Page 35 of Promised to the Demon King (The Demon Brides #1)

"Father, Mother." Greed bowed after greeting his parents, the Supreme King and Queen of the Underworld.

It wasn't familiar to be summoned before them; this could only mean someone had done something against Hell's carefully constructed balance and rules.

"My Son, dear Mammon. You've disappointed your Father and me greatly." Lilith was the first to speak. He could hear the heaviness within her tone to know that his Mother's words were honest.

Mammon looked up to face his Mother, the only woman he truly cared for and respected deeply within their realm.

"I am sorry, Mother. Tell me what I have done, and I shall see that I never repeat the same mistake again." He responded, only to be met with his Father's scoffing and rolling of his eyes.

"I have conducted an in-depth investigation on you, my son. Although you are not directly and solely tied to the crimes being committed, you are benefiting from them, which leads to charges resting on your shoulders. I understand your Ring and the Sin you reign over, but you are not above the law! Order must always be maintained by us, dammit!" Lucifer growled, his fists clenched roughly over the armrest of his throne seat. "How can you be so selfish?" he hissed in annoyance.

"Father, I don't understand." Greed called out.

"Mammon," Lilith began. She placed her calming hand over Lucifer's tight fist, soothing his beast. "Why would you consort with such a lowly trickster after seeing the level of betrayal she would commit against one of your very brothers? There is no loyalty within that Demoness!"

Instantly, Greed realized they were onto Vivex and the jobs he's had her do. "There is no crime with her spying on another Ring. Gathering herbs and ingredients for me was no crime before one of my brothers could. There is no crime with her taunting and infecting the weaker minds on Earth. How have I committed a crime?" He challenged back.

When Lucifer's fist smashed down on the rest of his throne, the thunderous sound echoed throughout Hell itself. Demons and Souls everywhere stopped and turned. Lucifer's temper was notoriously known and warned not to be tested.

"No crimes committed?" Lucifer rose to his feet. His eyes burned in fury. "She had poisoned the soil after destroying all the plants. That is a punishable crime. Treason is a crime!"

"I committed no treason, Father. I would never betray you or Mother." Greed also rose to his feet, challenging the accusation. "I never told her to poison the lands nor destroy the plants entirely. I had her collect them all so that Lust did not have them. That is all. She has spied on Lust for me, nothing more. She offered to toy with the humans around Lust's female select, nothing else! Where is my criminal act?"

Lucifer cracked his neck, his eyes focused only on the challenger before him. His beastly form began to take hold, and Mammon fought the urge to take a cautious step back. What had he done? He couldn't figure it out.

Lilith stood and rested her hand on her husband and King's broad shoulder. This effectively snapping him out of his blind rage. The balance is being challenged, and they need to approach this calmly and rationally. That is the purpose of the Queens; they are the diplomats next to the brute judgment of the Kings. This was also why not just any Queen would do for her sons. Like their Father, they were all one extreme; their Queen must be their opposites.

"My King," Lilith purrs, drawing his attention to her and away from the rage growing for his naive son. "Allow me to address this with our son. He is a good King, just blinded by his misled ambitions."

Lucifer's eyes were as black as Onyx, and steam of his wrath puffed out of his beastly form's snout. Lilith watched as his human form began to reform. Her touch and calming words brought her husband back to her.

"You're lucky to have the Mother that you do, or you would be dethroned!" Lucifer growled in a low, threatening tone, shaking something unsettling within Greed. His Father had never been this enraged with either of his brothers before. What had happened?

Once Lilith had her King breathing more calmly, his form returned to her handsome husband again; she smiled as she cupped his smooth cheek. He was the most beautiful man the world would ever know, and none have looked at his face. Her jealousy stirred within at the idea. All their sons were beautiful men for a reason: they were their Father's sons. Every last one was an atonement of manly beauty, but their beasts were like their fathers. That was an atonement of fear and rage. Mortals made horror movies about the truest form of Devils and Demons, but none knew the truest form. They would tremble before their feet. Lilith knew her son, Mammon, was afraid when Lucifer was transforming, but he'd never admit it.

She, being his Mother, felt his fear.

"Mammon," Lilith sent him a small smile of reassurance. "You are being misled, my son. You have commissioned someone to break set rules, unrealized that this Demoness has no loyalties to you or your other brothers with whom she consorts. We are confused why you have become this blinded to someone who not-so-long ago betrayed your brother the same way."

"I don't understand. She hasn't been consorting with any of my brothers. She has pledged to me and only me."

Lucifer scoffs again, shaking his head. "Of course, you don't understand. Allow me to show you through irrefutable proof and testament."

With that, the Greedy brothers Envy, and Wrath appeared alongside him. They all lined up before their parents, confused.

"Father, Mother." Envy began and was silenced by a single glare from their Father.

"I shall ask you all this one and only question once. Lie to me, face my judgment, and become dethroned for your stupidity. Is that clear?" Lucifer roared. He was disappointed that after centuries of leadership, his sons still lacked foresight and awareness around them. "Who has been consorting with the Demoness named, Vivex?"

With only a second of hesitation, all the brothers raised their hands, stunned when they noticed they all had their hands in the air.

"That is all your Mother and I need to be involved in. You three have allowed poison to infect your relationship with one another; everything she had been telling one, she had been repeating to another. You watched her betray one of your brothers and naively believed she would be loyal to either of you. You are all foolish in your pursuits. My sons have failed to see that you are stronger together, not separately. Have I allowed the wrong sons to lead my Rings?" Lucifer's growing doubts about their abilities struck a chord with each of them. "Note that Asmodeus had only become strong after he had banished her from his realm. Yet you all have picked her back up. Now you wonder why the others have grown stronger? She is undermining your leadership, attempting to cause a war between the Rings. Just as she had with Asmodeus. You are all idiots! All of your other brothers are confident and rule over stabilized rings. What is the reason? They found their balance. Take those lessons, and not their tossed away trash." When Lucifer finished speaking, the sons lowered their heads in sudden realization and shame. It was true. Asmodeus began to climb in status and rank after Vivex was exiled.

"One more question, boys," Lilith smirked. "How many of you believe you have the last Haggot root in your possession?"

All three brothers looked at one another before raising their hands to acknowledge that they believed they did. Three sets of eyes widened at the revealed truth. Vivex was indeed playing them against one another.

"We will address this and fix what we have contributed to, Mother. Father, we are deeply ashamed. We will lead better. We’ve grown too comfortable in our ignorance and this allowed someone to exploit that comfort. We all ask for another chance to prove we are worthy."

"Fix this!" Lucifer growled, stretching out his hand for his Queen to take so they could exit. "Or be dethroned as unworthy to lead!"

With those final words, the brothers were left alone with the heavy weight of their reality.

"How could we be so stupid?" Wrath charged forth, smashing through a brick wall with his fist of rage. Wrath, much more than his brothers, was a tsunami of anger at all times. He was always teetering on the edge of war; Vivex told him everything he wanted to hear from a female. This realized betrayal affected him the most; very few women approached him due to his constant wrath-filled state.

"We must sit down and compare our versions of her lies. She where much of it lines up. We can face her head-on once we better understand the level of betrayal." Envy sang in false optimism; his deflated stance hid nothing, however.

All of the brothers were affected. As Kings, they had demons attempting to deceive them, yet somehow, this particular one manipulated them all—all but the luckily mated brothers, Pride, Gluttony and Sloth.

Meanwhile, Timothy was working in his home office, tracking leads as to where the missing money had gone. His people told him it was an off-shore account number and would take time to track correctly, but that was time he didn't have. He was getting close though, he could feel it.

His life was slowly crumbling apart before his feet. He was a man of many faults but would never steal from his family. He had his own wealth; he wouldn't need to. Although his Father replaced him as CEO, he lent Timothy assistants to clean up this mess. Timothy led the company with strength and precision for years, turning the stagnant company into a much more profitable one with his insight into trending business plans. This was affecting the entire family, and they needed to figure it out quickly.

Ding-Dong

The front doorbell chimed, signaling that there was someone at the front door. Timothy looked at the camera and saw a man in a business suit.

"Carol?" He called out, only to be met with silence. She was out.

She was always out lately. He knew she was up to something but was too preoccupied with clearing his name to care. This marriage was nearing its end, anyway.

Timothy walked down the stairs. When he opened the door, he was met by a straight-faced man holding a large brown envelope with Timothy Carter's address on it.

"Are you Timothy Carter?" The man asked.

"I am. Who are you?" Timothy responded.

The man handed Timothy the envelope while stating that he has officially been served and walked away.

After closing the door, he opened the envelope with curiosity.

'Notice of Divorce proceedings…'

"That fucking bitch!" Timothy hissed angrily. "You want a divorce? Fine! You'll get nothing!!" He roared, running up the steps two at a time to get to his office and contact his family's attorney. He'd make sure she regretted this decision.