The Devil's Playground Read Free

hang out with Adam, one of Lugh’s chief lieutenants, and with Raphael, one of his brothers. And yet you’re a human exorcist.” I think despite her usual mercenary sangfroid, Shae was actually dying of curiosity, above and beyond whatever advantage she could take out of figuring out my relationship with Lugh. “Your involvement makes no sense. Explain to me exactly what your role is, and I’ll tell you what I know.”
    Since my role was as host to the demon king, and since Dougal would burn me at the stake—thus killing his brother so the throne could pass to him—if he found out, this wasn’t information I could divulge. I shook my head.
    “I could have sworn I’d already said no to that,” I said with a false smile. “I hear the third time’s the charm.”
    Shae stopped tapping her nail, and I think that signaled an end to her uncertainty. “I have information that is important to anyone who supports Lugh and some of his more radical plans for change. I don’t plan to share that information with you unless you tell me what your involvement is with Lugh. That’s my price. Take it or leave it.”
    So much for the give-and-take of negotiations. I gritted my teeth as I leaned back in my chair and wondered what to do. On the one hand, the bait Shae was dangling in front of my nose was pretty tempting. On the other hand, the price she was demanding was pretty steep.
Too
steep. Shae already knew that Tommy Brewster was Raphael’s host, which, considering Raphaelhad betrayed Dougal and was on his hit list, was a terrible risk. Raphael was confident his fearsome reputation would keep Shae from telling anyone who was hosting him, but I couldn’t see taking the same risk with Lugh.
    Any ideas, Lugh?
    Once upon a time, I’d only been able to communicate with Lugh through dreams, but the barriers between my mind and his were considerably thinner now than they had once been, and I could converse with him silently while I was awake.
    You can tell her the truth without telling her the
whole
truth
, he suggested.
It’s common knowledge amongst Dougal’s henchmen that you were once my host, but it’ll be news to Shae
.
    That was true. For a while, Raphael had been something of a double agent, pretending to support Dougal in his attempted coup while remaining loyal to Lugh. During that time, he’d fed Dougal the story that I had been coerced into summoning Lugh, but that Lugh had taken a new host in an attempt to escape the assassins Dougal had sent after him.
    I’m a really shitty liar, but I hoped Shae would attribute any awkwardness in my delivery to my discomfort over revealing delicate information. Bracing myself as if for battle, I sat up straight and looked Shae in the eye.
    “I was Lugh’s host when he first came to the Mortal Plain.”
    Shae’s eyes dilated with an almost sexual excitement at that news. “Well, well,” she said, licking her lips, “that explains a lot. Fascinating.”
    I refrained from informing her that Dougal already knew this. The more forbidden she thought the knowledge was, the more it would buy me.
    “Okay, I answered your question. Now it’s your turn. What is this mysterious information that’s so important to Lugh’s cause?”
    I was pretty sure Shae was giving serious consideration to trying to pry more out of me, so I put on my most implacable expression, just to let her know it wouldn’t work. The corner of her mouth twitched, and I didn’t know if it was a hint of a smile or a grimace of disappointment.
    “I would be more inclined to talk if I knew for certain that my information would make its way to Lugh’s ears.”
    Curiosity stopped the instant refusal that had sprung to my lips. “Why do you care if Lugh hears it?”
    “Because if he finds his way back to the throne, he will make possession of an unwilling host a crime in the Demon Realm, which it currently is not.”
    Interesting that Shae would volunteer that bit of information. The demons didn’t exactly