I should have figured it wouldn’t be easy convincing Belphegor to go against the Lord of Greed. Luckily, I had an ace up my sleeve.
My mind went back to my last bath, the one I’d shared with Belial just two days ago, but I tried not to linger on the memory too much. This wasn’t the time or place to daydream about how Belial had joined me in the water. It definitely wasn’t the place to dwell on how he’d helped me discover my latest concerning kink after nearly drowning me and forcing me to come before he let me breathe.
Instead, I turned my thoughts to what he’d told me about his brothers and how Belphegor and Asmodeus used to fuck. It was a risky move—one that could easily backfire—to bring it up, but I had to try. I needed to know just how devoted Belphegor was to the Lord of Greed if I had any hope of changing his mind.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to drive a wedge between true love,” I said, forcing innocence into my voice.
Belphegor’s scowl deepened. “I didn’t say shit about true love. Mammon’s too much of a selfish prick to keep my interest for long.”
I swallowed down my flicker of hope and kept up my innocent act. “Don’t you think you deserve better?”
“What could a human girl ever know about love between demons?”
“I know that, just like with humans, love doesn’t always last, does it?” I steeled my nerves before I pressed on. “Just like with Asmodeus. It ended with him, so naturally, it will end with Mammon too. Why not end it now and keep me all for yourself?”
Belphegor flew to his feet, and even in the steam, I could see his shape flicker. Just for a moment—if I’d blinked, I would have missed it—he morphed back to his true form. He was a handsome, lithe male, with a sharp bone structure and that same silky hair that moved like water reaching past his waist.
Ugh. Why were most of these assholes so damn beautiful?
“How dare you invoke the name of the Lord of Lust, you little rat?” His tone dropped to a deadly hiss, and violence radiatedfrom him that was just as visceral as the steam spiraling off the bath water. “Especially after what you did to him.”
Oh. Shit.He knew.
Belphegor knew I’d bitten off Asmodeus’ dick.
I wondered if he knew Belial had killed him yet.
“I said. Get. In. The. Bath,” Belphegor gritted out, punctuating each of his words with a growl.
Whatever thin veil Belphegor had drawn to maintain that he was the sane one of his brothers was gone now. I saw the rage in his face, and I knew he was just as psychotic as the rest, maybe even more so.
“Go on,” he purred through a smile I didn’t trust. “Force my hand. I can make you get in the bathtub.” His voice came out alarmingly soft and almost seductive, a threat wrapped up in velvet. “I can make you do whatever I want…”
I was still shaking, but now, it was in fury, not fear. “I’m sick of you demonic fucks. What the hell did I ever do? Last week, I was just minding my own goddamn business, trying to pay my damn rent. Now, here I was, dragged to the underworld against my will. I’ve been nearly eaten by carnivorous trees, half drowned in mud, chained and caged like a fucking animal, and almost raped. So you know what? You all can get fucked.”
Of course, Belphegor was going to take that as a challenge when in reality, I was just tired of being treated like a piece of meat being fought over by a pack of wolves.
I was definitely tired of feeling so damn helpless.
“Alright,” Belphegor purred. The steam in the enclosed room was so thick now, I could barely see him through the haze. All I could discern was a swelling shape getting bigger and bigger.
The shifter was taking on a new form.
When he stepped closer to me, the steam rolled around him in tendrils, heightening the dramatics of the reveal.
I slapped my hand over my mouth to keep myself from screaming when three heads emerged. It was eerie seeing Asmodeus again. It was a perfect likeness, as if he was back from the dead.
“How about I give you a bath like this?”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rayven
My muscles seized andmy breath ran thin as I found myself looking at Belphegor’s likeness to the Lord of Lechery.
Logically, I knew the lord of the second circle was dead, but seeing this perfect imitation of him had the primal part of my brain lurching into a full-blown panic.
“I… No… Get the fuck away from me.”
