Extraits

He shifted as soon as he stepped out of the portal this time. He wasn’t sure where he was, but it looked like a parking lot where humans left those weird car thingies. The portal had taken him straight to Riley, and Satan looked around until he found him. Riley was walking into a building, so Satan followed him.

He froze as soon as he stepped inside.

What was this place? There were shelves everywhere with stuff stacked on it, and people walked around pushing a tall cart with small wheels. They put some of the stuff from the shelves into their cart and walked on.

He finally understood when he recognized some of the fruit and vegetables exposed. Was this what people called a grocery store? It had to be.

Maybe he should have made a point of regularly visiting the human world more often. He wanted to see everything in the store, but he had to stick with Riley, and he’d already managed to lose him and Zoe, damn it.

Satan walked in, hoping he looked like he knew what he was doing. He didn’t take a cart but rather one of those tiny baskets, then he looked around for Riley while grabbing things from the shelves and dumping them into the basket. It wouldn’t do for people to notice him because he wasn’t buying anything.

He was so busy trying to find Riley that he bumped into a cart as he turned a corner. He glared down, his brain freezing when he found himself looking at Zoe.

She was blonde and still wearing her braids, and she was sucking on a lollipop. She didn’t seem afraid, but it still took Satan a second to remember he was in his human form.

“Uh, hi,” he said. How did people start talking to strangers? The only times Satan did it was with the new arrivals in Hell, and he usually yelled at them.

“Zoe!” a man snapped.

Satan wasn’t surprised to see it was Riley.

He swallowed and took a step back. He didn’t want Riley to think he was planning to hurt his daughter or anything. “Hello,” he said.

Riley pushed Zoe behind him and looked at Satan suspiciously. “What did you need from my daughter?”

“Oh, nothing. I was just about to apologize for bumping into your cart.”

Riley’s expression smoothed out. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“No need to be. I understand humans are protective of their young.”

Riley blinked. “I guess we are.”

Wasn’t that right? Had Satan said something weird? He sucked at this, dammit. Maybe he should have called one of his brothers after all. Gabriel would know what to do, and he wouldn’t hold it over Satan the way Michael would—probably.

He peeked into the cart. “You’re buying decorations?” They had to be. All the objects looked like shiny balls.

“We need to put them up for Christmas,” Zoe said. “What about you? What are you buying?”

“Zoe,” Riley warned, but she was already looking into Satan’s basket, and he had no clue what he’d put into it.

He rubbed the back of his head and looked, too. “Uh, things for dinner.”

Zoe held up a purple and white package. “What’s that?”

Satan had no idea, and he could have kissed Riley for gently pulling Zoe away. “You can’t go look around in people’s baskets, Zoe.”

“Why not? He looked into our cart.”

Satan cleared his throat. “And I apologize for that, too. I’m—I’m new in the neighborhood, and I’m a little lost. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” That was a good excuse, right?

Riley smiled. “I see. Welcome, then.”

He hesitated. “Do you need help finding your way around here?”

“That would be great.” And hopefully, it would help Satan find out what he could do for Riley.

Riley’s smile widened, and he offered Satan his hand. “I’m Riley, and as you already heard, this is Zoe.”

Satan took his hand and gently shook. “I’m Sa—” Wait. He couldn’t say his name was Satan. No one called their son Satan—except Satan’s father, of course.

“Sa?” Riley asked.

“Uh, Sam. Sam. I’m Sam.”

“Glad to meet you, Sam.” Riley dropped his hand, and Satan wanted to take it back.