Chapter One
Bel
Scowling at his phone, Bel was over this entire venture. How he’d gotten roped into this absolutely ridiculous task was beyond him. Okay, that wasn’t true. Cary had turned those big, pleading green eyes on him and Bel was a sucker to do the sweet boy’s bidding.
Lucifer’s two mates knew just how to drag Bel and everyone in their orbit into making their every wish and need come true. Add in the demon Asmos and his constant whining and Bel knew it was easier to give in. Gage was a little better as he was still suspicious of anyone who was too close to Lucifer or Cary. Cary was surrounded by bad influences, in Bel’s opinion.
“Do I have to?” Bel whined into the phone when his video call was answered. He’d already made three other stops. This last text message was really pushing things.
“Please!” Cary drew the one word out into at least three syllables.
“Yes please!” Asmos pressed his cheek against Cary’s where they were both in view.
“You have magic!” Bel reminded the other demon. “And Cary’s learned enough by now that I shouldn’t be popping up all around the human realm like this.”
“It’s not the same,” Cary claimed for the tenth time.
“It is too,” Bel argued. “You can’t even tell the difference.”
“No, no,” Asmos said, shaking his head. “I thought the same thing. Cary had Luci pick some up the last time he was in the human realm. There is something special about that place.”
Lifting his head, Bel scowled at the building in front of him. “It’s loud. And crowded. And…there are children. Human children. What if they…touch me?”
“You’ll be fine.” Asmos had no sympathy in his tone. “Just frown at all the little humans. They’ll run from you, screaming.”
“Why don’t you come get it?” Bel asked. He was not going inside. No. He was putting his foot down.
“But Daddy and Gage went to visit the pack,” Cary said. “Asmos is keeping me company.”
And that was why Bel had even stopped by the house in the first place. He’d found out that Cary hadn’t been feeling good and just wanted to check on the little human. If Axel hadn’t called Luci about a potential threat against his paranormal family, Lucifer would never have left his human mate behind. Bel sighed.
“Yes!” Cary hissed. “Thank you, Bel! You’re the best ever.”
“Fine. One movie theater popcorn with extra butter,” Bel said.
“A large one,” Cary reminded him.
“And two cherry Slurpees,” Asmos added.
“Right.” As he’d collected everything that had been requested, Bel had magically sent the items back to the house. He just needed to complete this one last task. Then he was going back to his office and hiding for at least a week. Maybelonger if one of those human children actually touched him. He shuddered. Why were human children’s hands always sticky? “I’m going in now. Don’t need anything else. I’m turning off my phone.” It was an empty threat.
“Thank you!” Cary squealed.
“I’m going to start the movie,” Asmos said.
He didn’t want to know. He didn’t… “What are you watching?”
Asmos blinked at him with aduhexpression.
“Of course.” There was only one movie franchise that Asmos would ever pick. For a demon older than most paranormal creatures in existence, there were moments it was easy to forget. A lot of their kind had given in to their dark natures. Centuries of being trapped in hell took its toll. Although the stories that humans believed about their kind couldn’t be further from the truth, they were still demonic. Had the roles that they’d been tasked with. And yet Asmos had kept an innocence about himself.
“Have fun,” Bel said sincerely. “And don’t call me!” He had to add in that last part just to ensure he didn’t get a summons to a midnight ice-cream party. Yes, that had happened a week ago. And yes, Bel had answered the summoning and ended up eating ice cream in front of a fire with Lucifer, Cary, Gage, and Asmos. He too easily gave in. Every time. Disconnecting the call, Bel faced the large building in front of him again.
With magic prevalent in their lives, it really was silly that Bel was popping around the human realm. A trip to a bakery that had the best cinnamon rolls ever. Or so Asmos had claimed. Then Cary had declared that only the pizza from his and Gage’shometown would do. Next was some kind of iced coffee that Asmos swore was the best he’d ever tasted when he’d been visiting the human realm a few years ago. Bel had just sent the coffee drinks when the final text had come in. For movie theater popcorn and Slurpees.
Lucifer was going to owe Bel for this.
Although Bel had to wonder just how sick Cary truly was if he was asking for all this junk.
