Page 75 of King’s Kismet

Possibly two, because I couldn’t hear anyone but us…

I had questions, though I could answer them on my own after some snooping.

Beyond the double doors, the main hall led to several more. They set up the doors reminded of the mansion in Tennessee. However, the hallways seemed much shorter than the rest that we had traveled down.

The palace was one gigantic puzzle of interconnected corridors that made one massive circle unless you knew how to escape. Lilith had restructured her home after several invasions. But all that was before the magical barrier had been put in place around the Underworld to protect its inhabitants.

When Sloane wandered away, it was clear these updated portions were still fashioned to be a part of the maze.

She walked down the hall, opening door after door, though she closed some of them. The clicks of locks and twists of knobs echoed down the corridors as we waited. When Sloane reappeared from around the corner, she looked confused. Or maybe she was just tired.

“I left the doors to your rooms open,” she announced, nodding her head in the direction we had just seen her return from.

I peeked around the first open door, finding Vaughn’s ultra neat, monotone space. “They’re the same rooms from home?”

“Mmm,” she agreed. “I asked Franklin to have the doorways spelled. You can pick a different room if you don’t like it, but I like the comfort of my own bed. The doorway here will always lead from the rooms to Hell and back. You can’t actually roam the rest of the house.”

York sighed. “I’m too tired to understand that.”

“All you need to know is if you walk that way,” she pointed straight, “and take all the right hand turns, it leads to the kitchen. Take the left hand turns to come back. If you go the other way, that takes you to Jack’s side.”

Palmer shook his head at her, struggling to hold his eyes open. “What?”

“It’s not important. I’ll explain it again tomorrow if I need to.” She waved her explanation away as she grabbed mine and Briggs’ hands. “We’ll be this way if you need us.”

Sloane dragged us down the hall, into her room, and I kicked the door closed behind me. Briggs narrowed his eyes, watching her with suspicion. She snorted at him as she held her hands up in mock-surrender.

“Cuddles, Wolf,” my kitten placated. “That’s all I want tonight, and you looked like you’d be up for that.”

“Yeah, okay,” he rumbled, then clarified, “Just cuddling.”

She giggled at Briggs, provoking his grumbling behavior as she stripped from her clothes and wandered toward her bathroom. “You can be the pillow. Stone can be the blanket.”

As soon as Sloane turned the water on, I grinned at Briggs. “You gave in awfully quick.”

“Don’t start,” he warned, giving me a pointed look.

“You really want to cuddle with us,” I teased. “Should we put you in the middle?”

The wolf rubbed his forehead with his middle finger, exasperated and exhausted. “I don’t want to cuddle with anyone.”

“Liar,” I whispered, provoking him in hopes of pushing them closer together.

“How is that a lie?” he asked defensively. “I’m not a cuddler.”

I snorted. “Drunk Briggs will cuddle with anyone who doesn’t lock their bedroom door.”

He glowered at me. “Drunk Briggs and sober Briggs are two different people. And I’m not drunk.”

“So don’t make it awkward?” I held my hands up. “Got it. I won’t be the big spoon this time.”

Briggs groaned as he glared at the ceiling.

“She flashing you images again?” I inquired, struggling to hide the smile on my face.

“She’s trying to kill me.”

“With what?” I scoffed. “Don’t be greedy. Show me.”