by Ivy Asher
“They are not pets,” I snarl at him, my rage rising with every breath I take, but my statement seems to entertain him even more, judging by the growing smile on his face.
“Delta, come here right this minute,” Tazreel commands, fuming.
“I don’t answer to you!” I yell at him, fed up with all this bossy bullshit.
My real dad never treated me as shitty as Tazreel has in the last… I try to recall how long I’ve been here, but I can’t. Well, it hasn’t been longer than the nineteen years I spent with my human parents, who never snapped at me like this, and they had to deal with me during my hormonal teenage years.
“Delta...” Iceman admonishes quietly.
I shoot my blue demon a look over my shoulder that tells him to stay out of it. This is between me and the sperm donor.
“Delta, you are my progeny and therefore under my command. You will do as you’re told, or you will face consequences,” Tazreel threatens. “I will dismiss them and bring you to heel.”
“Just go with him, Jeter. We’ll be right behind you,” Crux encourages, and I stare into his pleading green eyes for a moment as I try to figure out what to do.
I don’t want to be separated, but I also don’t know what will happen if I keep pushing back against Tazreel. I just can’t help feeling like if I walk away from my demons, he’ll snap them away, and who knows how I’ll get back to them? Right now, I can’t even figure out how to get out of his fucking house. I let out an exasperated huff, frustrated that I have to behave as if I have a master. Show me the contract I signed saying this douchebag with wings should have any control over me.
I freeze, that thought sparking an idea in my mind.
“Fine, I’ll come with you to fulfill your progeny announcement obligation, but after that, I need to leave, because like it or not, you don’t own me like you think you do.”
Tazreel and the other Abdicated chuckle and shoot looks at me that say, awww isn’t she cute? Dumb, but cute. He chuckles. “I am your Sire, Delta. The only demon who trumps my word when it comes to you is Lucifer.”
I hold up a hand, and he pauses. “I signed a contract with the Perdition Estate to guard the Hellgate. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that a factor here? I gave my word as a demon to be tied to the Gate until the owners dismissed me.” I look at the Gate Guardians standing protectively around me. “According to that contract, I don’t belong to you. I belong to them.”
The humor in Tazreel’s eyes blinks out, and his mouth slightly parts with shock. His eyes flit from me to the other Abdicated, like, can she do that? I work to fight the smile that wants to break out on my face, because I can tell I’ve got him. I might not have known that I was a demon when I signed the contract to guard the Gate, but the contract didn’t know that. I’m throwing the dice on the rumors being true about Hell taking contracts seriously. I mean, everything I’ve ever watched in the movies about selling your soul to a demon seemed pretty legit.
“I’ll deal with that later,” Tazreel snaps. “But right now, there’s a party to address.”
“Fine,” I clip back.
“Fine,” he repeats, like his indignation somehow supersedes mine.
I glare as he holds his hand out to me like I’m going to take it. “One sec, I need my scythe.”
I turn to my demons and smile. “Check this out,” I tell them excitedly as I hold my hand out and will my scythe to me. My smile dims when nothing happens. I drop my arm slightly and then lift it again, furrowing my brow like it’s going to help me focus harder.
“Come,” I command in my mind.
Nothing.
“Here, little guy,” I try, but I’m only met with silence and nothing else.
Dammit.
I give up on trying to look cool activating my Thor skills, and stomp over to pick the testy Hell weapon up. I’ll have to think through what I was doing and feeling at the table when the little shit decided to pop into my hand and blow up the perfectly peaceful dinner I was not having.
“Cool trick,” Jerif snarks with a teasing smile on his face. I shoot him a glare as I straighten up from snatching the scythe off the ground, but then break into a smile because, touché
“All right, who’s ready to party?” Elle sing-songs as she heads for the door, and the rest of the Abdicated quickly follow her.
I try not to groan.
I may be a demon, but a party animal, I am not. Bring on the comfy pajamas and a hot cup of tea, because that’s a party I could get down with.
I gasp as I feel a hint of shadow caressing the globe of my ass again, and my eyes shoot to Echo, who has a very smug and heated look on his face. I forgot his shadows were still on me.
One shadow moves slowly, caressing the inside of my thigh, back and forth with tantalizing strokes like a delicious preview for what’s on his mind.
Well, okay then. Hell party, here I come.
8
I follow the group of excited Abdicated out of the dining room and up a massive set of stairs. We weave through Tazreel’s palatial house, and the more corridors we head down, the more turned around I become. I don’t hear any telltale signs of a party though, which seems odd.
Tazreel drops back to walk next to me, and he shoots my guys a look that tells them to give us a moment. I try and fail not to roll my eyes. What’s with this dude?
I want to refuse and reach out and grab hold of their hands, but I stop myself by taking a deep breath to bite back my temper. You catch more flies with honey, I remind myself. Then again, I’m not trying to catch flies. I’m trying to keep this arrogant demon from thinking he can rule my life. Bet there’s not a Southern saying for that. Or at least I don’t think there is...I’ll have to ask Flint.
My guys dutifully slow their pace, falling away from my sides. Echo even took his shadows off my ass, which I miss immediately. The other Abdicated practically snatch the guys up, and I have to stop myself from growling out a warning about keeping their Abdicated hands to themselves. My anxiety over the situation climbs to its peak when we reach the end of yet another corridor, and the Abdicated and my Guardians break off from us. I try to go with them, but Taz stops me with a hand to my arm. “Hey,” I say, moving away from him. “Where are they taking them?”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” he tells me. “They’re going into the regular entrance of the party. You and I have to make a formal appearance so that I can announce you.”
I bite my lip nervously, watching as the guys cast me looks before one by one being led off to the right, down another hallway.
“This way.”
“This better not be a trick, Taz,” I warn, though it’s not like I can really do anything against him if he is.
Or...can I?
I look down at the scythe in my hand, noting how the blades disappeared once again. “Do scythes work on Abdicated?” I ask.
Taz stiffens and whirls on me, nearly making me run straight into him. I screech to a halt, my heels almost toppling me over.
“Are you threatening me?” he asks, and I’m immediately taken aback by the hard glint of his gray eyes. His wings come out and so do mine, like they’re ready to show up for the face-off. His power pushes at me, making my tongue heavy and my head dizzy, and I know he’s forcing the truth right out of me.
“N-no,” I stutter. “I was just asking. I was curious.”
Fuck, he’s scary like this.
He comes off as shallow and a little ridiculous, like he’s the sun of his universe and can’t help but be blinded by his own light. But in moments like this, I see what he purposely keeps buried. The dark violence he’s capable of. I realize that he’s both an arrogant prick and dangerously strategic.
He stares at me hard for another moment, until he finally gives a terse nod, satisfied. He turns on his heel, continuing to stride straight ahead, and I swallow down the panic, but I realize as I follow him on unsteady legs that he didn’t answer my question.
Hmm.
We finally reach
the end of this long ass corridor, and Taz leads me up a wide staircase. Sounds start to filter toward us the higher we go, and by the time we reach the top, I’m out of breath from the climb and my ears are pulsing with the beat of heavy trance-like music.
There is a line of guards standing on the upper level, all of them with their straight backs against the walls and eyes forward and unmoving. There’s a set of double doors in the middle of them, and Taz heads for those. Two guards swing the doors open without a word from Taz, and then the sound amplifies tenfold. I’m hit with the noise like it’s a wall, and I actually stagger back from it.
Tazreel puts a hand on my shoulder and tugs me forward, and I walk out on the balcony and look over the edge.
There are demons everywhere.
It’s like watching the ball drop in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. The outside veranda, or whatever the fuck rich people would call this outdoor space, stretches vast, with marble sex sculptures, huge fountains, and a pool that looks big enough to fit a baseball field. The black sky stretches above us with red starred pinpricks, which just adds to the ambiance.
Below, littering every inch of space, are more Abdicated and other Inner Ring demons. They’re drinking, smoking from shared pipes, swimming, dancing, and...oh, yep. There’s a few orgy piles going on too.
My eyes are wide as I take in the scene in front of me, and it takes me a second to realize that everyone has quieted down and stopped in the revelry to look up at Taz. I take in the rapt looks and eager eyes on the demons waiting with bated breath to see what Taz is going to say, and I get the distinct impression that he’s some kind of Hell celebrity.
He raises his arms high in the air, like a king greeting his subjects. “Welcome!” he shouts, and the crowd practically eats up that one word like it’s the most delicious thing they’ve ever tasted and they’re ready for more. “It has been far too long since all of you graced my house, and I couldn’t think of a better reason to welcome all of you back. Today marks a special day in my long life, and this day will go down as historic from now until the realms have fallen.”
Thousands upon thousands of voices cheer at the same time, the sound so staggering it steals the breath from my chest and assaults my ears. I stare down at the sea of faces, holding my own face perfectly still as everyone stares up at me.
“As your proud host tonight, I present to you, my newly discovered progeny. Nihil, please welcome, Delta!”
A roar of more excited screams fill the air, and I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with them. Beside me, Taz’s wing nudges mine.
“Huh?” I ask, dazed.
“Wave,” he says, and like I’m on autopilot, I lift a hand and wave, matching his movement. Another cheer rises up.
“Now, in honor of Lucifer himself, let’s fucking celebrate!” Taz’s voice rings out over the masses. “Gluttonously eat, greedily drink, and lustfully indulge until you yourself stand before all of us announcing the fruit of tonight’s efforts!”
Hands clap together, practically shaking the ground even from up here, and then I’m being swept away, down a set of stairs right off the balcony that I hadn’t noticed before. More guards are at the bottom, acting like velvet ropes to give us room to walk into the throng.
I thought this many people was intimidating up there? Yeah, it’s way, way worse down here in the thick of it.
Speaking of thick…
I cough, waving a hand in front of my face as orange-ish smoke claws at me from the air. “What is this stuff?”
“Stupor,” Taz answers. “It’s commonly smoked at gatherings. It helps one relax and...revel in the indulgence.”
The only things I want to indulge in are shoes without heels, a bath, some Thai food, and four very particular Hellgate demons. The guys’ faces instantly flash in front of my eyes, and I bite my lip. I remember the dream I had of them back at my house, and fluttering butterflies start dive-bombing my ovaries. More Stupor smoke is blown my way, and I decide what the hell. If it shores up my courage, I’m game. I inhale deeply.
Like he can read my mind, Taz stops me, his blond wings suddenly flaring out and blocking us from view as he turns to face me. “I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is no.”
My brows pull together. “No? No, what?”
“It is fine to dally once or twice. Fuck them until the Hell hounds come home for all I care, but you may not claim those males as mates. They are lesser. Just Guardians. You are meant to claim a Nihil mate, of which I will select, approve, and arrange for you.”
Anger fuses to the inside of my lungs until I expel a breath that feels as hot as rage. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” I hiss at him as my purple wings pop out on either side of me. I cringe inwardly when they become apparent in my periphery, but I let them do their own thing. I don’t think they like Taz’s wings trying to show us up.
“I am your Sire,” Taz answers coolly. “Therefore, I am in charge of you.”
“No, you’re not,” I retort. “You’ve known about me for a day. I’ve been living my life, alone, for almost ten years. You may have been my sperm donor, but you’re not my dad. My dad was a construction worker who loved three things: baseball, my mom, and me,” I say, emotions close to the surface from all the shit that’s been slamming into me at every turn.
Taz presses his lips into a thin line, but that flash that goes through his eyes isn’t regret. Can’t be. No way. Abdicated assholes like him probably aren’t capable of remorse.
“And like I said earlier, I signed a contract with those Guardians you’re looking down your nose at, so I do belong with them, whether you like it or not. You may not find it a worthy cause, but I grew up in that Mortal Realm they’re helping to keep safe, and I can’t think of a worthier pursuit for anyone, Nihil included.”
I cross my arms in front of my chest, all too aware that the two of us probably look like a petulant teenager facing off with an overbearing dad, but I don’t give a shit. I don’t even give a shit that I can hear Abdicated behind him tittering, eating up this little display of drama. This must be like prime time entertainment to these demons. Maybe they don’t get out much. Or have internet. That would fucking suck. I’ll have to tell them all about Carole Baskin and see if they know where her husband is.
“I don’t like this,” Taz says, shaking his head. “As my first-born progeny, I must marry you off. That’s my right.”
“Why would you want that right?” I challenge. “Then I’d just get to blame you for every dumb thing that the demon you choose does. That’s a lot of pressure, and you don’t seem like the type to really want to deal with that.”
He doesn’t look amused by that statement.
“You’re not marrying me off to anyone. That’s just not happening,” I tell him. I refuse to back down from this. I don’t care that he is some kind of Hellish prince. Lucifer basically gave me a pass. He can’t punish me. He knows it, and I know it.
A growled sigh escapes his chest, and his blond wings tense up with his fisted hands. “You must only cavort with worthy demons. Nihils, preferably.”
I snort. “Oh, really? Where do you get off telling me that when you’ve fucked so many females, you can’t even narrow down who my mother is! You have a shit ton of those black books that proves just how much you cavorted. You even fucked a pixie!”
He scowls. “I told you, she was only a quarter pixie!”
I roll my eyes, but before any more argued words can be flung between us, Elle sways over to us like a sex goddess on a fashion runway, interrupting. “You two look so alike right now, glaring at each other like that,” she laughs, making her breasts bounce. “Come now, Taz, this is a party! Let your progeny mingle.”
He grumbles something to her that I don’t catch, but she just laughs again.
“Where are my Guardians?” I ask her.
She lifts a shoulder. “Oh, I don’t know. I wandered away. These things are so diverting, you know. I’m sure they’re off partaking in at least on
e of the seven sins.”
They better fucking not be. Not without me, at least.
Elle takes Taz by the arm and starts pulling him away, shooting me a wink as she mouths, “You’re welcome.” She takes his pain in the ass away to do Hell only knows what, and I’m glad for the break from his overbearing attitude.
“This discussion isn’t over,” Taz says over his shoulder at me.
“Yes, it is,” I call back.
He says something in reply, but luckily, I don’t hear it, because Red pulls him into the crowd where they instantly get swallowed up.
I stand there alone, looking around, suddenly nervous. Now that the partygoers have a clear view of me, demons are pressing closer, all of them in various stages of undress. “Look at that color. I’ve never seen purple wings before!” I hear someone exclaim.
In a matter of seconds, the crowd is picking everything apart: my hair, my wings, my face, my posture, my dress, even my height. The stick in my hand is also a big line of discussion, and I grip the scythe tighter, thankful that the blades aren’t out right now. The gossip would be even worse.
Spotlight phobia is settling in, making me squirm on the spot. I push my way through, careful to use my free hand instead of the scythe, just in case it activates and I ash someone on accident. That would probably be a party foul.
After only taking several steps, I get swallowed up in the throng just like Taz did, and I’m immediately feeling claustrophobic. Demons keep trying to stop me or reach out to touch my wings. I’m surprised when the appendages snap out at people aggressively, like they’re pissed someone would have the audacity to put their grubby fingers on them. That seems to keep people from wing touching, which is fine by me. I push ahead, moving in the general direction that I think one of the large fountains was situated. If I can get up there, then I’m hoping I can see over the crowd and spot my guys.
It takes me fucking forever to go a very short distance.
By the time my shins hit the sides of the fountain, I’m panting, sweating, and my nerves are pretty much shot from too much attempted touchy-touchy and talky-talky.