The black sea reflecting the ominous green glow of Envy’s moon was strangely beautiful, but there was no time to admire the view. I was on a mission, my sole focus rescuing Rayven and taking her back to Limbo, but a prickling feeling of unease swept through me when I stepped deeper into the room.
It was destroyed, his things disturbed, his bed half-torched.
My jaw tightened, and my eyes, hot and full of fire, locked with Leviathan’s. The snake was lying on his singed mattress, curled up in his naga form with his tail wrapped around his humanoid torso.
There was no sign of Rayven anywhere—only the lingering traces of her scent.
The copper cage he’d kept her in was lying on its side, its bars melted and bent out of shape, an indication that a fire demon had been here.
My fists clenched, and the fire in my eyes sockets leapt high.Mammon.
I approached the bed while I surveyed the wreckage of his room. There was blood on the ground, but judging by the scent, none of it was Rayven’s. Another glance at the serpent demon told me who the blood belonged to. Mammon had beaten Leviathan badly. He was bruised and burnt all over, with a bad head wound that indicated he’d been struck by the Lord of Greed’s infamous war hammer. “What happened here?”
If the serpent demon was surprised to see me, he didn’t show it. “Mammon happened, that fucking brute. I tried to stop him.”
My heavy boots crunched against the ground with every step as I closed the distance between me and my brother. “Tried to stop Mammon from doing what, Leviathan?”
“I tried to stop him from taking your mortal pet.”
“My mortalqueen,” I corrected him with a growl that had him flinching. “And you should have fought harder.”
I moved to kneel beside the battered cage, fingers brushing over the melted bars.
I’d missed her…
Fuck!
It couldn’t have been by much. I could still smell the flames of Mammon’s wings, and something else clung to the air. My attention landed on a small white puddle on the ground beside Rayven’s cage.
I swiped a finger through it and held it up.
Hellish rage blasted through me, turning my insides to ash when I realized it was cum. Fresh serpent demon cum.
Rising to my feet, I spun around and charged towards the bed, murder bright in my eyes. “What did you do to her?”
“I—”
I didn’t want to believe he’d betrayed me, but I already knew the truth. His reaction to me—his pounding heart, the fear in his eyes, the way he trembled as I stormed toward him—told me everything. The traitorous bastard gave himself away before the lie even slithered off his forked tongue.
“I didn’t hurt her!”
“Lies!” I roared. I snapped my fingers, and my oar appeared in my hand with a spark of shimmering blue magic.
Terror washed over the Lord of Envy’s scaly physiognomy when he took in the heads of Vine and Asmodeus.
“Tell me what happened from the beginning, and you can save yourself from becoming the next addition to my little collection here.”
Now I was the one lying. The lord of the fourth circle had sealed his doom the moment he’d decided to betray me.
“When you sent the invitations, Asmodeus tried to get all of us together to kidnap your new human pet. He said she was toodistracting for you, that you’d get on with your job without her to occupy your time,” he explained, fear growing in his eyes with every word he spoke. “We were supposed to pass her down the layers until she arrived at the ninth circle.”
Fury painted my vision red, and fire thrummed through my system as I glared daggers at the demon I’d once called my friend. “You fucking viper.”
“What?” He flicked his nail, nervously reaching for his hookah’s mouthpiece. He was trying to act innocent but was failing miserably. “I never intended on giving her up to Mammon or anyone else. I was going to keep her safe in that cage. For you.”
“For me?” I repeated, the two words sounding every bit like the punchline it was. “You’re full of shit.”
Leviathan’s forked tongue licked the air with his indignant hiss. “I’m on your side, Belial! I’m loyal to you, not the others.”
