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Chapter Sixteen

Jagger

“You know what this is about? Why Lucifer asked us to meet him here of all places?” Lucifer didn’t leave Hell often, for several reasons, this had to be something big.

War strode down the long hall beside me and Lothar. “He didn’t share much, only that he might have a bead on Brick.” His gaze slid my way. “You gonna be able to keep your shit tight?”

I raised a brow.

“I hear you and Rune got into it last time you were here?” he said.

My fingers automatically curled into a fist just thinking about how I found Sutton in Rune’s apartment. “He used his demon powers on my female, had her in his bed. He’s lucky I didn’t rip his fucking head off.”

His brows shot up. “Your female? Worked that out, have you?”

I straightened under War’s all-seeing alpha stare. He didn’t outright call me a blind fucking moron, but it was implied with just that look. “Yeah, I worked it out.”

“And Sutton?”

“She’ll come around.”

War shook his head as we got into the elevator. I hit the button for the top floor. “Brother, you better have begging at that female’s feet at the top of the list of shit you’ll have to do to win her over. The way my dove tells it, you’d be lucky if she ever speaks to you again.”

Lothar grunted his agreement. “Never seen a male fuck shit up as badly as you.”

Didn’t I know it.

War nodded. “What’s your game plan? You’ll need one.”

I didn’t want to talk about this. I felt like a damned fool, but I needed all the help I could get. “I got her some herbs, rare varieties, expensive.”

“What else?” War asked.

My lip curled. “I beat the fuck out of that demon who touched her.”

Loth nodded. “Showed your strength that you could protect her. Nice. Now you need to get her in your bed, show her you can take care of all her needs.” He grunted again. “Make her come, feed her, keep her safe. She’ll come around.”

War turned to us, one of his “new” looks on his face.

Since he’d mated and now felt all the fucking things, he gave us these looks, especially when we talked about females.

“No wonder hardly any of us are fucking mated. The fates were obviously hoping we’d evolve. They apparently got sick of waiting.”

“Well, what do you suggest?” I fired at him, and hoped I didn’t sound as fucking desperate as I felt.

“Talk to her. I know it’s hard, ’cause you’re not there emotionally yet, but try to make her understand the reasons for what you did, and for your sake, I hope you have a fucking good one for rejecting her like that. Then apologize as many times as it takes for her to believe you mean it.”

The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. We strode up to Rune’s apartment door. “I’ll try to do it your way.”

“It’ll work,” War said and knocked.

It swung open a moment later, and Rune greeted us with a steely glare. “Gentlemen.” His gaze slid to me and his lips curled up, flashing fang. “Jag.”

I bit back my growl and gave him a good look at my extended canines.

“Lucifer,” War said, cutting off the insult I’d been about to fire at that piece of shit.

Lucifer sat on the leather sectional, looking relaxed. Ursula stood behind him, and she gave us a chin lift in greeting.

“Hey, Urs, you on your own?” Loth asked, taking in the room.

The handmaids nearly always came in twos when they were out and about and guarding Lucifer, and Roxy was always the warrior she paired up with.

“Nope,” she said, her gaze sliding to the bathroom door as it opened.

“You should come to one of our girls’ nights,” Roxy was saying as she walked out, petting a little bat that rested in her hands—I fucking stilled—when Sutton followed her.

Roxy spotted us, and her wide smile instantly lit up her lovely face. Sutton on the other hand seemed to freeze, her step faltering before she quickly looked down and followed Rox around the couch to stand with her and Ursula.

Rune followed, and the prick leaned in and said something low in her ear.

“Take a step back, motherfucker,” I snarled, the words bursting from me before I could choke them down.

Sutton’s head snapped up.

“I’ll remind you whose home you’re in,” Rune said, his now black eyes on me.

“How about you open one of those windows for me, Rox, and we’ll see how well Rune can fly.” My gaze slid to Sutton. “Come here.” The demand was impossible to hold back, and as soon as I said it and saw the look on her face, I knew I’d made a mistake.

I felt War’s stare as Sutton blinked over at me, cheeks bright red. I’d surprised even him. I got it. I didn’t do shit like this, but then I’d never been in this situation before either.

“Now, Sutton.” Again, even as I said it, I knew it was the wrong thing to say.

War, shaking his head, told me I was right. I was fucking things up…again, but I wanted her away from Rune right fucking now. Lucifer asked him something, but the buzzing in my head drowned it out. My entire focus was on my female and her proximity to that fucking arrogant demon.

She straightened her shoulders, fury radiating from her. “I’ve already told you, I’m not yours to order around.”

I was done talking. I strode toward her.

She took a step back, her eyes widening.

It was almost enough to make me stop in my tracks, but Rune was still too close to her.

As I closed in, the alarm on her face switched back to anger.

Before I could reach her, she’d transformed completely.

Her eyes were red, her veins black, her nails now claws—then she surprised the fuck out of me and ran at me.

Her hands slammed into my sternum. “How fucking dare you tell me what to do!” she yelled. “After the shit you pulled last night, beating the fuck out of Poe like that. For what? To prove something? You have no idea what a mess you made for me.”

I dragged in a furious breath. “Poe?” I growled. “You’re angry I fucked up Poe? Why are you so concerned about that demon?” I loomed over her, my fingers itching to grab hold of her. “Are you fucking him? Is that it? Do you want him?”

Her beautiful red and black swirling eyes widened. “No,” she said, shaking with rage. “I hate that asshole.”

“Right,” Lucifer said, clapping his hands and standing. “I can see where this is headed, and as entertaining as it would be, you can hate-fuck on your own time. We have business to discuss.”

I turned to him. “What does it have to do with my mate?”

“I’m not your mate,” Sutton snapped.

Lucifer’s bright yellow gaze slid to her, and her mouth slammed shut. He then turned back to me. “If you will save this lovers’ tiff until later, that’s what you’re about to find out.”

Sutton stepped away, and it took all my willpower not to snatch her back. Her familiar chirped and wriggled, and Rox handed him back to Sutton, who tucked him under her jacket, and I forced myself to turn to Lucifer and give him the attention he demanded.

“Looks like we have two issues right now. The first? Brick’s missing.” His jaw tightened. “No one fucks with my hounds. Whoever took him is dead.”

“I’m killing them,” Roxy said, her pretty eyes alight with vengeance.

She looked and sounded like the sweetest female in the world. She also adored pups and could kill a being in a thousand different ways without hesitation or remorse.

“That’s not decided yet,” Lucifer said to her.

She pouted. “You know how I feel about the pups, Luci. If anyone’s hurt Brick”—rage contorted her features, not something you saw very often with this particular female—“I’m going to strip the skin from their body and fillet their flesh.”

Lothar made a weird sound, shifting from foot to foot, and her gaze sliced to him and her cheeks turned pink.

“Enough,” Lucifer said, stepping forward, blocking Lothar from her view. His gaze sliced to me. “The second issue we have is a few demons behaving badly.”

I wanted to demand what he was talking about but rolled my shoulders and forced myself to wait for him to finish in his own time. This was Lucifer’s show, and no one rushed him.

“We haven’t heard about this,” War said.

“Because I was dealing with it,” Rune said.

“But,” Lucifer said, “after Rune told me his suspicions, then War called and told me about Brick, my Spidey senses got all tingly. Brick and this demon issue are linked. I can feel it, here.” He cupped his balls.

“What does this have to do with Sutton?” I said, unable to wait any fucking longer.

“She got herself in some trouble, didn’t you, lovely?” Rune said to Sutton. “And she came to me for help”—his gaze slid to me—“since there was no one else she could trust.”

My snarl burst through the room. “What trouble?” I said and took a step toward Rune.

War grabbed my shoulder.

“Stand down, Jag,” Lucifer said easily. “Let Rune speak.”

I wanted to rip out his tongue, not listen to him talk about my female as if he knew her, as if he knew her better than me. She was mine. Sure, I’d fucked up, I’d gotten confused. But I wasn’t confused anymore.

“Sutton is being blackmailed by Tarrant. Poe is the demon she reports to. He’s Tarrant’s right-hand demon. As we know, he deals directly with manufacturers, is his enforcer, and does wet work when necessary.”

“What the fuck? You’re being blackmailed?”

She wouldn’t look at me.

“Sutton,” I growled. “What does he have on you?”

“One of her coven members was cooking for him, providing him with drugs, the kind only a witch could provide. He made a bad batch and tried to pull out of the deal. He owed Tarrant a lot of product. Long story short, her coven mate is being held by them, and they’ll keep him alive as long as Sutton continues to fill their orders. ”

Adrenaline pulsed through me and I fucking saw red. “Easy fix, I’ll send Tarrant back to Hell.”

“He’s not breaking any laws,” Lucifer said. “Well, that we know of.”

“Sutton is my mate, that should be enough.”

Rune made a tutting sound. “That’s not what I hear, and besides, Sutton and I made a deal. She gets evidence that Tarrant’s breaking our laws, and I put him down and free her friend, isn’t that right, lovely?”

“Yes,” she said, still not looking at me.