Chapter 2

Two

If there was one place he never thought he'd run into an Infernal King of the Underworld, it was Gabe's apartment.

Yet there was Asmodeus, Lord of the Nines, giggling over his presence as a pet frog.

Beel was a little surprised Asmodeus even recognized him, but he had run some errands for lust demons in the past, and their paths had crossed. Asmodeus was the best type of Infernal King to work for; he made it a point to know everyone's names and to be good to all his legion. Beel had enjoyed his time as a lesser demon in that department before he'd been relocated.

He wasn't too thrilled that he'd been outed to his human, however. Of course Gabe had figured out he was unique, but he didn't want to be treated any differently just because he was a lesser demon in the form of a frog. So when they asked, he very firmly opted not to eat with the pair and went back to his aquarium, hoping that Asmodeus would take care of his business and leave and that Gabe would treat him just like he always did.

He was still Mr. Frog, after all. The form had kind of grown on him by this point, anyway. He couldn't imagine showing Gabe his demon form. Not that Gabe would mind, of course, because he wasn't an asshole. Beel knew that. But it was one thing loving a pet frog; it was entirely another thing loving a demon in full form that wasn't pet material.

Beel didn't want things to change. He wanted horror movie nights, and popcorn, and lazing about on his heated rock, and snacks from Marty's Pet Shop (which was weirdly owned by a cute guy named Jonathan).

He knew Asmodeus was a great demon, but the fact that Gabe called him "Az" was also a little concerning. Beel had figured out ages ago that the family was Nephilim, but if Az didn't ask, he certainly wasn't going to tell the demon. Better that Gabe have some defense against the lust demon if he needed to.

Not that he would need to. Because Asmodeus was great. He knew that.

Nevertheless, he worried about his human. Sometimes irrationally.

He supposed that somewhere over the last twenty-something years he had come to care about Gabe a lot. Ok, he loved the human. Just not in that way.

Because eww.

Not that Gabe wasn't hot, because of course he was. His human was attractive, sweet, smart, and just the best person ever.

And yeah, Beel did occasionally miss sex, especially now with a lust demon in the house. He wasn't overly affected by the lust—he supposed he still had some immunity from when he'd worked in that department—but the demon's presence did remind him of what he was missing. Most of the time he could ignore it when he thought a human was really attractive. He was a frog, after all, and despite the fairy tale, humans were not going around volunteering to kiss him.

Which was kind of a shame, because he did cross paths with some hot humans.

He did not count Gabe, though, because the thought of having sex with Gabe was like… he didn't even know. He was Gabe's pet, for devil's sake. That would just be weird.

At some point during his musings, he must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew, Az was calling his name.

It was dark out, and Gabe was sleeping, and the Prince of Lust was wearing Gabe's boxers and apparently sleeping over.

Beel was not pleased. This did not bode well for horror night.

"Beel," Az whispered, "I need you to do me a favor. I'm sure you know the names of Gabe's parents and have probably seen pictures after twenty years. I need you to find out where they are."

Despite the soft tone, Beel could tell when an order was being given. He couldn't help it, though. He had to express his frustration.

"You want to send me to the underworld? But I'm Gabe's pet, and he'll miss me, and I can't get stuck down there. Gabe will never forgive you. And I have no idea where his parents would even be, and I won't be able to come back to tell you anyway because Gabe probably won't know how to summon me again," he whined. He knew he was spiraling, but going back to the underworld filled him with panic.

"I know, I know. But I will call you forth again in the morning. Surely if you have all night you can figure something out," Az whispered, not unkindly.

Beel didn't think he had bad intentions, and he did trust Az, but he still worried. "If you don't summon me back here…" Beel began, but Az cut him off.

"I will not leave you down there. Now go, find out what you can, and I'll summon you back first thing tomorrow," Az commanded, and Beel couldn't ignore the power in his voice.

Arguing with an Infernal King of the Underworld wasn't going to get him anywhere. He also supposed it would be nice for Gabe to find out about his parents.

Yes, he would do this for Gabe. To set his human's mind at ease.

With that thought, and quite a bit of anxiety, Beel closed his little froggy eyes and pictured himself back in the underworld.

The sooner he got this done, the sooner he could go back home. It occurred to him that the underworld was actually his home, but somehow Gabe's apartment felt much more like where he belonged.

He just hoped he could get the job done quickly and easily.