Page 62 of The River of Hatred

“Don’t forget about the puppy,” Jess reminds me and Bau emphasizes her point with a bark.

Sighing with resignation, I plop back down onto the couch. “How could I forget about the puppy wuppy,” I mutter.

“So, what did we miss, cousin?” Naamah asks from where she’s leaning against the wall, one suspicious eye on the puppy. I mean dog. The dog.

“Well, let’s see.” I lean back so I can see everyone’s reactions better. “We nearly died half a dozen times in the Malebolge, but we found and closed the rift,” I begin. “One of Uncle Asmo’s lieutenants, Andras, and his Cambion brigade are planning on wiping out every Celestial halfling for a pure Celestial race,” I continue. I tap my lips, thinking. “What else? Oh! Yes. I’m fucking both Ithuriel and Jessica, and they’ll be moving in with me once we’re done here.”

Kevin and Lana’s mouths drop open, Naamah blinks dazedly, Aim rubs his forehead in exasperation, Itha and Jess look like they want the ground to swallow them up (again), and Mike and his parents look like they’re experiencing varying doses of secondhand embarrassment.

I give them all my best shark’s grin. “What? What did I say?”

∞∞∞

“I suggest we wait for instructions from the Council,” Aim says. We’re sitting at the ancient couple’s massive oak dining room table, the mortals enjoying a late dinner, the immortals enjoying top-tier French wine. Well, except for Itha and, for some reason, Naamah.

“Are you alright, Cuz?” I ask her, poking her with my elbow.

“Just feeling funky.” She shrugs, obviously unconcerned, so I let it go.

I return my focus to Lana. “Yeah,” she sighs, answering Aim. “We wouldn’t want a repeat of your last bad-guy extermination, would we?”

I grin savagely. The bastards who killed Armaros and an innocent human child deserved every ounce of pain they got at Aim and Belias’ hands. Ash’s lieutenants wiped out every fucker involved and a good part of their relatives.

“Why aren’ttheyafraid of this Council,” Mike asks, a huge yawn betraying his exhaustion.

“Maybe their punishments are too mild,” Itha suggests. His vengeful side really makes my dick hard.

“Think big daddy S will get involved again?” Lana asks with a smirk. Kudos to her for calling him that even after she met him. Or maybe it’s because she met him and came away unscathed.

“You cannot rely on Father to do the expected thing,” Nephithar adds to the conversation.

“Oh, wow, I keep forgetting he’s your dad,” Jessica whispers in awe. I extend an arm to poke her shoulder. She’s not allowed to get that look on her face for anyone except Itha and me. Blushing, she swats me away, then leans her head on Itha’s shoulder.

“In a manner of speaking,” the red-eyed demon replies with a wry twist to his brutally set lips.

“Well, I guess we’re not going to achieve anything today,” Lana concludes, wiping her bleary eyes. She turns them on me. “Where are you guys staying? Is there room for four more?”

“Three,” Aim corrects. “It’ll be most efficient if I return to the Great Duke and await instructions.

Lana nods at the spymaster. “Three then.” She looks at the rest of us. “We better go.”

“Nonsense,” Syrin interrupts. “We have room for a small army in this house,” she says, Nephithar’s groan serving as backing vocals. His despondence would make me want to stay even if I felt like traveling to our Airbnb.

“How generous,” I purr, holding the old demon’s gaze as Mike cackles.

“As much as I love seeing someone challenge my old man, I’m dead on my feet,” the Nephalem says. “Is my room okay for me to use, Mom?”

Syrin’s beautiful eyes, gray with a hint of purple, soften in the way a mother’s eyes do when they look at their child – no matter if the child is a baby or a parent themselves.

“Of course, darling,” she says. “Wherever we are, there’s always a room for you.”

Mike kisses his mother’s cheek and leaves with a sleepy shuffle, Bau getting up to follow.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Aim says before disappearing into the ether, not waiting for anyone’s good night.

“I’ll show you to the guest rooms,” the long-presumed-dead archivist tells us.

We file after her, our group getting smaller as Kevin and Naamah take the first room, Lana takes the second, and Syrin shows us to a third.

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