16. Mammon

Where is it?! Where. The fuck. Is. My. Necklace?!

It"s missing. The moment I walked into my room I knew it was gone. Didn"t stop me from searching my room top to bottom.

I have an abundance of gold collected from the souls that enter Hell. But this was different. This was more valuable.

Searching for my brothers' auras, I find most of them in the throne room. Lucifer's essence feels far away. He"s probably with the human. Like everyone else is lately.

Lately, all my brothers have talked about is going to Earth. Taking over like Lilith attempted to do. Don"t they remember what happened? Half of our demons died. Lilith died. Azazel died. The two most powerful beings are gone, and half our population depleted. Why start another war? I brought the girl here to prove it's not worth it.

And I love being here. Ruling here. I"m respected. Feared. My punishment has been my greatest strength. The people of Earth are the greediest they"ve ever been. The number one sin of over half of the humans being punished here is greed. And as punishment, they must give me their greatest value. Diamond-encrusted gold watches. Pearl necklaces. Gold brooches. Meaningless shit that only had a monetary value, normally their first buy after they made so much money. Worthless things.

This necklace was different. It was cheap. Handmade. But it is worth so much more. Anna Boudreaux gave up everything she held dear, and she will forever be remembered. Her treasure has become my treasure. The silver chained necklace with the ugly rainbow pendant encased in bronze stays on my nightstand. No one comes into my room, and no one touches it. Ever! So where is it?!

Pausing in the middle of my room, I take a deep breath. Calming myself down is the first step in finding it. Sitting in a meditation pose, I reach out for the essence of Anna. I don't feel her in this dimension at all. This is a good thing. It means her soul was sent out for reincarnation already. Focusing on Earth's essence is a little harder. It's in another dimension so the reception is diluted.

I can feel her essence in three different spaces, each with their own unique aura. The first is her grave in the small town of Bayou Livre, Louisiana. I can sense the stagnant death surrounding it, though it is the strongest of the three. The second is hers, but it's mixed with another essence. Her reincarnation? Focusing on it, I can see the human in my mind. A small child, between three and four years old, playing with a boy in a park playground in New Orleans. Anna's essence is the base of the aura but as the child grows, her essence will change.

That means that the third essence has to be the necklace. I follow the aura and feel out the surroundings. Someone is wearing it…

Brianna is wearing my necklace.

Immediately, I stand, furious as to how she even has it. It takes seconds for me to realize how. Fucking Beelzebub! He fucked her, bound her, and then gave her MY necklace! Doesn't he have his own shit to give her?

When I attempt to portal there, I'm blocked. Dammit! One of my brothers is already there. I teleport to the den, where all of my brothers except Lucifer are congregating.

Leviathan is on the floor in front of the couch, completely limp. My guess… Satan. Asmodeus and Belphegor are playing billiards at one table with Satan and Beelzebub at the other. Gluttony is talking in detail about his night with Brianna.

Before anyone realizes, my fist is flying through the air, punching Beelzebub across the jaw. "You fucking cunt!" He falls to the ground, and I climb on top of him, trapping his wings against the floor. I repeatedly punch him in his insectoid face, but his second pair of arms throw me off.

"What is your malfunction?!" His insect eyes filled with a thousand mirrors blink as he scrubs his jaw.

I rush towards him again, not connecting as Satan holds me back. "You fucked her and then gave her my necklace as a gift!"

"This is about the necklace?" he asks incredulously. "It's a piece of cheap plastic! It's not your normal gold! I wouldn't think you'd miss it or even notice it was gone!"

"Well, I did! And I want it back! Go get it!"

He scoffs. Satan wraps his arms tighter around my arms and chest, stopping me from going after him again. "No. It's hers."

With a loud bellow, I throw my head back, hitting Satan in the face hard enough for him to let me go. Beelzebub flies in the air, and out of the room so that I can't reach him. Stupid fucking bug.

Fine. I'll get it from her myself.

When Lucifer came back, I portaled myself to Brianna's apartment, sitting in the alleyway behind the building… Waiting. They had to leave sometime, right?

Wrong. After an hour of waiting, I"m over it. Apparently, she has no life. Who doesn"t go out on a weekend? Have to get creative, I guess.

What's the easiest way to get the necklace without her finding out? Actually… Do I care if she knows I stole my necklace back? No. No, I don"t.

I switch to my human form. I still stand out due to my height but it"s much less conspicuous than a giant gold orc.

Walking up the steps, I make sure the lot is empty before knocking on the door. It only takes a few moments before Brianna opens the door. Her side profile, her arm, and her leg are all that"s visible. "Can I help you?"

Is she wearing it now? How do I get her to fully open the door? "Are you Brianna?"

Her face scrunches as she debates whether to answer me. She sticks her head out and looks around the lot. The necklace falls out of her shirt as she learns forward. I fucking knew he gave it to her.

"Who is it, Mommy?" The soft voice causes her to turn her head back toward the apartment.

With her attention diverted and the door still partially open, I reach around her neck and grip the chain, ripping it off. She gasps and her hand flies to the empty space. My smile is menacing as I clutch the necklace to my chest and open a portal behind me for her to see. I step through, waving good-bye while the portal closes.

With her mate bonds, she has ways to get to Hell, but she"ll have to fight me if she wants this necklace back. Anna tasked me with keeping it safe and I"ve not failed her yet.

And I don"t plan to.