I started to take another sip, then spluttered, dribbling tea down my front. “Shit! Ezra, what if something really bad happened? What if … what if his dad died, or … or the orgy last night got out of control, and they burned down the castle? Can a castle in Hell even burn down? It’s made of stone, that’s not flammable, is it?”

I set down my tea, pacing to the spot he’d disappeared from as if I could somehow will the portal to reappear and him to step through, all ready to head back to bed and let me pick up where I’d left off.

“Wait. Back up a step.” Ezra’s eyes were bugging out of his head. “There was an orgy?”

“Well … it was verging on one when I arrived. You could just feel it in the air. There were small groups starting to … pleasure each other.”

“You didn’t …with SJ … in the ballroom …?” Ezra winced.

“Eww, no! We had complete privacy for what we got up to. Even the Hounds stayed away. And PS, that totally sounded like someone’s guess in a Cluedo game. ‘Was it Prince Satan Junior, in the Ballroom, with the⁠—’”

My breath caught in my throat as swirling lights flashed, like a disco strobe, spreading until they framed a person-sized hole, which SJ stepped through.

He smirked in a way that all at once had my lady bits tingling and my heart trying to slam its way out of my chest. Because while that curl of his lips was sinfully sexy, there was something … off about his eyes. Something cold and determined … and infinitely sad.

The Hounds’ snouts poked out of the portal, distracting me for a moment. As if she sensed them, Luci dashed from the laundry, dooking madly. She took a flying leap, landing on Bub’s shoulders. His tongue lolled out of his mouth, his tail wagging frantically.

Why couldn’t I get that sort of greeting? If SJ was in his devil form, would he wag his red tail with excitement to see me?

“I have a surprise for you.” SJ’s voice snapped me from my silly thoughts. He sounded like an exhausted parent trying their hardest to be playful for their exuberant toddler. My chest tightened another notch.

Something was wrong. Whatever had happened down in Hell, he’d come back … different. Dread crept along my spine like a piece of ice dropped down the back of my T-shirt, but I forced a grin onto my face.

“You do?” I tentatively stepped closer, hoping that he was just acting weird because he’d had to deal with ‘Yellin’ Hellen’. She sounded like an absolute piece of work; no wonder he’d returned a bit off.

Yes, that must be it, I told myself as I reached for his hand. He just needs me to give him a bit of Bliss, and he’ll be back to his usual self again.