Page 41 of Nope, No Regrets
“Did she break already, my love?”
Solron slammed that bloody dagger into this ornate and expensive dining room table and took a seat at the other end. She flung her leg over the arm of the chair and scooped up a wine goblet. Solron looked immensely pleased with herself, sitting in a really nice dining room and covered in the blood of a witch she’d just tortured.
“Considering how many deaths she ordered, and the number she has killed herself, and how many people are afraid of her… she screamed like a little bitch before I’d even properly gotten started. I threatened to rip her nails off, you know how much I love doing that, and it looked like she spent a lot of money on manicures… so, she promised to spill her secrets if I left her fingernails alone. I’m still totally going to do it later, but I have some deets.”
This place was so weird. If I absolutely needed someone dead, I didn’t draw it out. Even before I was arrested, most people knew people would say anything when tortured. Some people still did it, but I didn’t really trust anything Sabrina told Solron to save her manicure. Rajack was with me on that, but everyone else was dying to hear what she’d managed to extract from her.
“The Aether Circle seriously thinks they deserve their own realm. The Fae keep their gate secret, even if they are back now. The Aether Circle have experimented on summoning the Fae against their will, like they do to shadow and flame demons, but they haven’t yet been successful.
“A lot of good demons died because they wouldn’t give them intel on Hell, and how to make this realm their own. When we blew up the greenhouses and they lacked the herbs they needed to do the rituals, they didn’t give up. They were looking for alternative spells. Then, a stupid Kitsune fell in their lap and promised to share Hell with them and get their grimoire back. Kudan wanted his kingdom and promised them the rest. Kudan had the best tutors. There are some dumb demons in Hell that went to public school and didn’t have royal tutors that aren’t that fucking stupid.”
That was pretty fucking stupid. There were Aether Circle chapters worldwide, but they still didn’t have the numbers to conquer an entire realm of powerful beings. I hadn’t gone exploring through the entire realm, but Rei’s home alone had demon soldiers posted everywhere that looked like they didn’t fuck around when it came to strangers.
“That’s not right,” Faust said. “Are you sure she wasn’t just saying what you wanted to hear, so you didn’t mess up her manicure? Kudan had every reason to want to pull this off, including sharing the population here, and how many people wanted him dead. The Aether Circle wouldn’t set foot here, not unless they knew they were going to win.”
Solron just laughed and downed her wine in one loud gulp. She slammed the chalice on the table next to her bloody knife.
“Even the High Priestess of the Aether Circle can be stupid. The rest of the Aether Circle didn’t have her back. They offered to send her spells from their grimoires, to rebuild the one Rei stole. They warned her to step back and regroup after they learned Rei wasn’t a fox shifter and would therefore be harder to kill. The rest of her coven warned her not to set foot in Hell without intensely questioning Kudan about the population and who among them would put up a fight. That bitch didn’t listen though, and so shit… I’m going to ruin that manicure later.”
Everyone started laughing except Rajack and me. I didn’t remotely find it funny, even though it was probably accurate. That was precisely the kind of dumb shit super villains went down for when they had been left unchecked for so long. Now that I had access to a library, I read everything. That didn’t just happen in comic books. I’d also read about a real life human villain who ended up paying for his crimes because of the Internal Revenue Service of all things.
Bael slammed his hand on the table and looked right at Sota, who looked amused but didn’t find this nearly as funny as Bael or Solron.
“Is it making sense now, young Sota? Why I made you wait for Barbatos, and talked you through your sulking? I was playing the long game, and not underestimating the Aether Circle.”
“You bastard,” Sota hissed. “You couldn’t have possibly predicted this. You don’t have that ability, and any witch here isn’t that accurate with the stars and tarot cards.”
Man, did I ever just gain a lot more respect for Sota. He just called the torture happy king of Hell a bastard at his own dinner table! If he had used Rei as bait, he was definitely a fucker, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. Bael seemed to find that funny, too. This place was so weird.
“You’re still so young, Sota. Take this win and learn from it. You tracked Kudan for years. You had to learn to predict his motives and movements. We trusted you with that task because you’re a powerful demon. The Aether Circle was my pet project. We didn’t know who was killing demons when they started disappearing, until some managed to escape.
“The few that got away named the Aether Circle and said what they wanted was intel on Hell. I sent Barbatos to Earth as soon as I found out who was responsible. He argued tirelessly for their arrest, but was continuously told that, since there were no bodies, there was no proof to hold against them, so they couldn’t turn an entire coven over to us for asking questions. They seriously tried to tell him those demons may have just wanted their freedom from Hell and were living it up on Earth! They would have declared war if we took them by force.
“Rei changed everything when she stole from them. I knew she was safe in Silverhold, because Solron looked into it while she was away. They still thought she was only a fox shifter. Believe me, I would have sent you without Barbatos if Solron got an alert that had changed. Sota, even if Kudan hadn’t broken out and gone to them, the warden was in their pocket.
“They would have found out Rei was a demon and gotten to her before she was released to Hell. They would have made some sort of move. Believe me, Sota. I was playing this carefully, and Not just for Rei. For everyone in Hell.
“While you were getting frustrated with me for making you wait for Barbatos, I knew Rei was safe. Barbatos was bonding with his long-lost daughter, and Solron was having fun, but the Underworld and Olympus needed our help. An army of demons helped restore Hades to his rightful throne in the Underworld and rescued his wife.
“Now, we only helped with that because Barbatos’s daughter wanted us to, and it’s just uncouth to kidnap a man’s wife because you don’t like him. Plus, I love epic love stories and happy endings. Helping a king rescue his queen from her evil mother is just something every king should do.
“Butwe also sealed an alliance with Hades that laid out trade agreements and guaranteed future help. Once Olympus works out their kinks, it’ll be the same. So, no, Sota, I had no way of predicting Kudan would break out and bring the Aether Circle here any more than you did.
“But I did know the Aether Circle would dosomethingsignificant as soon as it got out that Rei was a demon. I played the long game. The Fae are on our side, and now Hades and his monsters are, too. We’ve got the High Priestess from the Aether Circle in my dungeon, along with many dead and captive witches that broke into my domain. Solron got a confession they were killing demons with the intent to come here and try to kill more of us.
“If Earth authorities wanted to claim there wasn’t enough proof before, well I’ve got it in spades now. If they still want to pretend like they like those witches and want to protect them, things have drastically changed. It’s not just demons who would come for the Aether Circle. The Fae and the Underworld are now our friends. If they aren’t scared of what we can do to them, the Fae have all kinds of powers, and Barbatos told me all about the monsters his daughter is dating now. River snagged herself an Olympian who can make all kinds of weapons, too. They’d be extremely foolish to keep protecting them. Especially after everything they’ve done.”
Shit. Bael had this incredibly easy-going manner. He was always laughing and smiling, and he seemed to adore Solron. He looked utterly chill throughout that entire monologue about destroying the Aether Circle. He probably tortured people while sipping a glass of merlot, with classical music playing, and a smile on his face.
This was a weird, fucked up place, but oddly, I felt safe here. They talked about torture and their dungeons all the time, and I still didn’t know all the rules for ending up in one. I got this feeling it wasn’t done lightly, and certainly not without proof. Rajack and I weren’t going to have a fate like what had happened to us back home.
Bael seemed to regard every demon's life as sacred. He wanted to avenge the ones the Aether Circle had taken, but not at the risk of jeopardizing more demon lives by attacking Earth. Bael seemed to take his alliances seriously. I had a feeling he had no intention of attacking now. He knew the threat alone would be enough.
That was precisely the kind of person you wanted in power if you were going to live somewhere.
Sota finally cracked up laughing.
“I take it Barbatos is going to be busy!”
“Oh, he wants to wrap this up quickly. His daughter has an impressive demonic form, and she’s dating powerful monsters. I’m planning on throwing a party so he can show them off. He’ll have this done in no time… mark my words.”
Yeah, this was definitely the kind of place I wanted to live. Skoll raised his wine glass.
“I’d like to invite Faust over to dinner. It’s nice to have a new wolf here, and Rei will be busy for the next few days.”
Yeah. Hopefully, sinking those fox teeth into me.
