Page 14 of Bad Demon

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RELIC

Lucifer sauntered in, carrying his cat, Mini. He was flanked by two of his handmaids, Ursula and Roxy. Both warriors sauntered in—one carrying an axe, the other a long blade. The king of Hell was well over six feet and covered in tattoos, and if he were human, he would pass for a male in his mid-twenties. He had a twisted sense of humor and liked to fuck with people. He could make a being feel at ease, like you were his best bud, and also fill you with the kind of terror that turned your blood cold. And he, of course, excelled in the art of torture.

Thankfully, we didn’t often piss him off.

Jagger clasped hands with the king of Hell, and they exchanged greetings. Warrick would usually be here to greet Lucifer himself, but his mate and her family had received some bad news tonight, and Wills and their baby, Violet, came first—always.

Lucifer handed Mini to Roxy, ran his fingers through his slicked-back hair, and then aimed his yellow eyes at his audience—a roomful of curious hellhounds.

“Brothers,” he said, his eyes glinting. He was pissed off—no, he was fucking furious. “I come bearing seriously fucked-up news. You know how I feel about betrayal.” He bared his teeth. “It makes me stabby. And before you freak out, it’s not Diemos. My son is where I put him, and he’s not going anywhere.” He cracked his neck. “One of my lords, Faron, has up and fucked off. He didn’t ask for permission, and he’s not answering my summons.”

Menace transformed his features and saturated the room. Unlike us, the lords couldn’t be summoned by force, a show of loyalty Lucifer had offered a very long time ago—something I could see he regretted giving now.

“Faron might look fucking stupid and more interested in spending his days being a gluttonous sex pest, but there is more to him. Not much, but enough to make him dangerous. I want him found and his ass dragged back to Hell. This is top priority. His disappearance—his blatant defiance—can mean only one thing. He wants to take what’s mine, and he’s got a bead on the means to do it. Faron is in this realm, but he’s concealed himself. Brothers, I want him found ASAP.”

“We’ll find them,” Jag said.

“I know you will,” Lucifer said, then looked at another of our brothers, Lothar. “But right now, I need a fucking drink.” He held out his hand. “Hit me.”

Loth tossed him a beer as the music was turned up, and Brick, one of our young hounds, rushed to throw open the clubhouse doors, which didn’t surprise me. His sire, Dirk, and his mate had several pups, but Brick was our oldest. He was nineteen, and all about fucking and fighting, and there were always females hanging around outside. A group of them sauntered in. There was only one reason they came here, and the group that just walked in was no different. I could smell it.

Lothar strode over and handed me a beer. “You think Faron is really that fucking stupid?”

“Faron doesn’t strike me as the kind of demon to attempt a takeover. He’s powerful, yes, but weak of character. He’s always been lazy and ignorant. He enjoys his comforts and the respect he gets as a lord, but if he’s gone, then perhaps I read the male wrong.”

Lothar nodded, scratching his beard. “If Lucifer said Asmodeus or that fucking dick Beelzebub were planning a takeover, I wouldn’t even question it, but I agree; Faron isn’t who I was expecting.”

Loth was four hundred years my senior and my sire, but we’d never had the kind of relationship War or Dirk had with their pups.

Roxy headed over. The handmaid was cute and sweet—and fucking deadly.

“Hey, Relic.” She gave me a quick hug. Then she turned to Lothar and actually fucking blushed. “Loth, it’s been a while.” Her smile turned shy.

Lothar frowned down at her. “Rox.” His gaze sliced down her body and then back up, and his nostrils flared. “How you doing, sweetheart?”

“Um … yeah, really good, excited. It’s been a while since we’ve been above ground, you know? Lucifer said he’d take us shopping tomorrow before we go home, and I’d literally slaughter everyone in this room for some In-N-Out Burger, so hopefully, that’ll happen as well.”

Lothar flashed her a grin, and I didn’t know if it was because she was flashing her pearly whites at him and he’d worked out that was what was expected or if he was genuinely feeling it. Like all of us, his emotions were extremely limited, but with War’s mate, Willow, determined to help us feel more, things had slowly been changing. I knew they had for me.

Yes, I still had massive holes in my emotional range, and that wouldn’t change—couldn’t change—until certain things happened. But pleasure—not just the physical—was something I’d been feeling more, and I’d seen it in my brothers more often as well. I guessed it wasn’t surprising that pleasure was an easier emotion for us to truly understand since we’d always enjoyed the physical side of it, whether it be fucking or just a simple touch. All I knew was there were a lot more smiles and even laughter around the clubhouse now than there ever had been.

“Yeah? You’d even slaughter me, Rox?” Loth said.

There was a light in Lothar’s eyes that made me think that smile had definitely been genuine.

She blushed harder and laughed, a light musical sound. “Fine, maybe not you.”

“What about me?” I said because Rox was too fucking sweet for her own good, and we all loved making her blush and squirm whenever we had the chance.

She shook her head. “Oh, no, definitely not you.”

“Why definitely not me?”

Her smile grew softer. “Because you’re my favorite.” She patted me on the chest. “My little Scrappy. My favorite snuggle pup.” The look in her eyes could only be described as warm. “You used to curl up in bed with me when you were tiny and shove your furry nose into my neck to sleep.” She shook her head. “I’d never hurt my sweet little Relic.”

Lothar kind of stilled beside me. We didn’t talk about that time. Honestly, I didn’t know all the details surrounding my birth, and I had no recollection of my mother. All I knew was that Lucifer had decided to try something new. I was the result, and he decided not to do it again, probably because the handmaids had been the ones to take care of me—at least until I was big enough and strong enough to train—and Lucifer did not like sharing them with anyone.

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