I pulled back to look at him again. “It feels a lot different to be in an animal’s form.”
He nodded. “Did it scare you?”
I shook my head. “It was just intense.”
His face grew bleak. “What did you see?”
“Nothing. I couldn’t see anything.”
This seemed to surprise him. “Nothing?”
“For a few minutes I saw the woods. But then whatever came… after that it was all dark.”
“What came?” he demanded, his fists bunching the sheets between us.
“I couldn’t see that either. But you—the hellhound—wanted to kill it. It’s all you could think about.”
He looked horrified. “Did I?”
“I think so.”
“And you felt it all,” he murmured to himself as he withdrew from me just a little.
I pushed myself closer. “I wasn’t scared. Once it was dead, your mind seemed to be more relaxed.”
“The hellhound in me isn’t vicious. Whenever I shift, I don’t always want to kill,” he explained. I wondered if he worried I would think less of him now.
“I know that,” I said, bringing my hand up to his cheek. Even still, I was in awe at how he balanced and controlled that part of him. I could see how it could easily overcome him.
“What about the water?”
“I think you were, uh…”
“Dumping the body?” He finished for me.
“We don’t know it was a body.”
“It was something the hound wanted dead. It’s not a far leap.”
“I didn’t hear any yelling or calling out. There were no signs of a human there.”
“Is that all you saw?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry it wasn’t more.”
“It’s not your fault, babe.”
I still wished I could have done more. I pulled him back down beneath the covers with me and he stared up at the ceiling. “Stay in here, just for tonight.”
He turned his head to look at me.
“I’ll watch over you. You can sleep. If you try to get up, I’ll wake you.”
He kissed me. Long. Slow. Deep.
I tucked my arms around him and stroked the hair above his ear until finally he slept.
It just seemed impossible to me that the person lying here against me was anything other than good, that he would kill because he could. What exactly had he been doing that night in the woods? I searched my mind for an answer. I went over everything I felt in his memory with a fine-tooth comb.
But the truth of it was…
I just didn’t know.
Chapter Thirteen
Riley
He wasn’t here. I searched every inch of this castle (it took forever). I searched every nook and cranny in this place. I found some bodies. I found some bones. I even found a couple demons trapped in jars.
But I did not find Beelzebub.
Where could he have possibly gone after being set free.
I would’ve bet everything I had, which admittedly isn’t much, that the first thing he would’ve done was come after me for taking over his humble abode.
Unless he was somewhere lurking, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Maybe he was off gathering the other Princes to storm the place together.
No. From what I learned here, the other Princes barely got involved with one another unless they had to. And none of them seemed to like Beelzebub so I doubt they’d bend over backward to help him out in any way.
Except of course for Leviathan.
He had a slight grudge against me.
“Jeeves!” I bellowed.
He appeared within seconds. “Yes?”
“I’m going out. I’ll be back later.”
He nodded.
“I want you to do something while I’m gone.”
“What is it, sir?”
“Find out where Beelzebub is. Find out what he’s doing.”
He got that look on his face and I knew he was thinking about the Devil. I admit the dude was intimidating, being the ultimate evil ruler and all. But I wasn’t about to admit to thinking that. Instead, I sighed heavily. “Jeeves,” I began. “The Devil might have been here, but he’s gone. I’ve been through every inch of this place.”
Jeeves nodded enthusiastically.
“So get over it!” I snapped. “When I get back I want answers!”
He ran off into the darkness of the castle and I headed for my Jeep. I had a Prince to visit.
It didn’t take as long as it did last time to get to Leviathan’s land. Traveling by Jeep instead of dragon was definitely preferable. I knew the moment I drove onto his land because the Jeep was immediately surrounded by large black crows with red eyes. The crows followed along with the route I drove and when I stopped beside the large gray castle, they landed on the hood and sat motionless, staring at me through the windshield with beady, blood-colored eyes.
“Please,” I groaned and got out of the Jeep. “Does he think a pack of birds is going to scare me away? Next time I want roasted protein I’ll be sure to come a hunting.”
The birds didn’t say anything to that and I walked over his drawbridge, which was wider and thicker than mine, toward the giant double doors.
Before I got to them, they opened with a whoosh, blowing my hair and shirt back. Leviathan stepped out. He looked the same—ponytail, goatee, ugly scowl.
“You must have a death wish,” he said. “Coming back onto my land.”
“I see you got the place cleaned up,” I quipped. “Congrats.”
“Seize him!” Leviathan ordered and the birds morphed into men. Well, demons to be exact. They all had very long, dark-colored dreadlocks with leaves and dirt adorning them. They were also naked and had deformed hands.
There were five of them.
I could have taken them.
Had they not all jumped me at once.
I managed to wrestle myself to my feet, with one holding back both my arms and legs, and the fifth one standing closer by, ready to do whatever it was that these things did.
“You should have yelled, ‘Off with his head!’” I told Leviathan. “It would’ve been much more dramatic.”
“Your head isn’t the only thing that’s coming off,” he replied.
Finally he made a good come back.
The birds with dreads started to wrestle me away, so I called out, “I came to tell you he’s out.”
“Stop!” Leviathan said, and the men turned back to face their Prince.
“Beelzebub is out?”
“Yep, checked his cage myself.”