Page 13 of Hellfire & Bowties
Luc snorted at Zorun’s scowl.
“BOSS IS HERE!” Kassel said loudly to the room, the most observant of the bunch as always, mostly due to all the eyes.
“Oh, he’s handsome,” Oren said from behind Luc’s back, and Luc felt something ugly stir inside him at the words.
Kassel was regarded as the most attractive of the demons in Hell, with his lavender skin, multiple brightly colored eyes, andlong, dark hair. His horns were a deep purple, and he was tall and muscled from all the hard work he did. He’d been the winner of the Mr. Hell pageant for several centuries running.
Luc had never paid any attention to Mr. Hell before, but now that Oren had expressed interest, he felt like he should probably find the deepest pit of Hell and send Kassel to be handsome there.
“He’s fine if you like purple… and eyes,” Luc said petulantly, swallowing down the beast inside him as he turned to his demons. “Listen up, everyone!”
Zorun kicked off the wall with his entourage trailing behind him, still trying to climb all over him and not paying attention to anything else. The rest of the demons grew quiet immediately, every eye turning to the elephant in the room. Or human, as it were.
“Did sssomeone bring their work to the meeting or…?” Jek asked from the back, his serpent’s tongue making him lisp.
Luc huffed in amusement and placed a hand on Oren’s lower back to push him forward. “This is Oren. Some of you may have seen him this morning. There’s been a mix-up Upstairs with his placement, so he’ll be staying here as a guest until we straighten it all out.”
“He’s not a sinner?” Azoth asked, abandoning conquering Mount Zorun for the moment to give the subject a modicum of attention.
“No,” Luc said.
Azoth looked at his twin, who then asked, “So we can’t torture him?”
“No.”
“Not even an itty-bitty baby torture?” they asked in unison.
Luc rolled his eyes. “No.”
“Not even—”
“No torture,” Luc said firmly, swiping a clawed hand.
There was a chorus of disappointed groans and a few pouts cropping up around fangs and tusks.
“Listen, we don’t need higher management coming down on our heads,” Luc said. “The Dante incident was more than enough hassle, and all because someone left the damn door open.”
Grumbles ensued, and some demons looked sheepishly around the room, avoiding eye contact.
“Well… whatarewe supposed to do with him then?” Kassel asked at length, all his eyes blinking at once, completely baffled.
Luc opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, tapping his claws against the back of his neck. He… hadn’t really gotten that far in his plans yet. Other than picturing Oren on the end of his cock, that was.
“Keep him out of trouble,” he said finally, nodding to himself.
“Babysitting?” Tarik asked, nose scrunched and already turning away.
“We’re busy,” Azoth said, crossing his arms and turning his head the opposite way.
“I don’t actually need a babysitter,” Oren chimed in.
“It’s not a choice. It’s an order,” Luc said firmly. “I don’t want to see him close to the Azarath Pits, or any of the restricted circles.”
“Why not the Pits?” Zorun asked, raising a brow at the same time as he stopped a wayward hand sliding down the back of his pants. “He seems to have Beast there wrapped around his little finger. Why not stick him in with the rest of them?”
Oren gasped in delight. “There are more of him!”
Beast grumbled his disapproval around gnawing on his bone, likely at the prospect of sharing Oren’s attention.
