16. Zarreth

sixteen

Zarreth

W aking up in Maddy’s arms is definitely not where I thought I’d find myself just a week ago, but here we are and I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the best night of sleep I’ve ever had.

Every night with her may be the best night.

Rationally I understand why I fought this but at this moment I don’t know how I could ever deny that the woman I currently hold in my arms is everything I need and more.

Good morning, Zar. You look awfully handsome with your tousled hair this morning.

Maddy’s voice in my mind makes me realize how quiet it’s been up till now. No crazy Oz thoughts or whispers of Zeph’s dreams as he sleeps.

Hm, maybe it has something to do with what happened last night. I do feel a bit different.

Without giving myself time to second guess my intuition or worry about looking dumb, I think about having a fresh cold glass of water in my hand to quench that early morning thirst. With an audible pop a glass of water appears.

“Oh my hell, Zar! Could you always do that?” Maddy asks me, sitting up now looking at me with wide eyes.

“Yeah, definitely not, Sweetheart. I’ve only known Luc to do that. Well, and Belz can do his thing but it’s not quite the same.” I shrug, grinning at the glass in my hand.

“No shit,” she gasps. “Why can you do it now? You think it’s because of the mate bond?”

“Sweetheart, I think everything good in my life is because of the mate bond.”

Her cheeks flush and if she was a cartoon, I swear she’d have hearts in her eyes.

I mean every word though. Even after just a short time she’s brought life back into me. Two days ago, I hated her for everything she represented, reminding me of my failings and the years of torture. Now, I understand she had nothing to do with that and I can’t believe I ever blamed her for any of it. Thanks to Maddy, I feel better than I ever did even centuries before the great betrayal .

The bed moves around us as the others start to wake up.

“Morning, Princess,” Oz murmurs sleepily as he sits up and stretches. “Oh, Devil! You’re right!”

The fuck is he talking about?

Oz looks from me to Maddy, then to Zeph and back to Maddy. “Thank fuck. My thoughts are my own again!”

Oh. Maddy must be filling him in.

“Keep it down. Demons are trying to sleep,” my twin grumbles. He’s never been a morning person. Honestly, I’m surprised he even heard Oz on the other side of the bed.

“Awww, look at the little cranky sleepyhead,” Maddy coos.

Zeph just grunts and rolls over.

Maddy’s giggle at his antics is the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard and I thank the devil I share a mate with my idiot twin so I can listen to her laugh at him for the rest of my life.

Knowing we really don’t have time for the asshole to go back to sleep, I dump my glass of water on his head.

“What the-” he sputters as he jolts upright.

“Morning, sunshine.” I smirk as he glares at me with his hair dripping in his face. It’s been too fucking long since I pranked anyone. I wouldn’t call this a prank , but it’s closer than I’ve been in years. It feels good. One more thing I didn’t realize I was missing until Maddy.

“You’re a dick,” he mutters.

Maddy, on the other hand, is laughing hysterically.

“Really, Angel? It’s like that?”

“Sorry,” she sputters. “You’re very cute when wet.” She purses her lips trying to keep herself from laughing more.

I conjure a towel, dropping it on his head. “Stop being a baby, and dry yourself off.”

“The fuck? Where’d that come from?” He snatches the towel off his head and inspects it before wiping his face and scrubbing his hair.

“Just a little upgrade our lovely mate gave us.” I smirk.

“You mean besides the fact that we can control when we hear each other’s thoughts now?” Oz says.

“Oh, yeah. I’m thrilled about that development, too. If I had to hear one more of Zeph's crazy ‘plans’ to debauch the three of you , I was going to kill someone. I do not want to know about my brother’s kinky ideas.” I shudder at the memory.

Maddy laughs like I’m kidding, but I mean it. Someone was going to die soon. Whatever happened last night when we all claimed her saved lives.

“You mean we have some of Maddy’s power now?” Zeph gapes at me.

“I don’t know about all that. But I can conjure things with just a thought now.” I shrug. “Definitely never been able to do that before. What about you? Can you do it?”

He’s either thinking really hard , or he’s constipated. His forehead is scrunched up and he closes his eyes. A few moments later, a plate that suspiciously resembled Riz's breakfast special appears in his hand.

“Ooooh, hell yes!” he cheers before taking a big bite.

“Hey, I want some,” Maddy pouts. A matching plate appears in her hand and she smiles. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Princess. I knew Zeph would never share.” Oz winks.

“Hey! I’d share with Maddy,” my twin grumbles.

“Really? You never share your food with me ,” Belz raises a brow at my brother.

Zeph simply shrugs his shoulders. He can’t argue with that. Everyone here, besides Maddy, has some sort of battle wound from getting too close to his food. It’s the one thing he doesn’t share. Ever. Even as kids he never shared his snacks with me.

“Remember that time Zo tried to steal one of his hors d'oeuvres at that solstice ball? He nearly took her hand off.” Oz chuckles.

“Oh my hell, Zo!” Maddy yelps, fork halfway between her plate and mouth. “We got to go, right now.”

Maddy thrusts her plate to the side and hops out of bed magically clothing herself before heading for the door.

“Woah, Amica Mea , going in without a plan won't accomplish anything but more heartbreak.” Belz steps behind her and wraps his arm around her midsection. “Come, sit.”

“I can't Belz, I just… can't. I need to do something. I need to fix my mom.” She pleads with him to understand.

“Okay, but let me grab Luc. We'll meet you in her room. Maybe he can help,” Belz offers.

“Good idea. Now that he’s back to normal, he should be able to fix her by himself. He is the devil after all. There’s nothing he can’t do, right?” Maddy asks hopefully.

Belz steps away from her and much like Maddy moments ago he is now magically dressed in fresh clothes.

He didn’t even have to speak. .

“Yes, as far as I know he can do almost anything, Amica Mea . Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.” He kisses the top of her head and her shoulders sag as an invisible weight lifts from them.

“Thank you, Belz,” she murmurs.

“Always, Love.” Smoke envelopes his legs and his face lights up. “Hell yes. It worked!” he cheers as it spreads up his body until we can’t see him any more, his voice fading as he disappears.

“No way! Can I do that?” Zeph gasps.

“I don’t know. Get dressed and meet us in Mom’s room and you’ll find out,” Maddy teases before disappearing as well.

“Tell me that’s another spanking,” I ask Oz.

“Oh, definitely,” he agrees darkly.

When we pop—still can’t believe that’s a thing I can do—into Zo’s room, Maddy is standing over her next to her chair. The scene is identical to last night when we were here with one exception. The determination on Maddy’s face.

Belz and Luc appear in Zo’s sitting room and Luc rushes to his daughter’s side. He cups the side of her face and kisses her forehead. “Wake up, Filia ,” he murmurs.

The room collectively holds our breath as we wait for her to wake up like Luc did. We wait. And we wait. But it never happens.

“Why didn’t that work? That should have worked,” Luc mutters to himself. “ Zofina Danica. Wake. Up. Now, ” he commands.

I’ve seen him use his power like this before, and with how attuned I am to his power, I should feel it when he forces his power on her. But I don’t. It’s as if they’re just words spoken. They hold no power like they should.

What the hell is happening?

Luc seems to be thinking the same thing. I’ve never seen such a bewildered expression on his face. He stares at his hands as if assessing the power through them. Suddenly his eyes widen and his jaw slightly opens.

“So this is why,” he murmurs.

By the looks on everyone’s face, no one understands what he’s saying.

His head snaps up and looks at Maddy. “You have everything you need to bring her back to us. The power is within you. Never doubt yourself. There is nothing you can’t do,” he says. “You’ll be a great queen, Madelyne.”

“Queen? No. That’s not happening. You’re here. You’re fine. There’s no need for me to take over anything. You’re the devil. Not me . Not for a very long time. You still have too much to teach me.”

Luc gives her a soft smile. “You’ll figure it out. You’ve got these assholes to help you. Between the four of them, they know everything I could think to teach you.”

“But-”

“You’re going to do amazing things, Neptis . I’m already proud of you. You’re the ruler Hell deserves. Besides, now that I’m not in charge around here, I’m free to leave. I have some business to attend to earthside. Apparently I have new mates.” He arches his brow.

“I won’t apologize.” Maddy lifts her chin.

“Good. Never apologize for doing the right thing. Now, think . What are you going to do to fix her? How did you fix me?”

“By bonding you to your mates. But I already tried that with Mom. It didn’t work.”

“So maybe she’s already bonded and they’re too far away for the mate magic to work like it did on me.”

Maddy’s eyes widen. “I have to get my dad! How do I bring him here?”

Luc’s grin stretches across his face. “Excellent. I knew you’d figure it out,” he praises. “Call for Georgym. He can bring him here. But I have to warn you, Hell is not meant for human souls… not alive anyway.”

Maddy pales at Luc’s warning. “How do I keep him alive here?”

“How do you do anything, my dear?” Luc arches a brow.

“That’s what I always say,” Oz chuckles and raises a matching brow as he looks at Maddy.

She huffs at the two demons. “It’s not fair to team up on me.”

“That’s not what you said last night,” my idiot twin mutters under his breath.

She glares at him before looking back at Zo. I see the moment the idea strikes. She closes her eyes and holds her hands out in front of her. Swirling light circles over her palms like a tornado before finally revealing a delicate looking purple gemstone with a swirling black and gold center. She opens her eyes and smiles before looking at me.

“Can you make this into a necklace like you did Mom’s?”

A week ago, the reminder would have sent me into a spiral, but now, I can’t even think about the past. I only care about the future. It would take entirely too long to make it like I did Zo’s but now that I have some of my beautiful mate’s powers, I don’t have to make it the hard way.

Taking the stone from her, I use her power to cover it with a protective casing and put it on a sturdy chain that won’t ever break. Dangling it from my fingers, I hold it out to her.

“Thank you.” She takes it with a kiss to my cheek. “Now… How do I call for Georgym? ”

Luc tips his head in his patented how do you think look.

Maddy rolls her eyes but moments later, Georgym appears. He looks around the room and freezes when he sees Luc. Crossing one arm over his chest, he bows his head. “Your Majesty.”

Luc chuckles. “Not me. Her .” He tips his head toward Maddy.

Georgym snaps his head up and looks from Luc to Maddy before understanding flickers across his face.

“Madelyne is your new ruler,” Luc declares.

“My queen,” he says, dropping to one knee, with his head bowed and his arm crossed over his chest. “I am at your service.”

“Please. Stand. No need for all of that.” Maddy grumbles.

“Apologies, my queen, but it is.” He stands and looks at Maddy head on, something he’d never dare do with Luc. “You are the ruler of Hell. You deserve all the respect I can bestow you and more.”

“I knew you were my favorite for a reason,” Luc smirks.

“Hey! I thought I was your favorite!” Oz pouts.

Luc rolls his eyes. “Obviously I meant my favorite demon that I didn’t personally have a hand in raising.”

“Oh. Okay. Good.”

“Such a baby. Good luck with that one, Madelyne.”

She shakes her head as she bites her lips fighting a smile. “Anyway. Georgym. I need you to go to Earth and retrieve my father. He’s human so he won’t be able to survive without this.” She passes him the necklace. “Please be careful with him. Make sure he understands the importance of keeping the necklace on.”

“Of course, my queen.”

“Thank you,” Maddy says before smoke engulfs the guard. When it clears, he’s gone.

And now we wait.