Page 7 of Inferno (Drake Security Book 4)

VALENTINO

“Arrrgggghhhh!”

I’m going to roast that demon! I stomp around the hotel room, blowing fire and tearing things apart until I’m sure I can rejoin the public. Just long enough to tell my brothers what’s up before I take a steamy trip to the demon realm.

Does Montrose really think I’ll just let it go? I tear an armchair in two and toss it across the room. Does he think I’m fucking weak? He really thinks I’m going to let him threaten a Drake and let it go? Fuck. That.

After another howl of fire that singes the ceiling, I plop down on what’s left of the nearly destroyed bed. I’m naked, sweaty, and a whole level of pissed off I don’t think I’ve experienced in centuries. Dragging a hand through my hair, I focus on my breathing until my chest stops heaving.

Best sex of my fucking life from a guy who knew he was playing me the whole time.

Xazedose.

At least I have his true name. That’ll make it much easier to hunt him down and tear him to pieces. Maybe I’ll hang his fucking horns on my mantel.

My chest tightens at the image of his broken body in my clutches, but it’s just the high left over from the orgasm or his lingering pheromones making me feel that way. That’s all. I don’t feel anything for that asshole. No way.

After shaking off whatever that was, I manage to find my clothes and my phone and get dressed, with a brief stop at the front desk.

“Can I have an envelope please?”

The young man at the desk nods and smiles, sliding it across the desk to me. Opening my wallet, I toss a few thousand dollars into the envelope and my key card. They’ll figure out what room it’s for soon enough.

“Give it to your management.”

“Sir…?”

I turn and walk off before he can ask me anything else. I’m in no mood for explanations. I head back across the street and find my car, tearing off into the night to get home. I press the Bluetooth for Lord as soon as I hit the freeway.

“Did you find something?” Lord asks as he answers.

“I need a family meeting. I’m on my way back.”

“You sound distraught.”

“That’s putting it mildly. See you soon.” I hit the end call button and press down on the gas pedal, speeding towards home and trying to shake the scent of Montrose—Xazedose—still lingering in my nose. I can still taste the earthy sweet flavor of his flesh, which only infuriates me more that he used me like he did and I fell for it.

I make it home in record time, spitting gravel from under my tires as I tear into the compound and impatiently waiting for the gates to open before coming to a screeching stop in front of Lord’s house.

When I enter, the family is gathered. Lord’s brow is creased with worry while Mac looks terrified. Lake is poised with a notebook in his hand. Arson’s nose wrinkles, reminding me that they can all no doubt smell sex all over me. My jaw ticks and my dragon thrashes under the surface.

“I found Mac’s demon,” I announce through gritted teeth, pacing a short path in Lord’s living room. “He’s in the demon realm, I assume.”

“You assume?” Nico asks.

“He was here, took his ring, and did that disappearing shit demons do. I can only assume he went to his realm.”

“Why would you assume that?” Arson asks, a grin already playing on his lips, while Draydon looks confused.

“Because he knows I’m pissed.”

“I feel like you’re leaving some important parts out,” Arson pushes. “Why were you pissed, Tino?”

I growl and narrow my eyes at my brother, but Lord steps in.

“If it’s not relevant then you don’t need to share. If the demon has his ring, is it settled?”

“No, it’s not settled,” I reply tightly. “He threatened Mac and he…” I pause, dragging a hand through my ruffled hair as I choose my words. “He offended me. It’s about honor now.”

“Oh crap,” Mac mutters.

“I see,” Lord says. “Are you proposing a trip to the demon realm? I don’t have to tell you how dangerous a journey that is.”

“I don’t give a fuck.” I spit the words. “I’m gonna find that demon and when I do, I’m gonna tear him limb from limb. I’m gonna kill—” My voice breaks and I cough before I can finish my threats.

My dragon thrashes and my chest tightens, my beast threatening to push itself out. Instead, my skin ripples with scales and smoke billows from my nose.

“How interesting,” Dempsey whispers.

“Very,” Hemingway agrees. “Seems your dragon disagrees with your plans.”

“My dragon has no idea what’s good for him.”

Arson chuckles and I roar, sending a burst of flames in his direction. He leans out of the way casually. “Just admit what we all know,” Arson says. “You fucked the demon. You still want to fuck the demon.”

I bare my teeth, but my dragon backs down. Useless lizard. Arson gloats.

“Are you involved with the demon?” Nico asks, ever serious.

“Not involved.” I shrug. “He’s an incubus.”

“And?” Nico asks, clearly not getting it.

“Do I seriously need to spell it out?” I grumble and glare at him. “I enjoy sex, Nico. I have a thing for incubi. I didn’t know he was the culprit until tonight. Obviously.”

Nico curls his lips in disgust. “Have you no dignity?”

“What’s wrong with an incubus?” Lake asks innocently, perched on Nico’s lap.

“Demons are so…” Nico’s words trail off.

“Mean,” Mac finishes.

“Dirty,” Hemingway adds.

“Untrustworthy,” Lord says.

Arson shrugs. “Eh, I get it. Some of them are fire.” He waggles his eyebrows.

Dray laughs while I just grumble.

“Anyway, where I put my dick is not the point this time. He used me to get to Mac.”

“What’s your plan, Valentino?” Lord asks, crossing his arms over his chest. “Go to the demon realm and… what? Kill him for honor? You’ll be attacked and skinned alive before you’re even finished with your demon.”

“He’s not my demon, and I’m not stupid. Obviously, I’ll bring him back here.”

“It’s still a dangerous proposition,” Lord says. “He could have other demons on his side. They typically stick together.”

“Are you suggesting I let him get away with it?”

“Mac stole the ring,” Nico says. “The demon took it back. Problem solved. Deal with your bruised ego another way.”

I glare, but even I know when I’m in the wrong. It’s not lost on me that my dragon has no interest in making Montrose pay for what he did. Not that he’s against finding the demon. In fact, it’s all he can think about. I huff, releasing a tendril of smoke.

“Fine.”

“Mac will stay a little longer to ensure he’s truly safe,” Lord says. “Once we know he’s in the clear, we can all return to our lives.”

As the meeting breaks up, Lake walks over and rubs my shoulder, like he knows how stupid I feel right now. I’ve been out gamed. The player became the played. All I can do at this point is hope Montrose relocates and stays the hell away from me.

My dragon thrashes his tail and grumbles, making my skin feel too tight. Now if I can just convince the horny beast we’re better off never seeing the sassy incubus again, I’ll be good.

MONTROSE

After the shouting stopped,I carefully took a peek into the human realm, only to find my dragon, ahem, the dragon gone and the room we were in destroyed. Oh, he’s big mad.

I guess I’ll be kicking it old school in the demon realm until he calms down. I’d hate to have to hurt him. He might be a big surly dragon who could tear me apart topside, but down here, I rule. No self-respecting demon would let another get hurt. I just wish it didn’t feel so shitty.

I slip back into my flat, high above the river of fire. It’s a beautiful view, the souls trapped by my brethren moaning in misery or begging to be released. Silly mortals. Always dabbling with things they don’t truly understand.

I wish it was enough. The energy down here has never been what I need to quell my insatiable appetite. Living among the humans allows me to gorge on their easy flowing emotions and desires, but even that pales in comparison to my fiery dragon. The! Not my. He’s not my dragon. He was just a fling. A very delicious one. Le sigh.

There’s one plus to all this. Down here, I can slip off my human glamour and let my true self out. First my wings uncurl from my shoulders, stretching and flapping slowly of their own accord. I whisper a silent apology for keeping them cooped up for so long.

After pulling off my leather pants, I spread my legs and let my tail unwind. Now that feels good. Like a persistent inch you finally scratch. My skin darkens to a soft gray streaked with black, my hands and feet turn claw-like, and my face shifts, my jaw elongating to accommodate my long, sharp teeth. Finally, my forehead twitches as my horns protrude. Ah, so much better. Like a good stretch after spending too long in a confined space.

I plop down on my bed, inhaling the sulfur and smoke of my realm, but it’s not enough to erase Tino’s scent. I doubt anything is strong enough to override the dragon’s lusty appeal. Such a shame. Valentino was by far one of the most exciting things to happen to me in a long time.

I drag my hand through my long red tresses, wondering what he’s doing now that he knows it was me threatening his little twerp of a brother all along.

Would he be crazy enough to follow me here? My stomach swirls and desire spreads through me to my groin, winding around my cock, now in its truest form, thick and unwieldy, impossible for a human to take, but a dragon…

I shake the thoughts out of my head. That’s not gonna happen. Not now. The best I can do is forget that he and his clan even exist and figure out my next place to hang out human-side for a while. I’m sure I’ll find a tasty little morsel soon enough and forget all about Valentino.

Weeks have passedsince my rendezvous with a sexy dragon, and I’m restless. I’ve kept to myself, but with boredom taking over, I rise from my bed and venture out to see if anything exciting has been happening since the last time I was home. Down here, clothing is unnecessary, and I’m reminded how good it feels to be au natural. If only my soul was settled. Wanderlust has plagued me for centuries, pushing me to seek more and different and interesting, gobbling up the energy of humans like it’s candy. I’m starving for some good, meaty energy.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Xazedose, the wanderer.”

Smiling, I practically launch myself into the arms of one of my dearest friends, Zilmozen.

“Zil! What are you doing down here?”

“Slumming, obviously,” he says, flipping his long white hair. “It’s been too long.”

“It has. Where have you been? I’ve looked for you.”

“Trapped in a circle,” another demon, Bingruth answers with a taunting smirk as he approaches us. “Poor, stupid demon. Who gets caught by teenage girls anymore?”

“It’s not my fault,” Zilmozen says. “They were actual witches.”

“How long this time?” I ask.

My friend pops his pretty jet-black bottom lip. “Only five years.”

Shaking my head, I stroke his pinkish skin. “Zil. You lose so much time in these circles. Why don’t you build up your summoning defense?”

He shrugs as an impish smile spreads across his lips. “I like to be needed. I just have to figure out how to break the spells sooner.”

“Not getting caught in the first place is very effective,” Bingruth says, laughing as he studies his talons. “You should talk, Xaze. You’ve been away too.”

“Not trapped though. I choose where I go.”

“Fraternizing with humans,” he says, turning his nose up. “I don’t see the appeal.”

“Because you’re not a greedy incubus like me.”

Bingruth nods, twisting his lips as if to agree with me. “Fair enough. Why are you back?”

“I fucked up and pissed off a dragon.” I shrug, ignoring the stupid twinge in my gut that hasn’t lessened like I hoped it would. “In my defense, his clan pissed me off first.”

“Ooh, I’ve heard things about dragons,” Zil says. “Are they as big as they say?”

“I only saw him in human form, but based on that, I’d say yes.” My cock twitches again and my hole literally flutters. Annoying. “Anyway, I need to lay low for a bit. If he catches my scent, he’ll chase.” Sadly not the way I want him to. “Anything interesting going on?”

Bingruth nods, leaning against the metal railing that protects us from falling into the lake. Demons can be a clumsy bunch sometimes.

“You’re back just in time. There’s been some whispering the last couple of days. None other than Maggard is pissed off about something.”

“Maggard.” I glance around. “He’s trouble. Know what he’s mad about?”

Both demons shake their heads. “No,” Bingruth says, “but we all know when he’s angry, someone is going to die.”

“Or worse,” Zil says, “be tortured for eternity.”

I shiver. “Definitely best to avoid him. I think I’ll take a stroll.”

“We can go dancing tonight at the Demon Lounge,” Zil suggests. “It’s been so long since we’ve hung out.”

“I’ll be there.”

I walk on, soaking in the sights and sounds of home. There is something comforting about it all—the screams and moans, the scent of burning flesh, fire lakes, and lava flows. Ah, home. I do miss the sunshine of the human realm though.

I turn a corner and stumble onto a group of demons surrounding Maggard. Ducking behind a boulder, I tune my senses to focus solely on him. I’m dying to get the dish on what he’s mad about. He doesn’t fuck with the human realm much anymore, so it must be juicy. So I like a little gossip. Sue me.

“Seems to be a dragon,” one of the demons says. “The same one taking artifacts from our cave in Columbia.”

I perk up at that. A dragon?

“What is the dragon’s name?”

“All I’ve found is his human name so far,” another demon says. “Macguire Drake.”

I tense. Ah, fuck.

“Belongs to a big clan of surly lizards,” the demon continues. “They won’t be easy to take on.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” Maggard bellows, shaking the stone walls around us. “No one steals from me. Who the fuck does this dragon think he is?”

“A kleptomaniac?” one demon suggests.

“All dragons are kleptomaniacs,” another says in a bored voice.

The demons titter and make rude comments about dragons, making my skin crawl in a surprising way. I’m tempted to yell at them to stop, but even I’m not stupid enough to face Maggard when he’s mad.

“Find the dragon and bring him to me,” Maggard says, cutting through the noise. “I will make an example of him and drop his dead body at his mother’s feet.” He growls and the sound makes the ground beneath my feet vibrate. “And if you find my stuff, take it back.”

The demons run off in different directions, leaving me stunned.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. This is not good. The little twerp fucked with the wrong demon.

It’s none of my business. He got himself into this situation, so he just has to deal with it now.

I walk back to my room with images of the baby dragon dancing in my head. He’s just a kid. When a vision of him dead plays in my mind, I can almost hear the painful wail from beautiful Valentino. I should warn him.

No. I should not do that. I have a demon code to uphold. But… I bite my lip. One little warning wouldn’t hurt. Wait. I can’t. Valentino will roast me the minute he lays eyes on me.

Ooh. I could send another demon to tell him, but no. Valentino will probably kill any demon in his path based on the remains of the hotel room he left behind.

Well fuck. Do I just sit here and let the kid die over some likely gaudy trinkets? It would destroy Valentino to lose his brother, but am I willing to put my own ass on the line for a dragon with sticky fingers? Ugh. I may be a self-centered diva, but I’m not heartless. Weird, I know.

I walk past Zil and Bingruth in the same spot where I left them. “I have to pass on tonight, guys. Got some sudden business to attend to.”

Zil smiles and rubs my arm. “We’ll catch up. Be careful though, huh?”

“I will.”

With a heavy sigh, I flick my wrist and return to my human glamour. Guess I’m going human-side to face one pissed off dragon.