She made a sound into her gag, her brow furrowed with rage. She was pissed, not scared, and he admired that, but he still didn’t have a clue how to help her.
Val turned his head and regarded Iris with detached curiosity. A moment later, he crossed the room and sank into a crouch beside her. A long-fingered hand reached out to stroke her hair while looking at Meph, eyes flaring with challenge. Like he was daring Meph to stop him, knowing full well he couldn’t.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Valefor said.
Iris hissed like a cat, twisting out of reach when he tried to pet her again.
Val turned his gaze to her. “You look so much like your mother.”
She screamed into her gag, eyes flashing with fury.
Valefor rose, coming to stand before Meph outside the sigil. He clasped his hands neatly. Meph wanted to rip his arms off and beat his skull in with them. He tried to focus through the haze of violence, but it was hard.
“You wanted to know how I found you,” Val said, “so I will explain. It was thanks to the Necromancer, actually. Months ago, Murmur created a siphoning spell to trace the route the Hunter used to escape Hell with the blood-born twins. He made a vow to Mishetsumephtai that he himself would not try to follow them to Earth, but the bargain never stated he could not enlist another to do so for him.
“When Murmur approached me with the offer, I readily accepted. I acquired the vial and used the magic to narrow the location down to Montreal. From there, I employed my own methods to...sniffout your whereabouts.”
He smiled thinly, but Meph didn’t get the joke.
“The Necromancer’s spell wasn’t powerful enough to determine your precise position. So, I found a hellhound den in my territory and took one of the pups from its mother. Too young to be on its own, its only instincts were to follow and imprint upon the nearest source of protection. A tracking spell with a sample of the hound’s blood enabled me to follow its progress. When I set it loose in the human city, I expected it to gravitate toward the only familiar scent of Hell—yours.
“But,” Valefor continued, a smile spreading across his face, “imagine my surprise when the pup led me not to the residence of demons, but to the home of one of the very witches I’d been hunting for decades. I’d suspected they were likely nearby, but I never expected it to bethateasy. And my fortune increased when you, Mephistopheles, the one I came to Earth to retrieve, turned up at that very same home.”
Iris made another furious shriek into her gag, but Meph’s head was reeling too much from the fact that an innocent puppy had betrayed them.Bad dog, Fausty.Bel would be so pissed when he found out his suspicions were correct. Best not to ever tell him.
Meph couldn’t be mad at the little hound though. He’d been taken from his mother and dropped in a human city in the middle of winter. How was a puppy supposed to know Val would track him? It was a diabolical plan, and it had worked.
“The injection I gave you is something I’ve had in my possession for a long time,” Valefor went on. “The blood came from a poor angel who got herself captured by demons several centuries ago, and I was lucky enough to acquire a sample.”
Blah, blah, blah.So he was rich enough to buy fancy angel blood. Big deal.
“If Belial so much as catches a whiff of your putrid ass, you’ll fry,” Meph slurred through his blood hangover. It wasn’t much of a threat, but what else could he say, currently missing a bunch of skin and trapped inside a sigil?
Valefor never lost that smug look. “I’m not concerned about Belial. The minute he went rogue, he lost his power. Lucifer will know the second he returns to Hell, and without his legions, well, there’s no question who would win that battle. Belial won’t take the risk.”
Fucking motherfuck, but he was right. As much as Meph was in need of rescuing at the moment, he hoped his brothers wouldn’t come after him. The consequences would be too steep.
Meph could accept that for himself. Sometimes, hard calls had to be made, and he was glad Bel knew when to make them.
But he couldn’t accept that fate for Iris. He refused to even consider it. No way was Iris getting stuck down here.
Meph met her gaze again, trying to communicate nonverbally. He didn’t have a clue how he was going to get her out yet, but he tried to tell her with his eyes that he was going to find a way.
Should start by sitting up.Yeah, that was a good plan.
Painstakingly, he turned onto the side that wasn’t missing skin and pushed into his hands. The room did a steady spin around him as he levered up. His head hung, hair falling in his eyes, but he didn’t pass out again. He had to be strong for Iris.
She made a muffled sound, and he glanced at her. Her eyes were full of fear, and she was staring at his bloody abdomen. He wanted to tell her he was fine, but he didn’t get a chance before Valefor started yammering again.
“So, now that we’re caught up, let us discuss our next steps and make a bargain.”
“I’m not agreeing to shit except to rip your head off and burn the pieces,” Meph said.
“You seem to forget that I hold all the power here. I know where your brothers are, I have your witch, and you’re the one trapped in the sigil.”
A valid point.
“Here are my terms: Shift, and the witch lives. Resist, and she dies.”
