52

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I make my way down the main hall as quietly as I can, ducking into the shadows at the slightest noise. I may be raging out of my mind, but I'm still in Leyna's disgusting body. No demon will know I'm really their queen and may question why a simple succubus is wandering the main hall unaided. That bitch knew exactly what she was doing: switching bodies with me gave her all the power she wanted and left me to navigate a demonic world alone.

I that woman.

I continue to skittishly walk down the hall, determined to stop her from taking over my life. Knowing Leyna, once she solidifies her new bond with Lucifer, she'll make up some stupid excuse to have me killed. I'll never bother her again and she'll have my husband all to herself without him ever finding out. She's an evil bitch, but a crafty one.

There's a sudden burst of noises behind me, signaling a new flood of demons entering the hall. I panic and dart to the side, squeezing into an enormous crack in the wall so I can hide. I stay completely still, hoping that no one will notice. Seconds later the hall fills with demons, all of them caught up in their own lives and oblivious to the world around them. Thankfully, I've squeezed myself far enough into the crack that I'm completely hidden by the shadows and out of sight. I'm safe for now. I just have to wait until the crowd dissipates and I can move on.

I watch the crowd silently, waiting impatiently for them to leave. After three minutes the hall's still jammed and I'm getting antsy. The longer I wait here, the closer Leyna gets to stealing my husband away. I shift on my feet, anxious to get out of thus crack and rip that woman's head off.

A soft tap on my shoulder nearly breaks my vow of silence. I spin around and stare into the darkness, barely able to slap my hand over my mouth in time to stifle my scream. The sconces out in the hall cast a few flickering strands on light into my hiding place, illuminating an enormous bisected abdomen and eight long, slender legs dangling above me in the shadows.

I nearly faint. I hate, absolutely spiders. They're disgusting, evil creatures that bite and crawl uninvited around my house. And now, there's one the size of a Volkswagen Bug hanging a few feet above me. This Hell.

"Easy now." A deep, rumbling voice cascades down from the creature. "Believe me, my dear, the last thing I want is to harm you."

Slowly, the eight legs start to move, crawling down the wall and carrying the spider's massive bulk with them. As it descends, I can see startling patterns of red, blue, green and gold hair swirling around the abdomen. They're quite beautiful, but I shake my head and remind myself that this thing is still a spider. Pretty as it is, it's still horrifying.

Finally, it crawls down the last few feet of the wall and turns to stare at me. Eight black eyes pierce through the darkness and watch me. A monstrous mouth with dozens of toothed parts move silently, and thin lines of saliva drip from two main fangs. My stomach twists itself so tight it almost bursts, and I let out a soft whimper.

The spider raises one thing leg towards me. "Easy. I've told you I mean now harm, Amelia."

The mention of my names stops my cycle of fear. How does it know Amelia and not Leyna?

"How...how do you-" my voice is shaky, but slightly relieved. Not everyone is fooled.

There's a glimmer of a smile inside its eyes. "I saw the cause of your current misfortune. Luckily for you, I was crawling across the ceiling at the time of your argument with Lenya. I watched her switch forms with you and run off, while you remained unconscious on the floor. Had I been able to move faster, I would have taken you back to my children until we could decide what to do."

Relief washes over my entire body. This spider, disgusting as it may be, is a witness to my predicament. I force down most of my fear, determined to have it help me. It may be the only hope I have of getting my body back and saving my husband.

I swallow loudly and clear my throat. "And you would be..."

The spider laughs. "Oh, of course. Forgive me. That was very rude of me not to introduce myself to the queen. I am Kerion."

!

Another bubble of relief rushes through me. Claire's friend, thank God! He's a spider, but a good one that's helped out another human before me. I'm definitely safe with this arachnid.

I let out a soft sigh. "Thank God."

"You're quite smart to have hid in here. If anyone had seen you, they'd have sent you back to the harems."

I nod. "I didn't anyone seeing me. I need to find Leyna and kill her."

Kerion nods. "I understand. Truth be told, you're not the first person in hell to want her gone. That woman has been a thorn in nearly everyone's side."

I cock my head, staring at him. "So why haven't they gotten rid of her."

He sighs. "She's a wily one. Once she wants something, there's almost no stopping her. You're also not the first person she's switched bodes with to get out of a tight spot."

I give a disgusted sigh. "So she's been a super-bitch from the get-go."

"Yes. She's always had a difficult time understanding where her station is. She's too ambitious for her own good."

I steal a glance towards the hall. It's still packed, and I start to worry she's sleeping with my Lucifer as we speak.

"What if she's already got him?" I wonder quietly.

"She won't. Lucifer will be in meetings all day. We have a few hours to recruit help and get you back to normal."

I look back at Kerion. "But what if she gets to him before we can?"

"The good thing about Leyna is that she's a terrible actress. Lucifer may fall for her act of playing you for a few days, but she can't hold it for long. After three or four days, he'll notice the woman he's married to is acting strangely and investigate why."

I stare at him. "She can't hold a character?"

Kerion shakes his massive head. "Leyna's too self-centered and lazy to keep up an act for long. Besides, playing you will mean she'll have to change her entire attitude and pretend she cares about someone other than herself. A few days of that and she'll be barking orders like she always does. At that point, Lucifer will know something is wrong."

That makes me feel a little better, but not enough to erase every fear I have. "What if, in the few days she play him over, she orders my execution? She's walking around in skin. There's nothing stopping her from trying to get rid of me once and for all."

Kerion laughs again. "Smart girl, but you have nothing to worry about. While we are a ruthless bunch who live in a ruthless world, we have a few bureaucratic roadblocks to jump over for anything drastic to be done."

"Meaning?" My anxiety -- a happier, less frightened type -- sparks up again.

"If Leyna were to order your execution to keep you out of the way, the decision would have to go through the Counsil first. Leyna's track record would have to include some very grievous charges to allow her execution. Although most find her annoying and snake-like, Leyna hasn't done nearly enough to warrant her death. That, and the process takes a minimum of a week to be cleared. By that time, Lucifer will have noticed his queen isn't completely normal and we will have had plenty of time to recruit help."

I nearly collapse from relief. Even if she wanted to, Leyna couldn't just order me dead and move on. She'd have jump through a few flaming hoops first, and that would give Lucifer enough time to notice the flaws in her plan and allow me to seek him out and explain what happened.