“Deal,” Raum said.
“It’s not happening.”
She did her best to ignore Belial’s furious glare like everyone else, but it was hard. There was hellfire obscuring his eyes, after all. Forget the light-blue shade his irises normally were—right now they looked like windows to the roaring furnace of the underworld.
“Chill, Bel,” Ash said. “It’s a good plan. If he’s too hard to control, we can set him loose in Hell.”
“You’re a fucking idiot if you don’t see that this could be a trap.”
“It’s a puppy,” Raum cut in. “How can he trap anyone? He’s a helpless little baby.”
“He’s a goddamn hellhound!”
“A goddamnbabyhellhound, dumbass.”
Bel stepped closer. “Call me that again.”
Without blinking, Raum looked up at him and said, “Dumbass.”
“Stop it, Raum.” Ash shot him a pointed glare and then looked at Belial. “Everyone calm the fuck down. If Iris can train him, he won’t be a problem. If she can’t, he’s gone.”
No pressure, Iris thought with a wince.
Belial and Asmodeus stared at each other for a good long time. The tension was so thick, she could taste it.
A moment later, Belial spun and stalked out of the room. At the corner, he turned back. “I’m not lifting a finger in regard to this, so don’t ask me again about my goddamn contacts that don’t exist. And I don’t want to see a single fucking dog hair in my kitchen, you got it? Not one. Goddamn. Hair.”
And then he was gone.
Everyone exhaled in relief. Eva laughed. “Well, that was fun.”
Meph suddenly strolled into the kitchen. “Hey, suckers. What’d you do to piss off Bel? He nearly ripped my arm off when I bumped—”
He broke off when he saw Iris.
Their gazes finally locked, and for the briefest moment, she felt their last conversation hanging between them like a storm cloud.
Then, his eyes traveled right over her and took in everyone else, and his smile came back like it had never left. “It’s a kitchen party, then? What’s the occasion?”
“Iris got a puppy,” Lily said.
Meph scooped the dog out of Raum’s unwilling grasp and held him aloft. The puppy dangled submissively, content to be held. “He’s cute.”
Shit, their eyes really are the same color, Iris thought.
Where had Meph been this whole time? He’d walked down the hall as if he’d been in his bedroom, but earlier, Raum had made it sound like he was out. Maybe he’d shifted to demon form and flew out the window as Mist often did?
“He’s a hellhound,” Eva said.
“So he is.” Meph inspected him a moment longer and then passed him back to Raum. “You got any food?”
Just like that, he dismissed the fact that the puppy was a creature from Hell. Iris had nearly had a panic attack, but to him, it was no big deal. She gritted her teeth.Must be nice to be that annoyingly ignorant.
“You missed dinner,” Ash said.
“Got any leftovers?”
“Not for you.”
