7. Madelyne

seven

Madelyne

O z follows on our heels as Zeph drags me out of Mom’s suite. I’m laughing as I stumble trying to keep up with my overeager mate when an arm wraps around my waist, lifting me off the ground and ripping me away from him.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again, Princess,” he growls in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Do what?” I pant as his arm tightens around me.

“Scare me like that,” he sighs as he buries his face in my neck.

“I was just sleeping,” I attempt to reassure him, knowing it won’t work by the sheer force of his panic slamming into me through the bond.

“That wasn’t sleep . When you’re asleep, you can be woken up. That was a fucking coma ,” he growls.

Tilting my head, I run my fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry, big guy. I’m sure that was scary,” I murmur.

“Fucking terrifying, ” he breathes.

A door closes behind us and Belz’s amused curiosity flickers through the bond.

“What’s this?” he chuckles. “Couldn’t make it ten steps without your hands on her?”

“Like you’re any better? You’re just jealous I got to her first,” Oz retorts.

“Oh, sweetie. I had her first.” Belz smirks.

“Whatever,” Oz huffs. “Just means I have lost time to make up. Maybe we’ll skip dinner. I’m only craving dessert anyway.” He licks behind my ear before pulling the lobe between his teeth, making me clench on nothing.

Damn tease .

“You can make up for being last later,” Zeph scowls at him. “Right now, we’re going out. My girl deserves a relaxing night out on the town after everything she’s been through.”

“Agreed,” Belz cuts in before Oz can say anything. “Besides, there’s more to a relationship than just sex. It’s been too long since any of us spent quality time together outside the sheets. We need to start making that a bigger priority.”

I smile at my sweet mate. “I’d like that. We all need to make it a point to make time for each other. I feel like everything’s been all about me ever since I got here. I forget you three have been together for longer than I’ve even been alive.”

“We’ve all been going through a bit of a rough patch since Zar got back. You’ve been a welcome distraction, love,” Belz murmurs, brushing my hair out of my face.

“Got back? Where’d he go?”

Oz freezes at my back and the bond is flooded with a mix of emotions.

“That’s his story to tell, love. I’ll just say he was gone for a very long time and he hasn’t been the same since he came home. The grumpy asshole you know? That’s always been more of an Oz thing, it's not how Zarreth used to be.”

Oz chuckles as he sets me on my feet. “It’s true. The fucker came back and assumed my personality. I don’t care in the slightest for having competition over who’s the grumpiest in this group. I’ve earned that damn title and I won't be giving it up without a fight.”

Laughing, I pat his chest. “I’m sure you’re plenty grumpy. Even though I’m starting to suspect you’re more of a teddy bear than a grizzly.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “You take that back right now.”

“Just calling it like I see it.” I shrug and run away laughing as he reaches for me again.

“You’ll pay for that, Princess,” he chuckles darkly and I hope he means I’ll pay with orgasms. I’ll gladly give him all the orgasms he wants… My orgasms that is.

Zephyr meets me at the palace doors with a smirk. “I can’t wait to see him turn your pretty ass red.”

Wait, am I into that? Shit. I think so.

“She likes that idea, Oz. Looks like you’ve got a new plaything,” Zeph chuckles.

Arms once again wrap around my waist, this time a hard bulge grinds into my ass as Oz whispers in my ear. “You wanna feel the sting of my palm on your ass, baby?”

“Mmmmm. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll let you try after dinner.” He groans as I wink at him, pulling away to walk past the stupefied guard. Oops .

“ Woman, that's two” Oz growls as he realizes we have an audience.

I smile sweetly and wave to Georgym, walking past a bent-over Zephyr as he laughs.

Belz chuckles beside me. “What do you say we take the scenic route and give Oz some time to calm down?”

“The scenic route?” He tips his head to the side and arches a brow, looking at me pointedly. Why is he… Oh! “Yes! Let’s fly!” I squeal. Glinda and Elphaba hippity-hop right on out and fling me into the air, not needing to be told twice.

“Woohoooo!” I shriek as my wings raise me higher and higher.

“Told ya. A fucking natural.” Belz grins at me, grabbing my hand. “Ready to see Gehenna from my point of view?”

“Hell yeah!”

He chuckles before shouting down to Zeph and Oz, “We’ll see you losers there.”

We soar over Gehenna, Belz leading the way with a firm grip on my hand. If something happened and my wings stopped working, I know he would have me. He’d never let me fall. But I don’t have to worry about that because Elphaba and Glinda have no problem at all keeping up with the veteran flier.

“See that,” Belz points to the left, in the distance the unmistakable loops and hills of a roller coaster loom over a sprawling amusement park. “That’s Elysium Gardens”

“Wow. I didn’t know Hell had an amusement park! We so have to go some time!”

He chuckles at my excitement.

“Belzar!” A distinctly feminine voice calls from below as dozens of other voices chime in, shouting greetings, it seems every demon on the street takes the time to look up and call their hellos out to Belz.

“Fan club?” I chuckle.

“I wouldn’t call it a club ,” he mumbles, his face turning an adorable pink.

“My mate’s famous,” I snicker.

“You realize if they knew who you were, every single one of them would be on their knees. Yet you call me famous?”

“There’s only three demons I ever want on their knees in front of me,” I smirk.

Belz stops us, mid-air pulling us both into a standing position and grabbing my hips, bringing me flush against his hard body. Our wings flap in time with each other’s as we revolve slowly in the air. “We can always go back to the castle and I’ll get down on my knees for you, love.”

“Tempting,” I purr, running my hands up his chest. I’m seriously considering the possibility when a new commotion below snags my attention. Looking down, I see several demons gathered around one demon who seems to be in hysterics. They’re sobbing in the middle of the street.

That’s not weird at all.

The remainder of the trip to Styx is quick yet we pass at least five more demons crying in the middle of town.

What the hell is going on?

We land in front of Styx next to Zeph and Oz.

“Took you two long enough,” Oz grumbles.

“Sorry. We ran into Belz’s fan club,” I chuckle.

“Belz has a fan club? Where’s my fan club?” Zeph pouts.

“ I’m your fan club.” I hop on my toes to kiss his cheek, stepping back and looking between Oz and Zeph when I’m done. “Did y’all notice anything weird on your walk here?”

“Weird how ?” Oz raises a brow.

“I don’t know…” I drawl. “Like random demons crying in the middle of town?”

“Told you that was weird,” Zeph huffs.

“How was I supposed to know? It’s normal for demons to cry in my presence,” Oz grumbles.

“Yeah, when you’re torturing them.” Zeph rolls his eyes.

“So you did see it.” I sigh. Thought I might have been going crazy for a minute. But odds are unlikely that we’d all be under the same delusion.

“We saw it. No fucking clue what’s going on though,” Oz mutters.

“Today’s not the anniversary of The Hellscape Wars is it?” Zeph queries.

“What’s The Hellscape Wars?” I ask.

“It was the only war in the history of hell, made demons from The Outskirts tried to rise up and take the city by storm. They didn't win, obviously, but they managed to take out around 150 of our front line men. And no. That’s in November.” Oz states.

“Then your guess is as good as mine.” Zeph shrugs.

“Let’s go inside. We can worry about it after a plate of Riz's daily special,” Belz says, pulling the door open.

The door’s barely closed behind us when an old but kind eyed demon greets the guys heartily.

“And who is this beauty?” He turns to me.

I freeze. I don’t know what to say. I’ve only been introduced to demons around the palace. Is it supposed to be a secret who I am? Should I lie? Belz saves me from having to answer and I can breathe again.

“This is our mate, Maddy.” He looks down at me so lovingly as he brushes my hair back that I melt.

“ Mate ? Whose mate?”

“All of ours, Riz,” Oz arches a brow at the older demon.

“All three ? That’s unheard of! Wow. You must be something special, girl.” He studies me as if he’ll be able to tell what makes me so special. Does he suspect? Could he know I’m related to Luc? “I’m Riz’genor. It’s so lovely to meet you. I never thought these boys would find a woman who could put up with them individually, let alone together,” he chuckles.

“Oh, I believe it! Not sure how I do it myself.” I wink at him with a laugh. “I’m Maddy. It’s nice to meet a friend of my boys. I was worried they’d be loners, but we saw some of Belz’s fan club on the way here.”

“Belzar is a good demon. He deserves that fan club,” he says solemnly.

I smile in response. Riz seems like a good demon himself. We follow him to the back room where I popped in on Belz and Zarreth the only other time I’ve been here. I didn’t pay much attention to my surroundings then but now, I take everything in. Black walls with what looks to be veins of lava surround the large but comfortable dining room. The tables are assorted shapes and sizes but all are adorned with beautiful deep crimson tablecloths. Lanterns surround the room giving the right level of ambiance with their almost ember like light.

Very Hell chic .

Belz leads me to a large circular table with four chairs in the middle of the room. He pulls out a chair for me and Oz steals the seat next to me. Belz and Zeph fight over who gets to sit on my other side. Zeph wins and Belz grudgingly takes the seat across from me. I roll my eyes at them then study the menu. I’m still getting used to the food here, so much of it is gibberish.

“The usual boys?” Riz asks, getting a round of affirmatives before he turns to me. “And what about you, Maddy? Need a minute to look at the menu?”

“I don’t think I’d be much better off after hours studying it,” I chuckle. “What would you recommend?”

“Ahhh. An indecisive one. No wonder you have so many mates.” He winks. “I know just what to give you.” He leaves to put in our order but only gets three steps away before his steps stammer. His breath hitches and then he starts sobbing loudly. Just like the demons we saw on the way here.

What the hell is going on?