Page 47 of Hunted By Fear

“I…” he starts to say, but trails off, seemingly needing to gather his thoughts. “I wasn’t aware I was to hold you back for a hug.”

It’s sad, but something about this is so genuine and adorable that I can’t help smiling up at him.

“You’re a natural.”

“Holy shit!” I can hear the awe in Talian’s voice, but it still takes a lot of effort for me to remove myself from Lucifer’s armsto turn and look at him, and not just for me. Lucifer seems reluctant to let me go as well.

“I guess that answers that question,” Asta says, looking between us both as he sees something I don’t.

“I told you,” Bast says with a smug look he directs at Kai, who, for once, seems at a loss for words.

“Yes, it would seem some demons have mates after all,” Lucifer says from behind me, and I whip back around to look at him.

Mate?!

Breakfast this morning had been…something.

I’d been on board with Bast for a while now; the only thing that made sense was that she was his mate. Why else would he have been damn near going off the rails since she disappeared, not to mention the interest he’d shown in her before that?

But I wasn’t sure she was only his.

Asta had come to Hell to seek refuge from Lucifer after years of trying to get out of Hell.

Kai was still adamant that he hated her, but if that was the case, he wouldn’t be here helping. It was impossible to get him to do anything he didn’t want to, and with his dislike for mortals, he should have been anywhere but here. Yet he could be found in the library at any given time, nose in a book.

He claims it’s because he wants to handle Rome, and I’m sure that’s part of it, but who am I to call him on it? He’ll figure it out sooner or later…

Or he won’t, and that’s fewer people for me to have to share her with because I care about her too. Have since the moment I saw her that first time, and she turned bright red at the sight ofme naked. I’d tried to stay away, but I couldn’t. I thought a taste would be enough, but I think it did the opposite.

Like a drug addict, I am wholly addicted to her now.

But what I never expected was for Lucifer to be a part of this equation.

He’s the devil after all, and if demons are said not to get mates as a form of punishment, I’d assume he would be first in line for that. He was among the highest order of angels when he fell, right hand to God himself.

Which makes me believe everything we know about mates is a lie, though it’s not much as it is.

Mates are a gift from the universe, celestial if you will. No being, not even God, has power over them, which probably should have been the first clue that the rumors were false. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help us, though, as we still have no idea what makes a mate bond snap into place.

I’d hugged Aeri not ten minutes prior to Lucifer. I’ve slept with her, and Bast has slept in her bed and bathed with her this morning. So, I don’t think it’s actually a proximity thing. Especially considering how close we have all lived together, both here and in the penthouse, before everything changed.

“Stop grumbling. You sound like a spoiled child.” Kai doesn’t even bother looking up from the book he’s been deep in for the last few hours. I’d come to try and help look into the whole mating thing, but books haven’t been my thing in a long, long time, and I quickly got distracted.

“Shut up.” I flip him the bird, knowing damn well he can read my mood and will know what I did even without his attention on me. Not much gets past Kai when he actually cares to pay attention.

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head at me, but doesn’t say anything else, and for a few minutes neither do I.

Until I can’t take it anymore.

“How the fuck didheget a mate before me?” I whine, collapsing forward onto the table dramatically.

Kai snaps his book closed, the sound of his chair scraping across the polished stone floor that makes up most of the castle. There’s the occasional wood floor or large rug, like the one near the fireplace that burns so hot the flames are blue. Aeri’s room has a rug too, now that I think about it. I wonder if that was on purpose or not. Either way, I’m glad. The floor is cold, and despite how much I might not like it, she seems to spend a lot of time on the floor.

I’m pulled from my thoughts as I’m physically pulled from the chair, a hand around my neck, my feet dangling a few inches off the floor as I look down at a very angry Kai.

He’s positively seething as he glares up at me, his fingers digging into my throat, cutting off my ability to breathe. Thankfully, that’s not a problem, especially not here in Hell. There isn’t much he could do to actually hurt me here, and with the way his eyes narrow, he knows it.

“Maybe you aren’t her mate because you don’t deserve her. This isn’t a fucking game. It’s not about why he got to be her mate first; you should be happy if you ever get to be hers at all with that attitude.” He’s breathing hard, his jaw clenched as he forces each word through clenched teeth. I’ve seen Kai mad plenty, made him mad more times than I could ever count, but not like this.