“Not a fucking word!” he snaps as he stalks off.
“Okay, so now I wish Paca was here,” Kai confesses, doubling over to release some of his laughter.
This is the first time we’ve ever laughed inside the Black Heart. Though, I admit, we came close with the three-headed-zombie-gorilla-horse.
I glance back as Jude trips over his own feet, kicking a few fingers around in the process, just as the forest starts to recede. We all freeze when we hear the howls of the hellhounds.
“Ah, shit,” Gage groans as he twirls his sword.
I’d rather fight an evil fucking unicorn.
“Nope. I’m not doing this. I’m going back to Paca,” Kai says as he turns and actually fucking leaves us behind. “I hate hellhounds.”
Gage and I exchange a glance, and look back at Jude, who still has a rainbow hand stuck to his rainbow face.
“I’m done too,” Gage decides, just as I sprint toward the exit.
We’re shot out in the main hall, courtesy of Jude’s new toy that Lamar delivered, and…we hear a lot of female bickering going on.
The bickering only gets louder the closer we get to Paca’s room, where the door is now wide open. Jude disappears altogether, likely because he’d never allow himself to be seen by anyone else while his hand is stuck to his face with rainbow-colored unicorn blood.
Gage, Kai, and I all tilt our heads to the right like we meant to do it in unison, when we stumble across the three female hell-spawns all fighting in the floor.
“Give it to me!” Paca shouts…
She’s blonde? When and how did she turn blonde?
Usually blonde isn’t my thing, but fuck me. She looks good blonde.
Hera kicks her off her, and she scrambles to grab a very familiar crown off the floor, as Paca releases an extremely exaggerated scream of fury. If she could turn into the Hulk, she’d already be muscled-up, green, and bursting out of her clothes.
It’s as though her crown pisses her off more than Rafael kicking her ass.
“Did time speed up instead of slowing down this time? Because I’m not sure how else to explain them acting like real sisters,” Kai states in confusion.
Lilith tackles Hera at the waist, and the crown goes flying across the room, crashing through a window that wasn’t there yesterday. This room never stays the damn same either.
Silence reverberates through the room as Hera, Lilith, and Paca freeze in place and just stare at the window five stories above a pit of tar…
Lilith’s eyes widen, as Paca turns to level them with quite possibly a look that would even strike fear into Jude’s cold heart.
Hera disappears, and Lilith hisses as she starts to literally smoke, before she blinks out as well.
“Did she just try to kill one of her sisters over a crown?” I ask very seriously.
“I really don’t think now’s a good time to judge her,” Kai stage-whispers.
Paca groans as she shoves a lock of blonde hair out of her face, but stops and stares at it for a moment like the blonde is just now registering in her mind.
With an irritated huff, she turns and stalks toward the closet, dramatically shutting the doors behind her, before yelling, “If I’m going to continuously be forced to suffer through one identity crisis after another, then at least one of my four ungrateful boyfriends could fetch my crown!”
“Not it,” Kai deadpans quietly, smirking over at Gage. “Since you love her, you go get it.”
“She doesn’t actually expect us to get it, dumbass,” Gage says with a roll of his eyes as he admires his sword. “She knows better by now. She’s just being her usual self.”
Scrubbing a hand over my jaw, I siphon out of the room, landing just in front of the tar pit that burps a really disgustingly rancid bubble right in front of my face. A lot of those rancid burp bubbles are stirring the closer I get to the edge.
I glance up at Paca’s window and try to guess where the motherfucking crown is, before I get a running start, hold my breath, and dive headfirst into the sludge.
It feels like I’m diving into quick-drying cement, and I don’t make it down very far before I have to climb back up for air. After another few empty passes, my fingers graze the crown, and I snatch it before fighting my way back one last time.
I heave for air, as I scramble to get my arms on the dry land and start dragging myself out. It isn’t until I’m able to collapse to my back and start wiping the foul-smelling goop away from my face that I blink up to see Jude staring down at me with disappointment shining in his eyes.
He still has rainbow-goop holding his hand to his face, and it’s started spreading. The tar on me is slowly freezing me in place the more it dries, and I can’t even lift myself off the ground.
“I’m embarrassed for us right now,” Jude says very seriously in that quietly seething way of his.
I’d nod in agreement, but my head is frozen in place too.
Someone clears their throat, and I cut my eyes as far as my stilled head allows. Lamar keeps a very straight face as he looks over us with flat, purposely unamused eyes.
“If anyone else sees the two of you like this, I’m afraid they won’t be able to take you as seriously as you…usually deserve to be taken,” the dick states with undertones of that hidden amusement.
Jude shuts his eyes slowly, as he exhales a harsh breath.
I’d answer for us, but all I can do is make a pathetic, strained sound.
“I’ll get you cleaned up like the common servant boy you likely won’t even show gratitude to,” Lamar adds in a prim tone as he turns and struts away.
Chapter 3
PACA
Exhausted, I try once again to find some of these servants I should have, only to come up short.
People disappear quickly when they see The Apocalypse since I started training hardcore.
Lamar appears in front of me, and I sigh in relief.
“Can I order you to fetch my crown from the tar pit, or is that an abuse of authority where friends are concerned?” I ask, tapping my foot.
His grin spreads so wide that it looks painful.
“You confess we’re friends again?” he asks with an almost desperate tone.
“I feel sorry for you, since you keep throwing yourself at me. Betray me, and not even my brother can save you,” I warn him.
His smile falls. “I’m going to need a clear set of parameters as to what you perceive as betrayal. After all, I’m in Hell for a reason. I won’t exactly be perfect,” he tells me, lifting a pad and pen like he’s ready to jot down these undefined terms of our friendship.
“You look more desperate than even I do, and it’s disturbing,” I point out as I take a step back. “I’m sure the old me gave you some rules to live by. Just use that as a guideline.”
He clears his throat and pockets the pad.
“Now, about my crown—”
“It’ll be returned to you shortly,” he says with a straight face.
I squeal, more surprised than anything about how easy that was. Quickly, I regain my cool composure, since I’m supposed to be a rock star in these parts. I sometimes forget to act like I belong.
“Also, I want you to set up a big, showy exhibition. I’ll be taking on all of my siblings, and I want to get as many souls from Hell there to see it as possible,” I tell him as I pat his shoulder and head toward my bedroom, feeling good about life again.
“Wait, what?” he says in surprise, scrambling to catch up with me, and falling in step at my side as he gawks at my profile.
“I need to train while Rafael is taking a small break to lick his latest wounds and deal with his imbalance. My siblings are the most powerful beings, aside from Lucifer. I don’t think I’m ready to take on Lucifer.”
“Lucifer and the Apocalypse can’t fight. You’d destroy the surface and Hell, most likely, leaving only the other two planes in existence,” he says as though he’s slightly panicked.
I pause, frowning over at him. “Well, that sucks. I really wanted to see who was stronger.”
“Why do you want to fight your siblings? There are plenty of very powerful monsters you’ve yet to master battle with that would be more productive,” he goes on.
“Because there’s an imbalance. They’ve watched me get my ass handed to me for weeks and enjoyed it to the point of boredom. Now it’s time to level the scales again, so to speak. Humble them a bit, you know?”
He blinks at me several times.
“Will Hell blow up if I fight them?” I ask on a sigh.
“Well, no, but—”
“Then make it happen. I want to fight them all in a row—a one-day event. Also, warn them they’re starting to suffer from an imbalance. I think I’m starting to get the hang of the fundamentals of how this all works now. At least it seems less confusing than before. I’ve leveled up. It’s time to play while the angel’s away.”
I clap my hands together, leaving him behind with his mouth opening and closing, lips flapping to no words.
I’m all smiles as I head into my room. Gage and Kai are asleep on the floor, something they all do after spending time in Hell’s Black Heart.
I’m starting to worry about Ezekiel and Jude. Jude never came back, even though the guys said he just needed a minute or two to clean up. It’s starting to feel like a cover-up, since Ezekiel went missing without so much as a word.
I can’t help but worry what they’re leaving me out of this time. I can’t afford distractions, and Lamar said our bond needs to be strengthened if I’m really going to challenge Jahl.
Just Gage’s unspoken confession of love was a power boost. Not to mention what it did for my lonely, lovesick heart—
I pause at the dresser, staring down at the black crown with black jewels on it.
Whose crown is this?
“It had a bad reaction to the tar pit—which, by the way, isn’t anything like the tar you’ll find on the surface,” Ezekiel says as he drops to my bed with wet hair and fresh clothing. “I’m fortunate I had no such reaction. I wasn’t aware that was a possibility.”
I look from the crown, to him, and back to the crown again.
“Did Lamar send you in after it?” I ask, really getting pissed off. “How does he get you guys to do what he asks when I can’t even get sex when I want it?” I ask very loudly, getting a groan or two from the sleeping boys on the ground.
Ezekiel just arches an eyebrow at me.
“I actually expect an answer to that. Does he have some sort of mind control power or something?” I prattle on.
His eyes narrow.
“Lamar didn’t tell me to fetch the crown. I did it all on my own. You’re welcome,” he states with a flat tone that has hints of annoyance in it.
I glance back over to the crown, not minding the new color scheme so much, as my heart thumps almost painfully in my chest.
“Why’d you go get it?” I ask him, cutting my gaze to him once more.