33. Bree

He lied to me.

Beelzebub heard me. I felt him tense against me when I sent the message out to his mind.

Which means he branded me.

I stand in front of my closet mirror in my apartment after work on Monday, searching my whole body. Satan's brand is big, the size of his palm, on my lower back. It looks like a ‘tramp-stamp' but I love it. Because I know that he did it.

I haven't felt pain like that with any of the other Sins. However, the bruise on my stomach from the first night with Belphegor is still there. The more I look at it, the more I can see that it's not a bruise at all. It's a circle the size of a quarter with a smaller circle connected to the bottom. He branded me. He was probably the first one to fucking do it.

Looking over the rest of my body, I find another ‘bruise' on my inner right thigh. This one looks almost like a face. That's probably Gluttony's since he's the only one so far who tries to get his face down there as often as he can.

The bruises on my neck from Mammon have faded with the exception of where his palm was in the middle of my neck. Upon closer speculation, that's not a bruise either. A little circle with smaller connected circles inside it. He branded me in the middle of my fucking throat!

I don't see any more marks on my body. That doesn't mean there's not any more though. I fucked Leviathan. There's no way all the others put marks on me, and Envy didn't. His sin wouldn't let him. He's one of the smartest beings I've ever met. If they're all keeping it from me, with the exception of Wrath, then he wouldn't put his brand where I could easily find it.

I think back to our time on his boat. When he was fucking me behind the door. His mouth stayed on my neck. Moving closer to the mirror, I inspect my entire neck and see nothing. However, after moving my hair, I find a small circle with an arrowed circle inside of it behind my left ear.

I move to my bed and lounge on it frozen. I try to look for similarities in all of my times with the Sins. Satan outright asked me if I wanted to be branded. The others didn't do that, obviously, but at one point, all of them asked me if I was theirs or if I wanted them. That has to be the comparison. I don't know what else it could be.

I want more information on branding, but I don't want to ask the sins. They want to be secretive? Well, so can I.

Immediately, I sit up and reach for my laptop. The first thing I do is look up how to build mental walls. I've read multiple paranormal books and even attempted to write my own. I know about psychic walls. They have to be real.

Multiple sites pop up and most of them say roughly the same thing, to mentally build a wall in your mind. I sit cross-legged in the middle of my bed, as though I'm meditating. I clear my mind and focus.

Picturing it in my mind, I see all seven Sins sitting in their throne room while I stand at the door. I take a deep breath, then close the door. Slowly, careful not to lose concentration, I block the door with bricks until it's fully covered.

I pictured all seven of them in the room. Satan is the only one who actually asked me if he could brand me, but there's no way he didn't know about the others. He just chose to keep it a secret, like they did.

Once I'm positive the wall is secure, I go into the living room to see Rellick sitting on the floor playing with his train while Number Blocks plays in the background.

"Hi, Mommy." I sit down on the floor next to him and push his hair out of his face. "Wanna play with me?"

"Sure, sweet boy." I pick up some of the wooden tracks and begin to put them together. "I love you, Rellick. So much." He's the only male, currently alive, that's never betrayed me.

His little face looks up at me, all teeth on display as he smiles wide at me. "I love you, too, Mommy!" I wrap him in my arms, pulling him into my lap to give him the biggest hug.

Cuddling together is how Satan finds us a few moments later. He's opened a portal into the living room, concern in his pitch-black eyes. He dwarfs the room around him, his wings taking up most of the space. "Why can't I hear you?"

"I'm teaching myself how to block you out in case I ever need to keep a secret." The way they keep secrets from me.

He moves towards us, lifting us into his lap as he sits on my small couch. "Why do you need to keep secrets, Babygirl?"

"Why does anyone keep secrets?" I mumbled my response with massive attitude, knowing he could hear me. I know he can probably feel my rage, too and I'm so mad that I'm feeling petty. I don't want to fuel his power right now. Taking a deep breath, I clear my mind, forcing myself to calm down. With my emotions under control, I turn to face him. My hand lays against his rough cheek and he leans into me. "I think I just need some time." His brows drop in anger. "Being around all of you all the time is overwhelming. Y'all affect my emotions. I just need to catch my breath." I place my forehead against his, breathing in his exhales. "I just need to breathe. Please, Devil."

He"s quiet for a second before lifting his chin to give me a chaste kiss on the lips. "Whatever you need, Babygirl." He squeezes me tight. "I'm here if you need. We all are. For whatever reason, we're a call away."

"Hurts!" Rellick's voice breaks us apart, reminding me that he was in my lap. When Satan hugged me, he hugged us both. We've been inadvertently squishing Rellick.

"Sorry, sweet boy!" I grab his face and kiss his cheeks all over. "There. All better."

Satan sets us on the couch and tuns to face us. "I mean it, Milady. Whenever you need me, or any of us… we'll be here."

His words melt my heart and I give him a watery smile. "I know," I whisper. And I do know. I know that each of them will be there if I need. I know they care, or they wouldn't have stuck around. I just have too much to think about.

I don't let a tear fall until Satan's walked back through the portal.

It's now Friday and I don't feel any better. I'm still pissed that they all hid their marks from me. I'm still furious that Beelzebub straight up lied to me. I'm still enraged that Satan knew and never said anything.

I haven't seen any of them since Monday night. I haven't spoken to Satan telepathically since then, either. I also haven't tried to speak to any of the others again. Would they lie to me like Beelzebub?

Why not just tell me from the jump?

"Mommy, can we have pop tarts?" Rellick's voice takes me away from my thoughts. He's sitting inside a buggy in Thibodeaux's, the local food market. Reluctantly, I sigh, giving Rellick permission to add the pop-tarts to the basket.

Our apartment has nothing but Rellick food. Pop-tarts, cheez-its, chicken nuggets, and Yoo-hoos. I grab a few boxes of noodles and sauces, packs of meat, and some milk. I have other stuff at home that I can make, but I know Rellick's favorite. I would rather not eat than him.

A nasally male voice calls out my name, startling me. "Brianna? Is that you?"

Turning, I can feel the dread begin to sink into my body. Chad Weathers stands in front of me, his blonde hair slicked back with way too much gel and his body doused in cologne.

I haven't seen him since the horrible night I ruined my life. The night I slept with him to prove to my best friend that he didn't love her. There's no excuse for my actions. I can say I was overcome with grief, that I just wanted my best friend to be happy, that I didn't want to lose anyone else….

The truth is much worse. I was an immature bitch who wanted everyone around me to be as miserable as I was. Brittany was making new friends. She had a boyfriend who took up all her time. I missed my grandparents, and she was all I had left. I should have gone about letting her know what a piece of shit Chad was in a different way. I never should have slept with him. No best friend would ever do that. I was a horrible human being and if it weren't for Rellick, who knows where I would be.

"Oh, my God. It is you!" He pulls me in for an unwanted hug, freezing against me when he sees Rellick in my buggy. "Who's this?"

I don't want to introduce my son to him. He doesn't need to know about Rellick, and Rellick certainly doesn't need to know anything about Chad. He's met enough men in the last month.

"Hi! I'm Rellick!" And we definitely need to work on the ‘stranger danger' stuff again.

I push away from Chad, moving to block his view of Rellick. Chad looks to me, confusion and hurt on his face, making his green eyes look almost black. "How old is he?"

"It doesn't matter. You don't need to know anything about him." I'm ready to leave. I have half a mind to grab Rellick and run, leaving all the groceries we still haven't paid for behind.

Chad can see the look of terror on my face. I know he can because he capitalizes on it, quickly reaching for my arm and squeezing. "How. Old. Is he?"

His voice is low and menacing. I'm surrounded by demons all the time now and it has no effect on me, but this? Chad Weathers, who helped me ruin my own life, holding me hostage in a small market? It's scaring the shit out of me.

"Baby? Where are you?" NO! Brittany Taylor, my former neighbor turned best friend, rounds the corner of the aisle. Her eyes immediately land on Chad who has finally dropped my arm and moved away from me. "Who have you run into, Baby?" She moves to his side, placing her hand on his arm. A gaudy pink diamond ring sits on her finger. Standing next to each other, they look like Barbie and Ken.

Brittany's fake smile drops the moment she recognizes me. "Brianna? What are you doing here?" Her attention shifts to Chad. "Why were you with her?" She doesn't give him the chance to answer before shifting her focus back to me. "Stay the fuck away from my fiancé, Brianna. Don't ruin this for me again."

I don't defend myself. She is justified to think what she does about me. She was my best friend since elementary school and in college, I completely tried to ruin her life. I slept with her boyfriend to prove a point. Brittany has every right to be hostile towards me.

"Hello, Brittany." My voice is low and mumbled. I don't even attempt to make it sound strong. I haven't seen her in almost five years since I ruined everything between us. "Congratulations on your engagement." I don't think she should be engaged to this piece of shit, but I lost the privilege to tell her that. I may have slept with her boyfriend, but said boyfriend; now fiancée, slept with her best friend.

She studies me, her eyes filling with disgust as she takes in my old leggings and oversized sweatshirt. My hair isn't done and I'm not wearing makeup to cover the brand on my neck or behind my ear. From a distance, I guess they would look like hickeys.

I know I shouldn't care, but I do. This is Brittany Taylor, my former best friend.

Her attention shifts to Rellick, and I want to throw my hands up to block her view. I know he's too young to understand what's going on, but I never want him to know who I was in college after my grandparents died. I never want him to know how horrible I was. "Who's the kid?" Brittany takes in my baby boy, noticing how his hair isn't quite as dark as mine and his eyes are more of a golden green opposed to my brighter ones. His face is rounded in youth. I always thought he looked like a perfect mixture of me and Rafe.

To Brittany, he probably looks like a mixture of me and Chad. I can see the gears turning in her mind. He's the right age since I met Rafe a month after everything went down. His coloring is similar, but I know the difference. I know that Rafe is his father.

"Is he yours?" Her words are laced with venom. I give a small nod in response. "What's his name."

"Rellick," Chad answers for me.

"How sweet." Her tone is mocking. She knows what the name means to me. "You named him after the father you never knew." Brittany was never condescending towards me. She was always sweet and kind and funny. I made her this way, cynical and horrid. I ruined her personality. "Did you hide him from Chad on purpose?"

"I didn't hide him." For the first time in this whole conversation, my voice is steady and confident. "He's not for Chad."

Chad scoffs making Brittany's blue eyes turn navy in anger. "How can you sit here and lie to our faces? I think I would recognize my fiancé as a child."

"He's not Chad's," I repeat, a growl growing in my voice. "This isn't Maury, and he is not the father. I may be a lot of things but as a girl who grew up without a father, I would never willingly keep a father from his son." I turn to Chad, repeating myself. "He's not for you."

Brittany shakes her head in disappointment. "Then who else's boyfriend did you fuck?" My body stiffens at her words. "I was your only friend in college. Shit, I was your only friend in life. You always were a loner and just couldn't handle that I was making friends other than you." She gives a little inessential laugh. "I never took you for a whore."

Her words hit me like a physical blow. Before the sins, I had only ever been with two people; Chad and Rafe. Yet here I stand, a whore in the eyes of someone I used to think the world of.

I can feel my eyes begin to water and I refuse to let the tears fall. I need to be strong for Rellick and I need to be strong for myself. Rellick can't know that this conversation is affecting me.

My shoulders slump and I look around for an escape. There's no way out of this conversation without it seeming like I'm running away, which is what I want to do. I open my mouth to respond but the voice that comes out isn't mine.

"The fuck did you just say?" The deep baritone is menacing. Quiet. Deadly. I turn around to see a giant man with pink hued skin and strawberry blonde hair in a topknot on his head. His beard is a darker shade, looking almost magenta. His eyes are pink and otherworldly. "Did I just hear you call my girl a whore?"

He walks around the buggy, placing himself behind me. His arms wrap around my waist, and he pulls me against him, my back flush against his chest. The heat of him sinks into my skin and I melt against him.

I may not have recognized his voice or his human form, but I would know Lust's touch anywhere.