Page 20 of How to Accidentally get Trapped in Hell

“She went to the outskirts on one of her missions. She was determined to end the division between made and born demons. I still don’t know exactly what happened. When she didn’t come home, I sent a search party.” He pauses his story to compose himself and I steel my spine knowing what’s coming next. “Belzar brought her body back to me.” He nods at me. “There was nothing left of her guards. After that, I forbade anyone from Gehenna from going to the outskirts.”

Maddy covers her mouth and the sorrow and empathy flowing through the bond nearly choke me. I was right when I thought Maddy was a lot like her grandmother. It takes a special kind of demon to hold so much heartbreak over someone you never even knew dying. Zeph squeezes her thigh in comfort and I send all my love for her through the bond. When she looks up at us and smiles sadly I know she appreciates our effort in cheering her up.

“I’m sorry to make you relive that tragedy. But thank you for telling me about her. I wish I could have known her.”

Luc squeezes Maddy’s hand and I catch Bartleby and Droxley sharing a look I can’t decipher. Something is definitely up with those two.

fourteen

Zephyr

Maddy’swithLucagaintoday. He’s been spending a lot of time with her lately and it seems like they’ve gotten even closer after the family dinner. I think it’s safe to say my mate inherited some of her grandmother’s empathy. It’s something that’s been missing in Hell since her passing. If Serafina was able to have such a drastic influence on Hell, I can’t wait to see what her granddaughter will accomplish.

I walk into the security room, surprised to see both Belz and my brother. Belz because he normally does most of his work from his office in Zofina’s room, and my brother because I haven’t seen him since I went off on him about Maddy and that’s been weeks.

“What’s going on?” I ask as I close the door, sealing us off from any nosey demons.

Belz sighs when he sees me and I know instantly he’s been keeping something from me. It’s his tell.

“There’s been a breach in security,” he finally grinds out.

My body freezes, instantly on alert and I glare at two of the most important demons to me. “And why wasn’t I informed of this breach?”

“We were trying to keep it quiet. The fewer demons who know, the better,” my twin says.

“So I’m just any demon now? Security is my job too, assholes. If there’s a fucking breach I should be informed,” I snarl.

“You’re right. We should have told you weeks ago,” Belz attempts to placate me.

“Weeks?! You’ve been dealing with this without telling me forweeks? You know, I’d expect that from him…” I tip my head indicating Zarreth. “He’s been a real prick ever since we came back with Maddy. Butyou? What’s your excuse?” I glare at Belz who has the decency to look chagrined.

“I don’t have an excuse, Zeph. I’m sorry. We should have brought you in immediately.” He reaches for me but I step back, not ready to make nice, and his hand falls to his side. “How can I make it up to you?” His voice takes on a husky tone that has my dick hardening in my pants. It’s been a long time since we’ve had alone time. Not since before we met Maddy.

Zar must sense where the conversation is heading because he groans and cuts in before I can say anything. “Hellhounds are going missing. It started with just a few random hounds just after you two got back. Now there’s a total of eight hounds missing. They just disappeared. No one knows anything, no one saw anything. Just here one minute and gone the next.”

“Shit. Eight hounds are missing?” I gasp, my eyebrows shooting up to my horns. “How the fuck does that happen without anyone seeing anything?”

“We don’t know. But there’s more… The latest hound to go missing is Snowball,” my twin tells me, his entire body taut as if he’s already anticipating the ramifications of what he’s saying.

“Snowball is missing? When did that happen?” Fuck. This is bad.

“Found out about it five minutes ago. Megroth went to feed her and called me in hysterics when she couldn’t find her. We need to figure out who’s behind this before Luc finds out or…” he trails off, not voicing what kind of hell Luc will unleash if he finds out his precious hound is missing.

“Yeah. There is noor. We need to find her. And whoever is responsible. Because hounds don’t just run off. Especially not Snowball. She doesn’t go anywhere without Luc.”

“Agreed. Why don’t you go to Luc’s quarters and see if you can pick up a trail? I want a list of everyone that’s been anywhere near Luc’s wing. We’ll investigate all of them,” Zar says.

“On it.” I storm out of the room knowing without looking that Belz is following me.

“Zeph! Wait up!” he calls to my back as I keep walking, ignoring him. I feel the air around me shift and then he’s in front of me, blocking my way. Fuck him and his damn wings. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I didn’t tell you. I guess I thought Zar and I could handle it ourselves. I didn’t want to worry you if it turned out to be nothing.”

“Yeah, well, it’snotnothing. Is it?” I glare at him.

“No. It’s not. And if you hadn’t come in when you did, we would have called you. This whole thing is a lot bigger than we thought. We need you.Ineed you.”

My shoulders sag a little at his affirmation. It’s nice to know he still needs me. Even if it is just for my powers.

“We’ll talk about this later. I need to go before the trail gets too muddied.”

---