May 8, 2023

Queen

I sat in boredom on the couch as a news channel played on the television in the background. Saint and I spent the day inside doing the bare minimum as I was too big of a pussy to go outside in the woods. I was strong enough to fight off any trouble out there if there was any, but that looming danger of Drake appearing wasn't what scared me. It was the forest itself.

Trees and trees going on for miles without rest would've seemed beautiful to most people, but I couldn't stand it. I liked looking in any direction and knowing where there was an exit, but in this place, I couldn't see or hear anything but the fucking trees and the things that reside among them.

You couldn't know what threat was lurking unless they were right in your face and trying to get inside the damn cabins with an ax.

"You've watched too many scary movies, Queen," I whispered to myself and took a few deep breaths. I reached for the remote and wrapped the blanket around myself as I flipped through the channels. When I stopped on one, I saw a masked figure watching a woman through her window. When the camera zoomed out, there was an aerial view of a secluded cabin and I almost sobbed in my spot.

I held a hand over my mouth as I glanced at all the points of entry around me and wondered if I had truly locked everything. Stewing in my doubt in myself, I did a full check once again and sat back down.

As soon as I began to relax more on the couch the sound of thunder outside made me jump. It was shortly followed by rain and I closed my eyes. Fuck. Relax. What made all of this worse was that even if I wanted to call Syn, I couldn't. He had my phone. If anything were to happen, I'd have to deal with it.

How'd I go from the Queen of Hell to a woman who was hiding out and shivering in this living room?

The sound of thunder made me jump once again, but it was accompanied by the lights around me flickering. After a few moments they returned but I was still left completely unsettled.

I sat back on the couch and laid a hand over my chest. Nothing was happening, I was just being dramatic. Stuff like this only happened in movies and no one besides Syn would come here tonight-

Ding-Dong!

My eyes snapped to the front door and I immediately sat up. A powerful knock shortly followed it and I quietly stood up on my feet and slithered to the door. It couldn't be Syn. This was his place and I saw him take his keys with him.

I scurried to the door and looked through the peephole to see a tall man standing on the other side. His hair was soaked from the rain and his hands were buried in the pockets of his dark hoodie. "Who are you?" I asked.

At the sound of my voice, I watched as a slow Cheshire smile spread across his lips. "Who are you?"

"No. You're the intruder here. You don't ask the questions."

"From where I'm standing you're the intruder," he retorted, crossing his arms. "I'm looking for Syn."

"I don't know who that is," I lied, my voice wavering slightly at my nervousness.

"So you're squatting in a man's house and don't have the decency to learn his name?"

"Excuse me?" I said in shock. "A squatter?! Do I look like a squatter?"

"I can't really see you to answer that question, sweetheart." He smile remained on his face as he looked around once again. When he looked back at the door, his eyes immediately landed on the peephole and I jumped backward. "Open the door."

"No. I don't know who you are."

"You realize I don't really need your permission to come inside, right?" He said in amusement. "I do have a key." He held up a single silver key to the door teasingly before sighing. "But I'm a gentleman so I'm giving you the option to be kind."

"How the hell do you have a key?!"

"It was under the mat." He shrugged. "I would've expected Syn to know better than that, but I suppose he's been a bit...preoccupied."

"Okay." I nodded slowly. "How do you know him?"

"We work together closely," he said. "I'm in charge of his security personnel at the moment. If that's not enough for you, I'm good friends with your brother."

"My brother?"

"Cain."

"So you know who I am?" I asked in frustration as I opened the door and peeked my head out. "Why did you pretend not to know me?"

He shrugged. "It was fun."

"If you are who you say you are." I swallowed. "Call Syn."

"Why can't you call him?" He raised a brow. "Don't you have a phone?"

"I-..." He waited silently, a condescending smile still playing on his face. I didn't have my phone but there was no way I'd let a practical stranger know I was alone at home with no way of communicating with anyone. "I do. I'd just like to see you do it."

"Hmm." He pulled out his phone. "As you wish then." He opened his phone and tapped away. A moment later, the sound of ringing boomed through the phone as we silently waited for someone to answer.

"Hello?" Relief flowed through me as I heard Syn's deep voice. It was however quickly replaced with embarrassment when the man gave me an I told you so look.

"Syn," he said. "I'm at the cabin and this...lovely lady is gatekeeping the door. Would you kindly tell her to move?"

"Give her the phone," he said.

The man turned the phone to me and I accepted it with a cringe on my face. I closed the door in the man's face before taking his phone off speaker and holding it to my ear. "Yes?"

"I completely forgot to tell you he was coming, but you can trust him. Let him inside and I'll be there in about twenty minutes."

"Who is he?" I asked.

"I'll explain everything when I get there. Just trust me." The call ended as soon as he finished the sentence and I sighed. I opened the door, not looking forward to being teased about being wrong and the man strolled in right past me.

I closed the door slowly, still keeping my distance as he disappeared down the hall. "Umm? Hello, where are you going?!" I hurried to follow behind him.

"To my room."

He opened the door to the room on the left of the hallway furthest from the kitchen and I followed, crossing my arms. He tossed his things onto the bed and lifted his wet hoodie over his shirt immediately and threw it to the floor. "A little privacy would be nice." He smiled as he removed his white t-shirt. His hands moved to the buckle of his jeans and my eyes widened in shock.

"Can you stop undressing?!"

"I can't undress in my own room?" He asked, tilting his head.

I rolled my eyes. "Who are you?" I asked again. "You know who I am so it's only fair that you tell me your name."He sighed, wiping his hair with a towel and remaining silent. "Fine. You said you know my brother. How?"

"We're business partners."

"What type of business partners?"

"Are you always so nosey?"

"It's curiosity."

He let out an irritated breath and shook his head before holding a hand out. "I'm Paris."

"Paris what?" I ignored his offer of a handshake.

He dropped his hand, scoffing at my reluctance. "Just Paris."

I heard footsteps from down the hall and a moment later, Syn was at the door, looking between the both of us. He raised a brow at me before his eyes moved to Paris and I grimaced. This couldn't have looked good. Me in his room, and him being shirtless with his hand on his belt as he stood a few feet away from me.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asked, crossing his arms as he leaned against the doorframe.

"I-"

"No," Paris answered for me. "She was just giving me the third degree about who I was, understandably. There is a child in the home after all."

"Hmm." Syn hummed, his eyes still on me. "Put on a shirt Paris and meet me in the living room when you're done."
Syn spun around with ease, leaving our view and I began to follow after him.

"You're welcome," Paris said from behind me.

I glanced at him, giving him an annoyed look before closing his door and walking down the hall to Syn's bedroom. I walked into the room, seeing him sit at the edge of his bed with his head in his hands.

I knocked on the door with my knuckles to get his attention and he peeked up at me. I noticed the tired expression on his face and I frowned as I closed the door behind me and walked deeper into the room. "Are you okay?"

He simply nodded.

"You look stressed." I pointed out.

"I'm okay. Where's Saint?"

"In his room," I said. "He fell asleep a couple of hours ago."

"Okay." He nodded slowly, removing his watch and placing it on the bedside table. He raised a hand over his shoulder, craning his neck with a small groan.

"Long day?" I asked, trying to diffuse the tension in the room.

"Something like that," he said. A moment later, he turned to me and looked at me seriously. "I need to ask you a few questions."

"Okay...go ahead."

He stood up and my eyes followed him as he pulled a chair from the table and placed it directly in front of me. He sat down and reached into the jacket of his suit. A folded manila envelope was in his hands and he sighed before leaning his elbows into his arms and looking into my eyes. "Nothing but the truth, okay?"

"You're scaring me," I whispered. "Just ask."

"We have codes in Hell, Queen. You know this, correct? I assume Lucifer told you about them before he let you have the throne..."

"Yeah..." I nodded.

"So why the fuck..." he sucked in a breath, stopping himself from continuing his sentence and my heart sank. He was pissed. Whatever this conversation was going to be about, I was on the receiving end of it. "For centuries, my father had detailed accounts of every single thing done in the Underworld, whether good or bad. We kept everything recorded so that if at any point in time any people- Heaven mainly, wants to accuse us of anything we haven't done."

"Right." I nodded. "I know that."

He let out a bitter laugh and shook his head. "My father's was over millions of pages. He reported everything to his confidants and they made sure that it was documented. It's an easy fucking process. I've been King for one year and there are almost a thousand pages. Yet you..." he held up the envelope. "...two years and three pages of bullshit!...

...How do you explain that?"

꧁꧂

Author's Note
Lawddddddd😩

There's actually quite a bit to unpack in this chapter, huh?
First of all, we got to see Queen meet Paris for the first time hehe. For those of y'all that don't remember, he made an appearance in Book 2. How do y'all like him so far?

Next thing...o. M. G. Syn is PISSED😭 idek what to ask y'all, im just scared about what's gonna happen next.

Lmk your thoughts 🙈❤️