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The girl shot to her feet, startling me and knocking me on my ass in the dirt. She ran in the opposite direction of the guys. Cerberus swung one of his heads to watch her flight path, while one of his others focused on me for instruction.
"Let her go," I muttered as I climbed to my feet, brushing myself off. That was the thanks I got for helping her, I supposed. Mortals were strange creatures, but that wasn't the purpose of our visit. I had just happened on the scene when I came from the portal.
The King of Demons wanted his son home. He'd been gone too long. And I was the lucky errand boy to come retrieve himthis time. Bellamy was a pain in my ass, he always had been ever since he was a kid and his brother, Tristan, disappeared. He had followed me around for months. Inserting himself into my life until I accepted him as a friend. But that was old news, we weren’t friends anymore.
"Come on, Cer, we won't find the incubus in the forest," I said, patting my loyal companion on his middle head as the other two tried to lick my hand. Casting a glamour over him, I picked up his leash to present the impression that we were only out for a nighttime walk.
We exited the woods on the edge of a mortal college campus. If Bellamy was feeding anywhere, he'd find anything he was craving here. A few girls gave us a courtesy glance before crossing the street and continuing away from us. It wasn't Cerberus that made them react that way. There was something about being Hades's son that clung to me even when I wasn't in the underworld. A darkness that I couldn't really control. Sometimes I wished I had more of my mom's traits. At least she could create a life out of nothing, and I didn’t mean the flowers.
After a few hours of searching, I gave up and headed toward Lex's club. It wasn't like he could throw me out. We used to be best friends, but all of that changed years ago. I wasn't even sure anymore where the rift in our friendship came from. The prick would have to deal with my presence; he wasn't fooling anyone living in this realm. He was still as dark as the rest of us. A tiger can't change its stripes, and he was a predator just like me.
The troll stepped in front of me as I approached the building. Lex heavily glamoured it, a random mortal wouldn't even accidentally get inside. If there were humans in there, then they knew what they were getting into.
"Race," he said in a bored tone.
"God," I replied, and dropped the glamor on Cerberus. "Unseelie," I added, gesturing to my companion.
His enormous eyes got even larger as he stumbled over his words and sort of bowed. "Lord Alastor, I didn't recognize you." He stepped aside, and I passed him without even an acknowledgment of his words. It was a normal reaction. It got boring. Yeah, I was technically a God, but I was low level, and I would rule nothing, not that I even wanted that responsibility. The only reason he knew my name had everything to do with my three-headed dog, and nothing to do with me.
The pounding music filtered down the hallway into the large room beyond. I released the leash for Cerberus, and he walked next to me, his three heads snapping at anything that got too close. He was my protection, not that I actually needed it, but my mom insisted. We circled the dance floor; I searched the room for Bellamy. He could be here.
Spotting Lex across the room, I headed in that direction. He was serving drinks like he was some low-level demon, smiling and making conversation with everyone surrounding the bar. His glowing good looks made me scowl. It was apparent, at least to me, that the supernatural's crowded around the bar were there for him and not the drinks. If only they knew how dark his heart was. At least I didn't pretend to be something I wasn't. It was all coming back to me, how our friendship failed.
My steps faltered as a goddess of a woman stepped up to the bar. A large dragon-kin as her bodyguard loomed behind her. She was dressed in all black, the leather pants appeared painted on her skin. A crop top showed off the jewel adorning her belly button as she leaned over the counter, a flirty smile on her face for Lex. Her hair was a platinum, almost the exact color of the endless sea in Tartus. I wasn't close enough to see her eyes, but I was positive they would be as beautiful as the rest of her.
My very soul recognized her, craved her like no one before. This was more than an attraction. This was love, the kind myfather had for my mom, and just like my father, I wanted to lock this beauty away until she loved me back.
Cerberus nudged my hand, and I absently stroked his fur. He nipped at my fingers as I ignored him, getting more determined in his bites. The woman flirted with Lex as her bodyguard leaked smoke from his nose. That was interesting. Had the dragon already claimed the girl? Cerberus got more determined and engulfed my entire hand. Finally, I pulled my gaze back to him. One of his heads was staring across the room. I lifted my eyes up, finding the demon I had been searching for, as focused on the woman as I had been.
It was no wonder, I was only surprised the whole place wasn't watching her. I had a job to finish that didn't include the beauty. I'd come back for her. Bellamy looked over as I approached, and a scowl crossed his face.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, his tone saying he thought I was an ass-kisser more than his words ever would. As he moved his gaze away from me, dismissing me, I knew without looking that the enchantress had left the bar. He tensed, ready to spring from the booth and hunt.
"No hunting here, there are rules, Bellamy," I said.
"Go away, fucker," he muttered. "Tell my father I'm not coming back. I don't want to rule, and he should have another kid."
"I won't be doing any of that," I replied as I slid into the seat across from him.
He rolled his eyes but still didn't give me his attention.
"Her bodyguard won't let you close, you know how dragon-kin are," I said as my gaze joined his in watching the woman.
"He's not her bodyguard, she's a hunter of Orion. She hunts demons and kills them," he growled.
"How do you know that?" I asked, truly curious how he would have learned that information.
"She has the dagger that was given to the family by Artemis. Do you really think my father wouldn't have drilled what it looked like into my head? There, on her upper thigh, I saw it last night when I danced with her." He pointed at one of the many weapons she had secured to her legs. It had a bow and arrow carved into the hilt and an animal head at the top.
"She is a hunter, and she let you, a demon, dance with her," I said.
He grinned but didn't reply.
"You're playing with fire. That isn't like the witch's tools, she will kill you, not send you back home." Sure, Bellamy annoyed the shit out of me, but that didn't mean I wanted him dead. His dad would be pretty pissed, too. He'd probably start a war over it.
"You doubt my skills? I'm a demon prince, not some low-level demon. My power is probably more than hers. She is no match for me." He leaned back into the seat, casting his face in shadows. The steady thump-thump-thump of his tail beneath the table was the only sign that he didn't believe his words.
"Regardless, I'm not letting you test that theory because you are coming home today." My words were barely out of my mouth before he was springing to his feet and heading across the room as if he was a moth drawn to the flame.
