“You come to see me off?” I said as I strode up to her. “Gonna miss me, huh?”
She slugged me in the chest. “I’ll live.” She smirked. “And okay, I’ll admit, I might miss you a little bit, but only because you buy the best hooch and don’t act like a pussy when I drink you under the table.”
I chuckled. “You keep saying sweet shit like that to me, you’ll make me blush.”
She rolled her eyes. “Idiot.”
Ash was a high-ranking alpha female from the Silver Moon wolf pack. I’d known her for quite a few years. But we’d gotten tight after we’d almost hooked up one night at a party here at the clubhouse—almost—because she’d changed her mind by the time we reached my quarters. She said if we fucked, she’d never talk to me again, and she liked me too much to freeze me out. After that, we started building her bike, and now we went for rides, drank good whisky, and hung out whenever she wasn’t busy with her pack.
I hadn’t expected to feel this way for anyone apart from my brothers. There was this deep sense of loyalty when I was with her, and though she didn’t need it, a protectiveness. I could admit, for a while, I’d hoped she’d turn out to be my mate, but then she’d confessed she’d been mated before. He’d died a long time ago, which meant anything between us, beyond the physical, was impossible. She was beautiful, tough, bold, funny, but after her confession, I knew that what I felt, with my limited emotions, was the same thing I felt for my brothers, and no more.
I let my power flow through me, preparing to open a gateway to Hell.
Time moved faster belowground, and I wasn’t sure when I’d be back.
“Take care of yourself while I’m gone, yeah?” I said to her.
She smirked. “Of course. No one fucks with me. And I expect you to do the same.”
Oh, I was coming back. I was going to find that fuck, Beelzebub, and I was going to drag his ass back to Lucifer—even if that meant bringing him back in several fucking pieces.
Chapter
Two
Roxy
* * *
“Here, drink this.” Ursula handed me a vial from her bag. “You look like something just barfed you up.”
I took the small bottle filled with the best hangover cure ever invented and, without a word, drank it down greedily.
Ursula was my sister. I loved her, and I was so glad she was coming with me, at least for the first couple of days, but right then I needed her to shut the hell up because I was fighting really hard not to empty my stomach all over the cavern floor.
Her elbow dug into my side. “Hey.”
I ignored her and kept walking.
She elbowed me again. “The last thing you want is to appear weak when we meet up with Lothar. Pull it the fuck together.”
“I’m not worried about Lothar. I’m hungover, that’s all.”
“Bullshit.”
“Uma was making my drinks stronger than everyone else’s. Blame your twin for my messy state.”
Ursula scowled. Uma was two minutes younger than Urs and had spent their entire lives trying to best her. The two hated each other with a passion. “That traitorous hag needs me to fuck her up again. She’s getting too cocky lately.” She glanced at me, her bright green eyes seeing too much. “But that’s not why you’re all quiet and moody. This”—she waved her hand at my face—“droopy expression is about Lothar and this fucked-up mission Lucifer’s sending you two on.”
My fingers curled around the strap of my pack, and I forced a smile, shaking my head. “It’s not a problem, honestly. I see Lothar all the time. How is this any different?”
“You’re going to be with him twenty-four seven for a start. And you’re not fooling me with the bubbly, smiley, Roxy sweetness. Don’t try to bullshit a bullshitter. I know you, Rox.”
I shrugged, even as my belly clenched uncomfortably. “I’ll be fine.” Beelzebub had been making moves to overthrow Luci, and no one tried that shit and got away with it. Beelzebub had run, leaving his cohorts high and dry. But I was determined to haul his big red ass back in record time. I was just struggling to understand why it had to be me and Lothar who did it.
Urs snorted. “Right, that’s why your eyes are still all puffy after your drunken crying jag last night.”
I spun to her. “My what?” I shook my head vehemently. “I did not.”
