10

Beelzebub

My breathing hitched, heart racing, and my muscles tensed. Full-blown physical distress struck all at once. I dropped the stack of incantations I'd nearly finished putting together to ship the books off, sinking into this dread. Our link remained strong, undisturbed by dimensional planes separating us, though a snag in the bond hit as the doorway leading back to the villa vanished.

Wally.

I ground my teeth.

Fuck, I couldn't leave Walter alone for five seconds without him finding a way to endanger himself. I bet he'd tinkered with the damn navigation system, touching things he shouldn't. There could've been a hundred different security protocols set in place, and knowing Walter, he'd triggered every single one.

I took a sharp inhale, steadying the budding fear, and exhaled Wally's emotions. I'd need my mind as my own if I intended to rescue him. The dimensional wavelengths dividing realms remained invisible to most, but I harnessed Diabolic essence, circulating it through my eyes. With clearer vision, I studied the various threads stringing together veils meant to keep worlds from falling in on each other.

I lacked the precision or expertise to tear holes through dimensional walls like the Fae, but I could also punch a path directly to Wally. I didn't need to be delicate in the patchwork, and I didn't bother stitching the road I paved by ripping through cosmic energy. Each step weighed heavy as I floated through the ether of space and time. A starry void with twinkling distractions. I ignored them and slashed shrouds along the original route to the villa. So long as the villa hadn't changed course or frequency, I could retrace the steps.

One. By. One. I tore luminescent barriers asunder.

With the cloaking wards down, it didn't take long to sniff out the direction of the villa. My connection to Wally served as an anchor, dragging me down to him. Dammit. If I sniffed out the drifting Fae residence, it would be easy enough for any Diabolic to find. Suppose the Fae could too, which probably meant one had. Sure, Wally believed Novus kept his work quiet, but there had to be another Fae he trusted, others as corrupt as him, as foolhardy to pick a war with the Diabolics by stealing our essence to fuel his endeavor.

War.

I shook my head and continued pressing forward.

That was the incorrect word. A one-sided slaughter was no war, and the second any devil, a true devil, discovered this, they'd lay waste to any and all involved. Hell, one might very well devour an entire Fae dimension as compensation. Might destroy our world as collateral. The only blessing about all-powerful god-kings was they often considered themselves above the trivialities of lower, lesser worlds with entities even more worthless than the muck under their feet—their demon subjects. If one deigned the actions Novus attempted as a threat, everyone and everything would pay the price. It wouldn't matter if someone learned my secret then; there wouldn't be a single soul left to exploit it.

I wheezed, nearly collapsing through a void of empty space. Something pressed down on my chest—Wally's chest—crushing my lungs. He must be fighting for his life this very second. I needed to move faster.

I reached the villa, barely noting the fine craftsmanship of the stone walls—that Wally would've gawked at given the opportunity—before landing on the terrace. Shattering the glass panel doors, I zipped inside and darted directly for Wally. The festering wound of fear had been replaced by bubbly excitement.

Had he turned the tables? Was I overreacting? No. This fleeting sensation had become weaved with anxiety. Wally needed me now!

It took only a few seconds to run through the upper floors and reach the wall adjoined to the corridor which led to the helm. No time to find an entrance, so I blasted a hole through the wall with black lightning.

Claw marks cut deep into the incantations lining the entryway, and the metal door was left ajar.

Blue flames lined three muscular necks; each fire carried a hint of purple at its core. Powerful paws pressed on Wally's chest, pinning him to the ground. Jaws lined with fanged teeth hung wide, slobbering toxic saliva all over Wally. He struggled beneath the grasp, locked in combat against a foe who'd easily overpowered him. A disgusting tongue reached out, lapping and licking Wally, tasting the flesh of his face, most likely before biting off his head.

The Diabolic killing blade lay just out of Wally's reach. His worthless familiar clicked his claws, protesting as Wally fought against the terrible beast that must've guarded this home despite the death of its master.

I conjured black flames, preparing to incinerate this foul creature and free my love.

"No. Wait. Stop. That tickles." Wally giggled. Actually, fucking giggled when entrenched in the throes of combat.

His confidence was commendable, but this beast would not heed his warning. I needed to eliminate the threat.

"Die, you damn dirty hound of Hell." I threw a fireball at the beast.

"Bez, no!" Wally waved a hand, redirecting the flame. All three heads of the monstrosity that'd attacked him turned their attention to the ball of fire bouncing around the helm.

"What are you doing, Walter?" I snapped.

"He's harmless."

"He is an attack hound." I pointed to the three-headed beast. "He is attacking you right now!"

"He's playing, Bez." He reached out, stroking the short, black fur. "He's a puppy."

"He's disgusting. The foulness of the saliva must carry a potent toxin that's fried your brain or perhaps locked you in an illusion."

"I think it's just what he ate. Not sure what kind of puppy chow someone feeds a growing Cerberus, but his breath is almost as rank as yours."

"How. Dare. You." After I'd literally ripped through worlds to rescue him, he had the audacity to say I had bad breath.

"It's only after you eat certain foods." Walter feigned an apologetic grin like I'd buy it. "It's not my fault you think raw liver and onions are an aphrodisiac."

"With chocolate peppermint." I crossed my arms. Mint is in the name.

Walter's hand grazed the flames as he pet the Mythic beast. They flickered brighter, leaving him unscathed, while the center head nuzzled his face. Revolting.

The left head turned his fiery eyes at me and growled. I glared and bared my teeth. I wouldn't be intimidated by some tiny monster.

"Bez, leave him alone. You're going to scare him."

"Good." I huffed.

With that, the attention of the Cerberus fell onto the black fireball, which continued bouncing around the room thanks to Walter's incompetent overpowered use of telekinesis. The three-headed puppy gave chase. I hoped it would catch the flames and burn itself in a pile of ashes.

Antoninus hissed as the beast crossed his path. Finally, something me and that annoying scorpion could agree on.

The three-headed monster ran back and forth, biting at the fireball and falling short.

"Careful, Weather," Wally shouted, brushing the fur that clung to his shirt with the adhesive of slobber.

I shuddered in revulsion.

"Oh, no." Wally's face tensed as the hound snapped the black flames with powerful jaws. "What do we do?"

"Grab marshmallows."

Antoninus' clawed clatter clearly held the same sentiment.

Then the most unconceivable thing happened, the little abomination swallowed my flames and belched. Smoke blew out of the left and right head while the center head yelped, mocking my Diabolic fire with a lopsided tongue hanging out of his mouth. Fiend.

But of course, Mythic beasts often exuded elemental dominance over one in particular, and this one thought itself a master of flames. Well, if he liked fire, perhaps I'd offer him some more.

"You want to play fetch, huh?" I conjured another black fireball, tightening the size to instill more heat and catastrophic destruction in a denser form. "Why don't you try catching this…"

"No." Wally wagged a finger. "Weather, sit."

"What are you doing?"

"He already destroyed the door," Wally said. "Put the fire away, Bez. You two can play later."

I smothered the flames, savoring the scorched sensation on my palm.

"What's with the name?" I asked.

"Weather? It just sort of came to me. Not sure if he's already been named yet, but I think he really likes it. Huh, Weather?" Wally patted the center head, which responded by joyfully barking.

"Weather? As in whether or not you should kill him before he kills us?"

"Don't be silly. Weather as in"—Wally pointed to the jovial, panting center head—"Sunny"—he pointed to the surly, snarling left head—"Stormy"—then he rested his hand on the gloomy right head—"and Cloudy"—which stared with glossy, flamed eyes and timidly lowered his head when Wally scratched his pointed ears.

"Sunny, Stormy, and Cloudy? You realize that makes no sense."

"Makes perfect sense." Wally frowned.

"It's only one beast. He doesn't require three names, no four names. Mortals and their obsession with titling everything in existence. So vexing."

"I know I've named his personas, but it helps kind of understand his alter egos. And they all tie together to his name, Weather." Wally's glee became a nauseating pit in my stomach. "Did you know that while a Cerberus has three heads, three dominant personalities, and three functioning brains, they work as a singular entity?"

Sunny plopped back, spreading his legs, and began licking his testicles while the right head, Stormy, attempted to bite his own wagging tail every time it batted his side.

"I wouldn't call his brains functioning," I muttered.

"It has to do with some consensus in their mind and nervous system," Wally said, ignoring me in favor of lectures and continuing to pet the Cerberus. "The personas act independently sometimes, but they are all the same little guy."

"Little? The beast is bigger than a Great Dane!"

"Actually, his size is more comparable to the Bernese Mountain Dog, which is…" Wally rambled, continuing to fawn over the Mythic beast. "…but for a Cerberus, he's basically only twelve to sixteen weeks old. Maybe a bit older if he's the runt. Hard to know for sure since I've only read about Cerberus' in textbooks, but the size charts seem very comparable especially given the expressive nature of his personas. Formative but still in the exploring phase. Plus, the size of his paws. You know, they're viciously loyal creatures and make wonderful guardians."

"You mean guards. Usually, guards to horrid underworlds filled with specters and foul spirits refusing to accept death and the beyond, lingering in an attempt to haunt the world."

"Aw, you listened when I talked about my report on The Hades Complex?"

"Whatever." I huffed and turned my head away. "How'd that thing even get up here?"

"Tony and I were researching the navigation system," he said, which was a fancy way to put ‘touching things they shouldn't' if you ask me. "And I think we opened his kennel in the lower levels. Being so young, chances are he sniffed out the only source of life in the villa and found me. And Tony."

I glared at the bug, who didn't appear all that fond of the beast sniffing and yapping at him. But good riddance since he was equally culpable for this turn of events.

"You know, a Cerberus can sniff out anything, living or dead. He might be really helpful in tracking down the source of the missing Diabolics."

"Doubtful. Diabolic essence is unlike any other substance in this world or any other. We're far too complex for his nose. All three of them."

Wally returned to the beast that rolled on his back, exposing his stomach for affection.

"So, he just obeys you?"

"Not really. He's still just a puppy, but I did learn he's gone through some obedience training—if you can call it that." Wally went over to the navigation screen, which had been replaced by images of all the rooms. Not images—recordings. "Turns out the pink Fae—really need a name for her—was in charge of disciplining Weather."

Wally hit a few buttons, zooming in on one screen and rewinding it. The timestamped symbols zipped by as the screen rewound. The screen stopped on an image of the pink Fae from the performance who abducted Wally and vanished into a flurry of butterflies, holding a metallic whip in front of a cage where the Cerberus sat.

Weather's—ugh, I hated that name—left head growled at the image as the right head whimpered. The image alone conveyed the malice in the Fae's face, the rage in one Cerberus head, fear in another, and a desire to please through kindness in the central leading head.

"Guess she has access here, so you were absolutely right about keeping an eye out for others," Wally said. "Not sure if she'll show up again, but we should be ready for anything since she knows about the villa."

Good. I'd hoped to cross paths with her again so I could gut her for taking Wally in the first place.

"How'd you learn all this?"

"After Weather greeted us, Tony and I went back to studying the cameras, then he obviously got a little rambunctious again."

"A little?" There was nothing little about that three-headed hound except his brains.

"There's surveillance all over the place. Other than Weather, there hasn't been anything on the live feed recently." Wally side-eyed me. "But it doesn't help that half the cameras went dark after someone arrived."

"Your life was at stake, Walter. I didn't have time to knock."

"You didn't exactly rush to my aid either."

"I'm going to be the mature one here and not lower myself into a petty argument of who did or didn't do what."

Wally's brow furrowed, his lips twisted, but he remained speechless, lacking a proper comeback that didn't result in him being immature.

"I hate you," he muttered, returning to the system controls.

"And I love you, in spite of your childish ways, Walter."

He glowered.