Dancing with Monsters

I feel like I have been behind on absolutely everything since I discovered my mates killed in the jungle. And no, I will not be getting over that any time soon, thank you very much.

I wanted to be a baby and just ask the world to stop spinning long enough for me to pull myself together, and a week of sex should have done that. But all it seemed to make me was stupid.

Taking in a deep breath, I crossed my hand on top of the file folder that Sasha brought me and started at my mate. "Is that all?" I asked. I had a crap ton of things on my plate that I had no idea how to get started on solving, and my mate decided to throw this in my lap.

Okay then.

"And you, big brother?" I asked, the sarcastic name coming off my lips a bit too easily. He might be my mate, but for hundreds of years, he was nothing more than my big brother. However, since he didn't actually tell me that I was his mate, then he could get used to my way of addressing him.

"Cranky now, Butterfly?" chuckled Nicholas as if he could read my mind. I knew better, though. My face came with subtitles and I was pretty sure I knew the two words written on my forehead at the moment.

"Yes, so tell me what you want and why you are here, and then you can take Viktor and go do whatever it is that you do during the day," I shrugged. I hated being weak, but at the same time, I hated being a badass bitch. So, until I could figure out a happy medium between the two, they were going to have to deal with a cranky mate.

"Actually, I am the same as Viktor," with an ear-piercing whistle, Nicholas summoned one of his subordinates. Unlike Sasha, he simply handed me an envelope with a single piece of paper in it. "Bow to your Queen, Eric."

The demon guard looked at me, his face utterly expressionless as he placed his fist over his heart and bent down on one knee. "My Queen," he murmured, his voice surprisingly soft given his looks and the fact that he was a demon.

"Rise," I said, my back straight as I raised my hand up. "You are dismissed."

"Thank you, my Queen," bowed the demon again before he left my office. From the corner of my eye, I could see Nicholas with a satisfied smirk on his face, but before he could open his mouth, I stopped him with a single look.

Pulling the paper out of the envelope, I read through the five lines. And then read through it again, and again, and a fourth time. However, no matter how many times I have read it, I had no idea what it means.

"It says here that you are abdicating your throne in Hell as well as the title of Head of House Diavd to me, effectively immediately," I said, reading the gist of the letter out loud. Quickly flipping the page over, expecting to see something else, anything else, I was oddly impassive when there was nothing there.

"Exactly," grunted Nicholas, a pleased smile on his face. "There is no longer a King of Hell, but a Queen. And as such, you automatically take control over every last demon from the House Diavd. Congratulations, Butterfly. You more than deserve this."

Gliding my tongue over my teeth, I gently placed the paper down on top of all the information that Viktor had given me and stared at both men.

"So, let me get this straight. You get a mate, me, and then you decide… fuck everything? Let her handle all the shit, and I can just go tan on a beach somewhere?" I hissed, fighting to keep my voice at an octave that wouldn't break glass. "Was that your grand plan?"

Both monsters looked at me wide-eyed, like me not being happy that I had to do all their shit on top of my own, which, by the way, I was drowning under, was something that they never even considered.

A knock on the door wasn't enough to break my stare as Nicholas and Viktor sat up, the smiles and smirks long gone.

"You may enter," called out Sasha, who was now standing behind me. I guess my desk was the line in the sand, and he was not about to risk pissing me off.

Smart man.

Michael, Dementyev, Levi, and Greyson all walked into the room. Well, that wasn't strictly accurate. Michael walked into the room first, a bright smile on his face, before realizing that shit was hitting the fan.

My angel stopped so suddenly that it was almost comical how Dementyev and the rest bumped into to his back.

"I take it this is a bad time?" asked Michael softly as he looked directly at me. It was almost as if he thought that if he paid any attention to his friends, I would take out my rage on him.

Well, he wasn't too far off.

"I don't know," I said slowly, turning so that he was getting my complete, undivided attention. "Are you all of a sudden going to decide that now would be a good time to retire and put me in charge of your House?"

Dom let out a low whistle as he held up his hands. "I'm not the Head of my House," he assured me. "There is still my Father, and since he is a complete dick, I don't see him giving you House Skinwalker any time soon."

"Besides the point," I chuckled, looking over at him. "You were officially entered into my House long before our mating. That means you don't have a House to hand over… same as Levi and Greyson."

"Does that mean we aren't on her shit list?" asked Greyson, leaning over to speak softly to Dom.

"That means you aren't on my shit list," I assured him. With a shrug of his shoulders Greyson walked over to where I was sitting and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

"In that case," he started as he straightened up to stand beside Sasha. "I am going to stand here and keep my mouth shut."