“Sandranella,” the white-haired demoness said, and the name pinged through Astaroth’s head, nudging at buried memories. She nodded at Calladia but didn’t shake her hand.
Calladia twined her fingers through the yarn again. A subtle threat, should Sandranella be familiar enough with the knots some witches used to cast spells. “So, why’d you send bounty hunters after us?” she asked, blunt as ever.
“It’s one of my love languages, obviously,” Lilith said.
“That and abductions,” Sandranella pointed out with a smirk.
“He has a phone,” Calladia said. “You could have called.”
Lilith waved her hand. “What’s the fun in that?”
Sandranella turned her attention to Astaroth. “Is this human a . . . ?” She trailed off, jerking her head in Calladia’s direction.
Astaroth wasn’t sure what she was asking. “A what?”
“You may have been banished,” she said, “but knowing you, you haven’t stopped working.”
“Oh!” Now Astaroth understood her meaning. “No, we haven’t made a bargain. In fact, we’re . . .” It was his turn to trail off as he debated how to describe Calladia. His ally? His enemy? Some odd combination of the two?
The woman whom he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes, thoughts, or hands off?
“They’re banging,” Lilith announced. “Astaroth has been dipping his quill in mortal ink again. Isn’t that right, dear?”
Calladia and Astaroth winced in unison.
Sandranella looked taken aback. “Have you?” she asked Astaroth. “One would think you’d have better things to focus on, such as plotting Moloch’s downfall and regaining your position.”
Astaroth shrugged. “I can multitask.”
Calladia shot him a withering glance before turning her attention to the two women. “We aren’t banging. I’m accompanying him on a quest.”
“Ooh, a quest.” Lilith’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “Love a good quest. What are you hunting?”
“The secret to taking down Moloch,” Calladia said. “And—” She snapped her mouth shut, apparently realizing she’d nearly given away his amnesia.
Bollocks, Astaroth thought. His mum wasn’t likely to skim over that juicy clue.
Sure enough, Lilith pounced on the information. “And what?” she asked. “A legendary weapon? A dragon’s heart? Those are tasty,” she informed Sandranella in an aside, “and they can be a potent aphrodisiac. Just ask Henry VI. After he rode one into battle, he carved out its heart and ate it, praying for victory.”
“Uh, what?” Calladia asked. “Dragons stopped being used as war weapons in the 1400s because they were becoming endangered.”
“Lilith,” the other demoness said gently, “was that perhaps something you read in a fanfic?”
Lilith’s brow furrowed. “The dragon heart? I’m sure that was canon. Right before that tentacle monster stumbled upon him.” She cackled. “Or oozed onto him, rather. Slurped up to him? Smacked sucker-marks into his ass?”
Sandranella winced. “Definitely fanfic. I don’t think I’ll ever recover after reading that link you sent me.” She gave Astaroth a sympathetic look. “I heard she forced you to beta read her latest explicit fic on AO3. My condolences.”
Astaroth wasn’t sure what in Lucifer’s name they were talking about, so he grunted.
“Anyway,” Sandranella continued, “what’s this about searching for the secret to take down Moloch? You told me you were working on a scheme.”
“Did I?” he asked, then quickly revised the sentiment. “Ah, yes. I did.” A long pause. “Remind me which details I shared with you?”
Sandranella pursed her lips, looking disapproving. “You wouldn’t tell me. You said you wanted an airtight case before confronting him at the high council.”
Astaroth mentally kicked his past self for being so secretive. “Quite right,” he said, forcing a laugh. “I was just testing you.”
Sandranella gave him an odd look. “What did that spell do to you?”
“Erm . . .” Astaroth met Calladia’s gaze. He widened his eyes, silently begging her to jump in.
“What spell?” Calladia asked, thankfully drawing Sandranella’s attention away from him. “I’m not up to speed on the particulars of his banishment.”
“Why do you need to know?” Sandranella’s tone wasn’t mean, just matter-of-fact. “This is demon business.”