Dark Forsaken (The Devil's Assistant Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

situation downtown. You need to handle it.”
    I raised one of my eyebrows. By downtown, he meant Underworld. How the hell he thought I could reign in anything down there was beyond me. “Fine. Let me pop over to my realm. I’ll get some reinforcements and sort it all out.”
    Mab snorted. “You must replace the curator before you can return. Those are the rules.”
    Of course they were, and I was sure they’d find another excuse to keep me from my realm after I replaced the curator. For now, I had to pretend I believed them. “Then how do you expect me to fix the problem?”
    Harry, more relaxed now, said, “You’re the leader of the fourth realm. They will follow your directive.”
    I wanted to laugh. Was he serious? I could barely toss two fireballs before I was spent and it was only getting worse the longer I was outside of my realm. “What about your boys? Aren’t they supposed to be the police down there?” I’d always considered the Underworld mob—all druids—to be anything but police, but, officially, it was their role.
    Harry bristled a bit. Somewhat condescendingly he said, “It’s your responsibility, but if—”
    “No,” The Boss cut in. “She’ll handle it. We agreed.”
    I didn’t like the way that sounded. When had they agreed? And how big was this problem?
    Mab fired back in Ancient. “We agreed she’d get her chance, but I won’t wait forever. Underworld could fall if things deteriorate further.”
    Holy hell. What was going on down there?
    Harry actually rolled his eyes. Did that mean Mab was being overly dramatic? Not that I’d put it past her, but why? It wasn’t like she’d said it in English.
    “Enough,” The Boss said in English. Looking at me, he said, “You’ll sort out a small issue with Sage, and then get the quads to assist in the cleanup.”
    “Cleanup? What exactly is going on down there?”
    The Boss’s lips flattened into a straight line. “Some factions are trying to displace existing residents. It needs to stop.”
    I narrowed my eyes. “Factions? Displaced residents? That’s the situation? What are the fallen doing, booting the others out of their homes?” I asked sarcastically.
    The Boss started to speak, but Mab answered instead. “You need to get your people in line, or I’ll do it for you.”
    Harry cleared his throat. “ My boys will investigate if it continues. There will be consequences if that happens.”
    Oh, joy . I imagined payoffs and protection money, huge fines that would need to be paid by the fallen to the mob to keep the fallen’s stolen land—if it was stolen. Or were the residents that owned the property switching allegiance and putting pressure on other non-fallen to leave?
    I wondered how Harry saw the police in Underworld. Did he think they were actually doing good things—that his boys handled things in a legal, ethical way? Did he not know that they were basically corrupt? I considered asking a dozen questions, but The Boss was already straightening the papers on his desk. I guess I’d have to figure it out on my own. I smiled and said, “Piece of cake.”
    ~#~
    Sorrel was chatting up Mousey with his usual smooth-operator charm when I left The Boss’s office. He was a lover, not a fighter, and Mousey was just the kind of new human he liked to deflower.
    “Let’s go,” I said, not bothering to slow down.
    Mousey actually glared at me. She was clearly trying to stake a claim. If only she knew what she was really looking at, she wouldn’t be so eager. Sorrel had all the looks, but he was a player through and through. I was fairly sure he’d slept with every woman under thirty in the building, and maybe a few of the cougars, too. I ignored her. It would be a different girl next week, so it wasn’t like she and I needed to be BFFs.
    I glanced back as I pushed through the glass doors. She blushed as Sorrel took her hand and kissed it. I rolled my eyes, continuing to the elevators. Sorrel was such a flirt, but thank God he