35. Bree

Why is it so hot in my room? I try to lift the blanket off me, but my arms are stuck. Opening my eyes, I look around my room, trying to figure out what's going on, only to realize I am surrounded by pink fur. It's under my head, over my chest, and against the entire back of my body. I also have a blanket on over my stomach. What is this stuff?

"Stop wiggling." A sexy rumbled groan makes me freeze. "Go back to sleep."

Turning my head, I look behind me to see Lust in full fuzzy magenta demonic lupine form snuggling against me. "I'm hot," I whine. I turn around completely and attempt to separate myself from him by pushing on his chest.

"Yeah, you are." His arms wrap tighter around me and pull me on top of his chest while he lies on his back.

His fur is incredibly soft, and I relax for a second in this new position on top of him. "Didn't you fall asleep human?"

Claws gently scratch my scalp as he plays in my hair. I give up any semblance of escape as my body melts against him. "I live in Hell, and you keep it extremely cold in this apartment."

Snorting, I place my chin on his muscular chest and look up at Asmodeus. "I keep it on sixty-eight degrees which isn't cold. It's an average day in Louisiana spring."

Lust grabs the end of the comforter and lifts it up to my neck and his chest. "It's fucking freezing. I was not meant for this shit."

I push the blanket back off. "You have fur. How are you cold?" Sitting up, I stretch my arms over my head and push my chest out to curve my spine. Grabbing my phone off the nightstand, I check the time. It's barely seven AM.

"I'm from Hell. Where it's hot. All the time. My fur is not thick. It's more for show." Asmodeus sits up against the headboard and pulls me into his lap. "Come warm me up." His arms wrap around my waist, and I wrap my arms around his neck, hugging him to my chest. "Much better."

We relax in each other's arms for a few minutes, completely at ease in the silence surrounding us. This is Lust and I should be panting at his touch, crazed with need and yet… I'm content. I'm comfortable.

Everything is calm.

Until suddenly Asmodeus tenses under me. "Fuck! No, no, no!" In the blink of an eye, he disappears from sight and I fall forwards, hitting my forehead on the wood of my bed frame.

What the hell?Where did he go?

Righting myself, I give him five minutes to reappear, but he doesn't. Instead of dwelling on it; because his exit makes me believe he didn't want to leave, I get up and start breakfast. I let Rellick sleep, taking the time by myself to think about everything that's been happening.

What I really need is a girl's perspective. My only friends though are Josie and Mera; if Josie was ever really my friend.

Regardless of the circumstances, she became a friend, and I could use her opinion. I shoot her a text asking her to come over, telling her to not even bother knocking since I know she could just teleport inside. Then, I find the paper Mera gave me and place my hand on it. "Daemera, come to me."

Within a minute, Mera is sitting on my bed in a little red tank top and matching shorts that have black hearts all over them. "You rang? Cause girl, I gotta tell you, it's early."

Not a second later, there's a knock on my bedroom door and Josie sticks her head in. "Can I come in?" Her voice is timid, the complete opposite of her normal fun and excited charisma.

Mera positions herself against the headboard, much like Lust was earlier, and taps the mattress next to her. Josie looks to me for permission and sits next to Mera after I've nodded my head. "Alright, girl. What's happening?"

I sit at the end of the bed, facing both of them. "I have questions first." I wait for Josie to give her acknowledgement because I know Mera will go along with anything. "Did we meet by chance?"

Jophiel takes a deep breath before opening her mouth. "No. Sammy called me to ask about you. Sorry, Lucifer. He told me to leave you alone, but I couldn't. I wanted to meet the girl the Sins were obsessed with." I feel my shoulders drop at her admission. "But!" She sits forward, placing her hand on my arm. "I'm so glad I met you. You're an amazing friend and a great mom to that little boy! As angels, we're not allowed to show favoritism to any human. We are meant to protect the many." At my look of confusion, she continues. "God's love means sacrifice. If on one side of the earth, one man is in danger and on the other side of the earth, fifty people are in danger, we are meant to save the many. But if that one is my favorite person? Am I meant to sacrifice my friend?"

That's actually horrible. "So, your father… God? Says you're not allowed to have friends?"

"Not human friends. I am not meant to befriend any being that I am supposed to protect." Jophiel's eyes are downcast, the gold in her irises looking browner in her sadness.

Mera slyly takes her hand, interlocking their fingers. They give each other a simple smile but the emotion behind it is incredibly telling. "What's going on with you two?" Both of their attentions snapped to me. "I noticed it last weekend. When you first met, both of your eyes lit up at the same moment. I didn't think anything of it because, ya know, Levi, but what was that about?"

"How to explain…?" Mera crosses her legs, leaning forward. "Okay, so, Azazel created demons. Adon created Angels. Together they created humans. With me so far?" She waits for my nod of understanding, then continues on. "They were twins. That means that their magic was two halves of a whole. Adon was creation and Azazel was destruction."

"Oh, like Miraculous?" Rellick is starting to fall in love with that little show and I cant blame him. It's super cute.

Josie leans forward, contributing to the history lesson. "Yes, Adon is considered miraculous."

I burst into laughter. "That's not what I meant. There's a children's show called Miraculous: Ladybug and Cat Noir. Its about two kids who have a superpower, one creation and one destruction."

Mera rolls her eyes while Josie looks intrigued. "I may have to watch that."

"It's incredibly cute and funny. I think I watch it more than Rellick does," I whisper.

The succubus claps her hands together. "Back to the topic at hand." She settles back against the headboard, getting comfortable. "Their magic is the same. Meaning angels and demons were made with the same magic. Then, humans were made with the perfect blend of both."

I feel like there's a lot of explaining but I still haven't gotten an answer. "Okay? What's that have to do with the eye thing?"

"I'm getting there. Damn!" Josie lets out a small chuckle, causing Mera to give her side eye. "Because we were all made with the same magic, there are cases--"

"Very rare cases," Josie cuts in.

"Thank you for specifying." I can tell Mera is starting to get aggravated with us. She just wants to tell her story and we are not letting her. "Anyway, there are cases where two, or even three, beings share a soul. The magic they were made with lines up perfectly."

I wait for her to finish her explanation, but when she doesn't continue talking, I assume she's done. "So, you're soulmates." I don't phrase it as a question because I know I'm right. "That's all you had to say was that y'all were soulmates. I appreciate the history lesson, but the entire explanation wasn't needed. I know what mates are."

Mera crosses her arms and looks towards my bedroom window. "You would know what mates are. You have five of them." It was said under her breath, probably not meant for me to hear. But I did.

And it explains everything. "So that's what a brand is? A mate bond?"

"Wait." Josie holds her hand up, stopping all conversation. "You're bonded to five demons?!" Is she mad about that? She is an angel and I've always read that they are enemies of demons. "And they didn't tell you?!" Oh. That's what she's mad about. Good. That's what friends are supposed to get mad about. "Is my brother one of those five?" She doesn't give me time to answer, speaking to herself instead. "No, he couldn't. We would have felt it." Her eyes turn back to me, filled with rage. "Have any of them asked you if you even wanted to bond with them?"

I think back to all of our sexual encounters. "I mean… they asked if I wanted to be theirs. Wrath asked me if I wanted to be branded, but he didn't tell me it was a bond. I should have assumed that since we can communicate telepathically."

"Can you speak to all of them?" Josie is just as invested in this as I am though Mera seems to be tuning us out.

And therein lies the original problem. "I'm going to say yes though I haven't before. I didn't know that I could. I tried to ask Gluttony last weekend, but he lied to me. Then I found all the brands on my skin. I thought they were bruises because they weren't the same size as Satan's. It wasn't until Beelzebub lied to me that I started to look for them. Then I found all of them and now I'm pissed because why wouldn't they just tell me? And Satan knew they did it but never said anything to me. I'm mad at all of them right now." Pushing my hair behind my ear, I can feel the blush start to creep onto my skin. "Except…"

Mera finally sits forward, engaged in the conversation once again. "Except?"

"Well… Yesterday, I ran into my ex-best friend, and we had an altercation and Asmodeus saved me. And then he played with Rellick and washed my hair and just took care of me. Then, told me he wouldn't have sex with me! Because he didn't want to be an escape." My heart melts just thinking of last night all over again. "It was so sweet and romantic and sexy all at the same time and I want more of it."

Mera and Josie share a sly look with each other before turning to me with mischief int heir eyes. "So, are we doing something about it?" Mera's voice has taken on a conniving tone. "Because I have a couple ideas."

I knew having the girls over would clear my head. I'm so glad I called them over.

The King of Lust better be ready because I'm coming for him.

Pun intended.