Beelz grabbed my hand and dragged me closer to the throne. “Pops, what’s done is done. Let’s move on to more important issues. Jay doesn’t want to be one of us. He has a mate he’d rather not lose.”
Lucifer laughed. “Why would I care?”
I had no response, so I stepped forward and bowed again. “I can’t imagine why you would. I’m sure you have many other things on your mind, but why would that warlock get his powers back after they’d been bound by a holy man? I mean, that makes no sense to me. If you want to dispose of me, I’m ready.”
Lucifer loud laugh scared the fuck out of me. He stepped down from his throne and stood before me, wearing a pair of sneakers I could see had been influenced by Beelz’s usual choice of shoe—not those weird rubber things he was currently prancing around in.
“Those are nice. Are they New Balance or Nike?” Being a demon from Hell hadn’t changed me much. I could still admire fashion.
Lucifer stepped forward and showed me a pitchfork on the shoe’s sole. That was something I hadn’t seen before. “Can I get a pair of those?”
Beelz laughed behind me. “Yeah, Dad, can we all get a pair of those?”
“We’ll see if you deserve them. Tell me what the...? What’s going on?” The horns on his head were a bit intimidating, but he wasn’t aggressive yet, so I decided to take a chance.
“I realize I might have taken a liberty I shouldn’t have by summoning the powers of Hell, but I love my mate andwanted to keep him from harm. I’m doing my damnedest to help preserve the balance. I want humanity to have a fighting chance, so I asked for the powers of Hell to try to solve the mystery surrounding a demon. Obviously, I didn’t ask about the consequences of my request, so that’s on me.”
Lucifer sat down on one of the steps from his throne and turned to me with a menacing grin. “Did I not say there would be consequences?”
Yeah, he had, but I hadn’t explored what that meant, so shame on me. “Yes, you mentioned it, and I’m sorry I didn’t ask for details. I had no idea what you meant, but now I know about the consequences. It’s my fault for being a dumb ass.”
I didn’t expect the Ruler of Hell to laugh and put a hand on my arm. He was pure evil, and I could feel it through his touch, but I’d already accepted my fate. I would be in Hell for eternity...alone.
“Maybe we can make a deal.”
I’d heard that before, though I was eager to get back to my mate.
“So, what do you propose? What do you want from me? May I remind you I’m now a prince of Hell? The deal should be worthy of such a title, shouldn’t it?”
It was risky to challenge him, but I had a lot at stake. There had to be some weight to being a prince of Hell, right? I was missing something—someone—who I wanted back, and I would do whatever it took to make it happen.
Chapter Eight
Scotty
I sat on the garden bench behind Dearly & Son, watching Adonis speed-paint the changing appearance of the flowers as the sun moved across the sky. He didn’t turn in my direction or even speak to me, but he positioned himself such that I could see what he was doing.
It had been two weeks since Jay had been taken away, and I was slowly losing my mind. I couldn’t fathom how anyone went about mourning the loss of a partner of many years. My sympathies went out to them. Could the one left behind ever get over such bone-deep sorrow?
Jophiel hadn’t been clear about what would happen after Jay went to Hell, and I was stuck in a spiral of despair. I wanted to disassociate myself from the Celestial Council, but Jonas kept blocking me from getting on the calendar to speak with them.
There was a touch on my shoulder, so I turned to see Jo standing behind me. “May I join you?”
I nodded, resisting the urge to break their fucking hand. “Why’d you show up now? I could have used you a few weeks ago when my life literally went to Hell.”
Jophiel morphed into Josephine and took a seat next to me. The little woman exhaled. “I’m sorry you’ve been left alone, Scott. Things are complicated—”
I turned to them. “No shit, Jo. I’ve lost my mate. Now what am I supposed to do for the rest of my existence?”
There was a deafening silence I didn’t expect. They usually had the right answers.
“Scotty, things have taken a bad turn, but we’re not losing yet. Please, stick with me.”
Stick with them? I wanted to die, and they wanted me to stick with them? What the hell were they trying to pull?
“Yeah, well, I’m done. Any joy or fulfillment I found in this job is gone. You people are absolutely ruthless. I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to cease to exist, Jo.”
“No!You can’t do that. You can’t give up, Scott. Things are happening that... I believe there is a traitor on the Celestial Council. Someone is looking out for their own interests, not the collective good of humanity.” Josephine’s expression was distraught. Clearly, they were worried about something big.
