Page 40 of Cathmoir’s Sons (Bad Boys of Bevington #5)

Chapter 40

Hellish Pride

LAW

T he Princess of Thirst is as beautiful as a shell, perched on a throne the milky opacity of sea glass. She watches the four of us with eyes a paler green than the Cait’s, light slipping from lid to lid without interruption by pupil or iris. Her hair, tiny horns, skin and a fitted gown, highlighting her generous curves, ripple with all the pastel colors of pearl.

Then a snake’s red, forked tongue slips across her pale lips and she speaks, revealing three rows of jagged fangs.

“Baron Ash. Cait Prince. To what do I owe the honor?” she asks.

My eyes are pulled from the horror of her mouth by movement within her throne. A skeletal horse’s head pushes forward to bump its nose against the glass. It regards me with dead, white eyes, before disappearing into the opaque liquid swirling within the glass.

“Sassthen,” the demon murmurs.

The Princess of Bile’s shark-smile spreads wide. “My cousins may have lost their grip on the souls of the Cait, but the shades of those who met their death by Water still answer to me.”

I echo the demon’s posture, crossing my arms over my chest.

Mordeh leans forward on her throne. “Too soon?” she asks coyly.

Yes, it is much too soon to joke about my ancestors’ soul-agony. But it is also too soon to rise to the bait of the Princess of Bile. I smile coolly at her.

“I hear you had a tussle with a pair of mortal mages seekin’ sanctuary with your dame,” Jou says, ignoring our interplay and the shadows moving through the murk of the princess’ throne.

The demoness inspects her fingernails, twice again as long as her fingers and gleaming with delicate nacre. “My mother made a bad bargain. Now I control the Mirrors of the Dransbych. Those seeking sanctuary in the Acid Court come through me .”

Jou bows to the demoness. “Your prowess in negotiation is exceeded only by your foresight, Princess. Truly, those who wield power in Hell control the gates.”

Mordeh snorts. “I’d heard you’re smooth, Baron. I’m aware you and your Consort have mastered Dis’ gates. And that the Cait who stands at your sidewalks the shadows freely, even more freely now that his Crow has retaken her throne. What do you want of me?”

“I came to offer an alliance, but as you control access to the Dransbych, maybe you have no need of allies,” Jou says.

Her long, almond eyes narrow. “An alliance with Ash Hill?”

“And Cait House,” I say. “And Ceòfuar.”

She slow-blinks at us. “And what do you want for such an offer? I can’t give you the souls of the two mages I kept out of my mother’s welcoming arms. I didn’t claim them.”

“Licyssa and Ahzatzu are no friends of Ash Hill,” Jou says. “My home is just beyond the Demon Forest, which has thinned since my seggurach expressed her extreme displeasure with my imprisonment, as you might have noticed.”

Mordeh nods. “Lady Ash’s fury continues to burn throughout Olt. I wouldn’t cross her even if your father offered me his hand.”

Jou chuckles. “Even the Old Man’s learned to be wary of Tsara when she’s on a roll. Pregnancy hormones and righteous feminine rage? Powerful fuckin’ combo.”

“I’d like to meet your seggurach when she’s ready for company,” Mordeh says. She nods at me. “And your Crow Queen. Provided you’re not asking me to give up the lands I’ve claimed or my control of the Mirrors, I’m inclined to take your offer, Baron. But it would be foolish of me to enter an alliance without knowing my allies’ aims.”

“The Cait and Crow Queens stand against the Thunderer’s allies: Melephesius, Alugiel, Sariel,” I say. “And the Oak King owes my Queen a life.”

“Ah,” Mordeh draws out the word between her fangs as she ticks her fingernails against the arms of her chair. Shadows flicker through the shards of mirror that fill her small hall with each of her movements.

“Anything that thwarts Sariel pleases me,” she says after a moment’s consideration. “He’s a murderer and an oath-breaker.”

Her tone makes it clear that breaking his oath is worse than breaking her heart.

“Nor did I ever agree with their scheme to increase mortal misery,” she continues. “What care demons for the suffering of souls before they come to us? Let them live their short lives in Nirvana. The offer of eternal life should be what lures them into the Soulfields.”

Jou grunts. “Humans are busy destroyin’ their world all on their own. They don’t need any help.”

“Agreed,” Mordeh says. “Very well, I find nothing offensive in your aims, Cait. And you, Baron Ash, will you call on me someday to rise against your sire?”

Jou shakes his head. “I know what the rumors say, but I’ll never challenge the Old Man. He’s welcome to rule Dis until the Sun burns out and the stars fall. I got no designs on his throne.”

Mordeh’s smile stretches slyly. “And your get? The grandchildren of Asmodeus and Neferure? Might they someday aspire to take their grandfather’s place?”

“Never say never,” Jou responds. Then he tips his head from side to side, cracking his neck. “I know you’ve lost some of your get. I know you still got spawn in the Webs. I dunno how you feel about them but let me tell you how I feel about my kids. I’d do anything for them. I’d dismantle all nine levels of Hell with my claws for ‘em. You don’t want an alliance with Ash Hill ‘cause a’ what my kids might do someday? I can respect that. Fuck, I don’t know what they’re gonna do from day to day and they just learned how to walk. But don’t make any mistake about what I’d do for them.”

Mordeh watches Jou for a long moment.

“I feel similarly about my children,” she says. “And most of them are in the Webs because I have not always bargained well with my mother. If you would assist me in recovering my get from the Webs and fostering them at the Hill where they are far from her reach, you wouldn’t just have me as an ally. You would have my eternal gratitude and friendship.”

“Deal,” Jou says. “I’m makin’ plans to send my get topside to foster. Maybe yours should join ‘em.”

I wince at the idea of Cait House or Ceòfuar or Ty Olewydd turning into a demonic nursery but stay silent. What I’m witnessing is the formation of an alliance that could shape the future of the Unseen World. The children of two different demon lords given to the Cait to shelter and shape? That’s power. My father will be overjoyed.

“My living get are just growing their horns,” Mordeh says. “They’re not strong enough to spin gloves yet.”

“Don’t matter in Faery,” Jou explains.

Mordeh’s green glass eyes shift to me. “Ah, the reason you ally with the Cait becomes clear.”

Jou rolls his huge shoulders. “Nah. It’s the girls. My favorite cousin’s married to his girl’s best friend. My seggurach loves their little girl gang like they’re her blood sisters. It’s not an alliance so much as an inevitability. ‘Sides, I’d add ‘em all to my harem if I could. They belong safe with me. But there’s no way any of the women in my life would agree to that. This is the next best thing.”

I swallow a chuckle at the demon’s obvious frustration with my mate and her friends. I understand his desire to wrap them all in his wings and hide them away in his fortress of Air. But we love strong, independent women. They don’t need us to sequester them for their own safety; they need our support as they claim their crowns.

“Very well,” Mordeh says. “You have my word that if you call, either of you, I will answer.”

Jou and I give our vows in return.

“One more thing, cat prince,” Mordeh says, her smile tipping back to coyness. “Do your guards ever share?”

I glance over my shoulder at Dex and Mags. I didn’t think she’d spared them so much as a glance, but both of them return her smile with unmistakable heat. Excellent. I can make it up to them from dragging them away from the Tech Mage.

“They do,” I affirm. “I’ll let them speak for themselves. I’ll just ask that you return them to Cait House when you’re done ... and keep in mind that they’re my favorite cousins.”

Mordeh licks her fangs with her serpent tongue. “I’ll keep it in mind, although I do like to nibble.”

I glance back at my cousins to see if this proclamation has alarmed them. They both look titillated. I shrug. They’re Cait. They can take care of themselves.

“Think that’s our cue to show ourselves out,” Jou mutters to me. I nod.

“Thank you, Princess,” Jou says to Mordeh. “I’ll be in touch about extractin’ your get from the Webs.”

She inclines her head regally. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Baron.”

The demon’s clawed hand clasps my shoulder. “Stick with me,” he murmurs. “I’m gonna do something flashy. Doesn’t hurt to remind her that although we came to her, Ash Hill is not to be fucked with.”

I nod so he knows I’ll follow his lead.

Flashy is a howling hole, ringed with the four Elements, that opens between us and Mordeh’s throne. Stars and a pair of moons glitter in the screaming blackness. I swallow hard. If the demon missteps, we could end up very, very far from Scilla. And I need both oxygen and gravity. I’m not sure the demon does.

Jou squeezes my shoulder and steps forward into the star-pierced void. Gritting my teeth, I follow him.

There’s a horrible moment of falling, my stomach dropping, all breath snatched from my lungs.

Then warm arms close around me. Feathers tickle my cheeks. Caileán’s rich scent rushes up my nose with a Mother-blessed inhalation.

“Jou!” Caileán chides. “Do we need a conversation about dragging my consorts through Space-Time?”

The demon grunts. “Just makin’ an exit. That alliance you wanted with Mordeh? We got it.”

Caileán smiles up at me before she turns, putting her back to my chest. I close my arms around her as the room comes into focus. We’re in the comfortable main lounge of Ty Olewydd, with a fire crackling and the warmth of cinnamon and vanilla thick in the air. The room has gained bookcases since I left. Leather-bound tomes now fill dark green bookcases on two sides of the room. I resign myself to living in a nest of books. With Luca and Caileán remodeling our living spaces, it’s an inevitability.

“Okay,” Caileán allows, “but Law and Luca aren’t experienced Plane-Walkers. Don’t take them places they can’t get back from on their own.”

The demon rolls his shoulders, his tail swishing behind him. “Pretty sure he’da just Walked out of a shadow if he got stuck in-between, but I had my hand over him the whole time. He did good. Mordeh was impressed. Didn’t blink an eye over killing any of the Thunderer’s allies, even her ex, or the Oak King.”

“Does the Oak King have any allies in Hell that you know of?” Caileán asks.

Jou rubs his hand over his mouth. “Not sure. I’da said the Earth demons of Olt and Golacher, but Nimanes was happy enough to come to Ceòfuar and make nice with us. Can’t see her doin’ that if she was in the Oak King’s pocket. And the Obsidian Princess hates the fae. She wouldn’t let Zgier ally with Ivywhile.”

“Good,” Caileán responds. “I don’t want him to have anywhere to flee to.”

“He’s so bound in his bark, could he even if he wanted to?” I ask.

Caileán tips her head back onto my shoulder. “I hope not. But my sister has reminded me not to underestimate a creature as long-lived and powerful as the Oak King.”

She nods at the albino crow who is perched on the fireplace mantle, so still that I took her for a statue.

The demon whirls around and glares at the crow. “Stop sneakin’ up on me.”

I bury my snigger in Caileán’s hair. I hadn’t noticed any interaction between demon lord and crow queen before, but clearly, she’s been going out of her way to unsettle him.

The crow regards the demon with crimson unflappability.

Jou turns so his back is to the crow again. “Isn’t it time for dinner?”

“Not for a few hours. But Rach came to see how things were going, and we got hungry so we made shortbread,” Caileán says. “If Gabe and Luca have left any, it’s in the kitchen.”

Grumbling about the collective failing to save him any shortbread, the demon stalks into the kitchen.

Caileán tips her head at the crow. “You’re being mean.”

The crow tips its head back and lets out three short caws that sound a lot like laughter.