Pretty in Orange

by J B Trepagnier

  There was still a part of me that dwelled in the darkness that thought Bael wouldn’t want to be involved in this mess with the Fae and make us leave. Now that I was out of Scorchwood, I needed to be the wolf I used to be. I needed to be the kind of wolf that would make a proper mate to Serafina.

  I couldn’t think that way anymore. I couldn’t think like a prisoner where everything would go wrong. I needed to have faith. Amduscias trusted Bael. He kept his word and got us out of Scorchwood.

  Amduscias was like my pack, even if he was a demon and not a wolf. He trusted Bael, so I should too. It was the first step of no longer thinking like a prisoner.

  Now, to figure out this hot shower.

  Chapter 19

  Amduscias

  I

  knew Bael meant well updating my castle, but my home was now entirely foreign to me. They kept the décor mostly the same, but I did not understand what a plasma television was or why I needed one in my chambers. There was also a computer like there was in Rathmore’s lab in my study in the bedroom. What in the world was I supposed to do with a device that stored evil on it? I didn’t even know what Wi-Fi meant or why I needed it.

  Some new things I liked. The hot shower was lovely, and I noticed it was a pleasant temperature in my castle when it had always been a little warm inside. They explained Bael installed heating and air conditioning in my palace. I didn’t know what it was other than I could now control the temperature by pressing a few buttons on a device on the wall. That was pretty neat.

  I knew clothing styles had changed too. Tarnon still wore a suit, but my female staff dressed quite differently. I rather liked modern clothing. Bael may have updated my castle, but he didn’t update my wardrobe. The clothing was all new, like he had a fresh one made for every season, but it still just screamed Amduscias.

  I slipped on my carefully tailored suit, and it felt like I was home again when I knotted my tie. That prison uniform was foul and poorly sewn. The material was rough, and some fabric just didn’t belong against the skin. It felt good to be back in silk.

  I nearly gasped when I exited my bedroom and saw the others. Roman looked dapper in a suit that fit him like a second skin. And Serafina? If that was the new style in Hell, I would have a hard time keeping my hands off her. She was showing her bare shoulders and plenty of cleavage. She had a black lace corset on with some metalwork and a black ruffle skirt. Someone had given her thigh-high leather boots. She looked amazing.

  I walked over and kissed her knuckles.

  “That’s quite a dress.”

  “Fashion in Hell is certainly something. It’s flashy, but this is also just as comfortable as jeans and a T-shirt. How do they make a corset this comfortable? I only wore one once to a party, and I couldn’t breathe the entire time.”

  “Women don’t wear corsets anymore?”

  Vigmod stepped forward and started fussing over Serafina. Vigmod would have been the one to pick out these clothes.

  “Some demons in Hell don’t, but Bael is like you when it comes to fashion. Dress should make a statement, and I knew that outfit would look good on Serafina. You would also do well to remember that Bael doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

  I turned to my friends and prepared them for meeting Bael. Besides not liking being kept waiting, he also hated rudeness and unpleasant manners. Something we were all guilty of being stuck in prison for so long.

  “Stay back and don’t speak unless Bael asks you a question. Let me get everything out. Serafina, I’d never dream of speaking for you, but in this case, I have to. Bael is like a father to me, and you are a stranger to him. Let me get everything out and answer his questions politely. He loves passion, but he despises rudeness. Get angry about what happened to you, but make sure it’s directed at the right people. Don’t let Bael think you are taking it out on him because he allowed Scorchwood to be built in Hell. I’ll question him about that.”

  Serafina just smiled at me. “I can be polite when I need to be. Bael scares me. He’s a king of Hell, and I had no idea you were a Duke. He’s our one shot at a safe place to stay. I’ll kiss his ass if he wants.”

  I kissed her forehead. “Don’t grovel. He hates that. Now, let’s get to his palace.”

  I opened a portal, but this time I jumped through first instead of last. It would have been impolite to send them through first without an introduction. It was different in my own home, and I opened that portal under different circumstances.

  Bael was waiting and pacing. He pounced as soon as I stepped through and pulled me into an enormous hug.

  “My boy! We tried to get to you, but I thought the reason you didn’t leave was that you had discovered something I needed to know about.”

  “Let me introduce my friends first, Bael. This is Roman, Skoll, Charley, and Serafina. I was staying for Roman at first, then Serafina got framed and ended up in Scorchwood. That was when we discovered a massive plot by either one or all of the Fae there.”

  “Tell your guests to sit and get comfortable while you tell me this story. I never trusted the Fae when they wanted a secret jail down here, but our people were dying, and there were herbs in the Fae realm that could treat them. We struck a bargain. The Fae gave us seedlings for several Fae plants so we could try growing them here in Hell and treatment for our sick demons. We sold them a plot of land in exchange.

  “Those herbs prospered here in Hell, and we’ve created several medications from them, even recently. The Fae weren’t honorable with their piece of land. They kept what they were doing a secret, and we never got involved because it was Fae punishing Fae. They did not ask our permission when they turned it into a jail for the entire supernatural community, nor were we part of any contracts when negotiations were going on.

  “We kept looking into all the contracts when we sold them that land to see if we could take it back and get that prison shut down. The deal was ironclad, and they signed the contracts in blood. Unless we can prove something illegal is going on there, we can’t shut that prison down and get the Fae out of Hell. A plot of land in Gelida Desertum is worthless except for things like a prison. We don’t think the Fae would set up another prison there if they were implicated in a scandal since the supernatural community believes they willingly left and closed the portal.”

  I knew Bael and the kings of Hell couldn’t be involved and had been trying to shut that awful place down. I just knew if they could have done something about it, they would have.

  “First off, I want to claim all four people and have them given sanctuary in Hell.”

  Bael looked at me, coyly. “I get that you love the Vampire and the halfling. I’m not sure how she exists in the first place, but I understand you love her. How do the wolf and witch play into this?”

  “He was a companion for a long time in prison. Charley helped break a lot of black magic spells put on us. Also, Serafina did not end up in Scorchwood by mistake. She was framed, but I believe fate sent her there to expose this plot. She is Skoll and Roman’s fated mate, and she is also Eiltan Sunshadow’s daughter.”

  Bael’s eyes cut to Serafina. I hadn’t even gotten to what had gone on in Scorchwood, and he had questions for her. I had a feeling he would. I just really hoped she could control her temper and not offend Bael’s own delicate anger.

  “You. Come here, girl.”

  Serafina kept her eyes down and walked up to Bael. Bael gently lifted her chin.

  “I’m not a monster, child. Look me in the eyes when I talk to you. You claim to be Eiltan Sunshadow’s daughter. He would risk both your lives to tell you such a thing, but his daughter would never end up in Scorchwood.”

  “May I show you something, your majesty? It will answer how I recently found out who my father is. I didn’t know, and I don’t think he knew I existed until they stole my blood at the prison and had a spell done on it. You might want to step back.”

  Bael nodded and gave her space. Fergus burst from her chest as a small dragon and sat on her shoulder. Bael
was immune to fire just like I was. He gasped and got close to Fergus. He immediately knew what Fergus was and probably thought the same thing I did when I saw him. She shouldn’t have a guardian as a halfling.

  “You have a guardian? How is this possible?”

  Serafina just shrugged. “Fergus has given me more information about my past. I didn’t want to know before. My mother died in childbirth in a convent. From what I understand, we both would have survived if my father had bothered to stick around and lend Fae magic to my birth. The nuns at the convent thought my father was a demon because of how Fae pregnancies go. They—”

  “Ha!” Bael yelled. “Demons are exceptional fathers. Even if it’s a surprise, we still step up and raise our children. Even if we could mate with humans, we’d never leave a woman alone in a convent to give birth. That’s offensive.”

  “Yes, I know. The nuns were pretty awful to me. I realized I had fire when the nuns went to beat me, and I set the convent on fire. The state took me and put me in the foster system, but I ran away after a few homes. Fergus came to me when I was sixteen and living on the streets. I had no idea he was an ancient Fae guardian, and that I was a halfling who wasn’t supposed to have him until recently. He told me who my father was. We started uncovering plots at Scorchwood.”

  Bael started laughing. “I see why you love this one. Tell me what is going on at Scorchwood that Eiltan Sunshadow frames his own daughter and doesn’t realize it.”

  “Serafina wasn’t the first elemental he framed. My cellmate was a water elemental, and they did a lineage spell on her too. She’s distantly Silverstorm. There was a warlock sentenced to Scorchwood for experimenting on supernaturals. Kids too. He was trying to create the perfect supernatural. We would have killed him in prison for hurting kids, but he disappeared one day. It turned out the Sunshadows renamed him Doctor Graves, gave him updated medical teachings, and they want him to create a baby with elemental powers, but mixed with another supernatural.

  “They have been gassing the entire prison with a Fae mushroom to steal blood from inmates. Rathmore was doing lineage spells on the blood and handpicking men for the water elemental. She was a willing participant. She would give him her baby for her freedom. They put her in my cell, and I know they wanted me to mate with her, but I found her revolting.”

  “The Silverstorms were part of the negotiations to buy the land here. They are a ruthless bunch. If they weren’t allies to the Sunshadows, they probably would have seized the throne by now.”

  “Skoll had five elemental cellmates who said they were framed before Serafina ended up in Scorchwood. They didn’t have the constitution to be in Scorchwood. They disappeared one day. We searched for them when we broke out, but they are either dead or no longer in the prison.”

  “This child killer who has been experimenting on inmates for the Fae. I hope you left him in a very dead state.”

  I cleared my throat. I don’t think I would ever get that image out of my head, and I’d tortured many people.

  “Fergus flew down his throat and made him explode. We also destroyed his computer with water so no one could take over for him.”

  Bael frowned. “Why didn’t you find a flash drive and download the hard drive so we had evidence?”

  I screwed up my face. Eventually, this modern world would make sense.

  “I’m still not all that sure what a computer does or why water destroys it. We didn’t even have books in Scorchwood, much less anything I’ve seen installed in my home. Serafina said Fergus could get into the hard drive and read everything in minutes.”

  “Permission to speak?” Serafina said.

  “You always have permission to speak, my lovely. Any love of Amduscias is a friend of my court. You don’t need my permission to speak your mind, and I would be happy to give all of you sanctuary in Hell.”

  “I looked for flash drives in the lab, but didn’t find any. Before Rathmore died, he said my father had copies of his research and warlocks lined up to take his place. I don’t see my father coming to Hell. There’s a trail somewhere. If it’s not email, then it will be text messages. From what I understand, opening the portal from the Fae realm only happens in special circumstances, and I don’t think my father wants messengers knowing what he’s doing. I’m not sure if cell phones can communicate across realms, but it’s the only thing I can think of.”

  “A witch or warlock can spell a phone to communicate anywhere. So can a demon,” Bael said. “I’ll get you all spelled phones tomorrow, and I’ll have my best demons looking into finding if the information is being sent to Eiltan electronically. We can’t do anything without evidence.”

  “Fergus is still processing everything he found on that hard drive and coming up with a theory. We know lineage is important, and they want to see if they can make a baby with dual nature, but we still don’t know why,” Serafina said.

  Bael just smiled. “You are not alone in this. You have the full attention of the demon court on your side now. Now, Amduscias. Alozan has texted me in a fuss that your wolf friend told her they fed you terrible food, and you had to eat the same three meals over and over. She fussed at me not to keep you long because she is planning a feast. You know how she gets when she sets her mind at something. I’ll let the other kings know what’s going on and what we need to look for. It sounds like your time in Scorchwood was worse than I thought. Go, enjoy your feast, and show your friends that Hell is actually a delightful place.”

  When Bael gave an order, he expected it to be obeyed, and that wasn’t a hard one. Alozan always planned the most extravagant of feasts, and I wanted to show my friends that this was an excellent place to live. They might never be able to go topside again, and I wanted Hell to feel like home to them.

  I could relax a little. I had the full demon court working on this after Bael got done with this information. Why shouldn’t we celebrate getting out of that awful place?

  I opened a portal.

  “Let’s take a break from this Fae plot for the night and just celebrate being free. We can celebrate throwing a wrench in the plan by killing Rathmore and destroying his research.”

  Serafina wound her arm in mind. “I’m in as long as there’s no meatloaf.”

  Things might have changed in Hell, but Alozan would never serve that slop at a feast she planned. No, I planned on eating myself sick on wonderful food tonight and drinking fine wine from my cellar.

  Chapter 20

  Roman

  I

  didn’t have to ask. I just knew when Amduscias’s servant said she was throwing a feast he’d told her to have it outside for me. I could hear the ocean lapping in the distance, and he had beautiful gardens. I’d wanted to see the moon and stars for so long. I would have settled for just one, but Hell had two moons. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, and I could see stars twinkling in the sky.

  Vampires didn’t eat food. We lived off blood, but did and do enjoy fine wine. It was almost the only thing we could consume besides blood that didn’t make us ill. I couldn’t eat the massive array of roasted meats and vegetables or the beautiful desserts, but I enjoyed watching my friends eat under this beautiful night sky.

  I had to sip my wine slowly, or I would get sick. Wine differed from blood. We could enjoy it and get a little drunk, but in moderation, or it would make us ill for days. I had to take it extra slow tonight because I hadn’t had the chance to enjoy this delicate nectar in hundreds of years.

  In all my time in Scorchwood, I dreamed of escape. I expected to run to a deserted wood and live out my days there. I never expected to be here in a castle in Hell, surrounded by all the people I’d come to love in prison. Let the Fae wait a night. One king of Hell promised all his resources to help us figure this out, and he said he would keep us safe. I wanted to celebrate.

  We all did. I might not be able to eat the food, but Serafina, Skoll, and Amduscias were raving about it. It smelled good. Good enough to risk getting sick just to taste it. I knew better, and I didn’t wan
t to get sick tonight. We were out of prison, and we had a proper bed. I wanted to deepen my blood bond with my mate if she was willing.

  I knew this whole mate thing was new to her, and as a halfling she didn’t have to accept Skoll and me, but it seemed like she wanted us. She invited us to her shower, and she asked me to bite her even after I explained what would happen. She spoke to me through our connection, and she accepted me in her dream when she passed out after Charley removed Rathmore’s spell. It seemed like she was accepting me a little.

  I watched her as I slowly sipped my wine. Her bright green eyes were full of life now that she was out of that prison. It was beautiful to watch. The two moons shone off her blonde curls, and I just wanted to feel her hair between my fingers.

  Her gaze fell on me. “Are you hungry, Roman? You can bite me.”

  I let out a little growl. I always wanted to bite her. I wanted to taste her while she sat on my lap. I wanted to bite her while her legs were wrapped around my waist, and I made sweet love to her. I wanted to eat her right before bed, then sleep with my face buried in her sweet neck.

  “I was hoping to bite you later tonight,” I said, winking at her.

  Skoll snarled at me. “So was I. You’ve already bitten her.”

  Serafina just laughed. “I think you boys forget something. I still don’t want to get pregnant, and Rathmore cut out my implant.”

  “Fucking Rathmore,” Amduscias muttered. “I was hoping for some love too.”

  Alozan brought out another carafe of wine. “You’re worried about getting pregnant? That’s the only thing preventing you from loving these men properly? Why don’t you just see a physician here? I know one that makes house calls.”

  “I’m not a demon. Will demon birth control even work on me?”