“I found him,” Atlas clarified. “I get all the credit for this.”
“I get credit too!” Asmos declared, pushing out his bottom lip.
Ari held the door open for them as Asmos continued to pout.
Entering the cool interior of the archives was a drastic change from the hot outside. Even in the shade the heat had been hard to ignore. And according to Adam, this was one of the cooler planes. Adam lived at the core, which was the hottest and it was where the pits of hell were located.
“You can put him down,” Seb said once they reached the space that had a long table covered in books and paper.
“I want to know everything,” Asmos claimed.
“Not going anywhere,” Atlas assured him.
It appeared Asmos only set him on his feet with deep regret. He didn’t let Atlas go far, throwing a heavy arm over Atlas’s shoulder.
Atlas turned to lean against the table as Seb and Ari sat in chairs. Adam hopped up to sit cross-legged on the tabletop as Asmos rocked back in forth in front of him.
“So…” Asmos said. “How did he tell you?”
“You were there,” Atlas pointed out.
Asmos waved his hand. “After that.”
“Wait!” Adam whined. “Tell it from the beginning.”
Atlas rolled his eyes but complied. “I overheard Bel talking to Asmos and Mammon this morning about us being mates.”
“Aww,” Adam said. “That sucks.”
“I kind of already suspected,” Atlas admitted with a shrug. “Mates is big talk around here.”
“That’s true,” Ari agreed. “It’s all anyone talks about anymore.”
“There are so many requests to go into other realms,” Adam shared.
Seb nodded. “I know. And requests from other realms to visit here. It’s become this whole thing. No matter where Ash goes, the talk is all about mates.”
“But back up. How did you get here exactly?” Seb asked. “I feel like I’m still missing some essential information. Lucifer didn’t give me a lot of details. I think he wanted to protect your privacy.”
Atlas grinned. “I appreciate that too. I’ll be honest with you all. Hell is nothing like I thought it was. And the demons are wonderful. I can’t believe that I thought Bel was a monster when I saw him through the flickers.”
“Yes! Start there!” Asmos ordered. “When you first saw the handsome demon that would become your mate.”
“My demon,” Atlas corrected quickly. He didn’t care how long Bel and Asmos had been friends. No one should think of his mate as handsome.
Asmos grinned. “Of course. That’s what I meant.”
Adam snickered. “I like the possessiveness coming through. That’s true mate stuff.”
“Is it?” Atlas asked. He would happily share his story if it meant that he could learn more about this whole mating thing. By people that had been through it before.
“Story time! Story time!” Asmos clapped and chanted.
His new friends were on the edge of their seats as Atlas started from when Bel stepped up to order his popcorn to telling them about the mating gift.
“A hellstone?” Asmos was positively beaming. “That is so old-fashioned and perfectly Bel.”
Slipping his hand in his pocket to rub his fingers over the stone hidden inside, Atlas nodded. “I thought the same thing.”
