Page 16 of Bellamy

Sven scurried along beside us to keep up. “Sven has idea for delicious meal. Yes, quite delicious. Nephilim stew. All Sven needs is permission to cut up prisoner.”

Asa turned to him. “Prisoner?”

“Sven saw General Belphegor drag Nephilim-yumminess to cell not even two minutes ago. Yes, yes Sven did. Rushed to you right away with idea. Potatoes will go good with Nephilim meat. Hearty stew for the son of the Morningstar.”

“Your Majesty!” Another demon approached, out of breath. “General Belphegor sent me. He’s taken one of the cursed sons captive.”

“The yummy Nephilim,” Sven said with a nod. “Onion taste good too.”

A strange knot formed in my chest. One I quickly dismissed. What did it matter if one of the brothers was captured? They were our enemy. And the only thing to do with an enemy was to crush them.

“Your services are not required,” Asa told Sven, whose antennas slumped with his disappointment. “I want this Nephilim unharmed. For now. However, there’s a pile of reapers’ ashes in the throne room you’re more than welcome to throw into a pot for yourself to eat. Your reward for your devotion.”

“Much gratitude!” Sven perked back up, his small body rippling with excitement.

I followed Asa outside and walked with him down the breezeway connecting the castle to the dungeon. Colorful trees with soft pink petals lined the path. They mimicked Japanese cherry blossoms, though differed in that they glowed. They also never died. Frozen in time. Eternal.

“You’re quiet, Phoenix.” Asa’s red-eyed gaze shifted to me. “Worried about something?”

“Like what, my king?”

His shoulder lifted in a dismissive shrug. “Perhaps it’s bitterness I sense, then. Belphegor clearly succeeded where you failed. Several times, I might add. The battle in the Caribbean. Your uselessness in Transylvania. Your failure to bring that human hunter to our side before the cursed sons dug their claws into him.” His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “The same hunter who shot you with a silver bullet. Right here.” He touched the center of my chest. “Yet, you somehow lived.”

Nerves coiled in my gut. I did my best not to let them show on my face.

“That’s all in the past, I suppose.” Asa sighed and withdrew his hand. “Let’s go see the gift he brought.”

Our boots echoed off the stone steps as we descended to the holding cells. The air turned musky and damp the farther we went underground, like a dank cave. Technically, that’s what it was. The rock walls gleamed in places and were slick to the touch. When we’d captured Castor and Simon last year, this was where we’d locked them up.

Who was in there now?

I was about to find out.

However, the closer we got to the cell, the more I felt… something. A tug in my chest. A fluttering in my stomach. A warmth at the top of my scalp that radiated to my cheeks and shot down to my heart, spreading through my veins.

At the bottom of the stairs, Asa turned down another corridor and threw open the door to the first cell. My feet stopped right before I reached the threshold. I didn’t want to see who was in there. But I didn’t need to see. I already knew.

My soul sensed him. Reached out for his.

Shit, shit, shit.

Releasing a breath, I stepped into the cell. My gaze landed on him instantly.

Bellamy’s golden hair was disheveled, and blood dripped from a cut on the side of his neck. His arms were chained to the wall. Dark purple runes were on the cuffs. The magic chain would weaken him and also prevent him from using any of his powers.

As his eyes lifted to mine, I looked away, my heart squeezing.

“Well done, Belphegor,” Asa said, clapping the fallen angel on the back.

“I helped, my king!” Rosemary said, arms behind her back in a cutesy stance. I fought an eye roll. She’d been trying to find a way into Asa’s bed since the day his soul had been released from the ring and his body returned to corporal form. Riding his cock would be the ultimate brag for someone like her who cared only for power and reputation.

In fact, a majority of the female demons wanted the king. And why wouldn’t they? Fucking the son of Lucifer would be the highlight of their lives.

Asa, however, was only interested in males. I sure as hell wasn’t the only one he was currently fucking—I’d walked in on him banging three male demons just the other day. But I was his main squeeze.

For now. Until I “lost my value.”

Asa’s eyes cut over to her. “You did well. My gratitude is yours.”