Page 16 of How to Accidentally Become the Devil

“How was I supposed to know? It’s normal for demons to cry in my presence,” Oz grumbles.

“Yeah, when you’retorturingthem.” Zeph rolls his eyes.

“So youdidsee it.” I sigh. Thought I might have been going crazy for a minute. But odds are unlikely that we’d all be under the same delusion.

“We saw it. No fucking clue what’s going on though,” Oz mutters.

“Today’s not the anniversary of The Hellscape Wars is it?” Zeph queries.

“What’s The Hellscape Wars?” I ask.

“It was the only war in the history of hell, made demons from The Outskirts tried to rise up and take the city by storm. They didn't win, obviously, but they managed to take out around 150 of our front line men. And no. That’s in November.” Oz states.

“Then your guess is as good as mine.” Zeph shrugs.

“Let’s go inside. We can worry about it after a plate of Riz's daily special,” Belz says, pulling the door open.

The door’s barely closed behind us when an old but kind eyed demon greets the guys heartily.

“And who is this beauty?” He turns to me.

I freeze. I don’t know what to say. I’ve only been introduced to demons around the palace. Is it supposed to be a secret who I am? Should I lie? Belz saves me from having to answer and I can breathe again.

“This is our mate, Maddy.” He looks down at me so lovingly as he brushes my hair back that I melt.

“Mate? Whose mate?”

“All of ours, Riz,” Oz arches a brow at the older demon.

“Allthree? That’s unheard of! Wow. You must be something special, girl.” He studies me as if he’ll be able to tell what makes me so special. Does he suspect? Could he know I’m related to Luc? “I’m Riz’genor. It’s so lovely to meet you. I never thought these boys would find a woman who could put up with them individually, let alone together,” he chuckles.

“Oh, I believe it! Not sure how I do it myself.” I wink at him with a laugh. “I’m Maddy. It’s nice to meet a friend of my boys. I was worried they’d be loners, but we saw some of Belz’s fan club on the way here.”

“Belzar is a good demon. He deserves that fan club,” he says solemnly.

I smile in response. Riz seems like a good demon himself. We follow him to the back room where I popped in on Belz and Zarreth the only other time I’ve been here. I didn’t pay much attention to my surroundings then but now, I take everything in. Black walls with what looks to be veins of lava surround the large but comfortable dining room. The tables are assorted shapes and sizes but all are adorned with beautiful deep crimson tablecloths. Lanterns surround the room giving the right level of ambiance with their almost ember like light.

Very Hell chic.

Belz leads me to a large circular table with four chairs in the middle of the room. He pulls out a chair for me and Oz steals the seat next to me. Belz and Zeph fight over who gets to sit on my other side. Zeph wins and Belz grudgingly takes the seat across from me. I roll my eyes at them then study the menu. I’m still getting used to the food here, so much of it is gibberish.

“The usual boys?” Riz asks, getting a round of affirmatives before he turns to me. “And what about you, Maddy? Need a minute to look at the menu?”

“I don’t think I’d be much better off after hours studying it,” I chuckle. “What would you recommend?”

“Ahhh. An indecisive one. No wonder you have so many mates.” He winks. “I know just what to give you.” He leaves to put in our order but only gets three steps away before his steps stammer. His breath hitches and then he starts sobbing loudly. Just like the demons we saw on the way here.

What the hell is going on?

eight

Madelyne

Zeph jumps up, his chair crashing to the floor as he rushes to check on his friend. “Riz! What’s wrong?” he cries, grabbing the older demon by his shoulders.

Riz doesn’t answer, just sobs harder. My guys surround him, just like the others did in the street. But nothing they say or do breaks through to him. Suddenly, he drops to the floor, my guys following as they try to hold him up. I touch Zeph’s shoulder and his head snaps up. His concern and fear merge with mine. I don’t know what’s going on, but I suspect it has something to do with Luc. The guys probably won’t like it, but I can’t stand here and not do anything. I have to try. Even if they haven’t gotten over the last time I did it.

I gesture for Zeph to step aside so I can see Riz. Once he’s out of my way, I concentrate on sending my powers to him, intent on taking away his suffering like I did for Luc and my mom. The guys yell at me to stop, but I’m so focused on my mission, I barely hear them. My magic searches its subject for any negative emotion, but it comes back empty.

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