Page 47 of Nope, No Regrets
Faust
Hell was this beautiful place. We had time to kill before we went to Skoll’s. Sota said he lived in an area that was too far to drive to, so he would open a portal, but he took Wren and me on a driving tour of Hell first. I’d never been one of those men who were super obsessed with cars, since nothing compared to running as my wolf, but even I could admit Sota had a pretty sweet ride.
Hell had a lot of things Earth did, and plenty of things we didn’t. Their technology was much more advanced. Rei’s website was tight, and I was damn good at getting into things people wanted to keep hidden. Despite that, after trying to get into her deleted messages—I’d gone full nuclear—I still hadn’t managed it. I knew Solron had skills, but I’d seen some of the technology here. She had access to things I didn’t.
The air was also insanely clean here. When I was outside, I could pick up Sakura blossoms, grass, and sunlight, but none of the acrid tinge of pollution I always picked up on Earth.
Sota drove us everywhere. He showed Wren a pub the local witches liked to frequent. He drove me by a forest I’d be free to run in. Apparently, all the forests in Hell had different kinds of tree demons. The ones that inhabited that particular forest were less territorial, but some of these tree demons would rip you to shreds just for setting foot in their home. Thankfully, this forest had friendly tree demons who would share as long you didn’t damage anything.
I didn’t particularly like getting slapped in the face by branches when I was running in the woods, and I didn’t want to face off with one of the mean types of tree demons. I mean, I was plenty strong, and had killed every type of supernatural on Earth, but I wasn’t dumb enough to take on an angry tree.
I was having a blast. Sota was telling us more about Hell and Wren was cracking jokes. Most of the time, I found her irritating, but she had a wicked sense of humor, that I dug when she wasn’t making jokes at my expense. I got why Rei liked her. Who knows, maybe I wouldn’t get annoyed and have to plot her death in a way Rei never found out about… even if that silly witch demanded to sit in the front seat like I wasn’t much bigger than her and needed the damn legroom.
Sota finally turned the car around and brought us back home. I thought we were all supposed to change clothes and dress up for the occasion, since Amduscias was Hell royalty. I could fill out a tux and owned one just in case my target was high profile, but Ihatedwearing it.
“Wear what you have on. Amduscias is always impeccably dressed now that he’s not in a prison uniform, but he won’t be in a suit. Serafina is heavily pregnant, and will be dressed for comfort. Roman will be, too, so don’t feel weird about it. Oh, and I think Skoll would be happier walking around naked, so really, don’t sweat it.”
I grunted. Any wolf would agree with that. I’d lay odds Dakarys and Rajack felt the same. They were just so constricting, and if you weren’t careful, they got destroyed when you shifted. Finding a place to stash them was a pain in the ass too, because you didn’t exactly look scary running through the forest with pants in your teeth!
Sota didn’t even give Wren time to comment, and she had something to say about literally everything. He opened a portal and just shoved her through. Sota must be completely insane, because I was pretty sure she’d killed people for that before. He didn’t do that to me. He bowed and swept his arm with a flourish that was reminiscent of some demon butler.
I jumped through and checked on Wren. She didn’t look the slightest bit homicidal. She was already on a massive couch, with Charley and Serafina. How in the world did she have time to have a beer in her hand and a plate of appetizers? I literally came through right after her. I’d learned not to question Wren.
Skoll was there, smiling when I got out. He kissed Serafina on the top of her head and shot her this adoring gaze. I watched him lay his hand fondly on her stomach like there was a little wolf pup in there. I didn’t get it. If I saw Rei this pregnant, and that baby wasn’t mine, I might not be okay with this little arrangement anymore. How was Skoll doing this?!
“She kicked again. She’s going to be a fighter, just like her momma. Serafina, love, do you mind if I leave you to have a wolf talk with Faust?”
She just threw back her head and laughed.
“Please do, because he looks all kinds of confused. We’ll entertain Wren and Sota.”
I narrowed my eyes at Wren.
“You’d better not kill anyone while I’m gone.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, but I could still kill you later.”
“You could certainly try,” I tossed my hair over my shoulder as I followed Skoll out.
I already knew Wren wouldn’t come at me, and she was safe from me. I followed Skoll to this absolutely gorgeous beach. Granted, I’d been to some pretty fantastic ones to kill people, but nothing like this. The sand was pure, brilliant white and practically glittered in the moonlight. The smell of salt hung in the air and mingled with the aroma of flowers that were growing by Amduscias’s estate. It was perfect. Even the nicest beaches on Earth weren’t spotless like this, since humans weren’t always so great about picking up after themselves. There wasn’t a single stray beach chair or bottle cap anywhere on this beach.
“This is amazing,” I said, inhaling the sea air.
“I run out here with some of the wolves in the area. It’s amazing. You should join us.”
“I’d love it.”
“I think you realize I’m onto something, but aren’t fully on board yet. This is the perfect setting to ask all your questions. Then, we can work up an appetite by shifting and running on the beach. Amduscias’s chef is amazing, and he adores Serafina. He’s just as excited about the baby as we are, and he’s been spoiling all of us with his cooking.”
“See, that’s what I don’t get!” I said, running my fingers through my hair. “I was okay with her being alone with Wren, and I’m pretty sure she’s up to all kinds of threesome action with Dakarys and Rajack… and shit, I don’t want to kill them for that, I think she deserves it. But what I want to know is how you, Roman, and Fergus are okay with that baby… ya know… knowing it’s not yours?”
“I’m going to let you in on a few things that you don’t know. The whole Scorchwood fiasco was about creating hybrids, because Warden Skinner’s coven thought they could steal that magic and become more powerful. People don’t do it on Earth for some reason, but people blend here. We have a lot of hybrid adults and children. Your child with Rei could well be a wolf with nine tailsandmagic like hers.”
My breath caught in my throat. I knew I wanted pups with Rei, but children were just so fragile. I was picturing a powerful, nine-tailed wolf as my offspring, and it was magnificent. They would be the best of both of us, and could defend themselves. Skoll chuckled.
“When Serafina has my pup, it’s going to be a wolf that can light shit on fire and can hopefully create a Fae portal. Isn’t that badass?”
“You were touching her like thatwasyour pup. Don’t you want to kill Amduscias?”
