The hellhound bowed, and I nodded in return. “Why am I here?”
Jay’s laughter echoed throughout the underworld. “Still short on patience I see. Well, we want to put you through the paces so you can keep the Gatekeeper alive. I know Lilith gave you a preview of how demons fight, but she was only one demon. You’ll face an army of them, and you need to be ready.”
Appollin had dark-brown hair like Jay, whereas Brokorol had flaming red, much like Beelzebub. It was unclear why it made sense to me, but maybe their guards were built in their images?
“How will I miss Trent’s wedding and not be noticed?” I addressed the question to both princes.
“Scotty will be filling in for you at the wedding. I hope Keir doesn’t get handsy with my mate. Anyway, Beelz, shall we proceed to the battlefield?" Jay flanked me on one side whileBeelz was on the other. The hellhounds and Er’on walked behind us.
I glanced around as we passed spirits. “Why can’t I hear their thoughts?”
Jay grinned, and suddenly, my head was filled with noise. “Okay, okay!”
“We’re going to teach you how to narrow your focus and what to ignore. This will be important, so pay attention.”
I exhaled. If this lesson was necessary to keep my family safe, I was on board.
Chapter Nine
Keir
I hurried over to Dash, picking up his head from the marble where he’d collapsed to rest it on my thigh. His eyes opened, and he smiled up at me. “I think I should have had something to eat. Thank you for holding my head, sweetheart.”
Dash sat up. I helped him stand, and I glanced at him. “You wanna let them go?” I circled my finger around the room, and he laughed. He circled his hand, which was new, and the crowd began to move, not looking around or panicking. It was a relief.
“What happened?” I stared at my husband, waiting for a response.
Dash’s right hand reached up and touched my face, keeping me from leaning forward to kiss his soft lips. “Sorry. It was a big jolt.”
“A jolt? A jolt of what?”
“Uh, whatever hit me from the other side as all that noise took over. Should we check in and get to our suite to get ready for the…uh?”
I laughed. “Family brunch, remember? Amelie’s parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins are here. We’re the groomsmen, and we’re expected to be there in about fifteen minutes to support Trent whose Mormon family disowned him. Ring a bell?”
Dash grabbed our luggage, and I picked up the cooler and hurried to follow him as he went to the front desk to check us in. He removed his wallet, perusing the credit cards. “Damn, there are a lot of these. Who knew a guy with a prison record could have a good credit score?”
I laughed. “I already checked us in online, love. I’ll get the keys.”
I quickly confirmed we were at the hotel and collected a gift bag and the room keys, thanking the clerk before we walked toward the elevators. Vale joined us to wait for the next car.
“Which floor are you guys?” He was juggling his bags, so I took a duffel from him to help. I had to wonder what was taking Jonas so long.
“Sixteen. You?”
“Same. Which room?”
“Sixteen twenty.”
Vale held out his folio to show their room was sixteen twenty-two.
“That’s great. We’ll be next to each other.” He glanced at his bag in my hand. “Thanks for your help with all this.”
I carried his duffel to his door while Dash took our things into our room. I unlocked the door between our rooms but closed iton Vale’s side. “Okay, don’t be too late for the brunch. I’m gonna go change. See you in the solarium.”
I hurried to our room and unlocked the connecting door between our room and theirs before I went to the closet to get my clothes for the brunch, a pair of charcoal flannel slacks and a steel-blue, shawl-collar sweater with a white snowflake on the front.
I was excited to meet Amelie’s family. According to Trent, she had a crazy-rich aunt who loved her as if she were her daughter and an uncle with a questionable past who was running from the cops but wouldn’t miss her wedding for anything. The aunt and uncle were Amelie’s mother’s family, and they didn’t get along. I was more than ready to dive into someone else’s family drama.
