Page 53 of Okay, I Regret a Little
Chapter 36
Sota
I
needed to make my move. I had the soldiers. All I needed to do was give the word. Kudan kept mentioning this secret ally who could turn the tide of his campaign against the emperor and Rei. I needed him to name them because they needed to be dealt with too.
What in the world was going on in Hell? We rarely had this kind of drama. Everyone understood their place, and things were good here. No one was starving, and everyone had what they needed to be comfortable. It wasn’t like Earth or the Fae realm, where people started wars to make themselves king.
At least, not until recently. It started with Kudan. No one knew what he was trying to accomplish. His father was the emperor in Yomi, our area of Hell, but he still answered to the seven kings. None of the seven kings would have tolerated taking his seat like that if he succeeded.
Then, Zepar, one of Hell’s dukes, planned an uprising a few years ago. That shook Hell to its core because of the sheer scope of his plans. The rebellion was put down, but still. Zepar snuck assassins into Hell. All the gates to Hell were much more heavily guarded now.
Still, I needed to be vigilant. I didn’t think anyone in Hell would help Kudan. That didn’t mean he wasn’t plotting with someone outside of Hell. He should have seen how badly that went for Zepar, but Kudan had started himself down this path, and now he couldn’t stop.
Everyone was ready to leave. It would just take one phone call, and then we would storm Scorchwood. I knew I needed to. Barbatos would be back from Olympus tomorrow morning. I’d done nothing but complain about him being gone. I couldn’t exactly make him wait when he got back, especially since Bael made him come back for Rei when he just found his daughter.
I was glued to my laptop listening when I heard something that made my blood run cold.
“It’s done. The Aether Circle says you have a deal. Help them kill your sister and get their grimoire back, and they will put you on the throne.”
Kudan let out this chilling laugh.
“Excellent. Some demons at the gate are willing to look the other way if I pay them and give them cushy positions in my court.”
I grabbed my phone. It was time to end that little alliance. I’d been in the Aether Circle’s computers. I was coming up with a plan to end them for good, but it wasn’t put together enough that Bael would go for it.
My other laptop that was watching Silverhold pinged an alert. There was a thwarted escape. A guard and an inmate were dead. I knew before I opened the brief that it would involve Rei. She was injured and in solitary.
I had to get her out. Kitsunes didn’t do well in confinement. I needed to deal with Kudan first. My phone was in my hand. All I needed to do was dial. The audio from Scorchwood picked up again.
“Are our men on gate duty right now?” Kudan asked.
The demon with him just laughed.
“Every last one of them.”
“Good. Then let’s get out of this shit hole and go to Earth. ThatyowamushiTengu will recheck Scorchwood and bring more people next time. Let’s get out of here before that happens.”
The audio went silent.Fuck.They portalled to the gate. I stabbed the speed dial on my phone and called my entire army to the gates of Hell. I didn’t even have my shoes on. I opened a portal in my bedroom and charged through.
All the demons at the gate seemed shocked to see us. Several of my Yokai had them surrounded. I walked over to them on bare feet. I wasn’t remotely dressed for battle, but the look on my face told them I meant business.
“Did you let the traitors through the gate?”
I knew they did. I wanted them to tell me to my face because I was beyond pissed off. They were trying to play it smooth and look innocent.
“No one has been here,” one of them said.
I punched him in the gut. I already knew where this was heading and exactly what I was going to do with them.
“Anyone else want to lie to me?”
“We swear, no one has gone through.”
“Take them to Bael’s dungeon. Solron will be back from Olympus in the morning. I’m sure she’d love to torture the answer out of them.”
They might not have been afraid of me, even though they should have been, but Solron and Bael were pretty famous for what went down in Bael’s dungeon. Every single demon visibly paled.
