I could see the wheels in Serafina’s head turning. Typically, when we killed someone, it was quick, and we didn’t play with our food. It wasn’t just that she wanted to impress people with this. Zepar indirectly caused every bad thing in her life by cursing the Fae women. The only good I could see in Zepar was that if he hadn’t, Eiltan wouldn’t have been spending so much time on Earth to sire Serafina.
Still, if the situation back in the Fae realm hadn’t been so dire, Eiltan wouldn’t have been gone so long. He might have come back before her mother realized she was having a strange pregnancy and fled to a convent. Serafina would have had a much different upbringing.
For that alone, I would have killed Zepar horribly. But he didn’t just hurt my Ena. He hurt innocent Fae women, and for that, he deserved to be humiliated before he died. I hoped everyone there had cameras out, and photos of Zepar with no eyebrows and his microcock went viral in every single realm he hurt people in.
“Can I bite him too?” Roman asked. “He deserves a big, painful Vampire bite for hurting my mate.”
Skoll wasn’t one to be left out either.
“After you make his cock small, can my wolf rip it off? My wolf needs him to feel pain for hurting you.”
We all wanted a go at Zepar for what he did to her, but I would be content with Serafina getting her revenge. Maybe it would help her put everything behind her, and we could find peace here in Hell.
“What about you, Amduscias? Do you want to hurt him too?”
There were those eyelashes again. Only Amduscias would get off on planning an execution.
“I will be watching and enjoying the show, Serafina. I plan on using the camera on that cell phone to record the whole thing, and I’m going to post it all over those social media sites you were showing me. Zepar, with a tiny cock and syphilis, will get a ton of laughs down here, and I think everyone would agree boiling him alive is a brilliant way to die. I also plan to have my wicked way with you after I watch you do all that.”
Amduscias had referred to me as a horny dragon more than once, but at least I wasn’t planning to get laid while there was an active threat going on in Hell. Killing Zepar would not end it right away.
Serafina just pulled him into a kiss.
“We have to stop the other Dukes and all the people trying to break into Hell first.”
Chapter 25
Amduscias
Z
epar wasn’t the first Duke of Hell to be executed. There was one before him who never managed to be written about and never got his own legions. He was a young fire born Bael never liked. Zagan liked a challenge and took him under his wing. This particular Duke was raping and murdering lesser demons. The kings of Hell wouldn’t stand for rape, much less murder. He was beheaded swiftly in the town square after being tortured for a few decades.
I was glad Bael decided to make an example of Zepar. Letting Serafina pick the method was perfect because she could be just as twisted as a demon. She didn’t disappoint when she told me what she had planned. We just needed to get Zepar out of Bael’s dungeon and into the town square. Last I checked, he was still hanging upside down getting drained of blood.
I commanded twenty-nine legions. I left four to guard my estate, one to defend each king, three for each Duke, two to stand guard while we were executing Zepar, and the rest were sent to the gates of Hell.
I was standing in the town square on the stage we had theatre performances on. A sizeable crowd was gathering of all residents of Hell. Two of my best commanders led Zepar out in warded chains. He was still pretty groggy, but immediately perked up when he realized where he was.
“You can’t do this to me. Don’t you know who I am?” he yelled.
Serafina practically skipped onto the stage, and I don’t think I’d ever been more turned on in my life when she started taunting him. She got right up in his face, and I had no idea he said some things to her. Maybe I did want to hurt him instead of watching.
“How does it feel that a halfling bastard is carrying out your execution? I cooked up something special just for you.”
Zepar just sneered at her.
“I will die a Duke. Your own family will demand Bael turn you over so they can kill you.”
“I neglected to mention I already met my father and grandfather when you kidnapped me. They have no intention of killing me, and Hell got a Fae army, it’s just stopping yours.”
Zepar tried to lunge at her. They wrapped him in demon warded chains. I’m not sure what he was expecting to do other than head butting her. She wasn’t having any of that. Serafina just stepped back and punched him right in the face. I could hear his nose break from where I was standing.
Two of the biggest demons I’d ever seen dragged him away from her and tied him to a big metal post. Zepar might be immune to her fire, but his clothing wasn’t. She wanted him naked and humiliated before he died. He deserved it too. She flicked her wrist, and his clothes turned to ash.
I was glad someone called Charley for this. She’d been accommodating in Scorchwood with her knowledge of forbidden spells, but she was also a twisted fuck when she was sober, and sometimes, she was the only one who could make Roman laugh when he was in a mood.
Only Charley would have suggested giving a Duke of Hell syphilis and a tiny cock before they executed him, and only Serafina would have heard that idea and decided to break it out during a public execution. When Hell decided someone needed to die, sure, we tortured them until they were nearly dead, but that was done in private. When the time came for that person to die, sometimes it was private, and sometimes it was public. Even when it was public, it was done quickly with no pomp and circumstance.
Zepar deserved everything that was coming to him. He earned the humiliation, and he deserved it from someone he looked down on. He hurt people in three realms for this plot. He said some horrible things to someone I loved.
Charley joined Serafina on the platform and handed her two vials. Little Charley walked over to Zepar and punched him in the stomach. What the fuck had he done to her? As far as I knew, they had never met. I guess everyone hated Zepar. Charley spat in his face too.
“That’s for what you did to October.”
I think only those of us on the podium heard her, but I was dying to know what Zepar did to Charley’s witch friend to get that reaction. Zepar looked down on anyone that wasn’t a demon. I knew he carelessly slept his way through several of the female demons, and most of them knew not to go anywhere near him. I loved gossip, and I’d have to get it from Charley later. It was time to watch Zepar pay for his crimes.
Charley must have talked to Serafina about what happened with October because she knew something I didn’t. Serafina pranced over to Zepar, dangling one of the vials.
“I heard you spread a rash to two in the covens down here because you couldn’t keep it in your pants. I heard you knew you had it and kept sleeping around anyway. What do you say, folks? Should we give him magical syphilis?”
“You wouldn’t dare! I’m a Duke.”
The crowd disagreed. They all wanted to see him with syphilis. I think some women in the crowd were cheering extra hard for it. It was almost instantaneous. Serafina sprinkled the potion on his head, and he immediately started breaking out in sores all over his body.
Just then, the entire crowd hit the ground as a loud crack filled the air. People started yelling about a gun. Who brought a firearm to Hell? With all the demonic powers going on, we didn’t need guns to subdue or kill someone.
Unless something had seriously changed while I was in jail, the only reason someone would have a gun at Zepar’s execution would be to rescue him.
Either the gates were breached, or he had more supporters than we knew.
Chapter 26
Serafina
I
wasn’t stupid. When someone opened fire, you hit the floor. But whoever took that shot wasn’t shooting up the crowd. It was one shot, then total silence. No one was screaming in pain like th
ey were hit. We knew the gates of Hell were under attack, and the other Dukes were trying to rescue Zepar. This made little sense.
“Who is hit?” a giant demon yelled.
No one replied, and no one screamed that someone next to them was dead. So, what the fuck was going on?
“Zepar is dead!” someone yelled.
I looked up, and sure enough, someone got Zepar right between the eyes. Someone had straight-up ruined my first public execution that I put a lot of thought into planning. I didn’t have time to pout and think about who just ruined my revenge. There was someone out there with a gun. We didn’t know if they killed Zepar for one of the other Dukes in on this plot, or they just hated him and didn’t want to wait for me to finish. Were the gates breached?
Sweet Roman didn’t care about guns. Neither did Skoll. All they cared about was that someone took a shot at Zepar while I was standing next to him. Roman took off using his Vampire speed. Skoll’s clothes shredded to bits as he shifted and bounded after him. Red started swirling around Amduscias, and I guess he was breaking his unicorn out.
Fergus was hovering right next to me.
“Make your final wish, my Ena. I know we both wanted it to be special, but the gates of Hell might be breached, and that gunman might not be alone. We need every available fighter.”
I sighed. I knew he was right. I was expecting this moment to happen over candlelight when I was ass naked, then we would all get kinky, but Zepar had to ruin that too. You know what? I was glad he was dead, even if it wasn’t the idea I came up with. I couldn’t even make a big, special speech with my last wish because there could be snipers all over the place.
“Fergus, I wish you real.”
God damn, that was so hollow. After everything we had been through together, it came down to this fucking moment on the podium and me with my face practically a stone.
I felt someone pull me to my feet. I was looking at Fergus in the flesh. He was the same beautiful man from my dreams with golden hair and bright eyes. He was wearing strange armor that must have been the style with the Fae when he died. He still had his weapons. There was a bow and satchel of arrows strapped to his back and a sword at his belt.
Fergus stood in front of me and whipped an arrow out. He aimed into the crowd who had all either hit the floor or fled. Amduscias came back to the platform. He was still a man, and the swirling red cloud was gone.
“Roman found the assassin. It’s a shifter.”
Roman flashed back up to the stage, holding a man by the neck, and Skoll wasn’t far behind him. Roman started waving the shifter in the air. He was so proud he caught him, but the man’s neck was flopping at an odd angle.
“I think you broke him, Roman.”
Roman turned him around and looked at him. He dropped him on the floor and nudged him with his foot. Roman looked totally devastated.
“Aw, I didn’t mean to kill him. He just put up a fight.”
Amduscias pulled him into a hug.
“It’s okay, Roman. We would have killed him anyway. People! The gunman is dead! Does anyone know this shifter?”
No one knew him. He must have been snuck into Hell. Amduscias grabbed us all.
“We need to get back to my war room. We don’t know if they have breached the gates, and we need to find out who this shifter was working for. I need to talk to the other Dukes.”
Amduscias opened a portal, but before we could step through, Fergus grabbed me and kissed me so profoundly, my knees turned to jelly.
“More on that later,” he said, pulling me through the portal.
Chapter 27
Amduscias
W
hat the actual fuck is going on in Hell? I spend a few hundred years in jail and come back to war. Shifters were getting into Hell and taking potshots at Dukes to ruin well-planned executions. I already knew Zepar was killed by another Duke who had turned against us. If I had to put money on who would betray him, it would be Gusion. Gusion would have hired a shifter to do it too.
I needed to regroup. I opened a portal back to my war room. Roman was still apologizing for killing the shifter before we could question him, Skoll was totally naked, and Fergus was now real looking like a character out of one of the movies Serafina showed us with small men with hairy feet. It was chaos.
“What is going on with the gates?” I demanded.
Barbatos just gave me this steely look. If I could trust any Duke in Hell, it would be him.
“The rebellion at the gate is over. They all took one look at the legions heading towards them and were willing to stop long enough to listen. They’ve turned on their commanders and have been offered the chance to join another legion or become a civilian after this fight. They’ve all joined the Fae topside to stop people from breaking in.”
“A little late for that,” Valefar said. “That shifter that killed Zepar wasn’t a resident here. None of the shifters who live here would use a gun to kill. Your Vampire friend broke it before we could torture it for information.”
Skoll let out a little growl. I liked Valefar, but he did have an unpleasant habit of looking down on anyone who wasn’t a demon. Serafina wasn’t having any of that either. She came to stand next to me and gave Valefar some epic stink eye.
“My mate is a shifter. I’d be cautious about how you talk about them.”
“Can your mate put some clothes on?” Aym asked.
Serafina wagged her finger at the screen.
“Eyes above the waist, buddy. He may have to shift again. This isn’t over just because the gates are safe. Last time I checked, you’ve still got three Dukes out there, and one may have snuck a shifter down here to kill Zepar. They may have snuck assassins down here for all of you.”
Barbatos scratched his goatee. If I could plan all of this with him instead of all the other Dukes, I could probably get more done. We had always been copacetic, and I didn’t even visit him when I got back to say hello.
“Saleos hates fighting, but he’s still a soldier. He would have planned for all scenarios, including Zepar getting caught. Saleos would be plotting to protect his domicile and not go down with him. Saleos could have snuck an assassin down here so he wouldn’t go down with him. I’d also put money on Gusion working behind everyone’s back to seize the throne once they had done all the work. He’s always pretended to have an affinity with the shifters because his demonic form is a baboon. It’s always been to use them.”
“Well, if a sniper was waiting for Zepar, then there’s an excellent chance there are several waiting outside at at least one of the Duke’s houses waiting for a king or Duke to show up,” Serafina pointed out.
“Can I go sniper hunting?” Roman said with a little bounce. “I already killed one of them.”
Serafina just shrugged. “They aren’t immune to fire. Fergus, do you still have fire?”
I watched Fergus shift into a fire dragon again. He was small, so he wouldn’t incinerate my entire war room and kill Skoll and Roman, and for that, I was grateful. Like I needed him destroying my shit to prove a point. He instantly shifted back, and now the horny little dragon had a real face to grin at her with.
“Now that I’m not between the veil, I can experiment with my powers. I’ve kept some of my guardian powers. I can still be your fire dragon.”
“That’s so sexy,” she growled. “Can we go out and kill some bad guys?”
I knew better than to tell her no when she got all murdery. We all had a stake in this fight. It wouldn’t do if a random sniper picked off a king of Hell with a spelled bullet. But who was more likely to have snuck snipers down here?
Agares was always more of a follower and a weak Duke. He was also very greedy, but he was very lazy. He wouldn’t have wanted to be a king because it was too much work, but he would have wanted money and more soldiers in his legions. If they promised him women, he would do anything for them, that would have just sweetened the pot for him. No, there would be no snipers at his place. I had a feeling the other kings j
ust used him for his resources.
That left Saleos and Gusion. Saleos never fought if he could avoid it. He used to have a healthy respect for a soldier’s life. If I had to make a roster of all the Dukes that would have been involved in this, I wouldn’t have picked Saleos. He always seemed to have some sort of honor code that he lived by. I was never friendly with him, but before all this, I respected him. There had to be some reason he would have joined this rebellion that I just didn’t know.
That left Gusion, who I never liked. I disliked him as much as I had disliked Zepar. Gusion would be the one with the snipers.
“Get ready. All of you send three legions to back up the kings at Agares and Saleos. We need everyone at Gusion’s. I’m almost one hundred percent certain Gusion has the snipers and still thinks he can seize the throne.”
“I agree,” Barbatos said. “But if he breaks out that infernal baboon, your unicorn is dealing with him.”
Chapter 28
Fergus
T
his wasn’t how I wanted things to play out. I thought it would end with Zepar’s death, and my Ena and I could have a special moment when she wished me real. All the demons I had met so far had this honor code they lived by, even if I didn’t agree with the torture thing. I guessed when a demon broke that code, they went way out.
Zepar organized this entire thing, and I put all the blame on him. Still, it was a little poetic that the demon that cursed the Fae and plotted to murder Hell royalty didn’t even have enough friends in Hell that wouldn’t either dance at his execution or stab him in the back to take his place.
I knew my Ena could handle herself in a fight. She had her fire, and she had taken fight lessons. Snipers were a different story. All it took was one spelled bullet, and any one of us could die. I could be ripped away from Serafina now that I was flesh. I wouldn’t get a second chance at being her guardian. I didn’t know what happened to the guardians who were wished real before me and were killed by the Fae, but I know they didn’t get their old duties back after they died a second time.
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