The Price of Loyalty - Part Two

Chapter 4

The Price of Loyalty - Part Two

I was just as confused and concerned as Valefar was. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. I had no explanation for why I lit up like a pretty beacon, but I could hazard an educated guess.

When the light streamed from me, I felt that feral magnetism again. The tether to my fated mate had strengthened and the release of light felt like a desperate signal to him. Going to the Surface, being on the same plane as Renrik, meant that everything Hell had been suppressing since I turned eighteen, burst out of me in a glorious light show. That beam of light really was a beacon for Renrik to find me.

I didn’t voice my theories to Valefar. I parted my lips and shrugged at him innocently. “I didn’t do anything deliberately,” and I wasn’t lying. “Sorry, Master.”

“You’ve been acting so weird since your birthday,” Valefar grumbled and fixed his collar, ever obsessed with his image. When he turned away, I managed to catch what he added under his breath; “I’ve never seen a wolf do that before…”

Wolf. Not Hellhound...

I rested my hand on my chest in an attempt to tame my erratic heartbeat. Even though I was incredibly excited about being on the same plane of existence as my mate, I had to ground myself. We were on a job and distractions could lead to death. Yet, despite a lifetime of discipline Valefar had poured into me to keep me sharply focused, floods of fantasies swamped my mind and I was powerless to stop them.

Would my mate be handsome? Would he bother to tell me his name before he swept me off my feet and covered my body from head to toe in passionate kisses? I couldn't help but picture toned muscles pressed against the soft curves of my naked body. Thick fingers, rough but gentle, stroking up my inner thigh, inching ever closer to my -

"Sera! Seraphine!" Valefar had to shout my name a couple of times to snap me back to reality. I blinked away the images in my head, leaving me with red-hot cheeks.

Valefar noticed my blush. He stood dead-still and evaluated me. I swear I could see a glimpse of sadness and concern flicker in his eyes, before his features hardened and the ruthless demon I knew returned. He suddenly backtracked, stepping closer to me. "This was a mistake -"

"No -" I panicked. He was going to bring me back to Hell and this happy feeling tickling my body would be suppressed again. Even if I couldn't find my mate, I wanted to bask in this feeling of being somewhere near him for a little longer. "I'm sorry, Master. I can do this. I'm focused. Please, Master... Please Valefar, let me prove to you that I'm ready to work again."

Valefar frowned. Those calculating, violet eyes of his stared into my golden gaze. The back of his smooth fingers brushed against my cheek, still as warm as his demonic touch, and he considered his options. "My loyal Hellhound," he whispered, and I had to push down my urge to wince at his words. I didn't feel very loyal.

However, Valefar grinned, satisfied by my acting. "You'll be the death of me, Sera. Okay, let's give it a go. I'm counting on you, but if you put a paw out of line, you won't be back up here anytime soon." On cue, the runes around my wrists started to glow. A stark reminder of the power he had over me.

"I understand, Master."

~*~*~

Dealing with the human was as straightforward as Valefar said it would be. The man we visited was a thief who had struck a deal with Valefar. He wanted riches and a long life of wealth and indulgence. Valefar granted the man that wish, but the Duke of Hell wanted something in return. The human had prepared for this; no one made deals with devils for free, after all. He offered up his mortal soul, but that sort of common trade bored Valefar.

Valefar instead told the man to steal a book from the city’s archives for him. I wasn’t privy to what book it was or why Valefar wanted it, but the man had accepted the deal, thinking he’d gotten off lightly. It would be a simple heist. One last robbery before the human got to pack it all in and live a decadent life without an honest day’s work.

Evidently, it wasn’t as easy as the thief's previous heists.

The human thief, Dylan, cowered on the floor with his arms wrapped around his head, crying his eyes out. Valefar had commanded me into my wolf form, and I bared my fangs at Dylan. My large form dominated his view, forcing him to look at nothing but a potential future of death-by-Hellhound.

“Dylan,” Valefar approached from behind me. His fingers ran against the flow of my platinum fur and I had to fight the urge to bite the demon's hand off. He did it to deliberately make me uncomfortable. To add even more depth to my vicious snarling, scaring Dylan further.

“We had a deal,” Valefar cooed in a honeyed voice. “And time is running out. You’re enjoying your new life so far, yes? I can see that your house is adorned with so many fascinating, useless items. Very expensive items. You’d like to enjoy them a little longer, wouldn’t you?”

I could see the snot smear over Dylan’s lips as he squirmed in his corner. “Y-yes, sir,”

“Then you know what you need to do before the end of May, don’t you?”

“G-get you the book, sir!” Even as Dylan addressed Valefar, he couldn’t lift his head to look past me. My very presence terrified the man.

“Good,” Valefar nodded, satisfied. “Because if I don’t have that book in my hands before the first of June; my darling, loyal Hellhound here, will swallow you whole.”

Ugh. The thought of that wretched man in my mouth made me want to throw up, but I played my part well. My snout inched closer to Dylan, saliva dripping from my maw as though I was starving for his flesh. Still, I couldn’t help but feel some pity for the man. Valefar was not a nice person and his deals were never fair. Something about that book he wanted... Valefar knew from the start that Dylan wouldn’t be able to simply steal it.

“Now that we've cleared that up, sleep well, Dylan,” Valefar waved farewell to the human and sauntered off. He left me there to stare hungrily at Dylan until he called my name. “Sera!” And like a good little Hellhound, I dashed after my master.

Valefar dipped into an alleyway and I padded after him. In the shadows, he ordered me to shift back into my human form and I had no choice but to comply, thanks to the infernal runes. It was better to look like ordinary humans on the Surface. It meant we could walk around without drawing attention to ourselves.

Of course, it was already too late for that.

The light, my light, which had twinkled amongst the stars, had given Renrik a direction to sprint in. When he was close enough to catch my scent on the wind, he figured out my exact location.

When Valefar had wrapped up his business in the city, we marched into the quiet fields on the outskirts, looking for a deserted and inconspicuous place to summon the fiery path back to Valefar’s manor. Strangely enough, in all the conversations we overheard as we navigated through the human nightlife, not one person mentioned witnessing the beacon of light. It was as though those untouched by the ‘supernatural’ couldn't see it.

By the time we were away from the humans, Valefar was yapping about something else, but I had completely tuned out his words.

I sensed Renrik before I saw him. My heart drummed louder and faster, alerting me to the presence of my mate. Renrik was there, somewhere in the treeline bordering the field, stalking through the night and watching from the shadows.

I considered telling Valefar about it, but after our earlier chat, he would probably react poorly to the news. On the other hand, he encouraged the rare couples who'd discovered their fated mates in Hell to live out their lives together. I realize now that he was more excited about the prospect of new Hellhounds, rather than the romance of it all. Still, perhaps… Perhaps he’d show that elusive side to me. The side that would want me to find my mate and for me to be happy and in love...

“Sera?”

“Master, if I-”

But that was enough for Renrik. As soon as he heard me utter the word ‘Master’, something must have snapped inside him.

“Sulfur,” Renrik growled as his smokey-black form emerged from the darkness. Ice-blue eyes threatened Valefar, and he bared his fangs, nose twitching as the stench of Hell assaulted him. “You’re a demon.”

Valefar swirled on the heels of his polished shoes, violet eyes narrowing as he took in the wolf. “And you…" He tilted his head to the side, quizzically. "... Seem familiar...”