Page 3 of How to Accidentally get Trapped in Hell

“Well, mostly the same as you, but we say Hell and Devil.” I shrug.

“That makes sense.” She nods. “Sooo, how did I get horns?”

“You showed you’re a strong demon and you belong here,” Zofina tells her proudly from the foot of her bed. “I believe the longer you’re in Hell, the more demon features you’ll acquire. Not every demon has the typical demon traits… or what you might consider being typical at least. The horns, tails, wings… demons aren’t born with those. Theyearnthem. Most demons don’t have those. Even royal demons have to earn their horns.”

Maddy’s eyes light up at the information and I can feel her excitement. It has to be the mate bond. For whatever reason, it didn’t fully form until Maddy came to Hell. “Can you tell me more about demons? Are they made or born? Do they look human if they don’t have horns or wings? Where do they live? What do they do?” she fires off question after question and the three of us chuckle at her excitement. She glares at us before huffing, “What? I’m supposedly Hell royalty. I think I should knowsomethingabout Hell and demons.”

“That you should. And I will tell you everything you need to know.” Zo smiles at her.

“So will we,” Belz says, glaring at Zofina.

“I’m sure there’s enough information you can all tell me some,” Maddy says, rolling her eyes.

“Very well. To answer your first question, demons are both made and born. The demons that live in the city are all born demons. That happens pretty much how you would expect it to. A boy demon has sex with a girl demon, and every now and then, a baby is born. Demon fertility isn’t what it used to be, so baby demons are few and far between,” Zo tells her.

“Twins are extremely rare. My brother and I were a tremendous shock to our parents,” I tell her.

Her eyes widen as she looks at me. “Wow. I can imagine. They probably weren’t expecting to get pregnant at all then there were two of you.” She shakes her head as she no doubt tries to put herself in my parent’s shoes. “But it was a good thing, right? Like a blessing?”

“You forgetting where we are again? I don’t thinkblessingis the word I would use,” I chuckle.

“Shut up. She’s right,” Belz growls. “It was a big deal when you were born. You may not want to call it a blessing, but itwasfate. Your brother and you have done more for our world than anyone before us. You were both meant to be born. To make Hell a better place for our mate. And to help her with whatever the fuck she’s going to need help with in the future.”

“What are you, some prophet, now?” I snark, rolling my eyes.

“I know everything happens for a reason. And right now, I’m looking at my reason for existing,” he says, staring at our mate with a mixture of adoration and determination.

She blushes bright red at his heated look and my cock hardens at the lust coming off of her.

Zo coughs, clearing her throat before answering some of Maddy’s questions. “Right… back to your questions… Born demons live and work in the city. Mostly, they’re plain. There’s nothing special about them. They may look like demons, with different colored flesh or ridges beneath their skin, but they won’t have horns or tails. They definitely won’t have wings. Then there are lower-level demons. They live in the outskirts, far away from the city. These are the made demons, human souls that have been twisted and mutilated after years and years of torture. Every now and then, Father will grow tired of torturing a soul and cast them out to the Outskirts. Eventually, these souls turn into demons. They’re hideous creatures and look nothing like born demons, or the humans they once were. Unlike born demons, they don’t have powers or features that signify their strength and contribution to Hell. If a made demon is ever caught in the city, they are immediately sentenced to death. So, they stay far away.”

“Chad is a made demon,” I tell Maddy.

“That’s why he was so fugly in his demon form,” she states.

“Yes. And why he was so willing to do anything Marjorkorie asked of him. He thought it was his chance to escape the Outlands. He may have even wanted revenge for all the torture and general hell his life has been since he was sent here. Though even if that weren’t the case, Marjorkorie has strong manipulation powers, so she could have gotten him to do whatever she wanted regardless,” I say.

“That’s how she got my dad to marry her, by using her powers on him. She said they didn’t work on me though… that I must have inherited that from you.” She turns to her mother. “During her rant, she complained you were impervious to her powers.”

Zo smirks. “Yes, she’s always hated that. She can control Bartleby and Droxley to an extent, but it doesn’t last long and they always make her pay dearly for it. My power is a psychic shield. It prevents anyone from getting into my mind. That’s why she could never control me like she could everyone else,” she explains with a smug smile.

“What about Bartleby and Droxley’s powers? Should I be worried about them trying to use them on me, too?” Maddy asks, chewing on her bottom lip as her nervousness assaults me.

“You don’t have to worry about them,” Zo scoffs. “They don’t have any powers. And if they ever tried to do anything to you, I would kill them. After slowly torturing them, of course.”

“Of course, silly me.” Maddy rolls her eyes. “How can they not have any powers? Don’t all demons? They’re royalty, they should have more power than a regular demon like Belz… No offense,” she says.

“None taken,” Belz assures her. “Though for the record itisa little insulting to be compared to those two in any way.”

“Noted,” she laughs before focusing back on her mother, waiting for an answer.

“I don’t know, dear. But they’ve both admitted to not having powers. Trust me, with how much I teased them growing up, they wouldn’t have kept it a secret if they had any,” Zo tells her.

“I guess that makes sense,” Maddy concedes with a shrug.

“Any other questions for me?” Zofina smiles at her daughter.

“Now that you mention it… Belz and Zeph took on their demon forms as soon as we landed in Hell, but I’ve yet to see yours. Do you not want me to see the real you?” Maddy asks, and the hurt in her eyes breaks my heart.

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