5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Jay
“Damn! Look at ‘em run!” I couldn’t hold my laugh.
The Broks took off, each going in a different direction, and Scotty followed one of them into the receiving bay.
“Sir, shall I go check on the angel?” the left-behind Brok asked.
“Trust me, Brok, he’ll be okay. Thank you, though.”
I turned to Dash. “So, how’s everything with you?” Yeah, it seemed like an odd thing to say considering the circumstances, but I knew my angel would be just fine. He was one to be reckoned with, and I pitied anyone who tangled with him.
Keir and Adonis were strolling through the flower gardens as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening, Keir continuing to deadhead the bushes every now and then.
It was fucking hysterical to see them chatting like old friends when I knew Adonis would probably love to have Keir as his next meal. I supposed that was how we operated— humans, angels, and demons. My only question was—were we all trying to save humanity, or was it like a game of cards? Whoever had the better hand won.
Scotty came out through the receiving bay, his head shaking. I glanced around to see he was alone. “Where’s your Brok?”
“He went through the portal. Said he’d report to Beelz. I have a feeling this is all for nothing. What will we do with De Vil when we get him?” Scott was at the end of his rope, and I could tell.
I took his hand and pulled him closer. “I’m going to show him how scary I can be.”
“See, that worries me.”
Dash laughed. “Yeah, no shit.”
Just then, Jonas drove around the side of the funeral home on his motorcycle with Valentino on the back, the two of them happy as pigs in shit. Valentino waved at us.
After Jonas and Valentino dismounted, Jonas took Vale’s hand and led him over to us, the two appearing to be sickeningly in love. Of course Valentino looked quite stylish in a denim jumpsuit with a colorful kerchief around his neck, while Jonas appeared to be every bit the bad boy in torn jeans, a white T-shirt, and a leather jacket.
Vale was, however, flopping his left hand around as if it was a fish off the hook. Suddenly, Scotty grabbed it and looked at the sparkling ring on his ring finger.
“Did you guys get engaged?”
My angel’s expression appeared happy, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Something was up with him, but I had no idea what it might be.
“We did. Jonas proposed to me earlier today while we were having a picnic at McKinley Park in Sacramento. Are you guys back for good?” Vale then hugged Scotty.
I didn’t know the kid too well, but then I remembered Dash had taken Vale with him when he went to meet Paxton De Vil. Maybe he knew something that would be of help?
“Jonas, when you met Paxton De Vil, did he—”
“Not that guy, again. What’s he done this time? I thought Dr. Carl bound his powers." The disgust on Jonas’s face was comical.
I glanced at Vale to see if his expression had changed but it hadn’t. He continued studying his engagement ring. It was a nice diamond solitaire.
“Did you explain things to Vale? Things of the Heaven and Hell variety? About the wings and all?” I was a bit surprised Vale was still with Jonas if he knew the guy was a guardian angel, though, I had one of my own. But then again, I wasn’t a human any longer.
“He already knew most of it. Vale’s damn smart, and the shit that happens here at Dearly & Son is hard to ignore. I had to seek permission from the Council to marry a human, but Jophiel was kind enough to speak on our behalf,” Jonas answered.
He then took my arm and pulled me away from the group, who were discussing wedding ideas. My Scotty was in the mix, seemingly as excited as Keir and Adonis.
“I’m not sure if this has been shared outside the Celestial Council, but Jophiel told me they’ve been able to close two more portals to Hell here in the Human Realm. That leaves three to be closed.” Jonas’s gaze didn’t leave my face.
“Uh, no. That’s wrong. There are four to be closed, right? Mephistopheles told Dash that Jo closed three, and now you say two more are closed. That leaves four, doesn’t it?” I might not be alive, but I could still do fucking math.
Jonas glanced at the ground for a moment before meeting me eye-to-eye. “The Celestial Council has ordered that this portal remain open. I haven’t told Keir and Dash yet, so feel free if you want to spill the beans.”
Son of a— What the hell...? “Why?”
“The fight needs to be here so the Key and the Gatekeeper can defeat Nyx on their own turf, hopefully before she has a chance to do any damage elsewhere. That’s what I was told, anyway. So, why do you want De Vil? His powers are still bound, aren’t they? I think I’d know if they weren’t.”
That wasn’t much of a relief. “Do you know if anyone else can vouch for Asmodeus being the father of a demon, Vagar, whose mother is Apate, one of Nyx’s daughters?”
Jonas stared at me as though I’d sprouted another head. “That’s gotta be a mistake. Hell’s princes aren’t allowed to procreate. That’s not our rule. That’s Lucifer’s.”
Fuck a duck! “Yeah, that’s what I heard. I was sorta hoping it was just a rumor.”
“Does Lucifer know about the demon?” Jonas’s head nearly spun in a circle as he scanned the yard and the garden area as if looking for Lucifer to show up at any moment.
“Yes, but he doesn’t know which prince is the father. Beelzebub told him, not me, and he doesn’t know which one it is either.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.
“Okay, then, should we go find De Vil? I’m beginning to worry there’s something more going on.”
I did a double take. “You can find him? Why the fuck do I have a bunch of hellhounds running around Sacramento trying to find him if you know where he is?”
“Hey, I’m new to the party. You didn’t ask me about him.” Jonas smirked at me, the jackass.
I stepped over to Scotty as we rejoined the group now discussing wedding venues. “Jonas can find De Vil. We should go after dark.”
Both men nodded, and Jonas walked over to Valentino, kissing the knuckles on his left hand. “Shall we head home? I’ve got to work tonight, so I was hoping we could celebrate before I leave?”
Valentino giggled. “That’s a fabulous idea.”
Jonas threw his leg over the seat of the huge Harley, holding it steady as Vale climbed on behind him, kissing Jonas’s neck before Jonas turned to us. “I’ll be back at sunset.”
He started the bike and turned to his right, handing Valentino a stylish silver helmet that had been hanging off the throttle. “Put this on, kitten. I’ve gotta keep my future safe.” Vale did as he was told, and the two were off.
“You guys want to come inside and have dinner with us? We were going to order Chinese. Please, stay. We can all catch up.” Keir took Dash’s hand and started for the stairs that led to the second floor of Dearly & Son where their apartment was located.
I reached for Scotty’s hand, but it took him a minute to notice. I chose not to think he didn’t want to touch me. “Everything okay?”
My angel stared at me for a few long seconds before he took my hand. “Yeah. Just want all of this behind us.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.
“Where are we going?” I was literally flying in the dark behind Scotty and Jonas. We were somewhere over water, and I wondered if we would ever see dry land again.
We’d flown south after Jonas returned from getting laid. The smile on his face was too big to deny that he’d had one hell of a sexual celebration. I wished to fuck Scotty and I had been able to do the same instead of listening to Dash and Keir talking about their boring domesticity.
I mean, they were great people, the Dearlys, but things were so fucking complicated when it came to our existence. The fact that we were waiting for all Hell to break loose was one thing. The forces of good and evil in a battle for the ages left me wondering if humanity stood a chance.
And another thing—why wasn’t my mate speaking to me? We’d been just fine when we’d returned from Limbo. I’d wanted to have sex, and we would have if we hadn’t had the visit from Beelz and the hellhounds. Now? I had no idea what was going on.
“We’re almost there.” Jonas banked to the left, so I did the same, watching Scotty speed up and bypass Jonas.
I knew Scotty was trying like hell to figure out who fathered the demon that had possessed Keir’s doppelg?nger. No doubt we needed a damn plan before we just showed up. Who knew what the warlock was up to? Hell, I wasn’t even sure how long his powers could stay bound or how hard it was to find someone to unbind them.
“Down there.” Scotty pointed to a small beach shack on the coast of Baja California. The man’s scent from the scarf Dash had produced tickled my nose as we approached the shack.
Jonas nodded, so we landed. I reached out for Scotty, who jerked away and walked forward with Jonas, their wings still out, white feathers shimmering in the rising moonlight.
Excitement skittered over my skin because it was time to scare the fuck out of Paxton De Vil. It was my turn to shine because I was damn determined to get answers from the evil twit. Maybe if Lucifer heard what a great job I’d done at getting to the bottom of this mess, he’d drop that stupid notion of me being his valet. That was the plan, anyway.
“Hey,” I called out as they stomped toward the shack. Thankfully, Jonas and Scotty turned around to face me.
“This isn’t a time for white lighters to show up at the door. This bastard was controlled by one of my kind, so I think it’s better if I confront him...alone. Just give me a chance to talk to him before you two cowboys come in with your white hats.”
Scotty’s face morphed into a scowl, but I wasn’t having it. No way would I let him confront a warlock. We had no idea whether he was still without his powers, and until we knew, I had evil at my disposal. Their powers were curtailed by the Celestial Council. Mine weren’t.
Being a man of action, I summoned all the evil inside me and headed toward the shack. I didn’t wait for an answer from my companions, vowing to find out what was up Scotty’s butt after I handled this De Vil issue. Scotty would talk to me about what was bothering him. He just didn’t know it yet.
Finally, the two of them gave me the nod and went around the back of the shack. I retracted my wings and walked up to the door. I banged on it twice, and then kicked it in. Patience was never my game.
Paxton De Vil was sitting in a beach chair, relaxed as though he knew someone—or something—was coming. “Ah, and you are?”
I stared at the dick. “I’m the General Ad Hoc of the Order of Hades. I’m here because you need to tell me who the father of Vagar is.”
De Vil laughed. I stared into his eyes and did a Darth Vader move, holding my hand up and making a fist that should have clenched his throat. Unfortunately, it did nothing but make him laugh.
“You think you can intimidate me? You clearly don’t know anything about me.”
I chuckled. “So, you found a holy man to unbind your powers?”
Without warning, there was a shot of lightning that I dodged. Oh, he wanted to play? It was fifth-grade-playground on !
I pointed a finger at the asshole, aiming for his head, but it bounced off. That was a surprise.
“You can’t hurt me.” That cocky little bitch.
Now, as much as I loved a good challenge, my mate was outside that back door, probably itching to come inside with Jonas. If De Vil’s powers had been restored, then we would have an entirely new disaster on our hands.
I’d been told when I met Lucifer that if I was ever in a fix I couldn’t handle, I had the full power of Hell at my disposal. I just had to call for it—but I had to be prepared to accept the consequences. I had no idea what that meant, but as I looked at the smarmy little dickhead smirking at me...
“I call on the full powers of Hell to aid me in my quest.” I oddly sounded like someone out of an old knights-of-the-roundtable movie, but if one was invoking the full power of Hell, it should sound dynamic—or so I thought.
After a moment with nothing happening—and having to listen to De Vil’s ridiculous cackle—I decided to clarify why I needed the powers I’d been assured would be there, should the need arise.
“This warlock is withholding information necessary to maintain the balance of good and evil between the realms.” I braced myself, and when the charge came, I channeled the energy through my hands toward Paxton De Vil. That shut him up.
I lifted him without touching him, and for the first time, I saw that he was scared out of his mind. I could work with his fear.
“You will tell me now. Who is the sire of Vagar? Which prince of Hell?”
I held him there as the front door opened and Beelz stepped through, arms crossed over his chest and wearing another of the ugliest track suits I’d ever seen, along with those stupid rubber clogs, which now had little plastic decorations poked through the holes on top.
“Who is the father of Vagar?” Beelz’s growly voice echoed through the shack to the point that a handful of hellhounds, Er’on, Jonas, and my angel rushed inside, all covering their eyes to shield them from the brightness of the current flowing through me.
The power surge stopped, and De Vil fell unceremoniously to the floor. Beelz pointed to one of the hellhounds, and he confidently strolled over to where De Vil was rolling around like a fool and picked him up, holding him in what appeared to be a steel grip.
“You will answer the prince of Hell.” It sounded like Brok, but which one, I wasn’t sure.
“It was Lucifer himself. He seduced Apate and then denied Vagar his legacy. He was to be a prince of Hell, but Lucifer said he didn’t intend to impregnate the demon, so he refused to bestow the gifts of Hell on him, and now you”—De Vil glared and pointed at me—"have taken his birthright.” I had no idea what that meant, but De Vil was singing like a bird, which was my goal.
Beelz laughter roared throughout the shack and was soon joined by the others.
“What’s going on?” I glanced at all in attendance for anyone to answer.
Scotty stepped forward. “Tell me you didn’t... Do you mean to tell me you summoned the powers of Hell? What does that mean for our mating bond?”
Finally, he reached for my hand. Whatever had upset him earlier seemed to be forgotten. I was ready to do a happy dance.
Beelz put his hands on his knees, continuing to howl, pointing at me, and then returning to his state of hysteria. Jonas simply shook his head as if he was disappointed in me.
“I believe by calling on the powers of Hell, you just sealed your fate as a prince of Hell. Scotty is currently bonded to one of Lucifer’s sons, and you’re no longer a balanced pair.”
Say what now?