Page 6 of The Bell’s Toll (Wanderlust Emporium Presents, Season One)

The only person more hated than me by the fallen is Cassiel.

He’s Khalid’s adopted son. Once the son of a forsaken duke, he tried to kill his father and denounced his birthright.

Khalid took him in as a young boy and raised him as his own.

Many believed he betrayed his father. Only a few of us know the truth.

After Cassiel, is Prince Daero. No one knows much about Daero other than he hardly talks and he’s half demon and half forsaken.

He’s also considered Khalid’s adopted son.

Again, we give him his respect by tilting our heads to him.

Next is Count Rojun. We place our arms over our chests in recognition of our count.

He acknowledges us by holding up his hand.

Duke Roth enters next. He runs all of North America. We place our hands over our chests and dip our heads to him. He and Khalid are good friends.

The last to enter the meeting hall is King Amir Khalid. We instantly drop to our knees as he enters.

“Rise,” he says.

Climbing back to my feet, I look at the man of the hour.

His dark tan skin gives him middle eastern vibes.

His jet-black hair is cut low on the sides and pushed back off his face.

Dark brown penetrating eyes take in the room.

And as always, he’s wearing one of his impeccable suits.

I have never seen the man in anything other than a suit.

Khalid walks over to his spot at the head of the table and takes a seat. As soon as he sits, we all join him.

“Raziel, thanks for the welcome package last night,” Cassiel teases with a wink. “Daero and I are most grateful.”

I sent four of the most beautiful and talented women in my district to his suite. I gave them strict instructions to please him and Daero until they begged for mercy.

“You’re welcome, Prince. You should stop by my Northside club before you head back. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

Most of my job as a domini entails making sure my portals run smoothly, and that the forsaken and demons aren’t running rampart in my district.

Don’t get me wrong; trying to control that demographic isn’t for the weak.

However, my most lucrative job is supplying entertainment to our kind.

I own many clubs and casinos in my district.

“Most definitely,” Cassiel agrees.

“I am pleased with what I’ve seen so far from your district, Raziel,” Khalid says.

“Thank you, my king.”

I turn to face Gadiel. The blazing heat from his stare is damn near like a furnace. My smile lifts a little higher.

The meeting gets underway. We discuss our territories, what’s working, what isn’t. What we need and how Khalid and Roth can help. Overall, everything in the North American region is looking pretty damn good if I say so myself.

Balis has just spoken about limiting the passage of incubi for a while. We’ve had an influx of halflings born lately. Halflings are children born to one demon parent and one human parent.

Khalid scratches his chin. “This seems to be a universal problem. I will speak with Zoja about limiting incubi for a while. Allow no others through your portals. I will also reach out to the other dukes and let them know as well.”

Succubi and incubi were level one demons. The levels determine power and appearance. Level one demons are the most powerful and look more human. Level five, which is the lowest level, barely has enough power to cross the portals, and most of them look like shit from a nightmare.

Between succubi and incubi, succubi were the less harmful of the two.

They simply fed off their victims and went on their way.

Incubuses have a more ferocious appetite.

And they can’t stop fucking breeding. Their offspring are like roaches.

You kill one, and fifteen of them pop up in its place.

They were the primary cause of harm to the humans in this realm.

The thought of the human race has my mind returning to my obsession. I glance at my watch. I still have time before the wedding. Using my mind link to those that work under me, I reach out to my personal assistant.

“Unina, do me a favor, send twelve dozen black long-stemmed roses to Greater Hope Baptist Church. Make it a rush order.”

Her laughter preceded her response. “And what should these roses say, Boss?”

I think for a moment before replying. “My condolences.”

She laughs. “I’ll get on it.”

“If there is nothing else,” Khalid says, pushing back from the table and standing. We all get to our feet.

“Actually, I have some concerns,” Gadiel says with a smirk.

“Gad, the king has a busy schedule,” Rojun states. “You can discuss your concerns with me.”

Gadiel lifts his chin higher.

“This is something the king would want to handle himself.”

Khalid stares back at Gadiel with an unreadable face. Gadiel is either bold or stupid, I’m leaning closer to stupid. Finally, Khalid unbuttons his suit jacket and retakes his seat.

“What do you need?” he asks.

Gadiel clears his throat with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. “I think we all know the protocol for deporting a fallen. Especially one of high status. It must be cleared with a higher-up, a trial has to take place, and whomever territory the defendant is in should be notified.”

“Get to the point, Gadiel,” Rojun snarls.

Everyone in this room knows the deportation protocol like the back of their hand. Hell, it’s what we do. No one needed a crash course on it.

Gadiel turns to me, the smirk remaining on his face. “I’d like it to be known that the domini of the southwest may need a review course in the protocol. Two weeks ago, a fallen was deported from the west coast district. Not only was he a fallen, but he was a nobleman and a member of my staff.”

Unease goes around the room. Deporting a fallen isn’t forbidden, but it requires a lot of red tape. If I in fact did what he’s saying I did, I’m in a shit ton of trouble.

“ Who is this nobleman and what is his station?” I sent the silent message to Hamon, Erazel, and Conah.

It takes them seconds to get me the information I need.

“His name is Xeno. He’s a knight,” Conah explains. “And a record keeper for Gadiel.”

I remember him.

“Raziel, is this true?” Khalid asks, sitting back in his seat. His dark eyes remain on me.

Even though Khalid and I had a good relationship and he assigned me to this role specifically, he would uphold the law if I’d done something wrong.

I sit up straighter in my chair, tugging at the collar of my shirt.

“Yes,” I reply.

The room fills with gasps and murmurs. Whispers of me being unqualified go around. Glancing at Gadiel, I take in the smirk on his face. This is what he’s been so giddy about since I walked in. He couldn’t wait to rat me out to Khalid.

“Khalid, I’m sorry. I will handle the punishment for this act,” Rojun says.

Ham and Era bristle beside me. I turn my attention to our king.

His gaze never leaves my face. There is a reason Amir Khalid is the king of the fallen.

He didn’t just get the job because of his influence in ending the great war, it’s because even before the war, he was an intelligent and insightful angel.

One that ran the greatest army of all time.

“Why did you deport him without proper protocol?”

A slow smile lifts my lips at Khalid’s question. I was waiting for him to ask. Unlike Rojun, I knew Khalid would know there had to be more to the story.

“Sir Xeno had a bit of a gambling problem. Usually that wouldn’t be an issue since most of his money was spent at my casino. But you see, he ran up a gambling debt that he could no longer pay. The debt turned into a blood contract. One he owed to the forsaken Duke Zalex.”

Khalid goes rigid at the mention of the forsaken duke. The power structure of the underworld mirrors what we have here in the human realm. Zalex, is a duke. He’s on the same level as Roth.

A debt is a huge thing among us. Debts are like our currency.

When a favor or debt is owed, there is nothing that can be done until it is paid.

Trust me, I know all too well how restrictive a debt can be.

A blood contract is the highest form of our currency.

One only signs a debt by blood if they are really in a bind.

“I didn’t trust what Zalex would ask of him, so I thought it best to send him back down to the underworld. I had planned to speak with you about this at our next meeting.”

There is a reason the forsaken dukes are not allowed on the earth realm. They can’t be trusted. If we find out someone is working for one of them, or, father forbid, the forsaken king, we are to send them to the underworld expeditiously.

Khalid turns those dark brown eyes toward Gadiel. The smirk that was once on his face is long gone.

“Did you know any of this?” Khalid asks.

This time, I smile. There is no right answer to that question. If Gadiel says he knew, it means he purposely brought this bullshit up to Khalid and could be accused of conspiring with a fallen duke. If he says he didn’t know, it means he didn’t do his research before he wasted everyone’s time.

Gadiel stutters over his words. He looks uncomfortable as hell. I eat this shit up.

“I….I didn’t know the reason he was deported.”

“Maybe before you bring something to the king, do your got damn research first,” Rojun says through gritted teeth. The count is not happy. I don’t blame him. Gadiel’s actions are a reflection of him.

“I apologize, my king.”

“I don’t need your apology. I need you to do your fucking job. Your jealousy and hatred for Raziel has become tiresome and is interfering with your role. I’m starting to—”

“Please, my king…”

“Did you just interrupt my father?” Cassiel asks, leaning forward in his seat. Daero places a hand on his brother’s shoulder. I’m assuming to keep him from getting up.

“Rojun,” Khalid says, turning to his count. “I’ll allow you to decide how this is resolved.”

He turns to me. “As always, you did well. Let’s keep our standing appointment to meet in the next month or two.”

“Yes, king.”

The room starts to empty out after that. I turn to find Gadiel and his three men glaring at me. I toss him a wink before I exit the room.

“What do you want us to do?” Ham asks as soon as we get on the other side of the meeting room doors.

I stop and face him. “I want you and Era to make sure the Northside club is prepared for Prince Cassiel if he decides to show up. Tell them everything is on the house. Conah, I want you to reach out to a few of your forsaken contacts. I want to know everything we have about the debt Zalex had with Xeno. When I speak with Khalid, I want to give him a full rundown.”

“Got it, Boss.”

Conah slips through the void to do what I asked.

“Where are you going?” Hamon asks.

I laugh as I tug at my shirt sleeve. “I’m going to a wedding.

Hamon and Erazel look at each other before laughing.