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Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jagger

“Wake up, sunshine.” The last thing I wanted to do was wake my mate and pull her out of bed. What I wanted to do was stay under the covers with her all soft, sated, and wrapped around me. But that would have to wait.

Sutton blinked up at me slow and drowsy. She frowned. “Why are you out of bed, Charming?”

My heart thudded in my chest. I pressed a kiss to her still puffy lips and forced myself to keep it quick.

“I’m sorry, baby, but we’ve gotta get going. Beelzebub’s been spotted, and we need to get to him before he takes off.”

Her eyes widened, and she shoved back the covers, looking around frantically for her clothes.

I pointed to the clothes sitting on the end of the bed. “They’re Roxy’s. They should fit.” Someone knocked on the door. “Come out when you’re dressed,” I said to her and forced myself to walk out of the room.

Rome, Fender, Loth, and Brick were waiting, a mix of concern and violence on their faces.

“Beelzebub ignored Lucifer’s summons, so why the fuck is he sticking around?” Loth said.

Rome crossed his arms. “No idea, but if that prick escapes before we can get to him, we may never find him.”

He was right. Beelzebub could move between realms easily and quickly and Hell was vast. There were places he could hide. Either way, tracking him wouldn’t be easy. “Lucifer won’t let him get away with this betrayal.”

Loth scowled. “We can’t give him time to regroup and then come back and attempt a takeover.”

“Whatever cards Beelzebub’s holding have to be fucking good ones,” I said. “He has to believe he has a chance at overthrowing Lucifer or he wouldn’t have made a move in the first place.”

My brothers’ rumbles of agreement filled the space as I headed over to Kurgan. “You give Lenny the clothes, son?” We’d found some for him and Brick as well.

He nodded, his gaze locked on the door his female was behind.

“You get any sleep at all?”

He shook his head. “Lenny needed to be protected.”

“You feeling solid? You got a handle on your control?” He’d done better than I ever thought he was capable of. I tried not to let hope fill me, but it was hard not to.

“I won’t harm her again,” he said roughly, then his gaze dipped to the floor. “I bit her leg, but I healed it.”

That hope fizzled, and I patted his shoulder. “That’s good. Healing her was good.”

“She’ll stay with me now,” he said, nodding to himself. “My den is strong, I have water and meat, a comfortable pallet for her to sleep on. I can protect her better there.”

My fucking heart clenched. He didn’t understand why that was impossible. Knowing the pain ahead of him, knowing that he would again have to suffer the rejection of his mate because he couldn’t be the male she needed, fucking killed me.

The door opened and Kurgan instantly stepped forward, startling Lenny. He grabbed her around the waist before she could step back.

“Control, son,” I said. “Give Lenny some room.”

He grunted and released her but didn’t step back, looking down at her in a way that would be unsettling for anyone, especially a tiny female, but if we tried to pull him away from her, it would make everything a lot worse.

“You doing okay?” I asked her.

Kurgan turned to me, then back to his female. “You doing okay?” he asked before she could answer me, in an almost perfect imitation of my voice.

She blinked up at him. “Yes, thank you.” She gave her answer to Kurgan and stepped forward. He didn’t move. “You’ll need to let me past.”

He instantly stepped back but touched her hair and dipped his head, breathing in her scent as she moved by.

The door across the room opened and Sutton walked out. She was dressed similar to Lenny, in a pair of leather pants and jacket. It acted as a lightweight armor. My gaze skimmed down her sweet body as she strode toward me.

“Ready,” she said, then looked over at Lenny. They exchanged a look, and Sutton nodded, offering her a reassuring smile.

“Take the front,” I said to Loth, Rome, and Fender. “Me, Brick, and Kurgan will take the rear.” I looked to my son. “We’ll shift and carry the females.”

His eyes lit up. He liked that idea.

Lenny spun to me. “You want me to ride him like a…a freaking horse?”

“I’m faster than a horse,” Kurgan said, puffing up his chest.

“We have to move fast,” I said, feeling bad for her, but there was no other choice.

Sutton took her hand. “I know it’s a lot to ask. All of this has been a lot, but Jagger won’t let anything happen to you. None of the males will…especially not Kurgan.”

She lifted her chin and nodded. She was a strong female, stronger than I thought she was, and brave.

Kurgan shifted, exploding into his huge beast, and it was easier than I’d seen him shift in a long time. With shaky hands, Lenny gathered his clothes, and when Kurgan lowered for her to climb up, she did without much hesitation. Thank fuck.

We strode from the building, and the rest of us shifted. Sutton grabbed everyone’s clothes and climbed on my back.

“Grip on to Kurgan’s fur. It won’t hurt him,” she said to Lenny, then we took off, exploding through the forest.

Sutton

I clung to Jagger as he tore through Hell. Kurgan ran beside him, Lenny pressed low, gripping on to his fur with white knuckles.

We’d ridden hard for a long time and had left the forest a while ago. We were now high on a cliff above a river that glowed red.

Jagger slowed, and Lothar made a low chuffing sound ahead. Jagger returned it with one of his own. They’d seen something.

Beelzebub must be close.

Jagger dropped to his belly and reached back with his snout, touching my leg, telling me to climb off. He made a series of throaty sounds to Brick and Kurgan and used his snout to give me a shove toward them.

I did as I was told, standing beside Brick as Lenny scrambled off Kurgan’s back, but she stayed close to him.

That’s when I heard the snarls.

We all turned, looking across the wide chasm to the other side of the river.

Beelzebub had a chain fisted around his massive hand, wielding a whip with the other.

A hound with pale gold fur was attached to it.

He growled and shook his head wildly, fighting with everything he had.

He was smaller than the other hounds I’d seen and finer boned.

A pup? It had to be, but he was strong, and Beelzebub was struggling to control him.

Jagger leaped ahead of his brothers and sped off. There was a bridge ahead, and Jagger tore onto it, his brothers following, running at full speed, toward the demon lord on the other side.

Beelzebub saw them and a gateway flashed opened behind him.

“Holy shit,” I choked as he tried to drag the hound toward it.

The smaller hound dug in his paws, his claws scratching the stone. With a roar, Beelzebub flung the hound against the wall, then yanked him toward him, gaining some ground.

Jagger and his brothers were closing in, snarling and growling with bared teeth, determined to save the hound and drag the lord back to Lucifer.

Beelzebub roared again and, biceps bulging, dragged the hound closer, then he threw out a hand, aiming for the bridge.

The hounds leaped as the black ropes at one end gave away.

Jagger, Rome, and Loth made it, but the massive demon lashed his whip at Fender, knocking him back.

He fell, barely catching the edge of the cliff.

Lenny grabbed my hand. “Oh no.”

Rome shifted and dove for his brother, but it was too late. Fender fell, plummeting into the burning river. I screamed and rushed to the edge, watching as Fender was washed away—as something huge and scaled thrashed in the water and went after him.

There was nothing they could do. Rome bounded off the ground and raced to help Jagger and Lothar.

The small hound was still fighting for his life.

Jagger leaped for Beelzebub, and the demon had no choice but to let go of the chain attached to the small hound and dive through the gateway, escaping. It instantly snapped closed after him.

Lothar tore off along the cliff, I assume going after Fender, while Jag and Rome approached the small hound.

“There’s another bridge a couple miles that way,” Jagger called across. “We’ll meet you there.”

Brick gave me a nudge and lowered to the ground. I climbed on his back, and we took off again. I looked back as Rome approached the hound, hands raised, then we rounded a corner and I lost sight of them.

Brick and Kurgan sprinted along the cliff, and I searched the river below for any sign of Fender and Lothar. When we rounded a corner and the next bridge came into view, I sat a little higher, frantically looking for any sign of life.

I saw Lothar first, then I saw Fender. He was lying on his back, panting hard.

Loth stood as we approached. I jumped off Brick’s back and rushed to Fender, calling on my magic so I could treat him, and dropped down at his side.

“Oh gods. I thought you were dead.” I searched his body, hovering my hand over him, down past his hips, to his legs, and flinched.

The right one stopped just below the knee and was perfectly cauterized. My gaze shot up to his. “Your leg.”

He gave me a pained grin, gritting his teeth and shaking. “There’s more than a few bitey things in that river, babe.”

“Will it…can it grow back?” Hounds were immortal, and they could heal from almost any injury.

“The burning river can’t touch us, can’t penetrate our skin or hair, the same as hellfire, but an open wound’s different. As soon as the Vysan took my leg, the river sealed the wound and killed the ability for it to grow back.”

“What if we opened the wound?”

He shook his head. “It will grow as far as the stump I have now, no further.”

“I’m so sorry,” I rasped and took his hand in mine.

He grinned again, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll live.”