Scotty & Jay’s Second Hellish Adventure (Dearly and The Departed)

1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Jay

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Hello! Sorry for interrupting, but we’re going to be late.”

I glanced at Scotty, the man with the most beautiful face I’d ever seen, which was currently scrunched up with concern. Him? I’d follow him to Hell—which happened to be just over the river and around the corner.

I went to the door and peeped through the hole. “Who the fuck are you?”

Standing on the other side of our condo door was a guy who rivaled me in height and weight. He was a good-looking bastard. If I didn’t have the most beautiful angel in Heaven or Hell, I’d have tried to get the dude to bang me. I’d challenge anyone to ignore him.

A petite creature stepped around the guy, wearing a big grin as they stared at the peephole. “Good day, General Ad Hoc Frick. Could you open the door?”

I did as they asked. The small demon bowed before offering a big smile.

“You may not remember me, but my name is Er’on. We’re here to assist you with your relocation. I’d like to re-introduce you to Brokorol, president of the Hellhounds Motorcycle Club and personal guard for Prince Beelzebub. We’ve come to accompany you to the Human Realm to ensure you make it out of the underworld without altercation. Beelzebub will brief you at your home in Sacramento.”

The hot guy extended his hand. “Call me Brok, sir.”

“Sir?”

I turned to see Scotty chuckling behind me. “You’ve got him mistaken for someone else.”

Er’on retrieved a piece of paper from inside their vest, unfolding it quickly. They looked at the open door to see the number before their eyes returned to the paper.

“Are we not at the home of the Alba Protectoris and the General Ad Hoc of the Order of Hades?” The petite person seemed quite worried.

“No, no. You’re at the right place. My angel is a smartass that’s all.”

I grabbed Scotty’s hand and pulled him forward. “Don’t forget your manners, dear.”

My angel squeezed my hand to the point I thought he’d break it, so I jerked away. We’d been in Limbo for a month, only making a brief venture topside to attend Keir and Dash’s wedding.

Scotty and I were fully bonded, which meant we were together as much as possible. Any extra time we had when we weren’t searching for an entity that had wronged Lucifer or the Celestial Council in some way, we were in bed and wrapped in each other’s arms.

My beautiful man never got on my nerves, which was a happy surprise. I didn’t get on his either, which was even more of a shocker. I usually got on everyone’s nerves.

Beelzebub had admitted that he’d gotten me fired from my job with the Division of Children and Family Services in Sacramento County. Thankfully, he’d also been able to fast-talk me back into the job, though I would be on probation. I had to get back before Beelz beat the hell out of another foster parent or scared the shit out of another neighbor kid.

“I’m sorry. I don’t hear many people call Jay sir . Please, call me Scotty. We’re just packing up. Can we get you something to drink?” Scotty was always a considerate host.

“Forget drinks. Come help me with this—wait, how many of you are there? Hellhounds, I mean.”

“As many as we need. Brok can create guards in his own likeness, so we always have enough. Each of the princes has a guard who can generate as much help as they need. Now, please allow us to help you with your things. After we get you settled into your home, we’ll bring the Prince back to Hades.”

I shook my head and chuckled. “The Prince. That shit is still funny. Babe, I made you coffee.”

Er’on stepped forward. “Master Brok, would you like some coffee?”

“Uh...”

The hellhound seemed a little nervous, so I looked at his companion. “Help yourselves. We’ll be right back.”

I took Scotty’s arm and led him back to the bedroom, closing the door. “You think they’re who they say?” I kept my voice down, though it usually didn’t matter with otherworldly creatures because they could hear everything.

“Oddly, yes. They seem to be honest. I realize they’re demons, but I get the impression they are dedicated to Beelzebub. I don’t think they’d do anything to cause him embarrassment, do you?”

I stepped closer to my angel and kissed his plump lips. “I agree. Are you ready to go back to the human plane?”

Scotty looked around our little slice of Limbo and released a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, we’ve been here for a couple of months. We found my ex, and we know he’s acting on behalf of Nyx. We tracked that damn warlock Nyx recruited to separate Keir and Dash. I think De Vil’s gone topside to find someone to unbind his powers. He’s going to be a future problem, but we’ll be there to keep him from doing any damage, right?”

“I wanna know why Asmodeus is going against his brothers and his father. I wonder if we can get another couple of days here to figure out his motivation,” I said.

We knew Michael had devoured Vagar, the demon son of Apate, Nyx’s daughter, and one of the princes of Hell, Asmodeus. I wanted to know why they’d sent him to possess Keir’s doppelg?nger.

“What do you want to do? I mean, are you planning to try to talk to Lucifer?”

Scotty was concerned, and I understood why. He loved me, and I loved him, but...I owed a debt to the devil, and if I was ever going to get out of being Lucifer’s valet, I had to show him I was loyal.

“I think I should try to talk to one of the brothers first. Beelz isn’t here, but maybe Lycus? If he’s loyal to his father, I’m guessing he’d be upset about his brother’s recent activities. We can’t execute a prince of Hell, but they can kill each other.”

That was something I’d learned before I was granted an audience with Lucifer. If Lycus, the personification of wrath, would talk to me, maybe he could handle the situation without killing his brother. Or if that wasn’t possible, could he kill his brother and not suffer the ire of his father?

“May I go with you? Do you think Lycus will give an audience to an angel?”

I walked over and rested my forearms on Scotty’s broad shoulders. “I dare him not to talk to the two of us. We’re the balance, right?”

Scotty kissed me three times before he moved around to nibble on my neck. “We are the balance. Do you think we could— Never mind. It’s stupid.”

“What?” I wanted to know what he hadn’t said.

Bang! Bang!

“There’s our escort. Think they’ll go with us without complaint?”

I chuckled. “Only one way to find out.”

Brok dragged our suitcases out behind him while Er’on looked through the drawers and the bathroom cabinets.

“What’s wrong? We cleaned up.” Fuck them if they thought we weren’t decent people. We knew how to take care of our shit.

“Oh, no, sir. I just wanted to ensure you didn’t leave anything important behind. I’ll come back and tidy up before the Prince returns. I can clean up your home topside if you’d like.”

Scotty walked into the room, having overheard the conversation between Er’on and me. “Oh, Er’on, please don’t worry about it. Jay and I are more than capable. I’m sure you have enough to do to take care of Beelzebub.”

Er’on bowed. “The prince said we were to do anything you required. It would be an honor to clean for you.”

That shit sounded wacky, but if they wanted something to do, I had an idea. “Here’s what we really need. We need to go speak with Lycus. There’s a problem with one of his brothers, and we need his counsel regarding what to do.”

Little Er’on seemed a bit taken aback. “You, uh, you want to meet with one of the princes?”

“Well, it’s probably better to go to Lycus about it before we take it up with Lucifer, don’t you think? I mean, one of his grandsons is dead because his father and mother were willing to sacrifice him. Up top, we take that shit seriously. How do you think Lucifer would feel about it?”

“Er’on, what’s taking so long?” We both turned to Brok standing in the doorway, not happy at all that we weren’t ready to go.

“Brok, they want to see Prince Lycus. They say it’s important.”

Er’on seemed to cower as Brok stared at them. I didn’t like what I was seeing. “Wait, you don’t hit them, do you? You treat them well, right? They seem to want to do anything asked of them, and if us wanting to meet with Lycus is a problem, then take our shit to my house, and we’ll find our own way back.”

Er’on stood tall and faced me dead-on. “Brok would never raise a hand to me. I facilitate our support for Prince Beelzebub, and my position is respected. Please don’t take my reactions as a reflection on Brok.”

Scotty stepped forward. “No, of course not. Look, we are trying to keep the peace as much as possible, but we really need to talk to Lycus. We’ll go alone to keep you out of it.”

“No. Of course not. We will accompany you. I just need to...” Brok pulled a phone from the pocket of his jeans and stepped out of the room.

I glanced at Scotty. “You ready to go to Hell again?”

He smirked. “With you? Always.”