She went to turn around and follow the others when I grabbed her bicep, scooping her up in my arms as I nuzzled her neck, my new comforting happy spot.
“Stargazing.”
Her eyes got wide as she looked at my brothers and then looked back at me.
“You're not supposed to tell me that. I think it's against the rules.” She whispered as she kept glancing over her shoulder, and it was adorable to see this demon queen try to be honorable.
I traced up her neck with my nose as I whispered, “I won't tell if you won't.”
She pulled back and looked at me, her face bright with happiness as she giggled at our little secret. I wanted all of my time with her to be like this. For her to smile and be carefree with a brightness to her face. If that meant we had a few silly secrets, it was worth the tradeoff.
She stuck out her hand. “Deal.”
I chuckled and grasped her palm before I kissed her with all the love and sweetness I was capable of, and she sighed into me. My new favorite sound as I repeated back to her, “Deal.”
The devil magic from making a deal settled between us as our foreheads rested against each other. I could feel a warmth radiating up my arm from her mate mark, feeling the appreciation and love that she felt for me, for us, even if she couldn't say the words. Even if she couldn't recognize her feelings just yet. I was confident that she would when she was ready, and now that we found her we had all the time in the world to wait. The bond was enough for now.
Suddenly we heard loud barks, breaking our magical bonding moment, giving each other wide eyes before we looked over to where the sound was coming from. One of the hounds had found something. I put her down, and we ran in the direction of the barking, not wanting to lose the lead.
My heart, for once, felt light and full at the same time.
Chapter 37
OnceIheardOnyxbark, my heart skipped a beat in excitement. I was taking a shot in the dark with this whole Purgatory thing. I was going off a feeling I’d had when I was a little girl, but I just had this hunch, this instinct. My dad always told me that if I never remembered anything he ever taught me, I needed to remember this: a Morningstar's instinct was all they ever really had over others.
I thought about my dad, wondering what he was getting himself into with trying to find Pop Pop. Knowing him, the expedition had probably taken him off on a tangent that he hadn't expected. It was why I was trying so hard with this Hellscape thing. I didn't want him to return and find that all Hell had broken loose, literally. He would not be a happy camper.If he came back.
I tried not to turn my brain in that direction. As much as my dad and I fought, disagreed, or thought about something differently, I still didn't hate him. I loved my dad, the good with the bad, and I knew he loved me too. At least, he loved me the best he could without Mom.
Sure, I could’ve stayed, had him be a hard ass on me about training and making my mind strong for the world I was meant to rule, but I got just as valuable information from being in the human realm, about surviving in a dog-eat-dog world all on my own. My strength and resilience only magnified, making me jump headfirst into problems and solutions. I liked who I was now, and I hoped he could be proud of that.
As we got closer, I saw that Onyx was barking near a cave in a corner I would’ve never looked in. He was bent over, licking with his acid tongue, burning the steel off a shovel. What the fuck? What was a shovel doing in Purgatory?
I told Onyx and Vruz to stay put and stand guard outside the cave. They both sat down as I went to walk in, but War halted me. I glared over my shoulder at him. Just because I let him handle me sometimes, it didn’t mean he got to do it all the time.
He lifted his hand in a sorry gesture. “I'm just worried about you, little goddess. I don't think you should be the one to go in first. You are the Queen of Hell, after all.” Oh, he was good. He was really good, but I also wasn't born yesterday.
I reached up and cupped his cheek. “That is so kind of you, Beast.” Then I grabbed his ear and yanked it down to my lips. “But if you think that I’m unable to hand your ass to you and any other fucker that gets in my way, then you are mistaken.”
I let go as soon as he moaned, “Yes, your Majesty.”
Shivers ran down my spine, and my panties got damp with those words. He looked at me, his lips tipped upward, and his eyes sparkling with promises to take care of those wet panties for me. Damn. He really was good. He was learning fast. Too fast.
I turned to the other three, who were watching our interaction with interest. “There are two sets of footprints that go into the cave. That was why I thought it would be perfectly fine to go in. If these two got in just fine, then so can we. Can we go in now?”
The guys all looked at each other before they glanced back at me. Fame waved his hand as he said, “Let's go, but be careful. Even if they went in, we don't know that they are ‘just fine’.”
I rolled my eyes but agreed. Having mates was about compromise, right? The guys all swooped in around me. Con and War flanked me, Fame got in front of me, and Death covered my back as we followed the two sets of footprints into the cave.
After taking a couple steps in, I had this overwhelming urge to turn back. It started in my head, whispering odd thoughts I normally wouldn't think.
This place was scary.
We needed to leave.
I didn't like the dark.
Let's turn back.
