Page 129 of Demon with Benefits
Bel’s eyes narrowed to angry slits, and he and Raum had a staring contest for several seconds. Iris had to give it to Raum for not backing down under the heat of that glare.
Finally, Belial sighed and gave in. “Since when are you the reasonable one? You used to be off stirring up shit with Meph any chance you got.”
Raum made a face. “Ash fucked off with Eva, and Meph is currently salivating at the thought of eating us. Someone has to keep you in line.”
Belial tossed back the rest of his drink. “Fine. I’ll set up the meeting. But I don’t want to hear another goddamn word about my ‘contacts in Hell,’ got it?”
“I don’t know why you’re so sensitive about that.”
“Call me sensitive again and see where it gets you.”
“Sens—”
Meph’s sudden hiss cut him off, and they all looked at him. If Iris wasn’t mistaken, it almost seemed like he was trying to keep the peace between his brothers.
“Time to shift,” Raum told him.
Meph hissed again.
Belial held up a palm and said, “Shift. Or you know what comes next.”
Meph hissed at him too.
Bel took a step forward, and his arm burst into flames. “Shift.”
To her amazement, Meph shrank away, bringing his claws up to his face as if to protect himself.
“Wait,” Iris said, and before she knew it, she was out of her chair, standing in front of him. Fuck, Belial looked scary. No wonder Meph was backing off.
“Just... leave him be. If he doesn’t want to shift, he shouldn’t have to. As long as he’s not eating anyone, right? Maybe his demon just wants to hang out with us for a bit. What’s the harm in that?”
The other demons stared at her for so long, she figured they weren’t going to listen. But then Belial shrugged and extinguished the flames on his arm.
“Fine.” He jabbed a finger in Meph’s direction. “But don’t even think about fucking with me.”
Iris felt a touch against her shoulder and looked behind her. Meph was holding her like he was hiding behind her, peeking around to stare warily at Belial.
“You’re scaring him.” Stifling a laugh, she quickly turned her face away to hide her smile. The most terrifying monster she’d ever seen was afraid of Belial’s mostly empty threats.
“He used to try to eat us,” Raum said, answering her question from before, “so we had to lay down the law.”
“Before he got the binding tattoo, he would go on feeding frenzies,” Bel said, propping a hip against the counter. “One night he decimated half a legion of my soldiers in the middle of a territorial dispute, and I nearly lost the battle because of it. I had to draw the line.”
“Bel fried him until he shifted back.”
Iris winced. “That’s awful.”
“He’s a little shit,” Bel said with a shrug. “He needed to be kept in line.”
She opened her mouth to defend Meph but stopped. Bel had glanced at Meph as he spoke, and she hadn’t missed the hidden affection in his voice. She closed her mouth again, and her lips curved.
Sure, torturing one’s brother with hellfire sounded terrible, but they were demons, after all. Lily had once warned her not to ascribe too many human characteristics to them, and Iris figured this was one of those instances. At the end of the day, it was obvious Belial loved him, and all his brothers, even if he would never admit it and would probably claim to be incapable of it.
“Speaking of little shits,” Raum said.
Iris frowned for a second before she heard it—tiny yips coming from a closed door down the hall.
Raum stood. “He’s in my room. I’ll get him.”
