a skeleton, but it’s dog-shaped for sure. I can’t help but melt. It’s so cute with little red eyes and flaming feet. I want to touch it.
So I do. I drop to my knees and reach for him. “Oh my God, you are so adorable!” I squeal.
“He is fierce, a killer, a—” Lucy stops, his mouth hanging open as I stroke his fur, cooing to him.
“Oh my gosh, who’s a little cutie, yes you are! Look at those sweet little flames, who’s a good boy with flames? Yes you are, yes you are.” The dog barks happily and rubs against my hands.
“Stop, woman, that is a fierce hellhound! Death itself, he—”
“Yes, you’re a good boy,” I gush, scratching his head.
“Woman!” Lucy screams, throwing his hands in the air as the dog flops onto his back and I scratch his tummy. “You have turned my hellhound into a slobbering puppy!” he protests, staring at his hellhound in disgust. “Get up, Hades, act like the demon you are!”
Hades ignores him and curls around me, rumbling happily. Just then, Griffin comes back into the room and spots the dog. His eyes widen and his nostrils flare. “Oh, hell no! Nope, we already have a wolf and a fucking minotaur, we have no more room for pets! None!”
“Oooh, I could get you a little bandana with skulls on it. Oh my God, we could get your daddy a matching one, yes we could,” I tell Hades.
“Vasculo!” Griffin roars. “I’m serious, no more pets!”
I blink at him. “He stays, problem?” I challenge, raising my eyebrow.
Griffin tosses his hands in the air as well—I have that effect on people—and leaves the room, grumbling about dog piss and stupid women. I look to Lucy. “Is this your guard?”
Lucy watches the dog in disgust as he crosses his arms. “Yes, he is a fierce, loyal beast...usually. He burns souls and eats them.”
“Oh my gosh, how cute, you are adorable,” I tell Hades.
I hear laughing behind me as Lucy glares at me. “Let’s sort the rest of the roles and go through what needs to happen now. Regina, please don’t tickle the hellhound.”
Grinning, I carry on with my ministrations. “Shouldn’t have brought him then! Okay, so what’s first?”
Lucy takes one more pained look at his dog before diving into what the people and council now expect. By the end my head is spinning. So many rules, so many expectations…so much to do, and fighting and killing won’t be the solution this time. Words and power games will be.
And we are only just beginning.
“Tell me everything I need to know about dragons and what this means,” Dawn requests over breakfast the next day. After Lucy’s lessons, she had fallen into a deep sleep. They went on until the early morning and she woke up exhausted. I can see it, it’s getting to be too much for her.
“I will, but first you need a break. You went from hunting your ex to stopping the council without a pause. We can have a few hours off, my love,” I tell her, my hand gliding up and down her thigh. She is sitting beside me on the sofa, and I can’t stop myself from touching her, from being close. I am not ashamed to admit I tackled Griffin to get the seat next to her.
“A break?” she questions, tilting her head and blinking at me as she eats her sausage. Which is very distracting when she is in a room full of horny supernaturals. All eyes are locked on her. She either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, but the slight smirk around her lips tells me she’s noticed and is doing it on purpose now.
She takes another bite and moans, her eyes fluttering closed. My cock jerks in my pants and I shift uncomfortably. Looking around, I can see the rest of her mates are in the same predicament. Nos laughs at her. “Little Monster, be nice or be prepared to run.”
She blinks open her eyes and they bleed to black. “Only if you promise to chase me.”
“Focus, Vasculo.” Griffin snorts.
“Fine.” She huffs. “What kind of break?”
I look at the other guys. I had asked them earlier when she was asleep. They agreed she needed to rest, although Nos had to smack Griffin on the back of his head when he tried to kill me for, and I quote, ‘stepping on his territory’ with her. He also told me we couldn’t fuck or he would chop off my ‘tiny dragon balls.’