10. Belzar

ten

Belzar

I still remember helping Luc set up the library for Serafina. The room wasn’t a quarter of the size it is now, but she had the same reaction then as Maddy has now. Luc’s always had a thing for books. He’s been collecting them for as long as they’ve existed. When he met Sera, he finally had someone to share that love with. It’s been hard for him to come in here since she died.

Hell, I don’t know if he’d even recognize the place if he came in here now. The collection grows and expands more and more every day, thanks to the magic powering it. Every time a new book is written, it appears in these stacks. At least half of the books here have never been published and aren’t available anywhere but Luc’s.

Maddy makes a beeline for the rolling ladder and we laugh, knowing from experience that would be the first thing she’d do in Luc’s Library. Safe in the knowledge that she has two other overprotective mates not taking their eyes off of her, I force myself to get to work. As much as I would rather soak up her exuberance, we don’t have time to waste.

Walking to the long black island, I press my hand to the counter and a map of the library spreads out across it. The image zooms out as more and more of the library is added until finally it’s so small I can’t make out any details. Serafina would love knowing the library has expanded so much that the complete map can’t be read at once even on this giant slab of obsidiline.

I press the search bar and type in demonology . Maybe there have been other demons whose powers have gone wonky and we can learn something from them. It’s the best I can think of. To be honest, I’m not certain anything here will be able to help us. But I sure as hell don’t know where else to start. Maybe something we read will lead to an epiphany. Either way, I write down the directions to the demon section.

When I look back at Maddy, Oz has joined her as she gets off the ladder on the other side of the room. Walking over to Zeph who’s standing where I left him, staring at the two demons embracing by the ladder, I yell for them to join us.

“You find anything? Zeph asks hopefully.

“Maybe.” I shrug, not wanting to get his hopes up. Oz and Maddy reach us and I wish more than anything that her first time here could have been all about having fun and exploring the stacks. At least I was able to give her time for the ladder ritual the women of this family seem to have.

“Have fun, love?” I ask with a smile. Her eyes light up even more and she nods with a huge smile. “Good. Ready to check out some books?”

“Yes! Oh my god, I’m so ready! It looks like he has every book ever published here. It’s amazing.”

“Not just published. Every book ever written,” I correct with a smirk.

Her eyes widen for a whole different reason and she stammers, “Even the one I started when I was twelve?”

I share a look with Oz who chuckles darkly. “You know, I can search by author… We can find this book… you know, for research purposes.”

Her eyes narrow and I grab her around the waist. “Kidding.” I kiss the tip of her nose before shooting a wink at Oz and Zeph. We’re finding that book.

“Don’t worry, love, we’ll be in the magical section, far away from the unfinished childhood books section.”

“I hate you,” she mutters as she glares at me.

“Love you too.” I kiss her before grabbing her hand. “Come on. I know you’ve been dying to go up that spiral staircase. It just so happens to lead to Magical Nonfiction.”

“I’m gonna love it here,” she sighs as she happily follows me.

Once we’re upstairs, we pass under a sign that says Magical Nonfiction in Serafina’s script. It was her way of helping with the organization. Luc didn’t believe in signs before she made one. Said he could find his way through his library without them. Sera argued it made things easier and the library looked better with her signs. Luc couldn’t argue with that and like usual when it came to anything Sera wanted, he gave in quickly.

I envied their relationship for a long time. They were just too perfect together. I wanted that for myself. But no female ever caught my attention like Sera did Luc’s until Maddy. Now, having a perfect mate of my own, I look back at those memories of Luc and Sera differently. I understand completely how Luc could give in to her every whim. There’s nothing Maddy could ask for that I wouldn’t give her.

Maddy reads other signs as we pass them. “Abominable snowman? Angels? Banshee? Cyclops? You’re saying all of these mythical creatures are real ?”

“That’s what nonfiction means, isn’t it?” Zeph snarks, ducking when Maddy glares at him.

Oz smacks the back of his head and Maddy beams. “Thank you, teddy bear.”

“Anytime, Princess.” He winks in return.

Clearing my throat, I answer Maddy. “Not everything you’ve read about is real, but we’re far from the only magical creatures.”

I stop at the aisle labeled Demonology. Even it’s gained more books since the last time I was here. Fuck. It may take us a while to find anything. I wish Luc would have let me set up the cataloging system. It would have made finding a book on such a specific topic much easier.

“So… what now?” Oz asks, looking around like a book is going to jump out and bite him.

“Now I get to nerd out and read real demon books,” Maddy squeals, grabbing a random book off the shelf. “Unlocking Your Inner Succubus: A Demon Girl’s Guide to Dating Hmmm maybe not this one…” She hastily puts it back and we all laugh as she grabs another. “The Early Life and Reign of Lucifer. This sounds interesting. Do you know Atticav Grimhollow?

“He was Luc’s record keeper. I completely forgot about him. He died a few hundred years ago and Luc never could replace him. The two of them were very close. Maybe he wrote about something that could help Luc now.” How lucky would that be? “We should read through all of his books.”

“I think that may take a while,” Zeph calls and I turn to find him further down the aisle. “I think this whole section is his!”

“Shit. Should have known it wouldn’t be that easy,” I grumble. There have to be thousands of books in this never ending aisle.

“Little help, Princess?” Oz arches a brow at Maddy.

“Me? Help? How the hell am I supposed to help?”

“You’re the most powerful demon here. I don’t know why you’re always so quick to forget that. It’s a good thing you have me here to remind you.” He winks at her. “Luc never set up the catalog system Belz wanted because he didn’t need it. If he wanted a book he just called it to him. You have his powers. You can do anything he can do. Stop limiting yourself. Call the books you want. Bring the ones you need to you.”

“But I don’t know what books I need,” she groans.

“You didn’t know where the hounds lived either. Didn’t stop you from sending them home, did it?” He cocks both brows.

She narrows her eyes and grumbles, “I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” he smirks. “Now, tell your magic you want any book that has to do with Lucifer or out of control powers.”

Maddy closes her eyes to concentrate and we watch as books begin disappearing from shelves only to reappear in stacks around her feet. Her eyes snap open and she squeals as she looks around.

“I did it!”

“I don’t know why you’re always so surprised.” Oz shakes his head with a chuckle.

“Shut up.” She sticks her tongue out at him. “So… what do we do with all these books?” She chews on her bottom lip as she takes in the stacks surrounding her.

“Send them to the tables downstairs and we’ll each grab one and read by the fire,” I suggest.

“There’s a fireplace in the library?” she gasps.

Oz and I laugh as Zeph runs back from the other end of the aisle.

“Guys! Something happened! Books just started disappearing!” He skids to a stop in front of us and looks down. “Oh. I guess that’s what happened to the books.”

Maddy giggles and then the books are gone. “Sorry, Zeph. Oz helpfully reminded me my powers could be of some help.” She bites her lips together and rubs her earlobe as she fights a smile.

“Of course he did. Could have done that sooner.” Zeph scowls at the demon in question.

Oz just shrugs in return. “I wanted to see if she’d figure it out on her own.”

“Ugh. You’re such an asshole,” she grumbles.

“Never pretended to be anything else, Princess.” He smirks.

I step between them before she comes back with a retort. “Come on, Amica Mea, I’ll show you the best seat in the library.”

Her eyes light up and she gasps as I grab her and jump over the railing, gliding us down to the first floor and steering us toward the corner where the fireplace sits.