“No,” Bel assured his mate. He didn’t think it would be wise to have his mate angry at him so soon. At least not until Atlas decided he wanted to stay. Bel really hoped he would want to stay. “I do not.”
Atlas hummed. “Okay, demon prince Belphegor. You have some explaining to do.”
Chapter Two
Atlas
Ever since he was a young boy, Atlas’s grandmother had told him that his curiosity and smart mouth were going to get him into trouble. The words were ringing true as Atlas settled on a chair in front of the roaring fireplace while the monst…demon sat across from him.
“First let me assure you that you are not dead. You are very much still alive.”
That assurance had Atlas relaxing just a little. Atlas really didn’t want to be dead. Not that there would be anyone to mourn him. Not any longer. And he didn’t feel dead. Or at least he expected being dead would feel different. Maybe not.
The demon Belphegor cleared his throat. “The last that I remember is leaving you at the concession stand. Can you tell me what happened after that?”
Atlas swallowed hard. “Oh.” He squirmed. This might be more his fault than Atlas wanted to admit. How mad was this demon going to be?
“It’s okay,” Bel said with a small smile. “Just tell me what happened so I can fix it.”
“Fix it?” Atlas cocked his head as he continued to stare up at the demon. And yes, Bel was still so huge that even though they were both sitting in chairs across from each other, Atlas had to tilt his head back.
“Get you back to the human realm.”
Oh! Could he go back? Atlas wasn’t stuck in hell. That was good, right? Although maybe he didn’t have to go back quite yet. It wasn’t so bad talking to the demon and he was attractive and nice. “I have so many questions.”
“As do I.” Bel nodded his head. “Please tell me what happened.”
“Oh!” Atlas slumped back on his chair. Guess it was confession time. “I might have followed you outside.”
“Followed me? Why?”
Atlas waved his hand. “Because you…you know.” Did he really have to remind Belphegor that he was not human? How could Atlas not follow him? Atlas had only seen animals before. He sort of felt bad that he’d been calling Belphegor a monster. But demon? That was kind of a monster, right? Although Belphegor was very polite. Didn’t seem to want to tear Atlas’s throat out.
“I really don’t,” Belphegor admitted.
“Because of what you are,” Atlas told him.
“But how could you have known? I was glamoured.”
“I get these flickers,” Atlas explained. It was never easy to share his secret. Mostly people didn’t believe him. Well, his grandma had but she’d also told him to never say a word about what he could see. Looking back, Atlas now wondered if maybe his grandma had seen them too? “Flashes when I see someone that is…not human.” He’d almost said monster again.
“You can see through glamour?” Belphegor seemed very upset about this.
Atlas shrugged. “Kind of.”
“That is very interesting,” Belphegor told him. “Please continue.”
“I’ve never seen something like you though. Mostly I just see flashes of animals.”
Belphegor nodded.
“I followed you and you sent the popcorn bag and drinks off. Then you were on your phone.”
“Okay.”
“Then you sort of just popped out of existence,” Atlas said.
“I transported myself back here,” Belphegor filled in.
