3 HIDE-AND-SEEK #2
He groaned. Why had he done that? Yeah, he hadn’t gotten laid in a while, but he wasn’t that desperate. She was just another human woman—a supremely hot one, but still—and there was no reason for him to get so worked up.
Tiny looked up at him like he didn’t understand it either.
“Don’t start with me,” he mumbled to the dog. “I already know.”
When Raum got home that night, everyone was out. Iris had taken Faust with her too, and when he opened the door, no excited hellhound came bounding over to greet him.
But he wasn’t expecting to find the kitchen empty too.
“Bel?” he called out, surprised. Belial rarely left the house these days. He usually even managed to offload the grocery shopping onto others.
“Yeah.”
To Raum’s surprise, the responding grunt came from the living room. Ditching his coat, he crossed the room and stared incredulously at the sight of his seven-foot-tall brother stretched out on the sofa.
He didn’t even come close to fitting. He lay on his side since his shoulders were too wide, one of his arms hitting the floor, and his legs from the knee down hung off the end.
“What are you doing?”
Bel rolled over, nearly fell off the couch, and then sat up with a grumble. “Taking a nap.”
Raum stared at him. “A nap.”
“Yeah.”
“When have you ever taken a nap?”
“Never. I was trying it out.”
“How’d it go?”
“Fucking terrible. Who the fuck picked out this tiny couch?”
Belial had, but Raum wasn’t about to remind him of that. “Why not sleep in your bed?”
Bel slumped back in the cushions and looked out the window. “Not sleeping there either.”
“You’re not sleeping … at all?”
“No.”
There was silence. Raum didn’t know what to say to that. “Why not?”
“Who knows?” Bel stood suddenly. “Probably because I’m so goddamn stressed out all the time.”
From holding in the rage, Raum guessed, but again, he wasn’t about to say that out loud. “How’d it go with Murmur last night? Did he take the deal?”
Bel’s expression soured. “Yes.”
“So you owe him two favors now.” He could imagine how it would grate on Bel’s pride to be one of the most powerful demons in Hell and owe favors to someone he considered inferior.
Raum was half tempted to bring up stealing Murmur’s grimoire again for revenge, but he refrained. For once, the itch wasn’t crawling under his skin, and he didn’t want to draw attention to it lest it start up again.
“When was the last time you got laid?” he asked suddenly, thinking Bel looked pretty damn strung out.
Bel glared at him. “We’re not talking about this.”
“You probably need to blow off some steam.”
“You probably need to shut the fuck up before I make you.”
Raum tilted his head. “You’re uptight as hell. Maybe if—”
“I can’t, okay?”
“Why not?”
“Because …” Bel took a deep breath. “If you repeat this, I’ll kill you, got it?”
Raum held up his hands. “My lips are sealed.”
“I can’t have sex because I’d hurt the girl.” His jaw shifted.
“Hurt, as in …”
“As in, I waited too long, and now I’m like a powder keg about to blow.” One hand dragged through his white-blond hair. “I’m worried if I let go even a little, I’ll go off. And if I do that with a human? She’s dead.”
“You’re talking about the hellfire?”
Bel nodded.
Raum winced. Bursting into flames in the bedroom would be a bit of a mood killer, that was for sure. And he was right: A human woman wouldn’t survive it. And that was just a bit fucked up.
“Well, shit,” Raum said.
Before they’d escaped Hell, this wouldn’t have been an issue. If Belial burst into flames with a demon partner, he might roast them a little, but he’d have to really try to actually kill them. But with a human … No way.
“You repeat this, I’ll wring your neck till your head pops off.”
“You need to find another outlet. Bottling it up isn’t gonna work long term.”
“You think I don’t know that? I tried napping, for fuck’s sake.”
“Drugs?”
Bel gave him a dry look. “You have no idea the shit that’s in my room right now.”
“What, like psychedelics?”
“No. There’s no way I’m getting so fucked up I risk losing control.”
“Right.” A flaming Belial high on mushrooms sounded like something out of a nightmare. Or a biblical apocalypse prophecy. “What about sleeping pills? So you can get some rest?”
“Last night I took enough to kill a human three times over.”
Raum winced. “And?”
“I made macarons at four a.m.”
“Fuck, dude.”
Bel waved a hand. “There’s nothing I can do about it now, so there’s no point talking about it. Let’s get shitfaced.” He headed toward the liquor shelf in the kitchen like a man on a mission.
Raum lingered in the living room. He didn’t want to get drunk. He was tired from work and he was doing it all again tomorrow. Plus, unlike his brother, there was nothing physically preventing him from going out and finding a human to slake any pent-up lust with.
Except … he wasn’t in the mood. When he thought about women, he just thought about the mystery girl peeking at him from around the building. It was the stupidest thing, but something about her made him think that no other would do.
He shook his head. He’d exchanged all of three words with her, didn’t know her name, and would probably never see her again.
Maybe he wanted to get drunk after all.
He followed Bel and sat on the counter, ignoring the glare Bel shot him. His issues aside, he didn’t want to leave his brother alone right now. Bel was going through some shit, and it would be to everyone’s benefit if he could get drunk enough to finally pass out.
Bel handed him an overfilled shot glass of tequila, and they tossed them back together. And then did it again. And again. And several more times after that.
Finally, Bel slammed the half-empty bottle on the counter and announced in a booming voice, “Let’s make cheesecake.”
The week passed quickly.
Life went on business as usual. Raum worked at the shelter every day and managed to keep it secret from his brothers. Meph was out most days with Iris. Bel’s attempts to sleep remained unsuccessful.
On Friday, someone brought a little gray pit bull into the shelter, found half starved and stuck in a sewer. She was afraid of her own shadow, and her legs trembled so much she could barely stand. They named her Luna because she was found on a full moon.
After a full day of working with her, Raum got her to accept food and a few pets, and he was hoping to loosen her up more next week. It was obvious she’d been abused, and it would take time to convince her that no one would hurt her anymore.
He really didn’t fucking get humans. Sometimes he wished the apocalypse would just hurry up and arrive already.
On a happier note, Tiny was much better behaved, and Caro had told him she’d found a foster family who was willing to take him in.
“I don’t know how you did it,” she rambled on as they drove home that evening.
“He’s practically an angel now. It’s a miracle.
I already know the fosters are going to love him. ”
She pulled in front of his building, the side mirror narrowly missing a stop-sign pole. He really needed to find his own ride before he ended up in a terrible car accident.
“I’ll see you on Monday. I can’t wait to see how you progress with Luna.”
“We’ll see how she is after a weekend in the kennel,” Raum grumbled, apparently determined to be Mr. Gloom and Doom today.
Caro nodded. “That’s the hardest part about this job: knowing the animals are waiting for you to come back because they have no one else. But you have to take care of yourself first. You have to separate work in your mind or you’re going to end up adopting twenty-five dogs and having no life.”
He shot her a look. “How many do you have?”
“Seven.” She winced. “My house is a zoo. Don’t do what I did.”
“My brother would kill me if I tried,” he heard himself say, though he usually made a point never to reveal personal information about himself.
“You have a brother?”
“Three.”
“Are they as good with animals as you are?”
Raum snorted, thinking of the strong aversion animals had to demons. “No.”
“Their loss,” she said as he opened the van door. “They don’t know what they’re missing.”
He climbed out. “See you Monday.”
Caro said farewell and then gunned it before he even had a chance to close the door. It closed anyway from the force of her acceleration, and he watched her rip down the street with vague amusement.
“Where have you been?” Bel barked when he stepped into the apartment. “You’re worse than Meph, always sneaking out and disappearing.”
Nice of someone to even notice he’d been gone. “At the gym.” He didn’t know why he was lying so he could work a job like a shitty human, but he did know he wasn’t ready to stop yet.
Eager to escape the scrutiny, he headed around the kitchen past Bel, who was stirring a big pot with more force than necessary, spraying flecks all over the tile backsplash.
Meph stepped around the corner, blocking Raum’s path with an evil smile on his face. “Does going to the gym involve getting a ride in a rusty pedo van?”
“A what?” Bel asked, easing off torturing the food.
“A pedo van. You know, the kind moms tell their kids to stay away from.”
Raum pinned Meph with a glare, warning him to shut up.
“And you wanna know something funny?” Meph continued, ignoring him. “I saw you get out of that same van yesterday too.”
“Where were you?” Bel demanded. Raum was too busy glaring at Meph to look at him.
“I wondered that too,” Meph said, “but the writing on the side of the van told me everything I needed to know.”
“Don’t even—”
“Ange Gardien Animal Shelter. Interesting name.”
Raum narrowed his eyes at Meph.
His brother grinned. “Remember that time you blurted out my dirty little secret to everyone?”