Page 74 of Hell-Bound

“Jester,” she said, a thought occurring. “Have you and Azur ever—”

“Ew, yuck! No way! Whyyyy would you even ask that?!” he bellowed, rolling around on the bed dramatically.

“I don’t know. Zelaia was in here, and I just thought that maybe—”

“Listen, Ren. Zelaia is a special lady. She is a good friend, and I think Azur sought comfort there. But, say what you want about Azur, he doesn’t make it a habit of sleeping with his minions, okay?”

After their previous night, Ren wasn’t convinced. Then again, so far, she had been the one to initiate all of their intimate contact.

“But we’re getting off-topic!” The devil said, in a serious whisper. “Your secret is that you’ve beensummonedby someone in the tower. They’re all panicking, looking for you. It’s quite funny, actually.”

Her food felt like it was about to make a reappearance.

“Oh, hells. Yeah, I was…expecting someone,” she said, trying to swallow her panic.

Jester narrowed his eyes.

“Hmm. So you need to get back to the tavern, yes? Icouldsend you there,” he said, tapping a long nail on his chin. “But you’ll have to do something formeeeeeee!”

She pursed her lips. “Nothing binding, right?”

He raised his hand in a swearing gesture.

“Not binding! Why, Ren? Are you planning onbetrayingme?” he swooned.

She ignored the comment. “What do you need?”

He bit his lip, and despite being so close to her, he whispered, “I’m helping a friend. A Lesser Devil named Gabriela. Do you remember that guy, Lord Evernight, that I mentioned? A fan of sword throwing? Thing is, Gabriela recently fulfilled her contract. But Evernight won’t let her leave! He locked her away until she agreed to sign another contract and indebt herself to him.”

“That’s awful! Can they do that?”

Jester looked sorrowful. “They can do whatever they want. She’s free from obligations to serve Evernight contractually. But that doesn’t mean she’s free.”

“Of course, I’ll help you Jester.” she said decisively. One of the first decisions she was absolutely sure about.

The Devil smiled ear-to-ear, his dimples alight on his cheeks.

“Thanks, Ren. I don’t think I’d be able to do it without your sneaky tricks. I’ll fill you in on my plan after your mysteriooooous meeting.”

He stood up on the bed, giving it a few test jumps, before somersaulting to the ground. He clapped his hands twice and made a complex form with his arms and fingers before a large fiery portal appeared.

“Show off.”

With mock annoyance, Ren stomped to the portal and jumped in.

After appearing in her familiar room, she suddenly felt anxious. How much did The Gilded Triangle know? She scrambled to the door and bounded down the stairs lest the God of The Heaven wait longer for a Mortal Half-Elf to appear.

“I’m sorry, Fred! I was just going out for a bite!”

As she dismounted the last stair, she saw a figure sitting in a dusty chair. The first patron she’d ever seen in the Denizen’s tower. His face was old and creased with deep wrinkles.

“Excuse me, sir. I heard someone was looking for me?”

“Renata Eldanuer,” he said politely, standing. “My name is Nainaur. I am glad to finally meet you.”

If Ren hadn’t been holding onto the railing, she would have fallen over. The Lord of The Heavens looked nothing like she had imagined and even less like his brother.

The god had cheery cheeks and a wide nose with wispy white hair that struggled to cover his balding head. His eyes sparkled like Azur’s, but were an otherworldly blue instead of red. His voice was gentle, almost a whisper, but looking again, he was still imposing. Not in the way that Azur was. Azur sucked the air out of the very room, threatening to choke anyone who opposed him. Nainaur had a calm power.

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