31. Belphegor
THIRTY-ONE
BELPHEGOR
Time is usually an abstract concept to me, but more so now that I’m living my dream.
I sit on Mammon’s lap as he works, sighing dreamily as I rest my head on his shoulder. He pats my hip every now and then, rubbing soothing circles with his thumb on the sliver of skin between my jeans and my shirt.
God, I love my life.
Bel’s playing on a handheld gaming system Mammon bought him. It’s been all he can focus on when we’re not getting sexy or sleeping. Seriously, he’s even on that thing when we’re eating. But it makes him happy, so I deal with it.
I look down at the papers Mammon’s working on, barely paying any attention to the details. I don’t know how he stares at those all day; it’d drive me insane. No, I’m just content to sit here and live my happy life while he works.
“Fuck!” Bel yells, shaking his game. “What the fuck! I totally jumped!”
Mammon chuckles, brushing his lips against my cheek. “If you can’t be quiet, Beelzebub, you can go.”
Bel throws him narrowed eyes and scoffs. “I’m getting shit on right now and that’s what you care about? Where are your priorities, Daddy?”
I giggle as Mammon grunts, knowing that Bel is pushing all his buttons. To calm him, I place my good hand on his chest with a soft caress. “Are you almost done?”
“Almost,” Mammon says, though he’s still staring at Bel with a challenge in his eyes. “Just a few more minutes.”
It’s then that Terror bolts in, yipping and running in circles, before she goes to Bel. With a whine, she nuzzles her nose against his socked foot. When he reaches down to pet her absentmindedly, she bites him. It’s just a love bite, but Bel curses. “The fuck, Terror?”
“It wants to go out,” Mammon drones, now back to focusing on his work. “This is why I didn’t want to get a damn dog.”
“Give me a minute,” Bel snaps at Terror, but his face transforms with tenderness when she begins to cry.
I smile and hop off Mammon’s lap. “Come on, Bel. Let’s take her for a walk.”
“But my gameeeee ?—”
“Beelzebub,” Mammon warns, his tone enough to get Bel grumbling and standing. “Be back quick. Dinner is at eight and don’t leave the neighborhood.”
“It’ll only be a minute,” I say sweetly, kissing his cheek. “You’ll be done by the time we’re back?”
Bel tries to look disinterested, but I know he wants to spend some quality time with our man. Mammon notices and sighs, but his twitching lips betray him. “Maybe.”
Welp, that’s good enough for me.
Bel starts to walk out, but one growl from Mammon has him huffing as he stops to give him a kiss before we leave. Terror follows us happily, already knowing we caved, and Bel and I head downstairs toward the mudroom.
“Want to take the trail around the lake?” I ask as I put on my shoes. “Maybe we can let her off her leash so she can chase some ducks?”
Bel smirks. “She’ll annihilate them. Let’s do it.”
I throw my head back with a laugh at the thought of our tiny puppy massacring a group of helpless ducks, but she is her fathers’ daughter.
We put her on the leash and go out through the side door of the house. Even though it’s spring, it’s still chilly outside and I curse myself for not bringing a jacket. Bel snorts when he sees me shivering and wraps an arm around my shoulder, tugging me into his warm side.
“So…” he starts as we make our way between houses to get to the trail. “You happy, baby?”
I know he doesn’t just mean right this second. I’ve never been a sad person. Sure, I feel all the emotions—and I feel them so vividly—but melancholy usually isn’t one of them. Still, this is the happiest I’ve been in my entire life.
“Do you think he’ll marry us?” I blurt out, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment as we leave the back row of houses and join the trail. “I mean, I know it’s stupid?—”
He shakes his head. “It’s not stupid. Honestly? I think if we asked, he’d probably say yes.”
“Do you want to get married? Can we even do that with the three of us?”
He scoffs. “Since when have we ever given a fuck about what we can do.”
True. Just because it wouldn’t be legal on paper doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be special.
I can picture it now. Mammon would look so handsome in a tuxedo, standing at the end of an altar, looking like a movie star. Bel and I would walk hand-in-hand down the aisle, with Terror as our ring bearer and all our brothers would be standing at the front, ready to witness our union.
Oh! Think of the flowers! We can get pretty pink orchids and?—
“Back to Earth, baby,” Bel teases, poking at my side. Once we reach the lake, he lets Terror off her leash and she immediately goes to chase after a squirrel. I shoot him a worried look, but he waves away my concern. “Luc trained her well. Don’t know how the fuck he does it, but I guess it makes sense.”
Thinking about how efficient Luc is at taming untamable creatures, I laugh. “Right. Anyway, about the wedding?—”
“Let’s make sure he’s okay with it first… But I guess it wouldn’t hurt to plant the seed in his mind.” Joking, he drops dramatically onto one knee, bringing my hand up to his lips and placing a disgustingly wet kiss on the top. “Be my forever piece of ass?”
I roll my eyes and slap his shoulder. “That’s not romantic!”
“Is that what you want? Romance? I think Mammon and I can arrange that.” Standing, he wraps his arms around my waist. “Flowers, candles, and a little mood music?”
I wrinkle my nose as Terror barks in the distance. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” he answers quickly. “So? Is that enough for when we ask you?”
My brow furrows as I raise my chin high in the air, ignoring Terror’s yapping. “What makes you think I won’t ask?” When he just deadpans me with a look, I sigh. “Okay, well, you might have a point.”
“The point is that it’ll be special, just like you, baby.” He presses a sweet kiss to my lips before pulling away with a curse. “Damn, what’s wrong with her?”
“Maybe we should?—”
But I don’t get to finish when I feel a sharp pinch on my neck. My hand automatically rises to the disturbance, feeling a bit fuzzy as I come into contact with something long and thin.
Bel’s eyes widen as he tilts my head to the side. “What the fuck is?—”
His words are cut short when something resembling a dart flies into his neck. I go to reach for him, but my vision is already growing cloudy, my limbs not properly working. He yanks it out immediately, cursing when he holds it in front of him. He curses, loudly, his dual-colored eyes panicked as he meets mine. “G-Gore… R-Run-n…”
I don’t get the chance to when a blow I don’t see meets the back of my head.
And everything goes dark.