Page 57

Jagger

I curled my arm around my mate’s shoulders as we stepped through the gateway from Hell and onto the clubhouse parking lot.

“I’ll go back in a couple days,” Sutton said, pressing her hand to my chest.

“Okay, sunshine.”

She’d just finished a healing session with Kurgan. I wasn’t sure there’d ever be any improvement, not without Lenny, but she insisted on trying. My mate was compassionate and powerful, and I couldn’t help but hope.

Zuri had been spending a lot of time with him as well.

He was calm with her in a way I’d never seen before.

She read to him and was teaching him to read as well.

He could write his name, Zuri’s and Lenny’s as well.

He could also draw. His sister had given him charcoal and pastels, and now his stone walls were covered in images, scenes, places I’d never seen and had no idea where he’d come up with them. Lenny’s name was everywhere.

The guilt was hard to deal with. Why hadn’t I done that for him? Why hadn’t I tried to give him more? But, then, I wasn’t sure anyone but Zuri could bring out that side of Kurgan.

We walked into the clubhouse, and Sutton made a little shriek of delight. “She’s here!”

Zuri stood with Ursula and smiled wide when she spotted us.

It was her first visit, and my heart fucking filled to bursting when she strode over and hugged Sutton.

I didn’t want to force her to hug me, but I really wanted to pull her into my arms and breathe in her gentle, fresh scent.

To me, she smelled similar to Kurgan, and it ignited my protective instincts.

Finally, she turned to me and opened her arms. Thank fuck. I pulled her against me, hugging her tight. “Glad you’re here, Zuri,” I said against her hair, breathing her in. As soon as I had her scent in my lungs, the beast rumbled in contentment. My mate and my daughter were here with me, safe.

When she finally stepped back, she smiled up at me. “This is…” She bit her lip and looked around the room, and I realized every one of my brothers was staring at her. “Overwhelming.” I’d filled them in, but seeing a female hound was still a shock.

I looked around the room and growled low. My brothers quickly looked away.

Sutton laughed low and grabbed Zuri’s hand. “I think your sire’s feeling a bit protective.”

I turned back, and that’s when I realized what Zuri was wearing—the shirt I’d wrapped her in when she was a baby. I gave the sleeve a tug, my throat tight as fuck. “You still have it.”

She looked down, running her hand over the worn fabric, then up at me and smiled. “It’s my most treasured possession.”

Then Rome was there, Fender with him, and I quickly cleared my throat. Lucifer had made Fender’s prosthetic from bone charred in hellfire. It’d taken Fen a few weeks, but he was walking good on it now.

“Hey,” Zuri said to them, her cheeks turning pink.

They both pulled her in for a hug, and Sutton squeezed my hand when she heard the growl rattling in my chest, silently telling me to calm the fuck down.

Ursula clapped her hands. “Right, enough reunion time. We need a drink, preferably a beer.”

“I’m not sure you should have alcohol,” I said to my daughter when Urs grabbed her hand to pull her across the room.

Ursula stopped, turned back to me, then threw her head back, letting loose a loud, throaty laugh.

“I’m not exactly a pup,” Zuri said, grinning up at me. “I’ve also lived with handmaids.” Her gaze slid to my brothers. “I could probably drink Roman here under the table.”

He grinned. “Big words, babe, for a short-ass, but you’re on. You got yourself a bet.”

Then they were all headed across the room to one of the tall tables.

I watched her go, so beautiful and warm and bright. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” I said to Sutton.

“She looks like you.”

I wrapped my mate in my arms. “I need to keep her safe, sunshine.”

“You will.” She gave me a squeeze. “And when you can’t be with her, she has the handmaids, and they won’t let anything happen to her.”

“Lucifer has something planned for her, something big, I can feel it.”

“And she has us now, all of us,” Sutton said.

I cupped my sunshine’s face and stared into her gorgeous eyes. “Do you have any idea how much I fucking love you?”

“I think I have an idea, Charming.” She grinned. “Now how about we go hang with your daughter?”

“Yeah,” I said, grinning back. “No fucking way I’m letting her try to outdrink Roman.”

Sutton laughed as the music was turned up, and we went to join them.

Hell: Lucifer’s quadrant

Roxy

Tarrant screamed as I peeled the skin from his back.

Blood covered my hands and was splattered across my face.

I fisted his hair and jerked his head back.

“You ready to talk?” He said something, and it sounded all lisped and garbled.

“Pretty sure he said he doesn’t know anything,” I said to Lucifer.

Lucifer stood on the other side of the room, yellow eyes glowing. He was shirtless, covered in as much blood and gore as me. He’d let his mask slip, his true face twisted with fury, his black horns curled back and glossy. He was beautiful like this. Luci was beautiful in any form he took.

He strode forward and crouched in front of Tarrant, and the demon tried to jerk back. “This could all stop. All you have to do is tell me where Beelzebub is.”

He shook his head and tried to speak again. More blood bubbled from between his lips and dripped down his chest.

Lucifer rose. “We’ll leave him for a day to recover, then try again.”

“I don’t think they know, Luci,” I said. Poe hadn’t given us anything either.

Lucifer snarled. “I need to find that fucker?—”

Someone knocked on the door.

Startling, I turned toward it. No one disturbed us in here, and if it was a handmaid, they’d just walk right in. Lucifer didn’t seem surprised though.

“I think you’re right, Rox,” he said, his eyes red and bright with fury. “Which is why I’ve called in some help.”

A familiar scent hit me before I even opened the door. “Why is Lothar here?”

“He’s our best tracker.” He held my gaze. “And you’re my best warrior.”

I flinched. I couldn’t help it. “What have you done?”

He cupped the side of my face. “You know I wouldn’t put you in this situation if I didn’t think this was the only way.”

“Luci—”

“Open the door, Roxy. We’ll talk more about this later.”

My heart slammed into the back of my throat, and I forced myself to walk to the door.

I thought I’d gotten over it, or at least I’d learned to live with the past, but I was seriously struggling again, and I didn’t know why.

A cold sweat coated my skin, even as fluttery wings took flight in my belly.

Shoving down the wild emotion pulsing through me, I straightened my spine, plastered a huge smile on my face, and opened the door.

Lothar stood there, tall and handsome, and, like always, I wanted to climb his massive body, wrap myself around him, and never let him go. I also wanted to cause him significant bodily harm. “Loth, hey,” I said, giving him a dose of my usual bubbly self.

His gaze slid down my body, taking in Tarrant’s blood smeared on my skin, and his nostrils flared. “Rox, how you doing, sweetheart?”

He took a step closer, about to pull me in for a hug, like he always did, like the hounds did with any of the handmaids. But lately, I found that too difficult as well.

I stepped back quickly before he could touch me. “Good,” I said and motioned for him to come in.

He frowned, not missing a thing, of course. “You still pissed with me, Rox?” he asked, a small teasing grin on his lips.

I wanted to fist that sexy beard, yank his head down and sink my teeth into his lip. Instead, I laughed. “I’m never pissed at you, you know that.”

“Getting a look at you now, Rox,” he said, taking in my bloody state again, “gotta say I’m fucking glad about that.”

“Brother,” Lucifer said to Lothar. “Thank you for coming at such short notice.”

“Not a problem. What’s going on?” Loth asked.

“We’ve tortured Poe and Tarrant for several weeks and still we don’t know where Beelzebub is. My lords say they haven’t heard from him, and I need him back, where I can keep an eye on him. I’m sending you and Roxy to find him.”

My heart slammed in my chest. Lothar didn’t even raise an eyebrow. He nodded. “When do we leave?”

“In the morning. You could be gone a while, so make sure to pack accordingly.”

He jerked up his chin. “You think Beelzebub stayed away from Hell?”

“Possibly. It might pay to visit the other quadrants first, though.”

Loth lifted his chin, then turned to me. “Catch you in the morning, Rox?”

Seriously? Fuck my life. “Yep,” I said, keeping my voice upbeat and giving him what he expected—happy, goofy Roxy—when what I really wanted to do was punch his perfect mouth, then lick up the blood and kiss his face off. “See you in the morning.”

Lucifer studied me when Lothar left. There was love in his eyes, so much of it, because he did love me, like he loved all his creations. But revenge burned even brighter, and there was nothing more important to him than getting Beelzebub back and retaining his positon in Hell—as it should be.

And I was here to serve him, always. Still, he had to know. “This is a bad idea,” I said.

Lucifer’s face shifted, his mask coming back down, and he slid his fingers through his hair, straightening it. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Lothar could remember.

He could remember everything.

THANK YOU!

I hope you loved Jagger and Sutton’s story!

Lothar and Roxy’s book is next in:

BAD BLOOD

Want more Jagger and Sutton? I have a Bonus Epilogue for you!

READ: THE CONCLAVE