Page 11 of Hellfire & Bowties
“Why are you… How did you… You’re petting him!”
“Sure,” Oren chirped, looking down at Beast. “I just need to avoid the fire, don’t I, handsome boy?”
“Handsome!” Luc choked. “He’s a hellbeast!”
“So he can’t be handsome?”
“His mouth can fit around your head!”
“I bet he has a big appetite.” Oren grinned, completely missing the point. “What does he eat?”
“Human flesh!”
“Do you think I’m tasty, boy?” Oren giggled. “Do you want to gobble me up?”
Beast pawed at Oren’s shirt, making tiny holes in the material with his claws as he demanded more pets.
“He’s dangerous!” Luc exclaimed, as much to remind his hellbeast as to inform Oren.
“But you left me in the room with him. You said not to worry,” Oren pointed out.
“Because he was chained up.”
Oren gasped, hugging Beast closer without setting himself on fire. “You chain him up?!”
“HE’S A HELLBEAST!”
“He’s a sweetheart, and you shouldn’t chain him anywhere. He clearly didn’t like it. That’s why he had such a bad temper. Look how happy he is now.”
“How isthishow my day is going?” Luc muttered to himself, pinching his nose with his claws.
“What’s his name?” Oren asked.
“Beast.”
“Awww.”
“It’s not cute!” Luc stressed. “Did you hit your head on the way down to Hell?”
Oren shrugged contemplatively. “Maybe.”
Luc sighed, loud and deep. “Well, we don’t have time to figure that out. I need to call a meeting and let all my demons know you’re going to be hanging around until we figure this out.”
“What about the tour?” Oren asked, pouting those pink lips at him in disappointment.
Luc almost caved under that look, ready to give him anything if he’d just sit on his lap and stare at him with those big green eyes and use those pink lips for something else. Luc had been so busy trying to work this fuckup out that he hadn’t fully processed the idea of having Oren here. In his space. In his room. Looking like a full-course meal. Forget Beast. Luc would happily eat Oren up… out… whatever was on the menu.
He needed to focus.
“After the meeting.”
“Can I bring Beast?” Oren asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.
“Oren…”
“He’s been cooped up all day.”
“How would you know? You’ve only been here a few hours!”
