18. Belphegor
EIGHTEEN
BELPHEGOR
I press my face against the glass, watching the empty streets pass, excitement bubbling in my stomach. “What’s happening in the town center?”
Mammon chuckles beside me, one hand on the wheel while the other rests on my thigh. He squeezes, throwing me a soft smile before turning back to the road. “It’s a surprise.”
“I love surprises,” I tell him and move away from the window. I want to crawl over the console and sit on his lap, but I’m sure that wouldn’t be safe. So, instead, I opt for craning my neck until it rests on his firm shoulder, letting myself be extra clingy. “You’re so sweet to think of us.”
Bel snorts from his seat behind us. Turning my head, I throw him a curious look. He’s been acting weird since we left the house twenty minutes ago. He hasn’t said a word, which is completely out of character, especially where Mammon is involved. I don’t understand why he isn’t as excited as I am. Mammon got us a treat!
“I…” Mammon starts, the hand on the wheel clenching until his knuckles turn white. “I owe the two of you an apology.”
I cock my head to the side. “For what?”
“I lost my temper,” he says, still staring at the road, only showing me the twitch of his jaw in his profile. “I could have exercised some more…restraint.”
I’m confused for a second until I realize what he’s referring to. Immediately, my cheeks flush with the memory. It’s been long enough that I don’t have any physical signs of what he did, but my ass is still sore just thinking about it. My eyes sting like I’m about to cry, but I hold it back. It’s ridiculous to still be upset over what happened. “Oh, it’s okay. I understand why you did it. We fucked up.”
He turns and raises an eyebrow at me, a bit of skepticism in his face. “You forgive me?”
It’s not easy to forget, but to forgive? Mammon could do anything to me and I’d beg him for more. No matter what he does, what he says, I’ll always be his. He’s just misunderstood is all. He only has the best in his heart for all of us.
So, I smile brightly and lean up to kiss his cheek. “Always.”
“You’re too good to me, princess,” he whispers, more to himself than to me. He turns so he can catch my lips in a quick kiss before eyeing the rearview mirror. “Beelzebub?”
I look at Bel too and he only huffs, crossing his arms over his chest as he stares out the window. “We’re here.”
Mammon doesn’t seem to like his answer, but he lets it go. He parks the car across the street from the town center and we all get out. It takes me a second in the darkness to realize what I’m looking at, but once we cross the road and the streetlights come into view, I gasp. “What is all this?”
In the center of the square is a large platform that looks almost like a wooden stage. On that stage are four people—two men and two women—with nooses wrapped around their necks. They’re standing on step stools and fighting against their bound hands. The crowd is a mix of conduits I recognize and everyday citizens I don’t.
Holy shit, this is a hanging.
“I thought you could use some cheering up,” Mammon says, throwing his large arm over my shoulder and tugging me to his side.
Awwwwww.
“You did this for us?” Bel asks skeptically, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Well, it was going to happen, regardless.” Mammon shrugs and reaches for Bel’s hand. “Why not add some flare? You could smile, you know?”
Bel stares at his hand for a beat before taking it. “I’m trying my hardest not to.”
“So stubborn,” Mammon mutters, dragging Bel along behind us. “Come on. It’s time to get started.”
The crowd parts for us as we walk toward the stage. Asi, Luc, and Levi are already here and standing at the edge of the platform. They all nod at us as we climb up the stairs. Mammon deposits Bel and I beside our brothers and takes his place center stage, where he belongs.
He clears his throat before he addresses the crowd. “Thank you all for coming tonight. Some of you on this island haven’t seemed to realize that things are the way they’re going to be from now on. So, as a reminder of what happens when you try to think for yourselves, let’s have a show.”
Asi nudges my shoulder. “Ready?”
I squeak in excitement. “You mean we get to do it?”
“That’s what Mammon said,” Asi mutters, rolling his eyes. “Honestly, he could have just tossed you a cookie and you’d have the same reaction.”
“Don’t be a dick,” Bel growls, shoving his chest as he passes him.
Bel positions himself behind the first woman in line while I move to the man beside her. We wait for Mammon’s cue and when he tips his head, we both kick out the stools from under our respective future corpses.
“You’re probably wondering what these men and women did today to deserve this,” Mammon says as he gestures for us to go onto the next two. “You don’t have to know what they did to understand that not listening to your appointed community leaders will only end one way: Death.”
We kick out the final two stools and step back to admire our handiwork. It’s so…
Beautiful.
Oh! The way they kick and claw at their necks. The pinkish blue hue to their cheeks as the blood vessels in their eyes pop. The sweet smell of shit and piss that accompanies death. I only have one thought as I watch them struggle, as I hear the crowd gasp and murmur?—
“Holy fuck, I love him so much right now.”
“Shut up,” Bel snaps, discreetly covering his crotch with both hands. “I’m trying not to come.”
Mammon smiles at the crowd, almost waving his hands down to placate them like you would a crying baby. “I hope that, together, we can come to a better understanding from now on. Juniper Ridge is under new management.”
The crowd is still rattled. Some crying can be heard, whispered, hushed tones encircling the square, while others cheer Mammon as he walks towards us and leads us off the platform.
“So?” he questions, almost glowing with something that resembles happiness. “What did you think?”
“That was so much fun!” I cheer. In my excitement, I can’t contain myself. I throw my body at him, locking my legs around his waist as I wrap my arms around his neck. “When can we do it again?”
He chuckles, giving me small little kisses as he kneads my ass. “Easy. Public displays like this lose their effectiveness if they’re done too often. But that doesn’t mean I won’t need your help in the future.”
Bel grunts beside us. “Our help?”
Mammon looks over his shoulder at the crowd, then to our brothers, before sighing. He carries me and gestures for Bel to follow as he takes us behind the stage toward a deserted part of the square. Settling us on a bench, he adjusts me so I’m only sitting on one half of his lap as he pats the other. Bel stares at him for a beat, reluctant, and rolls his eyes when Mammon ends up dragging him onto his thigh.
We sit there in the aftermath of death, Bel and I on his lap. He puts one hand on either of our cheeks, staring between the two of us. “You killed the wrong people and that’s why you were punished. I never said you couldn’t kill again. You two just need better impulse control.”
I gulp, the memories of that night coming back again in full force. “We really tried.”
“I know you did, princess,” he hums, kissing the corner of my mouth. “But it was on me too. I shouldn’t have let you two go when we haven’t practiced mastering some restraint.”
Bel snorts as the corner of his lip curls up in a smirk. “So you admit you were wrong?”
Mammon shoots him a look but ultimately sighs, “yes.”
I don’t know how much of this erases what he did but, like I said, I love him anyway. My entire heart—Bel included—belongs to him. I also don’t know why Bel is acting brattier than usual, but I can sense the way he softens at Mammon’s admission of guilt. He’s cautious. It’s a deep throbbing I feel as if it were in my own heart, but he still leans forward and licks across Mammon’s lips.
“Don’t do anything like that again,” Bel threatens, but he can only look so menacing while humping Mammon’s leg. “I mean it.”
“I won’t,” Mammon swears, chuckling as Bel races to get himself off. He puts a large hand on Bel’s hips to stop him. “Let’s wait until we get home, kitten. I want to fuck the two of you into the mattress until you’re begging me to stop.”
Swoon .
“Oh, isn’t he the sweetest, Bel?” I coo, sliding my hands up and down Mammon’s chest.
“Yeah,” Bel mumbles as a small smile twitches his lips. “He sure is, Gore.”