Chapter 69

Chris gaped at his dad and blurted, "Me? You want me to rule over Hell?"

Of course, that wasn't how the conversation had started. It began with, "Dirty peeping motherfucker," when Chris noticed the old goat at the foot of the bed, leering at him and Isobel.

No knock, because that would imply manners.

No warning, because that was how the Devil rolled.

"Is that lazy wife of yours still sleeping?" his dad asked.

"She's in a coma, asshole."

"Then wake her up. Give the girl a kiss. Or you could take a page from that delightfully decadent set of books Anne Rice wrote and try something a little kinkier."

"I am not molesting my wife while she's unconscious." Although he did find himself stroking her cheek more than once. It stunned him still to realize that he'd almost lost her.

Only Isobel, her mother, and her grandfather had survived. Of the dignitaries who'd promised him an army? All dead. Even the servants had croaked.