Death Lord

19

What was her deal? Did she have a thing for Belial? Jealousy surged inside me at the thought, but I pushed it away. I felt her gaze burning holes in my back until we exited the bar.

10

EIRA

T

his time we took one of Belial’s cars, a black Aston Martin, and headed into the Garden District along oak-shaded streets. Belial’s hands were tight on the steering wheel the whole time, and a muscle in his jaw ticked in an almost rhythmic way. I wasn’t sure what his problem was, and told myself I didn’t care either.

His bad mood only got worse when we pulled up to the grand historic mansion with white columns and wrought-iron balconies. Hotel Immortelle had once been a wealthy family’s home in the 1800s, but now it was a luxury hotel catering to demons and other supernaturals who visited the city. It was far more elegant than anywhere my brothers and I would have stayed on our own, but since we’d been visiting the city on official demon business, Loki had insisted we stay there. I couldn’t deny the place was gorgeous though, and it was refreshing to stay at a hotel where they understood the special needs of demons. They even had lush, private grounds out back where shifters could roam freely in their animal forms.

A valet took the car and Belial scowled at the man, then looked up at the hotel like he was waiting for it to explode. “Get your things quickly.”

“What’s your problem?” I asked, as we stepped through the big black doors and into the lobby, which was just as luxurious as the rest of the hotel with an abundance of mirrors and gold gilding. A man by the front desk offered us aperitifs with or without blood (for the vampires, naturally), but we waved him away as we headed for the elevator.

“I’ve always hated this place.”

“Any particular reason?”

“My father owns it,” he said grudgingly. “We have some…issues. We’ve mostly worked them out, but I’d prefer to not hang around the place any more than I have to.”

I should have known Lucifer owned the place. As ruler of the demons, he seemed to have his hand in just about everything. It was one reason my father had rebelled against him—too much power in the hands of one immortal ruler was dangerous. Of course, my father had failed and had paid the ultimate price for his crimes.

“Hard to imagine anyone having issues with you, with your glowing personality,” I said as we entered the elevator, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Especially Lucifer, since you tried to overthrow him with my father.” I stabbed at the button for the third floor, while smooth jazz music played around us. “You know, before you killed him.”

He shook his head. “You have no idea what happened with your father.”

When the elevator door opened, I led the way down the hall toward my room, while Belial followed right at my heels. “So tell me what happened. From your point of view.”

I swiped my key and the door clicked open. Inside, the room was large enough that we didn’t feel cramped in it even with a huge four-posted bed and old-fashioned French furniture. My luggage was open in the corner with a few clothes spilling out of it. I tried not to feel self conscious as I slung a bra in alongside a shirt.

Belial sat in a wingback chair opposite the bed, and flipped on the Tiffany lamp beside him, causing the colored glass to shoot light across his handsome face. “Your father and I were…allies, if not exactly friends. We both wanted to see change come for the demons, and believed that a new ruler would be the best thing for everyone. So we decided to take down Lucifer, once and for all.”

“Why?” I asked from the bathroom as I gathered up my toiletries. “He’s your father.”

“Lucifer had gone unchecked for too long. He was out of touch with what most demons wanted, and wouldn’t listen to anyone who disagreed with him. He made rash decisions without consulting anyone, like ending the war with the angels and closing off Hell forever. But he’s so damn powerful, no one dared oppose him openly.”

“My father said similar things,” I said. He’d always tried to keep me out of his rebellion against Lucifer, partly for my safety and partly to keep me more neutral since I worked as a messenger with the fae, but I’d heard him ranting about our ruler for my whole life. I’d never met Lucifer, but I’d been raised to hate him.

“The last person who had tried to oppose Lucifer…was me.” Belial gave me a sardonic smirk as he continued. “That was what got me kicked out of Hell all those years ago. For my rebellion, he condemned me to live on Earth.” “The exiled prince,” I said with a nod as I finished packing. Everyone in the demon world knew the story of Lucifer’s eldest son trying to claim the throne, and being punished for it. It was no wonder Belial had some serious daddy issues. But with a father like Lucifer, who wouldn’t?

“Yes, they love to call me that,” Belial said, rolling his eyes. “But this time when I decided to overthrow my father, I wanted things to be different. Fenrir and I made a plan, and we got the help of some of the other Archdemons who felt the same way we did about Lucifer. Together we planned to awaken the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to defeat Lucifer, since he was too strong for any of us to take down on our own.” His face darkened as he stared out the window, his eyes lost in the memory. “But once Pestilence was freed, I realized we’d made a huge mistake.”