Jonas stared at me as though I’d sprouted another head. “That’s gotta be a mistake. Hell’s princes aren’t allowed to procreate. That’s not our rule. That’s Lucifer’s.”
Fuck a duck!“Yeah, that’s what I heard. I was sorta hoping it was just a rumor.”
“Does Lucifer know about the demon?” Jonas’s head nearly spun in a circle as he scanned the yard and the garden area as if looking for Lucifer to show up at any moment.
“Yes, but he doesn’t know which prince is the father. Beelzebub told him, not me, and he doesn’t know which one it is either.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.
“Okay, then, should we go find De Vil? I’m beginning to worry there’s something more going on.”
I did a double take. “You can find him? Why the fuck do I have a bunch of hellhounds running around Sacramento trying to find him if you know where he is?”
“Hey, I’m new to the party. You didn’t ask me about him.” Jonas smirked at me, the jackass.
I stepped over to Scotty as we rejoined the group now discussing wedding venues. “Jonas can find De Vil. We should go after dark.”
Both men nodded, and Jonas walked over to Valentino, kissing the knuckles on his left hand. “Shall we head home? I’vegot to work tonight, so I was hoping we could celebrate before I leave?”
Valentino giggled. “That’s a fabulous idea.”
Jonas threw his leg over the seat of the huge Harley, holding it steady as Vale climbed on behind him, kissing Jonas’s neck before Jonas turned to us. “I’ll be back at sunset.”
He started the bike and turned to his right, handing Valentino a stylish silver helmet that had been hanging off the throttle. “Put this on, kitten. I’ve gotta keep my future safe.” Vale did as he was told, and the two were off.
“You guys want to come inside and have dinner with us? We were going to order Chinese. Please, stay. We can all catch up.” Keir took Dash’s hand and started for the stairs that led to the second floor of Dearly & Son where their apartment was located.
I reached for Scotty’s hand, but it took him a minute to notice. I chose not to think he didn’t want to touch me. “Everything okay?”
My angel stared at me for a few long seconds before he took my hand. “Yeah. Just want all of this behind us.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.
“Where are we going?” I was literally flying in the dark behind Scotty and Jonas. We were somewhere over water, and I wondered if we would ever see dry land again.
We’d flown south after Jonas returned from getting laid. The smile on his face was too big to deny that he’d had one hell of a sexual celebration. I wished to fuck Scotty and I had been able to do the same instead of listening to Dash and Keir talking about their boring domesticity.
I mean, they were great people, the Dearlys, but things were so fucking complicated when it came to our existence. The fact that we were waiting for all Hell to break loose was one thing. The forces of good and evil in a battle for the ages left me wondering if humanity stood a chance.
And another thing—why wasn’t my mate speaking to me? We’d been just fine when we’d returned from Limbo. I’d wanted to have sex, and we would have if we hadn’t had the visit from Beelz and the hellhounds. Now? I had no idea what was going on.
“We’re almost there.” Jonas banked to the left, so I did the same, watching Scotty speed up and bypass Jonas.
I knew Scotty was trying like hell to figure out who fathered the demon that had possessed Keir’s doppelgänger. No doubt we needed a damn plan before we just showed up. Who knew what the warlock was up to? Hell, I wasn’t even sure how long his powers could stay bound or how hard it was to find someone to unbind them.
“Down there.” Scotty pointed to a small beach shack on the coast of Baja California. The man’s scent from the scarf Dash had produced tickled my nose as we approached the shack.
Jonas nodded, so we landed. I reached out for Scotty, who jerked away and walked forward with Jonas, their wings still out, white feathers shimmering in the rising moonlight.
Excitement skittered over my skin because it was time to scare the fuck out of Paxton De Vil. It was my turn to shine because I was damn determined to get answers from the evil twit. Maybe if Lucifer heard what a great job I’d done at getting to the bottom of this mess, he’d drop that stupid notion of me being his valet. That was the plan, anyway.
“Hey,” I called out as they stomped toward the shack. Thankfully, Jonas and Scotty turned around to face me.
“This isn’t a time for white lighters to show up at the door. This bastard was controlled by one of my kind, so I think it’s better if I confront him...alone. Just give me a chance to talk to him before you two cowboys come in with your white hats.”
Scotty’s face morphed into a scowl, but I wasn’t having it. No way would I let him confront a warlock. We had no idea whether he was still without his powers, and until we knew, I had evil at my disposal. Their powers were curtailed by the Celestial Council. Mine weren’t.
Being a man of action, I summoned all the evil inside me and headed toward the shack. I didn’t wait for an answer from my companions, vowing to find out what was up Scotty’s butt after I handled this De Vil issue. Scottywouldtalk to me about what was bothering him. He just didn’t know it yet.
Finally, the two of them gave me the nod and went around the back of the shack. I retracted my wings and walked up to the door. I banged on it twice, and then kicked it in. Patience was never my game.
