22. Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Belial

The demon Lord of Pride screamed in unholy agony as I tore his head off, but all I could hear were Rayven’s screams as she came on my cock.

Vine’s death came quickly, and I took no joy from it, unlike when I’d murdered Asmodeus.

He begged me to spare him, but I denied his request. He’d done nothing to help Rayven when she passed through his realm, half-drowned in the Styx. He’d known her soul belonged to me, yet he stood idly by.

I tuned out his last screams, replaying my time in Rayven’s dream.

She’d taken me so perfectly.

I’d manipulated the dream to ensure she could fit me. When we truly mated, it would be harder for her little pussy to take me in this form, but her reaction made me hopeful.

My little human had a penchant for pain. I’d just have to tease and work her up so she could take me, and I’d savor every moment.

With Vine’s head added to my oar, I made my way through his palace back to the Styx, flowing through his throne room.

Cecil and Holga were huddled on the gondola bench, watching as I approached. They said nothing when I climbed into the ferry.

“The Lord of Pride…” my librarian muttered, his toothy eye sockets gaping at the latest edition to my collection.

I thought I’d feel a twinge of guilt for Vine’s death. Now that it was done, I felt nothing. That’s what Rayven did to me.

The only life I cared for was hers now.

So, when I pulled my ferry up to dock outside Leviathan’s cliffside palace, I maintained my steely indifference to the prospect of his death as well.

Of all the lords of the nine realms, I would have thought Leviathan would be the one to remain loyal to me. But what Rayven told me had me second-guessing my faith in my relationship with the Lord of Envy.

If I found out he was in on the kidnapping, there'd be Hell to pay.

I demanded directions to Leviathan’s chamber from a servant soul who cowered as I loomed over him. With a shaky hand, he pointed me in the right direction, and I swept past him, charging down the hallway carved from stone.

It always struck me as odd how I was the lord of death and bone, yet I seemed to be the only one who couldn’t stand living in the ground. I took several sets of stairs carved from stone until the narrow corridor opened to the ocean—Leviathan’s chamber being the only part of his home above sea level.

The black sea reflecting the ominous green glow of Envy’s moon was strangely beautiful, but there was no time to admire the view. I was on a mission, my sole focus rescuing Rayven and taking her back to Limbo, but a prickling feeling of unease swept through me when I stepped deeper into the room.

It was destroyed, his things disturbed, his bed half-torched.

My jaw tightened, and my eyes, hot and full of fire, locked with Leviathan’s. The snake was lying on his singed mattress, curled up in his naga form with his tail wrapped around his humanoid torso.

There was no sign of Rayven anywhere—only the lingering traces of her scent.

The copper cage he’d kept her in was lying on its side, its bars melted and bent out of shape, an indication that a fire demon had been here.

My fists clenched, and the fire in my eyes sockets leapt high. Mammon.

I approached the bed while I surveyed the wreckage of his room. There was blood on the ground, but judging by the scent, none of it was Rayven’s. Another glance at the serpent demon told me who the blood belonged to. Mammon had beaten Leviathan badly. He was bruised and burnt all over, with a bad head wound that indicated he’d been struck by the Lord of Greed’s infamous war hammer. “What happened here?”

If the serpent demon was surprised to see me, he didn’t show it. “Mammon happened, that fucking brute. I tried to stop him.”

My heavy boots crunched against the ground with every step as I closed the distance between me and my brother. “Tried to stop Mammon from doing what, Leviathan?”

“I tried to stop him from taking your mortal pet.”

“My mortal queen ,” I corrected him with a growl that had him flinching. “And you should have fought harder.”

I moved to kneel beside the battered cage, fingers brushing over the melted bars.

I’d missed her…

Fuck!

It couldn’t have been by much. I could still smell the flames of Mammon’s wings, and something else clung to the air. My attention landed on a small white puddle on the ground beside Rayven’s cage.

I swiped a finger through it and held it up.

Hellish rage blasted through me, turning my insides to ash when I realized it was cum. Fresh serpent demon cum.

Rising to my feet, I spun around and charged towards the bed, murder bright in my eyes. “What did you do to her?”

“I—”

I didn’t want to believe he’d betrayed me, but I already knew the truth. His reaction to me—his pounding heart, the fear in his eyes, the way he trembled as I stormed toward him—told me everything. The traitorous bastard gave himself away before the lie even slithered off his forked tongue.

“I didn’t hurt her!”

“Lies!” I roared. I snapped my fingers, and my oar appeared in my hand with a spark of shimmering blue magic.

Terror washed over the Lord of Envy’s scaly physiognomy when he took in the heads of Vine and Asmodeus.

“Tell me what happened from the beginning, and you can save yourself from becoming the next addition to my little collection here.”

Now I was the one lying. The lord of the fourth circle had sealed his doom the moment he’d decided to betray me.

“When you sent the invitations, Asmodeus tried to get all of us together to kidnap your new human pet. He said she was too distracting for you, that you’d get on with your job without her to occupy your time,” he explained, fear growing in his eyes with every word he spoke. “We were supposed to pass her down the layers until she arrived at the ninth circle.”

Fury painted my vision red, and fire thrummed through my system as I glared daggers at the demon I’d once called my friend. “You fucking viper.”

“What?” He flicked his nail, nervously reaching for his hookah’s mouthpiece. He was trying to act innocent but was failing miserably. “I never intended on giving her up to Mammon or anyone else. I was going to keep her safe in that cage. For you.”

“For me?” I repeated, the two words sounding every bit like the punchline it was. “You’re full of shit.”

Leviathan’s forked tongue licked the air with his indignant hiss. “I’m on your side, Belial! I’m loyal to you, not the others.”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you tell me about Asmodeus’ plan, if you knew what he intended to do before the ball? Why didn’t you try and stop him when he and the others kidnapped Rayven? Why didn’t you call for me when you pulled her from the Styx? And why…”

I snatched his tongue in my hand before he could pull away and wrenched him off the bed, jamming my finger—the one oozing with cum—in his face. “Why is your filthy snake cum on the ground?”

All the blood drained from his face. He couldn’t speak since I was still gripping his tongue, but his muffled cries indicated he knew what was about to happen.

“You fucking traitor,” I snarled into his face. “You’re lucky I don’t have time to draw out your death. But I promise you, I’ll be back for your body. I’m going to skin you and fashion your scales into a pretty dress for my new queen.”

The naga squirmed and thrashed, his tail uncoiling from his torso to try and wrap around me. My blue flames engulfed my body, and he screamed, managing to wiggle away. I stomped after him, dragging my oar of heads behind me, my manic laughter filling the cave.

He slithered toward where the cavern opened in an attempt to slip into the sea, but I slammed my oar down on his tail hard enough to break the bone. He screamed, and the ocean swelled with its lord’s pain, a wave rising and crashing down over me. My flames created a shield around me, and I held my ground as the inky waters raged through the cavern.

I gripped Leviathan’s tail, pulling it like I was winding up a rope. He screamed as I dragged him through the fire, inch by inch, his water doing little to soothe the burns.

By the time I got to his head, the fire had consumed his entire body. With his dying breath, the water receded into the ocean. Laying limp on the ground, he looked up at me, eyes full of hateful tears. “You were my brother.”

I glared down at him, maw opening to release a bellow of a laugh. “You’re right. You were my brother.”

I placed my boot on his head and slowly applied pressure until there was a sickening crunch of his skull giving out beneath my sole, and his serpentine body went limp for good. I lifted my boot after an eerily still moment, the rush of the water breaking against the rock the only sound as I stooped to cut off my favorite brother’s head.

“Now you’ll be nothing more than a bitter memory and something to hang in my queen’s closet.”