I studied her for a moment. I didn’t like Roxy angry with me. I wanted her smiles and her hugs again, not this, not her resentment. We had possibly weeks of being together ahead of us. I had to fix this. Somehow, I had to make things right between us.
Chapter
Four
Roxy
* * *
There was a sweet, heavy scent in the air as we approached Asmodeus’s quadrant. It surrounded us before we even reached his vast orchard.
“I’ve never been here before,” Gus said. “I like the smell.”
“It’s the pomegranates,” I said. “Asmodeus makes moonshine out of them and supplies it to most of Hell.”
“No, he barters the liquor to get what he wants. He doesn’t do it out of the goodness of his rotten and blackened heart,” Lothar said to Gus as his long legs ate up the road beside me. His gaze slid to me. “Is he expecting us?”
Not a fan of Asmodeus, then? Not many were. “No, we decided a surprise visit would be best.” I attempted to sound like my normal self, but it wasn’t easy. I’d barely stopped myself from saying something I shouldn’t the night before. I had no idea why these feelings had resurfaced after so long, after centuries of successfully forcing it all down, but the volatile emotions were back with a vengeance, and I was so fucking angry with myself, but even more so with Lothar—no, I was furious with him for something he had no idea he’d done, and I was struggling to contain it.
Honestly, I wanted to punch him in the face. Worse. These feelings churning inside me were getting harder to control. My gaze dipped to his chest, and my stomach churned. I quickly looked away.
Ursula nudged me, her brow quirked.
I shook my head. No, I wasn’t going to smash my fist into his face, though I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold myself back, which was seriously freaking me out. I wanted to scream at him, rail on him for what he’d done. It had happened so long ago now, but it felt fresh again, and I fucking hated it.
“Will you answer my question now?” Gus asked Lothar.
Lothar’s shoulders stiffened. “What question?”
“About the drystan demon, when you mount one, which hole do you?—”
“The one you are directed to,” Lothar said quickly. “They all have different preferences. Wait for them to tell you before you go sticking your dick where it’s not wanted.”
Gus nodded, looking pleased. “Makes sense.”
“Got some personal experience with that, have you, Loth?” Ursula asked, smirking.
I bit my lip so hard to stop myself from saying something that I tasted blood.
Lothar shrugged a massive shoulder. “Who hasn’t?”
A shriek of rage tried to crawl out of my throat and I choked it down.
“True,” Urs said and shrugged.
“Lothar?” Gus said.
“Yeah, Gus.”
“Can I ask you another question?”
Lothar dragged in a deep breath. “Sure.”
“Do all hounds have mates?”
“Don’t know, pup. I assume the fates have one selected for all of us.”
When his voice deepened like that, my belly went all swirly and my heart squeezed like it was two seconds from complete failure. Just stab yourself in the head and put yourself out of your misery. I felt Ursula’s gaze boring into me and I studiously ignored her.
