"TJ, come here!" Kieran calls.

The man turns around and I get my first glance at his face—he's gorgeous and tall with deep brown skin and a shaved head. His button-up shirt and slacks are a bit more formal than I'd expect someone to wear in a place like this.

He pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head.

"Sir," he grumbles. He steps to me and extends his hand. "Trazajon."

"Dude, I keep telling you that's a terrible name," Kieran says, leaning against the bar. "I call him TJ."

"Yes," he says with a flat expression. "He does."

"I'm Sam," I say, shaking his hand.

"Teej," Kieran says, "I told Sam you'd go over everything you knew about our rogue demon friend."

"Sure," he says, sitting down beside me. "Care to tell me why you were getting into yet another fight with human males?"

"I wasn't getting into a fight. I was just giving him some helpful critiques of his pickup strategy and he wasn't a fan."

"Hmm," TJ says with furrowed brows. "Who wouldn't appreciate seduction tips from an Incubus? And the King, no less?"

"Him, apparently."

"That was mean," I say, shaking my head.

"Come on. You're telling me that guy had a chance of walking away with your number or taking you home tonight?"

"I... Well, no, but-... It's not like you're the master of getting a girl's number or something."

"Sammy, babe... I promise you, I am."

"Oh, you're so conceited."

"It's not conceited if it's the truth."

I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"So, anyway," TJ says, pulling out his phone and looking it over. "You wanted to know more about the traitor?"

"Traitor?" I ask.

"Your former boyfriend is a traitor to the crown, in multiple ways."

"The crown?"

TJ looks over at Kieran with clear annoyance at my question. He's definitely thinking I'm an idiot.

"The position of King is a high honor. Only 8 beings in all of time have ever held the position of Demon King, and only one has ever taken the mantle from another."

"That one being...?"

Kieran flutters his fingers in a wave and winks.

"Oh wow."

"TJ here is part of the old guard," he says. "Some of Asmodeus's men were loyal to him, but a few of them chose me."

"Some demons believe, wrongly, that their loyalty should belong to Asmodeus as the first King. I am loyal to the crown, always and forever. It has very little meaning to me who has the crown or how they acquired it. The powers of the Demon King chose Kieran Khatri. He is the indisputable rightful King." TJ says. "As they say—The king is dead; long live the king."

"So he's the King of Lust. The others are, what? Are they like opposites? Is there a king of celibacy or something?"

TJ smirks and shakes his head.

"She's funny," he says to Kieran.

It's kind of rude the way he's talking about me right in front of my face, but he's saying something nice so I guess it could be worse.

"No, there's no king of celibacy," Kieran says. "You know the seven deadly sins? Sloth, wrath, envy, pride, greed... That came from these guys. They were the original demons—but infinitely stronger, more powerful. Also pretty major assholes. They created all other demons as their armies of sorts."

"Legions," TJ says. "The demons that they've created are called their legions."

"So they can like... go to war against the other demons?" I ask.

"It's more like a mutually assured destruction thing." Kieran shrugs and leans against the bar. "Nobody has ever gone to war, mostly because everyone knows they'd destroy each other and probably the earth along with them."

That's not horrifying at all.

"TJ was part of Asmodeus's inner legion. Basically a higher-up in the rankings."

"Like a cabinet," TJ says.

"How is it like a cabinet? You mean like, they're up high and hard to reach sometimes?"

TJ closes his eyes and shakes his head. I giggle slightly at his frustration.

"Not a kitchen cabinet. A governmental cabinet. We were personally chosen by Asmodeus for our strengths and our enduring commitment to the King."

"Ohh, yeah like that."

"I guess I understand," I say. "So you're helping Kieran track down Victor?"

"Of course. He has violated the laws and he will suffer the consequences."

I'm still unclear on what those consequences will be, but it seemed that death was on the table at some point and I doubt that has changed.

"Were you able to find anything?"

He nods and pulls out his phone, tapping at it a moment before he starts to read aloud.

"Victor Romero, 87, turned about 57 years ago."

"His full name is Victor Romero?" Kieran asks. "And you didn't suspect he was a demon? If that's not a bad guy name, I don't know what is."

He says it with a playful tone and a laugh, but it still hits a sore spot.

He's right—I should have seen it coming. I should have known something, sensed something.

"Oh, Doll." Kieran's voice softens as his expression shifts to one of pity. "I didn't mean that, you know. I was just joking. You couldn't have possibly known."

"Couldn't I?" I ask.

"You had no reason to believe demons existed, let alone that he was one."

"It's not just that. I didn't know he was violent, I didn't know he was cheating, I didn't know he was lying—I was in the dark about our entire relationship. How can I trust anything I think or feel about someone if I could be this wrong about someone I thought I loved?"

He chews his lip like he's looking for the right thing to say.

"Victor Romero," TJ continues. "He has been in the San Francisco area, but our network has lost the trail. Pretty sure he knows we're looking for him. Unfortunately, because of his past, I think he knows a lot of our usual tricks."

"Wait, what do you mean 'his past'?" Kieran asks, leaning his elbows on the bar.

"Well he was part of the inner legion. He worked for Asmodeus."

Kieran's eyes widen and he steps backward, like it's a revelation.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"He used to do Asmodeus's personal bidding. I don't know much of the details, other than what the records tell me."

"What do the records say?"

"Just that he went off-path, defied an order from the King, and no one was able to locate him after that."

"What order? And why did he defy it?"

"I don't know, honestly. Asmodeus always kept the details to himself; he only told us what we needed to know to get the job done. He certainly didn't tell us what he assigned the others to do. But usually it involved killing or kidnapping someone."

"Ahh shit..." Kieran curses under his breath.

"What? Is it bad?"

"No," he says. "I just need my phone and it must've fallen out of my pocket."

"Oh, uh..." I look around for a moment and he does too. TJ just rolls his eyes and huffs.

"Could I borrow yours for a sec to call it?"

I nod and pull mine out. I unlock it and I hand it over. After a moment, we hear a vibrating and a quiet ringtone. Kieran hands me back my phone and produces his from his back pocket.

"Wait, it was in your pocket this whole time?"

He taps on his phone for a moment, then turns the screen around to show me. He's saved my number as a new contact.

"Told you, baby. I'm the King." He smirks and I shoot him a glare.

"Hilarious," I grumble. I look at TJ again to resume our conversation. "So you said he didn't follow his order, and this order was probably killing or kidnapping?"

TJ nods.

"When did all this go down?" Kieran asks with knitted brows.

"Around January of last year, he went from teacher's pet to problem child."

"January of last year..." I mumble, mulling it over. "That doesn't make sense."

"Why?" TJ tilts his head.

"Because I met Vic in January. That's when we started dating."

TJ's mouth parts slightly and his eyes widen.

"That's not good," Kieran mumbles.

"Are you messing with me again?" I ask.

"No, I swear." He bites his lip and I can tell he's serious by his overall change in demeanor. "You met Vic the same time he went AWOL...That can't be a coincidence."

An uneasy feeling washes over me.

"If it's not a coincidence, then what is it?"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" TJ asks, turning to Kieran.

"Fuck," Kieran says under his breath. "It's the only thing that makes sense."

"What's the only thing that makes sense? Somebody clue me in here, please."

"He met you around the time he was supposed to be carrying out a mission for Asmodeus, then he disappears and starts dating you." He cringes and rubs his forehead. "You were the mission."

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A/N: Thank you for reading, commenting, and voting! I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season, however you celebrate! ☃️🕯️🎄