grooming dogs and writing technical documentation. Visit her on the web at www.JennaBlack.com.

  And don’t think the action stops here:

  It’s all fun and games until someone dies in

  THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND

  The latest book in the Morgan Kingsley series

  by

  Jenna Black

  No one ever wants to serve in Hell…

  The Seven Deadlies, a demon club in Philadelphia, has always catered to the most attractive and desirable hosts. Recently, though, more and more of the lower dregs of society have been showing up with demons of their own—in alarming numbers. Morgan is sure that Dougal is behind this, but isn’t sure why.

  Is Dougal building an army to snatch the throne of the demons from Lugh?

  If there’s one person who can get to the bottom of this, it’s Morgan Kingsley, but caught between her mortal lover Brian and the demon she lusts for, Lugh, it’s going to take everything she has to keep her head—and heart—in the game.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  A Dell Mass Market Original

  Copyright © 2009 by Jenna Black

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Dell, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  DELL is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

  eISBN: 978-0-440-33865-9

  www.bantamdell.com

  v3.0