Roxy pushed herself to her feet, and Sera grabbed her arm and shoved her through the gateway.
“Hike, dog, hike!” Beelzebub said when I towed the cage after them.
I didn’t react, though it fucking cost me. Sera thought I was still controlled by the beast, that I was nothing but an animal, and that’s exactly what I wanted her to think. I kept the beast’s red irises front and center, which wasn’t hard to do when I was so full of rage. But more importantly, I needed her to trust me, to think she had all the control.
I stepped through the gate, and it closed behind us. Ignoring Beelzebub’s complaints about the bumpy ride, I followed Roxy and Sera.
Roxy walked with all the arrogance of the fierce warrior she was, letting Sera know that although she was being compliant, she needed to stay on guard. And as furious…bitter, hurt… Fuck, I couldn’t name all the emotions swirling inside me yet, but despite what I was feeling, I had to fight not to smile when I thought about the shit she’d said to Seraphina. At least her confidence managed to put me at ease. I had a tentative plan, one that might fail miserably, but it was all I could come up with, and Roxy would need to play along when the time came.
I refused to let Sera and Beelzebub take Hell, and I’d do whatever necessary to stop them, not for Lucifer but for my brothers and my pack, because losing Hell to Sera would fuck us all, not just the selfish fuck currently sitting on the throne.
There was no doubt in my mind that Roxy felt the same way, just for very different reasons. She’d protected her home in the past, many times, and she’d put herself last over and over again to serve and protect her king—even going as far as wiping our bond from my memory. So yeah, she’d be down to do whatever necessary to protect her beloved Lucifer.
I dragged the cage over a fallen log with a snarl, the wheels bouncing off the ground. Beelzebub cursed me out, and I ignored him and carried on. Once this was over, I’d put as much distance between me and Roxy as I could. I’d give her all the fucking freedom she wanted so badly.
How long had she known I was her mate before she had Lucifer wipe all knowledge of our bond? Had I known before they fucked with my head? My memories of that time were hazy, he’d obviously fucked with them as well. What did she think I’d do to her? Lock her in my den and keep her barefoot and in pup? I never would have asked her to leave Hell, or her sisters. Did she truly think so little of me? I had no idea, since she wouldn’t tell me any-fucking-thing.
Roxy shoved her hand under her jacket and rubbed at her shoulder, right over my bite—and I finally got a good look at it. It was big, ragged, raw. The beast had been careless, he’d torn at her flesh in his excitement, and shame washed over me stronger than before.
My gut tightened painfully. The scar would be setting in, there was no fixing the mess I’d made of her shoulder. Usually a male would tend it regularly, lick it to keep it clean and stop our mates from feeling any irritation. She’d taken so much from me, so many things that I’d only allowed myself to hope for in quiet moments on my own. I’d imagined what it might be like to find my female, to win her trust, to finally make her my mate, to feel my knot for the first time, and give her my mark, a mark she’d wear with pride, like my brothers’ mates did. I’d imagined a female carrying my pups, of climbing into bed with her at night and pulling her into my arms, of how the scent of her skin would call to me, no matter where we were.
Instead, I’d gotten lies and shame and pain.
My gaze slid down Roxy’s strong body, and my heart slammed hard in my chest when I realized that’s what I’d been feeling, the connection to my mate, and why the more time I spent with her, the more I’d been drawn to her.
The way she tasted was addicting, the way she fit against me as if she was made to be there, and yeah, her scent after it changed, had all been flashing red lights, but I’d been incapable of sensing the bond.
The scent thing, that’d been Lucifer as well, hadn’t it? He’d made her smell in a way that repelled me, so I’d stay the fuck away from her. I growled again, and I realized the sound was all me. The beast and I were again one, and thank fuck for that.
If Roxy and I were going to get through this, if we were going to defeat Seraphina, I needed to be in total control over my actions. My gaze slid to Roxy again, and my stomach tightened. Easier said than done. She hadn’t looked or spoken to me once since I spewed all my fucked-up, twisted-and-tangled emotions at her earlier. I shouldn’t regret what I’d said, she’d more than deserved my anger, but I did. I told her I hated her, but what I felt wasn’t that, I didn’t know what it was. Despite everything, she was my mate, and hurting her in any way felt utterly wrong.
Nothing made sense. I was confused and angry. She was giving me the distance I’d demanded. Still, I didn’t fucking like it. I wanted her to look at me. I thought I might actually needed it, as if her eyes on me had become some vital part of my survival.
Look at me. Turn around and look at me.
She didn’t, of course, she couldn’t read my mind. Thank fuck.
I forced myself to look away from her. Being mated meant nothing, not for us. She wasn’t truly mine.
And she never would be.
Roxy
We made it through Limbo without issue. Shame. I’d been hoping Death would appear, grab Seraphina by the throat and squeeze until her head popped clean off. Sadly, she was just as powerful as she boasted, and yes, far more powerful than she had been before her incarceration, which honestly didn’t make sense to me. If anything, she should be weaker.
We reached the end of Limbo’s skull path, and I cut my hand and opened the gateway that would take us to Roxburgh. I glanced back, my hopeful little heart still wanting Death to come barreling around the bend—Sera shoved me—but he obviously wasn’t coming.
“Let me out of this fucking cage,” Beelzebub barked as soon as we walked through to Oldwood Forrest and the gate shut behind us.
Sera nodded at Lothar, and he immediately did as she bid.
His eyes were glowing red, but it wasn’t the beast looking out of them, no, it was all Lothar, something Sera was too blind to see, and thank fuck for that.
“What now?” I asked, then motioned to Beelzebub, the giant, red asshole beside her. “We can’t very well walk into the city with him looking like that, and the moment he sets foot in Hell, Lucifer will be all over him.”
Sera kind of froze.
She hadn’t thought that far ahead.
