The Demon King’s Bride by Skye Wilson
Don
Isummoned hellfire in my hand again as I left Bea to speak with her friends.
Maybe she’d tell them about me.
Maybe, she didn’t dare.
Either way, I didn’t begrudge her a moment with Joan and Ava. They didn’t know it yet, but they were both just as tied up in the affairs of Heaven and Hell as she was.
Their memories had been taken too.
Besides—I had my own friends that I had to speak with now.
“Malacoda,” I whispered into the fire in my palm. “Moloch. I need you on Earth. Come find me. Something’s wrong.”
I wandered out to the terrace. Below it, the wedding guests were still having cocktails on the lawn.
Mal and Lock didn’t keep me waiting there for long.
“That you, Abaddon?” The scent of gunpowder, black coffee, and crackling firewood wafted around me as Mal swaggered up to my side. “Hardly recognize you in that get-up.”
“That’s a fancy human suit ye’ve got there, lad.” Lock clapped me on the shoulder as he appeared on my other side. His presence added the scent of whiskey and heather to the mix. “What’s the occasion?”
“Just got married.” I held up my hand so they could both see the ring on my finger.
“Shit!” Mal swore. “Seriously?”
“And ye didn’t even think tae invite us?” Lock scoffed. “Bit rude, eh?”
“It was a spur-of-the-moment decision,” I admitted. “No time to send out Save the Dates.”
“So, who’s the lucky little lady?” Mal asked.
“That’s what I’m wondering.” Lock squinted as he surveyed the crowd below. “I thought we all agreed with the angels that we weren’t going to rollin’ about with human lassies anymore. Unless you’ve heard otherwise from Heaven?”
“It’s not Heaven I’m worried about right now,” I said with a sigh. “It’s Hell.”
“Aye, well. We’re kings of Hell now, are we not?” Lock pointed out. “If there’s trouble brewin’ in our domain, ye’d think Mal and I might’ve heard of it by now.”
“I’m not so sure anymore.” I shook my head. “This is Bea’s wedding. Or, it was supposed to be. I guess it still is. Just, I made the executive decision to take the place of her groom.”
“Don…” Mal growled in warning. “That’s a dangerous game to be playin’ and you know it.”
“Ye wee little shite.” Lock smacked the back of my head. “Did ye not hear the angels when we cut that deal? No more humans wrapped up in our affairs. Ye were there yerself when they took the lass’s memories away, fuck’s sake!”
I gave them both a glare. “Do you really think I would have done it if I didn’t have to? She’s in danger. I had no choice.”
“You fuckin’ bet she’s in danger.” Mal returned my glare with one of his own. “You put her there the second you went and married the poor gal, ya bastard!”
“No. I married her because she’s in danger.” Quickly, I explained what I’d heard in the rose garden before I’d made my decision to step into Bea’s husband’s shoes. The voice of a demon in the rose garden. The conversation he’d had with Simon. The plot they were hatching to get rid of her. For good. “They wanted to kill her. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“And you’re sure?” Mal asked. “This Simon fella has some kind of demonic ties to him?”
“I’m certain. Without a doubt.” That other voice I’d heard had been familiar. I just didn’t know why yet. “Simon didn’t like that he wouldn’t be able to control her. He made a pact with something dark and hellish to ensure that she’d be out of the picture. Permanently. Already, I had to kill a shade that attacked her. If you don’t believe me, I’ll go fetch the knife I took off of it.”
“Fuck,” Lock swore. “Well…I can see why ye felt the need to step in then, aye. What’d you do with her beau, though?”
“You got him hog-tied around here somewhere?” Mal craned his neck like he was looking for someone bound and gagged in the crowd.
“I laid him out, opened up the Abyss, and pushed him in,” I said simply. It had hardly been the most elegant of choices, but in the moment, it was the best I’d been able to manage. “It’s not a good idea to let him wander around there on his own for long, though. Whatever demon Simon was conspiring with, he implied that Simon’s father might not be quite as human as he appears as well.”
“Right.” Mal nodded. “We’ll want to take care of that, then.”
“And quick-like, aye.” Lock patted me on the back. “Open your realm up for us, then. We’ll slip in, track him down, push him in the Pit. That should hold him, don’t ye think?”
“That’ll do,” I agreed. “I’d appreciate it.”
“Then I suppose we’ll want to go questioning him,” Lock continued. “Figure out who he’s working with—and who this father of his really is.”
“I’d appreciate that, too.” I gave Lock and Mal each a tense smile. “But the interrogation will have to wait, if you don’t mind.”
Mal snorted. “S’pose so. Looks like you’ve got hands full here now.”
“Ye’ll look after the lasses while we’re gone?” Lock asked. There was a glint of urgency in his eyes. I knew exactly why.
Once upon a time before her memory was taken, Bea’s friend Joan had stolen Lock’s heart like a thief in the night. Mal and Ava had been madly in love as well.
Three human women. Three kings of Hell.
Three relationships that were supposed to have ended to ensure that the world stayed in balance.
And the moment that I’d decided to make Bea my bride, I’d gone and ruined it all.
I hadn’t had any other choice.
“I’ll look after them,” I promised. “We’ll deal with Simon tomorrow and get a better idea of what we’re facing here.” I straightened the lapels of my tux and forced my lips into a confident smirk. “Until then…looks like I have a wedding reception to attend.”
And a beautiful bride to attend it with, too.