Bel’s fists were balled so tightly, the veins bulged in his arms all the way up to his neck, and hellfire flickered in his eyes like a warning. He also looked several inches taller than he had a moment ago, and for a guy already standing at seven feet in human form, that made him pretty fucking big.
Faust whined softly.
“Okay, okay, we’re all good.” Ash held his hands up. “Just a little friendly teasing.”
Meph nodded and forced a smile, but his grip tightened around Iris. “Yep, we’re all buddy buddy. Everyone loves everyone. Best friends over here.”
While Bel took deep breaths, Raum stared into the empty bottom of his espresso cup.Great.Now he couldn’t ask for more coffee without risking setting Bel off, and his headache wasn’t even close to gone.
Ash inched toward the door, probably figuring now was a good time to make an escape. “I’ll be back later, and you can tell me how the meeting went with Murmur.”
“If he even tries to fuck with me,” Bel rumbled ominously, “I’ll make him regret it.”
“No one will fuck with you,” Meph assured him.
“Get the fuck off my counter.”
Meph wisely slipped off the edge and started backing toward the hall with Iris. He flashed a grin at Raum before the two of them disappeared from sight.
At the corner by the door, Ash turned back to Bel with a frown. “You know, you still haven’t told us how you contacted Murmur in the first place to set up this meeting.”
Coffee time having reached its conclusion, Bel started pulling pots and pans out of the cupboards and making a general lot of loud noise. “I have ways.”
“What ways?”
Raum raised a brow at Ash. Now didn’t seem the best time to be drilling Bel about his secrets.
“I don’t get why you’re always so cagey about this,” Ash went on. “We all know you have someone in Hell working for you. Don’t you think it’s in our best interest to know who it is?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“Actually, it is, because it pertains to our safety and, consequently, Eva’s safety.”
“Ash,” Raum muttered.
Ash glanced at him. “We deserve to know.”
“Do we have to know right now though?” He shot a pointed look at Bel.
Ash blew out a breath. “Fine.” He pointed at Bel. “But we’re not done talking about this.”
Belial eyed the offensive finger. “Keep pointing that at me and I’ll rip it off.”
He rolled his eyes. “See you later.” The door slammed, and he was gone.
Silence reigned for several moments until Bel suddenly pinned Raum with a threatening look. “What?”
The hellhound still sitting at Raum’s feet whimpered softly, so Raum scratched behind his ears to calm him. “Nothing.”
Bel glared at him. A lesser demon would wither under that stare, but Raum had been on the receiving end of it many times, and he was used to it. He just stared blankly back.
Say what one would about him, he was extremely even-tempered for a demon. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d raised his voice above a conversational tone, and he never lost his temper.
On the flip side, he rarely smiled and sometimes forgot how it felt to laugh.
