Page 17 of Bellamy

She’d rather for his cock to be hers, but she smiled and bowed. “It was my pleasure. Anything for my king. Anything at all.” The last bit was said in a highly suggestive tone.

“You’re excused now.” Asa turned away from her, bored.

Rosemary snarled her upper lip at me and bumped against my arm on her way out of the cell. The clack of her heels faded as she retreated down the corridor.

“How did you manage this?” Asa asked Belphegor before looking at Bellamy with a smile that made my stomach do a weird flipping thing.

I felt sick.

“After a few millennia, I’ve learned much about them,” Belphegor responded. “Their hero complexes, for one. I threw a seemingly frail woman into his path, sacrificed a few good demons to make him believe he won the fight, waited for him to let his guard down, and then I made my move.”

“Why not kill him?” Asa asked.

“I have a better use for him,” Belphegor said. “An experiment, if you will. The Nephilim would never surrender Light Bringer to stop attacks on the world, but I wondered… would they sacrifice the fate of the world to save each other?”

That wicked grin touched Asa’s lips again. “I like the way your mind works. Attacking them right where it will hurt the most.”

“Their bonds run deep.” The fallen angel nodded. “When we captured Greed last year, they stormed this realm to get him back. Love makes fools of us all. They’ll come for him. I’m certain of it.”

“You’re wasting your time,” Bellamy said, resting his head back against the wall. “They’d never hand over that sword. Not for me. Not for anything.”

His voice. God-fucking-dammit. Heat filled my chest, and my skin tingled.

“He speaks.” Asa walked closer to him. I squeezed my hands into tight fists, forcing myself to stay rooted in place. He crouched beside Bellamy. “I believe your brothers will be beside themselves now that you’re here keeping me company.”

“I’m flattered you think so highly of me.” Bellamy steeled his gaze despite the cocky tone of his voice. “Hate to break it to you, but long-haired pretty boys with daddy issues aren’t my type.”

Asa chuckled… and then backhanded him across the face.

My fucking heart leapt into my throat. Worse? My body moved forward on impulse. Not far. But enough for Belphegor to notice. He studied me with a curious expression.

“Oh yes.” Asa roughly grabbed Bellamy’s jaw. “I remember that sarcastic tongue. A shared trait among all of you. I should teach you some manners during your stay. Perhaps I’ll cut out that tongue and send it to your brothers. I wonder how many pieces they’ll let me cut off before they return what’s mine.”

“Yours?” Bellamy smiled, blood filling the gaps in his teeth from being hit. “That sword will never truly be yours. Not as long as Lucifer lives. And Alastair will never hand it over to you. You might as well kill me now.”

“Kill you? No, I don’t plan to kill you anytime soon. I’ll have fun with you first.” Asa brushed aside Bellamy’s bangs, and Bellamy jerked away from him, eyes burning with contempt. “It’s a golden opportunity no matter how you look at it. If they come to rescue you? Great. We’ll be ready. If they don’t? Well, once I’ve had my fill of you, that’s when you’ll meet your end. Either way, you and that pretty face of yours lose.”

“While we wait to see how they respond to his capture, I have another plan,” Belphegor said, his emotionless tone a contrast to Asa’s malicious one. “When you were wounded during the battle in the heavens, Lust is the one who grabbed Light Bringer. The answer to its location lies in his mind. And I intend to search through his thoughts for those answers.”

“Scramble his brains, you mean,” Asa said with a laugh. “I like it.”

“They won’t come for me,” Bellamy said. “You’re wasting your time. As for unraveling the secrets of my mind or whatever shit you were spewing? Good luck. You have to break me before that happens, and I won’t be broken.”

Belphegor regarded him with cold eyes. “We’ll see about that.”

“Take a good look around, you pretty little thing.” Asa stood back up. “This cell is where you’ll be. And it’s where you’ll die.” A smile. “But not today.”

I lowered my gaze as the king turned and advanced toward the door.

“Come, Phoenix,” Asa said, stopping in the doorway.

My eyes found Bellamy’s. He glared at me with the fire of a thousand suns. So much scorn in that one glare. Something else lingered in those depths too. Something neither of us could deny but both of us refusing to accept. A thing wecouldn’taccept.

I tore my gaze from his and followed Asa from the cell.

***

I sat on the edge of my bed, bare feet resting on the cold floor. The blue light of the moon kissed the leaves of the cheery trees outside the window. I ached all over but hadn’t used my healing abilities yet to make that ache go away.