Page 37

DANTE

Eventually, Dante and Ollie made it to the bedroom, and after cleaning up in the shower, Dante brought Ollie to bed.

Ollie dove onto the large mattress and bellyflopped, his perky ass jiggling.

Dante’s tail flicked. “You said you wanted to explore, but wow, you’re really going for it.”

Ollie giggled and rolled over, showing Dante everything he had, and damn if it wasn’t the most beautiful sight. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’d been having threesomes and more in this bed. It has to sleep at least four.”

Dante snorted. “Sometimes, I lie on my stomach with my wings draped over the sides. I need the extra support.”

Ollie spread his arms. “I like imagining you sleeping with your wings out. I could tuck right under one. Keep me nice and warm.”

The image of Ollie snuggled in, safe and happy where nothing could harm him or tear them apart, had Dante by the throat.

Ollie crawled up the bed and settled in, pulling the covers up to his nose. “I’ll admit, this is pretty nice. But the living room floor is cutting some fierce competition.”

Dante’s face flamed. “I hadn’t imagined using the space so, uh, creatively when I designed the room, but I’m glad I left enough space for my wingspan.”

“Mm.” Ollie wiggled deeper into the covers. “It was meant to be.”

Dante climbed in and pulled Ollie against him.

Meant to be. It sure was, and his mate was saying it like it was a good thing, not something to fear.

Ollie settled his head against Dante’s chest, letting out a soft moan, and even with their emotional connection closed off, Dante knew his mate was happy.

There was no rush to share emotions all the time, even though it would be immensely special. Doing it like this gave Dante time to appreciate connecting in other ways. How he and Ollie would have if they hadn’t been forced into this.

“I have to be home early,” Ollie said with a yawn. “Dex is coming over for breakfast. We get together most Sundays.”

“No problem. We can fly, or I can pop you down the hill to catch a ride.”

“Maybe fly? Then I can sleep in longer. It’s faster than driving across the city.”

Dante stroked Ollie’s hair. “Flying it is.”

“What are you up to tomorrow?”

Dante’s hand stilled. “I’ve been having some problems with the shearwaters.

We think there’s a rogue demon in the city who escaped the Realm of the Damned when Luc came here last month.

Some of my birds died, and I’ve been keeping them close since, but we need to find whoever’s lurking around, so I’m going to set a trap. ”

Ollie propped himself up on Dante’s chest. “Is it dangerous? For you or the birds? ”

Dante would never get sick of Ollie caring about his birds. “Potentially, but I have Ash and Onyx. I’m going to let some of my birds break away from the main flock into a smaller group and stick with them, hidden by an illusion, until the demon comes sniffing around.”

The birds would be safe with Dante there. Otherwise he wouldn’t use them as bait.

Ollie’s face creased with concern. “What if no one comes?”

“That could mean the demon left the city. But I don’t think that’s likely. Why make a move against me and then flee? I have a feeling they’re still here. They can’t have gotten what they were after. When they take the bait, Ash, Onyx, and I will capture them.”

Ollie’s brow furrowed. “To do what? Keep them prisoner?”

Dante needed answers and couldn’t let an attack go unpunished, but he disliked the idea of having to imprison anyone. Other than Luc. “That’s not our aim. We have to find out if the demon is working with Luc, and if not, why they targeted my flock. What we do depends on the answer.”

Ollie caressed one of Dante’s horns, serious lines around his eyes. “Be careful.”

“I will,” Dante promised.

Ollie had questions about the other demons being trapped in the Realm of the Damned, so Dante explained, filling in the gaps he’d left when first introducing Ollie to demonkind’s long history.

As he finished the tale, a nagging thought returned. “There’s another demon here, Ren. She escaped when Luc first returned, like the demon we’re trying to track down. I don’t think she means any harm, but something she said has been bothering me.”

“What’s that?” Ollie sat up like the problem needed his full attention .

Dante grabbed his phone from the side table.

“Ren said they have technology mimicking ours in the Realm of the Damned. It runs on magic, but still, she could use a smartphone easily even though she hasn’t been on Earth for over a thousand years.

When I escaped after nine hundred years, I struggled. And that was two centuries ago.”

Ollie’s eyes widened. “I see. Is technology in Hell bad?”

“On the surface, no. But I can’t figure out why Luc would modernize in the exact way humans have. It’s never something that’s been done in the afterlife. The Eternal Realm didn’t mimic Earth. They’re supposed to be separate worlds.” He set the phone aside.

Ollie considered for a few moments. “Maybe Lucifer wanted to know what the world was like before he hunted you down. If he hadn’t been here in a thousand years, he’d have trouble when he arrived and probably didn’t want it getting in the way of his plans.”

“Maybe. But he could have kept knowledge of human technology to himself rather than share it.” It’s what Dante expected Luc to do. He’d keep any advantage he could.

“You said things are tense down there,” Ollie reminded him. “Maybe he was trying to soothe the masses. Give them a little something to make not getting what they really need seem more tolerable.”

“I hadn’t considered that. It fits though.” That sounded much more like Luc.

“Yeah?” Ollie sounded pleased, his dimples appearing.

“You have good insight.” Dante smiled as Ollie blushed. “Luc wouldn’t go through the effort to make demons happy, but to placate or distract them, definitely.”

Ollie snuggled back into Dante. “There’s been no word of him, right?”

Dante’s arms tightened around his mate. “No. But once we figure out if the demon lurking here is on Luc’s side or not, we’re going to hunt him down in the Realm of the Damned.”

“For what he did to me?” Ollie whispered.

“Yes.” Dante’s whole body tightened at the hint of fear in Ollie’s words. “Unless you don’t want me to. I want him to pay, but it’s ultimately up to you.”

“Pay how?”

Dante’s sated demon fire flared to life. “At first, I wanted to kill him. Wipe him from the universe. Permanent death is the punishment for killing a mate or Eternal being, but he didn’t kill you. I’d have been the one wiped from the realms if I’d followed my impulse.”

Ollie clutched him around the middle. “I’m glad you didn’t. Don’t risk yourself to make him pay. I want to be safe, but I need you with me.”

Dante kissed Ollie’s forehead. “I know. We aren’t killing Luc. We’ve always planned to imprison him, so I’ll stick with that. But I can’t sit around waiting for him to attack again.”

“You won’t get trapped down there, right?” Even more fear laced Ollie’s words than before.

“No. We can always break out like we did before.” If Onyx got on board.

“Okay, but don’t kill him,” Ollie said like he feared Dante would change his mind once he faced Luc. “Not for me. In a world where life after death exists, permanent death seems like too big of a punishment.”

A lightness expanded in Dante’s chest. “You’re right. I promise I won’t make him pay the ultimate price or risk myself.”

“You can kick his ass though. I don’t regret our bond, and I’ll never want to undo it, but it shouldn’t have happened this way. I can still feel him lurking, his hands clawing at me. I hate him. He had no right. Me surviving doesn’t make it okay.”

“It doesn’t, and he’ll pay. Don’t worry. ”

“Good.” Ollie shook, sniffling quietly, and Dante held him firmly to his chest. Eventually, he settled, wiping his eyes and sighing into Dante’s chest. “Thank you.”

“What for?” Was Ollie surprised Dante would avenge him? Comfort him? Surely not.

“For talking to me and asking for my input even though I’m new to the magic world. It makes me feel like your partner.”

“You are my partner, Ollie. Even if we’re at the beginning. Having someone to confide in is something I’ve waited eons for, and I’m not holding back. It isn’t the same with Ash or Onyx.”

Dante could lean on his mate in a way he hadn’t with the others. For the first time in his long life, Dante was seen, unconditionally accepted, and cared for by someone who would let Dante do all those things in return.

At its core, that’s what being mated meant.

Dante dropped Ollie off at his apartment in time for him to get ready for brunch, then met Ash and Onyx at the sea cliffs. He landed on a rocky outcropping, waves lapping at his feet.

“Then why not come with us?” Ash growled at Onyx. “Not standing against your brother is starting to feel a lot like supporting him.”

“Not standing—not—” Onyx sputtered, his cheeks bright red. “Fuck you, Ash. I’m not supporting him. How far did you have to twist my actions to get to that? We said we’d never return! I’m not willingly walking back into that Hell.”

Fuck, Dante should have gotten here sooner. “We know you’re not supporting Luc, Onyx.”

“Oh?” He rounded on Dante, blue wings catching the light off the ocean and sparkling in an echo of his fiery eyes. “Then what’s Ash, hmm? A big fucking liar? ”

“Ash is a pain in the ass,” Dante said levelly.

“Hey!” Ash glared at Dante.

Dante had had enough. “You know Onyx isn’t siding with Luc. There’s no reason to say shit like that. You only do it to make him mad.”

Ash gritted his teeth, jaw muscle ticking, but he didn’t deny it.

“ Hmph .” Onyx turned up his nose.

“We’ll be able to escape the Realm of the Damned easily if all three of us go,” Dante said.

Onyx was worried, and Dante had to remind him he was safe.

“We won’t be trapped. You know I wouldn’t risk that for any of us.

And if this other demon can confirm Luc is working alone, then we’ll be set.

He won’t be expecting us. We’ll have the upper hand. ”

Onyx swept his bangs from his face. “How do I know you won’t lose it and kill him when you see his miserable face? I’m not participating in your eternal death.”

Dante held back a smile. Is that what Onyx was worried about? “I swear I won’t. We’re throwing Luc in that empty cell, that’s all. I promised Ollie I wouldn’t kill him. He doesn’t want an execution in his name.”

Onyx was silent for a long beat. “He doesn’t?”

“No. He’s hurt and scared of what Luc might do, but that doesn’t stop him from being compassionate. Even if it wouldn’t have meant my death, I don’t think he’d have asked for Luc to be killed. It makes me doubly glad I held back.”

Onyx nodded, chewing his lower lip. “There’s no way you’ll go against your mate’s wishes. So…fine. I’ll help you with this. But you fucking owe me.” He jabbed a finger at Ash. “You too.”

Ash rolled his eyes. “Sure, Onyx. Next time you want to go clubbing, I’ll follow along. Harper might have to come though.”

“If I wanted to go clubbing with anyone, it’d be Harper and Ollie, not your sorry ass. ”

“My ass is amazing, you prick.”

“For the love of all that is damned, shut up, both of you.” Dante sucked in a breath.

Calm. He had to relax. He’d survived far too long with these demons to strangle them now.

“I’m going to call a small group of shearwaters to me.

Are you both sticking around to see how long it takes our friend to come sniffing, or are we doing shifts? ”

“I’ll stay,” Onyx said quickly.

“Me too.”

How predictable. Ash couldn’t be outdone. Oh well, Dante would take it. “Then behave, or the birds will peck your eyes out. They like peace and quiet.”