A soft snort of annoyance caught her attention, and Luna looked up.

The man was tall and lean, and a fierce intellect gleamed in grey eyes.

His eyes beneath their thick, dark brows were his most compelling feature.

Their luminous depths seem to shift from grey to silver and then back again depending on the light.

He also had the most exquisite face, sculpted jaw and cheekbones, and a full mouth.

His tousled hair was such a deep, velvety brown that she nearly mistook it for black.

He wasn’t human.

His pale skin was too flawless, his motions too smooth and controlled.

Luna’s skin prickled with a sense of wrongness.

The man had his arms crossed and was watching her.

“This isn’t where I am supposed to be. As much as I would have liked to see an almost naked woman in my line of sight, I prefer my naked woman in my bed in a white shift, not bruised and crouching in the dirt.” His silver eyes locked with hers, and Luna shivered at the intensity in them. “What is your name, my lady?”

“I am Luna, my lord.” She answered, her lips trembling, as she turned to him. “What about you?”

“I am not usually in a position to introduce myself.” He looked away from her and shook his head in amusement. “My face alone would have given it away, but if you insist you don’t know who I am, I used to be a fallen angel before. Now I am one of the seven Princes ruling Hell, the Archdemon of Lust.”

Luna opened her mouth as if she was about to say something offensive but decided against it. She watched him warily instead, “Then what are you doing here, my lord—err—I mean, I don’t know what to call you. What is a Prince of Hell like you doing here?”

“I have been asking that a lot lately. You don’t look like a demon, and you have a vampire companion.” His silver eyes snapped back into hers. ” I’m not in Hell right now. How about you? What are you doing here?”

“I said, who are you talking to?” Luna jolted out of a fascinating conversation when Jon demanded as he threw his arms in exasperation.

“No one,” Luna answered Jon, and she wished he would stop interrupting.

“I have to know, or we will be in much more danger.” Jon looks concerned, but in the blink of an eye, he froze.

He was frozen. He wasn’t moving at all.

Luna furrowed her brows in confusion as she approached Jon.

He was petrified as if he had seen Medusa, but thankfully, she can still move.

Even the Prince of Hell was not affected by this magic.

Luna reached out to touch Jon’s face. She almost screamed when a whole bursting with white light materialized, and her hand was almost sucked into it.

She pulled her hand back in a panic until she landed ungraciously on her butt.

She exhaled an anxious breath.

What the goddess was that?

Luna drove her fingers through her long hair and stared at the puzzle in front of her.

“Demon,” Luna asked nervously. “What did you do to him?”

“He was annoying you, this vampire. ” He frowned in thought as he strode carefully towards them. “I have this uncontrollable urge to kill him. Should I do the honour?”

“No. No. Don’t.” Luna stood between Jon and the Prince of Hell in case he was going to do something bad. “He’s an important person. He’s the right-hand man of the Vampire King. You shouldn’t.”

“Hmm. Vampire King, you say? Oh, how stupid of me not to notice.”

The Prince of Hell noticed Hecate’s grimoire in the open pack she was carrying, and he laughed hysterically as if it was some inside joke.

Luna felt a sudden fear as sweat trickled down her spine.

His crazed silver eyes were hard to miss. “Perhaps, you’re the recruit in this High Priestess initiation. Well, too bad, you summoned the wrong creature.”

Luna exclaimed, covering her mouth with a hand. “What? I didn’t summon you.”

“You just summoned me, girl.” The Prince of Hell said drily, then he added, “Your voice is familiar. Your cry for help is not something I can’t ignore entirely, and I’m not too fond of it. You must have been desperate.”

“Then, are you here to help me? “Luna asked nervously.

She was looking for a flaw, something logical that would make the situation seem a little less dire. “You said I summoned you. Are you familiar then? Am I your new master?”

“I admire your boldness for considering an Archdemon of Hell to be your servant who would do anything you wanted and fulfil your wishes.”

The Prince of Hell jerked her around to the far side of him and pushed her backward along the ledge.

Her knees were trembling so badly that she had to reach out and rest a hand on his shoulder, or else she would topple off the edge.

The fallen angel’s hands circled her waist, and she willingly let him pull me closer so that she could regain her balance.

“But you forgot this simple fact that I kill anyone who would attempt to summon me. You’re just a little girl. You are an easy target. I will kill you just like I did to the others.” The Prince of Hell looked her up and down with that cynical smile of his. “Time to accept that you will die tonight.”

“Stop.” Luna crossed her arms and scowled. “I will never seek to control anyone, much less the Prince of Hell. I didn’t summon you, okay?”

“You didn’t summon me intentionally? “The Prince of Hell raised a perfectly-shaped eyebrow as he demanded in a loud whisper. “Now that’s something new. It’s not like I came in my own free will.”

“Just help me get out of here, and I will never have to bother you again.” Luna wiped a weary hand across her face. ” For as long as I shall live.”

“I am furious right now, summoner. ” The Prince of Hell’s hands balled up, and his teeth clenched from the fury emanating from him. “I already told you I am not your slave. Should I let him kill you instead?”