28

Beelzebub

I stepped into the library, approaching Antoninus' tank. He'd taken to hiding in the sand of his aquarium, resentful of the relocation, and clearly concerned for Wally's wellbeing. It'd been a week and a half since I tore the devil essence away, untethering it from my being, and using it to fuel my boyfriend's recovery. During that time, Wally slept, essence working to mend his many fatalities, and attacking any and everything that approached him. The devil essence considered all a threat, so I had no choice but to move the scorpion familiar someplace else.

"It's time for you to eat." I dropped a cricket into the enclosure.

Antoninus scuttled away, ignoring the feast I'd acquired for him.

"Do you realize how hard it is to find your particular dietary delights?" I asked. "We're in the middle of fucking nowhere surrounded by snow and ice."

I laid it on a little thick, and Antoninus probably knew I had no difficulty acquiring his meal since Wally had researched several stores not too far out of the way for someone like myself with Diabolic speed and flight. After Kell dropped us in the Alaskan wilderness, Wally did what he did best—research, plan, and prepare for everything. I ground my teeth, hoping none of that would be lost when he awoke.

When.

He would wake soon, recovered, and ready for whatever came next. I'd make sure of it.

In the meantime, I had to contend with the worst familiar ever. Using telekinesis, I lifted the scorpion back over to his prey. "Eat the damn bug or I'll eat you."

Antoninus hissed.

"Fine, you're right. Eating you is barbaric. I'll squish you, instead. Step on you until your cheap buggy armor cracks and breaks. Then I'll tell Walter one of the Diabolics must've stomped you to death." I grinned, menacingly and hiding all the sadness which came from speaking Wally's name. "Not a lie, either, because I will stomp you to death."

Antoninus clacked his claws, hissing as he snatched up the pathetic cricket who'd dropped his guard near the morose scorpion. Antoninus had not enjoyed a second of Wally's absence, and I could hardly blame him.

As the scorpion slowly slaughtered his meal, I trudged out of the library in search of my next distracting chore to fill my day.

Paws scratched at the bedroom door, and I zipped through the villa until I arrived beside a gloomy Sunny, a somber Cloudy, and a stoic Stormy. All three personas of the Cerberus pup had lost their spark without Wally, wishing to cuddle next to him as he slept.

"Let's go." I snapped my fingers.

Weather whimpered, giving me sappy wide eyes as the flames of his irises dimmed.

"That bullshit doesn't work on me, hound. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times—Wally cannot be disturbed." I conjured a small black flame in my palm. "And you are a bed hog that would get all three of your heads lopped off by essence if you took one clomping step into that room."

Stormy huffed; the fire in his eyes locked onto mine. Sunny perked up, cocking his head as I bounced the fireball between my hands. Even Cloudy blinked a few times, curiously studying the tasty treat of Diabolic flames.

"Sit."

Weather obeyed, tail wagging excitedly. I brought the fire close to Sunny's snout. Cloudy attempted to chomp down but I diminished the flames to crackling embers instantaneously, which he still licked off my palm, greedily indulging in the blistering crunchy snack. Little piggy.

"How many times have I warned you about that, Cloudy?" I recreated the flames, condensing them tight and small in my hands, adding a trickle of wind that would add to the buoyancy, giving it a real ball-like effect.

The one benefit of Wally's rest was it gave me a chance to properly train this untamed Mythic beast which Wally simply gave affection too freely, caving into the baby tyrants' demands, and refusing to scold his naughty behavior. Not in my home. I simply wouldn't allow it.

"Fetch." I hurled the ball down the hall, watching Weather race after it, working in tandem with his personas until he reached the first of many treats he'd get during our hike.

Stormy nipped Sunny's neck when the center head attempted to snap up the treat. Then, true to form, Cloudy whipped his head around, flipping the entire body the three shared as one over, and perfectly positioning himself to catch the fireball in his greedy gullet. Cloudy might have been mild mannered compared to the other two, but showed incredible tenacity when it came to food. A trait I completely understood. His appetite was better than the other two, as well, actually indulging in the time-consuming meals I'd made for myself as a distraction.

I walked over, tossing two more fireballs toward Weather. "A for effort, I suppose."

Sunny stuck out his tongue, clearly delighted by the sizzle of fire popping off it.

Stormy swallowed his fire, pouting, then glared at Cloudy and barked.

"All right, move out." I nodded toward the staircase and led the Cerberus out of the villa through the front doors of the foyer.

Since Kell had finally fixed the flaws in her tinkering, we could come and go from the villa as we pleased. No need to recite the former baron's dimensional traveling spell or rely on the singular entrance located in the helm where Kell hunkered down since we'd cleansed the place of Eligos and the other Diabolics.

I preferred the crunch of snow to the debris in the labyrinth. That was a chore on the checklist I'd mostly avoided working on. Too many spots there served as reminders of my failures.

Weather wiggled his body from heads to butt; the purple flames outshined the blue fire around his necks and grew into a sturdy mane that trickled flames down his spine, the tip of his tail, and around each of his ankles. Fire melted snow making Weather's plodding through the slush splash with boiling puddles.

I unveiled my wings, flying overhead and leading the hound on a trek across the barren wilderness for miles. When we looped back, I caught the faint, careful steps of a moose nearby. Hmm. I cracked my neck. Perhaps this was the perfect opportunity to train Weather in hunting for his meals since he'd spent his entire stay snacking on my food along with whatever fire we hurled his way.

A bell chimed, echoing loud in the open space and making all three heads of the Cerberus perk up, ears sticking straight up. Without a moment of hesitation, the hound bolted back to the villa.

"Stop," I shouted.

That vindictive old hag.

I flew after the pup, conjuring flames to lure his attention, which garnered nothing. He reached the front of the villa, nearly fumbling over his feet as he leapt for the raw steak Mora tossed in the air. Stormy and Cloudy clamped down on the meat, growling in a feud of tug-of-war over which would get to savor the filling flavor. Sunny took this adventitious opportunity to snap his jaw between the pair and swallow the perfectly seasoned meat he wouldn't have an ounce of respect for.

"I hate you." I glowered at the happy puppy who wagged his tail, then butted my knee with his center head, seeking praise and pets. "And I hate you more."

Mora smirked, ignoring my comment as she raked her fingers through her long, wavy curls. Now that we'd dealt with the Diabolic threats, she'd put Maurice back in storage and jumped into a different host body. A petite blonde, wearing a long-sleeved, low cut cocktail dress with a poofy bottom.

"That was my last steak."

"It can't be helped," she replied. "You've been feeding him scraps all week."

"And fire. More than the little bastard deserves."

Sunny frowned, the kind of judgy stare he must've learned from Wally. I turned my head. It wouldn't work on me.

"Magic doesn't have the necessary calories a growing baby like him needs." Mora extended her hands, petting Weather, deliberately avoiding Stormy's head since he wanted none of her affection or anyone else's.

"Oh, shut up."

"You can still go track your moose," Mora said, a coy smile which remained the same no matter what body she possessed with new features. Of course, she was listening in on our hike, probably evaluating the shift of my posture when I honed in on the nearby hunt. "You can get more steaks and I can make jerky. Yum."

"Now that Weather's satiated, no thanks to you, he won't want to go tracking." Which meant I'd have to attempt that training another day, another day without Wally.

"Well, since you're done with your chores, perhaps you can join me in the helm. I'd love to share some news on the progress Kell and I have made."

"What have you been doing to my home?"

"Mine too." Mora winked, letting out a devious and destructive giggle. "Squatter's rights."

I groaned, holding back a few profanities, then braced for whatever updates her and her paramour had added.

"I know you suspected I was plotting something when I arrived," Mora said.

I tsked. I knew she had something devious planned.

"And I did intend on telling you all about it once I'd settled how this magic functioned and arranged everything precisely after we found the perfect spot. But that Fae baron turned out to have created more obstacles than anticipated in the form of that tedious knight and the other Diabolics."

"Just spit it out."

"Oh, Bezzy. You know the best girls don't spit."

"What do you mean, perfect spot?" I raised my brows, eyeing the fields of snow in every direction.

"Well, remember when I said the Collective had no interest in this state. It also turns out—"

Wally coughed, tussling in the bed, in search of a glass of water that hadn't been waiting for him. Water I inconsiderately forgot to leave at his bedside. My eyes tightened on Mora who studied my face before I vanished in a blur.

"Guess I'll just tell Weather all about my intentions." The sound of Mora petting the pup faded once I reached the bedroom and swung the door open.

"Wally."

He sat up, observing the destruction of our bedroom. Devil essence had busted the dressers in half, stabbed holes through the walls and floor, broken the few portraits I left, shredded clothes hidden peacefully in the closet, and shattered the glass windows along with the planks I'd replaced them with twice to keep out the cold. Stone incantations turned out to be the best salve for this issue.

"What the…" Wally tilted his head, absorbing the destruction he didn't intend, and didn't have a part in.

"I might've celebrated Eligos' death a bit boastfully." I grinned. "Apologies. It started out playful, teasing you to wake up, then I went overboard as per usual."

"It's fine." He looked up at me, staring with pure black eyes. Not a trace of demonic energy—merely pure, undiluted devil essence.

"I guess there's no room in there for demon essence." I snickered. "Black eyes. Quite becoming, and you know I will be cu—"

"What?" Wally's eyes bulged with shock over the statement I'd failed to bury with humor.

He took heavy, confused breaths as the lovely hazel irises and whites of his eyes returned in true form, overpowering the essence inside him, which eased my fears. Wally was strong enough to handle anything, even housing devil essence and keeping it in check.

"What do you mean no room for a demon? What does that mean?" Wally asked, the desperate creak in his voice needed answers, explanations, things he could sort and study. That much I could give to him.

"When I devoured a piece of Beelzebub, I had to use the entirety of my demon essence to repress the single fraction of his." I approached, sitting on the bed beside him. "It was enough to overpower and subdue that tiny piece."

"Can you give me more?" Wally bit his lip, longer than usual as he fumbled for the right words. "More of your essence?"

"No. It would be destroyed on contact."

"What? Why?" Wally trembled as I kept strong in my explanation. "How?"

"Essence, like all things Diabolic, battles for dominance and control and territory. If I gave you my essence, that which resides in you would see my presence as a threat and obliterate it." I knew this because the bits of my essence that traveled inside of Wally when I poured the devil into him had all been snuffed out in a matter of seconds. The essence I'd poured into him every single day he'd slept and recovered was also eradicated instantly. "It wants to live, and now it's living inside of you, and in exchange it will ensure you live. It doesn't want to share, true to form for any devil. Even a piece of one."

"So, that means we won't be able to…"

"It means we'll never be able to bond again because the devil essence inside you won't allow it," I explained, running my hand against his thigh, testing the perimeters of his unconscious defenses. Nothing. It seemed the essence remained obedient so long as he remained aware. "This is good, though. You'll be safe from any and all demons. It's also not enough devil essence for sentience, so I don't have to fear for your mind."

Wally sniffled, cupping his hand around mine. It might've pained him more to lose our bond than it did me. And the idea of never truly, fully feeling him again cut more than any pain I'd suffered in Hell.

"But I'm sorry. If I'd done better our link wouldn't have been severed."

"Can you take back your devil essence?"

"It was never really mine." I shrugged, still adapting to the loss of power.

"It was. You earned it. I just died."

I caressed Wally's face, gently dabbing the welling tears. "I scavenged a bloody battlefield of demons against a devil. You fought. You fought the strongest demon I'd ever known in Hell, and unlike me, you won. You earned this."

"Well, guess I just have to hold out, wait until this essence fades away and hope there aren't any major complications in the meantime." Wally had an inquisitive expression, gears of his beehive mind grinding and whirling with thoughts.

"Devil essence, unlike demon's, doesn't fade," I said, gesturing to myself. "Otherwise, it would've been lost to me centuries back."

"Right. Duh." He huffed. "And you can't take it back?"

"Maybe one day, but you need it after all the Diabolic essence you consumed shredded your body."

"I'm so stupid. I knew not to do that, but I wasn't smart enough to figure out something better." He dropped his head in defeat of his own thoughts. "Anything better."

"You're the most brilliant, beautiful, methodic person I've ever known." I kissed his warm forehead, the heat of Diabolic essence changing the integrity of his mortal body in ways I had no idea how to comprehend yet. "I will note, the longer this essence is connected to you, the less likely it'll be that we can remove it."

"I'll be like this forever?"

"I wish I knew. You're the first mortal devil in existence," I explained. "I've known demons to live with a piece of their devil inside them for millennia, unable to detach from the essence unless killed by another Diabolic. Fun fact—because you love those—Lucifer was not as popular a devil as modern fiction would depict, and his demons slaughtered that beautiful bastard forever ago, marking him the first devil to die so-to-speak at the hands of rebellious Diabolics."

"We should run tests, form some type of case study. I don't like not having facts to rely on, texts to reference."

"We can do it all, but I imagine this will be a learn as we go kind of experience." I raised my eyebrows. "You know, your favorite thing: improvising."

He shuddered.

"I'll miss being connected to you, but I don't need the essence to feel connected to you," Wally said, skirting the subject until he had a course of action for his research. "I've felt our connection since the day we met."

"You mean when I tried to murder you and neither of us realized you'd stolen my essence?" I teased. "To be clear, we were connected that day."

"First off, I didn't steal." Wally held up a single finger, indicative this was an infallible fact, and he wouldn't hear otherwise. "I'm not a thief."

"I think a certain fairy at the Fae Divinity would disagree with that sentiment, seed stealer."

Wally rolled his eyes, ignoring my comment on the Fae Divinity—an event that likely soured all his wonder over the mysterious Fae. "I don't mean during the attack on the estate where we first spoke and had like the worst introduction in the history of introductions. I mean, the actual first time. The day I walked into the repository."

I swallowed hard, my throat constricted as my voice fell silent, unable to utter a response in the form of a quippy comment or clarifying question.

"You may not realize this, but I was fanboying over all the artifacts in the repository on my first day of work. First week. Month. Okay, year."

Oh, I realized. He gushed daily, hourly. I could clock it by the second on when his next delighted discovery would lead to an unnecessarily long tangent explaining the history of whatever trinket he'd been tasked with cataloging.

"On that first day, though, I was immediately entranced by the essence stirring in the Diabolic orb. Essence I wasn't allowed to ask about because, well, Remington never liked too many inquiries on the topic."

Burying my disdain and memories of Abe, simply grateful the prick had died, I reminisced on the doe-eyed boy fresh out of the academy, working in the repository after having failed his practitioner exam. I grinned, thoughts about all the mocking jokes I'd made of his longing gaze, the delicious puns Wally had never heard me make about his failures over the years.

I'm glad he never saw me like that. Not truly.

In the orb, I was my most jaded, bitter, and broken, believing everything I'd endured in Hell, in the mortal realm, had led to an unending sentence in that damned orb.

That hadn't turned out to be true though, thanks to Wally's intervention, I found my freedom from Abe's imprisonment, and an early reprieve from the foul intentions Eligos and Novus had in store for my future as they pulled the strings behind the curtain.

And now, I had the chance to continue growing with Wally, becoming whoever I wanted to be with him at my side.

"Besides, we both know I can have you inside me whenever I want." Wally smiled, goofy and embarrassed at his own terrible joke.

"Certainly, considering this dick doesn't quit." I leaned in close, savoring how his ears burned red and relishing the taste of his skin as I grazed my teeth along a blushing ear, making my way down his neck, nibbling, kissing, and letting the sensation envelop Wally. "If you're feeling well, perhaps we can test some of your new physical limitations."

His pulse thrummed faster, body warming, and I found myself in complete bliss.

"Like for research purposes?" he whispered, hands finding their way onto my body.

"Precisely."

He snickered as I went to kiss him. "Hi, Tony."

My face fell flat, and I gazed at the scorpion perched atop Wally's head, nestled between his curls like the worst adorned crown in history.

I sighed, realizing I shouldn't have hastily rushed to Wally's bedside without properly securing the door. The heavy plodding steps of Weather bolted up the steps, down the hall, and the Cerberus barreled into the room, lunging onto the bed. I prepared to catch the pup in a telekinetic hold, but Wally beat me to it.

Darting off the bed in blurred speed, he caught the rambunctious beast in his hands, holding the hound that easily weighed two-hundred pounds. He held the massive puppy above his head, his hands scooped under Weather's front legs, cupped across his chest while the back paws dangled, nails digging into Wally's bare chest as the Cerberus searched for his footing. Wally had gotten so strong thanks to the devil essence circulating inside him the nails didn't leave a single reddened mark on his pale flesh.

"Sorry, I tried to keep him entertained, but he sniffed out Wally's miraculous recovery and just had to say hello," Mora said, slinking into the bedroom.

"Yes, yes. I love all the kisses, Sunny." Wally lowered Weather to the floor, and the puppy rubbed against him, tail swatting Wally's thigh indicating he needed pets pronto.

"Cute undies." Mora eyed Wally whose face burned bright, almost turning the same shade of pink as his very revealing briefs. "Since you're awake, perhaps it's time we all discuss what Kell and I have done to the villa."

"Our villa," I said.

"You can keep it or what's left. I'm really only interested in one little piece of this prized palace."

I grumbled, while Wally rushed to dress himself.