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“Who the fuck are you?” he growled in a deep, ragged voice I didn’t recognize.
“Oisín Morningstar, Diana’s half-brother. Pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Azazel,” he said in a smooth, playful tone. “I heard a lot about you from my sister, mainly that you have the mostdreamyhair…and she’s curious if the carpet matches the drapes.” His voice wasn’t as deep as Desmond’s or Bash’s, but it had a strange calming effect. “I’m also known as Oscar, Kitty Boy, and Asshole Cat by Bash. But he only has the balls to call me that when you’re not around, Diana.”
Despite seeing him shift into a man with my own eyes, I refused to believe that this ginormous ginger was not only my pet cat, but my half-brother…as in we shared a parent? What in the Betty White was going on here?
“You’re my brother…as in we share Lucifer as a father?” I asked for clarification.
“Yes. Lucifer is our father. Michael is like my step-dad. My mother was a Druid Priestess from Ireland he met on a vacation.”
“I knew there was something off about your cat,” Zaz fumed. He wedged between us. “But I thought he was probably a familiar. Diana, your brother is one of the most dangerous beings in Hell. A skilled necromancer, hexer, and political manipulator, among other sick, twisted things.”
“I was a serial killer for a while, like a paranormalDexter. I’m also an artist, an assassin, and I play the saxophone. Azazel forgot shiftingamong my many magical talents. The correct term is actually body manipulation, because I’m not a shifter,” he corrected himself before turning into a flamingo.
His vibrant pink feathers looked so real, and I reached out to touch them. Azazel took my hand and snatched it back before I could feel them. Oisín shifted back to his human form, and a blue and white fireball sprang from his outstretched hand. “Diana and I share the talent of fire magic. AlthougheveryMorningstar can do that.”
“Are you the one who’s been sending those shifters after us? Why did you fade us here? Where are we?” I rapidly asked the questions in as even a tone as I could manage. I would not give this weirdo the satisfaction of knowing he threw me off balance.
“I’m not sure if you noticed, but I saved your life. That reptile shifter almost killed you. Fading you here was the first thing that popped into my mind. It worked out anyway, because now I can tell you the truth without getting unalived. Your Penis Parade is a bunch of possessive, psychotic, unreasonable men with a combined power signature high enough to kill an immortal. I actually got lucky that Azazel was the one who accidentally tagged along, because if it were Ares, we’d be locked in a battle to the death,” he responded coolly. His reasoning was sound. Azazel was the only one who would have asked questions before attacking.
“Stop avoiding her questions. What the fuck is going on?” Azazel used such an uncharacteristically angry tone, and something about this entire interaction made me uneasy.
“I come in peace, promise,” Oisín sing-songed as he crossed his heart with his finger. His yellow eyes fixed on me. They seemed so familiar, yet so strange. “Long story short, we have another half-brother, Damon–same Dad, but we all have different moms. He wants to rule over Hell and had a whole plan laid out–that you put a huge wrench in, sister. He told Red you existed and were an all-powerful threat to his position. Damon manipulated Red into putting a hit on you so you wouldn’t be in his way anymore.”
“How did he even know about me?! Where doyoucome into this whole shit show?” I asked, trying to absorb the shocking information that I had not one half-brother, buttwo. And one of them wanted me dead. “How do I know you aren’t working with him to bury me six feet under?”
“I owed him a debt–that I more than repaid–but he insisted I do one more job for him. He scares the shit out of me, so obviously I wasn’t going to say no. His Seer had foreseen that we have a half-sister who would win an epic war against Red, and that our father would regain the throne. Damon didn’t like that, so through research and a lot of blood magic, he found you. I was sent to spy on you,” he explained.
“You’re spying on me?!” I shouted. “What the fuck!” A blazing fireball sprang to life in my hands unbidden, and I had to fight the urge to throw it at him.
“No! Well, not really. I realized you had a soft spot for animals, and turned into a cat to convince you to bring me home. IhateDamon with a passion, and I’m tired of having to cow to him, so I was hoping you were all the things his Seer said you were. When you turned out not to be, I gave him sufficient evidence that you had no magic, but he asked me to keep my post. Obviously, I grew to adore you. It’s weird, because you don’t know me, but getting to know you has been great–you’re the sister I’ve always wanted. Even though I couldn’t respond, I listened to everything you said and tried to help you as much as I could.”
He sat down, and I followed suit. Azazel stayed standing, looming behind my chair like a sentinel of angsty protection.
“When you found your magic and your boys came into the picture, I told Damon nothing changed. I didn’t know he had an alliance with the reptile shifters and that they had other eyes on you. When he found out I was lying, I had to go into hiding. You and I parted ways for a bit when your Penis Posse took you, but Bash brought me to your new house, eventually. He said you missed me.”
“Okay, so why did you continue to stalk me as a cat?” I asked. “You should have come clean sooner… I let you sleep in my bed! I gave you tummy rubs and treatsall the time. I carried you around for fuck’s sake! Charlie and I used to talk to you in funny voices and make up your replies…we made complete asses of ourselves in front of you! Angela made you special food because you refused to eat cat food…”Which now makes sense, I suppose.It was fucking embarrassing that I told all my deepest thoughts and feeling to a stranger…not a cat who couldn’t understand me.
“Those voices were hilarious. Thank Lucifer I never laughed or I would have given myself away. It’s true–I didn’t have to spy on you anymore, but I stuck around because I wanted to make sure they treated you right, especially because you didn’t have Charlie or Angela to lean on…” he looked to the floor. “Those four are no joke, Diana. They’re some of the most dangerous, ruthless, and powerful beings in Hell.I’m sorry, but I was scared you would hate me and think I was creepy. And I just really enjoyed being around family, since Dad has been MIA for years.”
This whole situation was an exploded, crusty microwave dinner mess. I had to weigh my options. He’d been in the house with us and followed Desmond everywhere. Chances are he heard a lot of stuff we didn’t want him to know. Fuck, the guys were going to kill him, but I didn’t want him dead because he was my brother. I wasn’t even sure if he was telling the truth, but if everything checked out, I wanted to get to know him. It was also hard to deny that he’d be useful to us in finding our father and defeating Red and Damon.
“Azazel, how do I know he’s telling the truth?” I asked.
“Bash could explore his mind, make sure everything checks out,” he said aloud.I would ask to be included in Bash’s search though, because he won’t take kindly to having to share your attention with an additional man, even if he’s your family. Sharing isn’t usually in an incubus’ nature. Bash is an outlier among his kind, and he’s stretching himself by sharing you as it is.
“Betty White, help us,” I sighed.Why did I have to fall for a bunch of psychotic pricks?“This is a lot to deal with. Oscar–shit, sorry–Oisín, can you take us back to the house? The others are going to get really worried about us.”
“The longer we wait, the more time they’ll have to plot your death forkidnappingher,” Zaz quipped with a healthy measure of sarcasm.
“That would be hypocritical…since, ya know,they kidnapped her, too. I meant what I said, Diana. After Bash checks me out, I hope we can build a relationship and be real siblings. I want to support you in taking Red and Damon down. We can rebuild Hell together.”
The sentiment was touching, but until I knew for sure, I didn’t want to get attached to him just yet.
Chapter 12
“Was thatOisín Morningstar? The most accomplished necromancer in all four realms? The man who resurrected Beelzebub after he was taken out by the other members of the Demon Summit, strung every member up by their feet, slit their throats, and painted a self-portrait as payback?!” Judas fangirled, jumping up and down like he was at a One Direction concert. “The man is aLEGEND! The use of organ texture to break up all the different shades of red waschef’s kiss. I want that portrait for my personal collection!”
“Yeah, yeah it was,” Desmond grumbled. “And with how fucked up the Morningstar family is, He may not be coming in peace to spend quality time with his little sister. What thefuckdo we do now?!”
