I looked from the gel to the hotel and back again. “Mouse House Hotel? Seriously? This is laying low?”

The man shrugged, leather creaking with the movement. We really needed to get our clothing dry cleaned. It was too pretty to be ruined by zombie blood. “If I’m going to be half-fallen, I might as well take advantage of the benefits.”

“Benefits?”

“Of course. A dash of glutton and a pinch of greed and here we are.” His gaze settled on me, the irises flaring brighter. “There’s also more than a handful of lust.”

I shuddered and it wasn’t my demon half that responded to his words. No, it was those other parts. The purity from my unicorn father urged me to step away, but my inner wolf whimpered and whined, telling me to go to him. Ever since I hit six hundred, the animal’s biological clock began tick, tick, ticking. The beast decided the half-fallen angel seemed like the perfect male to father my pups.

Bad furball. Bad. I mentally flicked it on the nose and the wolf snapped at me. Dammit, I should have made time for a shift and run lately. The animal was edgy not just from craving babies but also because it wanted to feel the wind in its fur. But knowing that didn’t negate my desire for the angel with no name. A fact I’d rectify as soon as we got off the street.

“An-ee-way.” I stepped off the curb, boots thumping against the asphalt as I strode toward the door. “I’m assuming you have a room, then?”

The gel jogged to catch up to me and paced at my side. A gentle glow came from his palm and then a slim, credit-card sized room key appeared in his hand. “Something like that.”

We walked into the hotel, pretending we weren’t covered in zombie blood and stank of their rotted flesh. The only shining light in this whole bullshit cluster fuck was the fact we both wore black so the zombie blood blended in. Though the gel did have a little hunk of gray brain on his shoulder… If I pretended it wasn’t there, maybe no one would notice.

We stopped in front of a bank of elevators, and I stared at my reflection in the polished doors. Damn, I was caked with gore and… I pressed my palms flat against my skull, exposing my roots more fully. I so needed a dye job. Bad. Maybe I could have the concierge run out and grab me some black and red colors from the shop down the stree—

The low ding of the elevator announced its arrival. A quick press of a button, slide of a key card, and we rose, finally depositing us on one of the upper floors. There were only two doors, two suites, on our level and I followed the gel when he turned right.

Another slip of the card granted us entrance. Once the door thumped shut behind us, I turned toward the solid panel of wood and metal that kept the world out. It was thick and heavy, I’d give the hotel that, but it wouldn’t stand up against one of those green-eyed freaks. I fingered the flimsy brass lock. The hotel shouldn’t have even bothered installing a lock at all. This was nothing.

I knew Uncle Luc was probably pissed at me, but I’d try to tug a little hellfire free anyway. Just a tiny bit. Hardly a breath, really. My fingers tingled, the warmth heating my heart as well as my hand, and I reached for the lock. I’d give the metal a nice boost to add a little strength and then we’d at least have a warning thud or two when someone tried to get in.

I ghosted my touch over the cool metal, getting a feel for the barrier, and took a low breath, ready… to… relea—

“What do you think you’re doing?” the gel hissed in my ear, his voice low and filled with disbelief as he grasped my wrist to halt my progress.

“I’m protecting us.” I tugged against his hold, but he didn’t budge.

“I don’t need you to pull on Hell and—”

“I don’t need you interfering with—”

“Do you really want—”

“Yes, I really want—”

An all too familiar voice cut us both off.

“And I really want,” the deep, sophisticated male’s words slid through the air and a warm breeze followed in his wake, “to know who you are and why you’re touching my niece.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and scrunched my nose. “Dammit,” I huffed. “You should let go.” I jerked my head toward the newcomer. “He’s cut me off anyway.”

“He?” The moist, heated breath against my ear sent a sliver of need down my spine.

I really, really wanted this gel. Really.

“Me.” The single syllable hit me and then the gel was gone, his body ripped away and a deep thump reached me.

I sighed and turned to face the center of the suite, pasting on a wide smile. “Uncle Luc, this is a surprise. How are you?” He grinned at me. Probably because I remembered my manners. Mostly. “And what, by all that is On High, are you doing here?”

My uncle flinched at the mention of his adversary and ex-home. I figured he deserved that little dig after denying me help when I was trying to avoid being zombie food.

“I came to check on you.” He sniffed, nose in the air as he tugged on his cufflinks. On High forbid he stepped out of Hell looking anything other than his best. “I felt your pull and know of your little disagreement with the thelac warrior. I was going to dispose of him, but thought I’d ask first.” His smile widened, exposing his pristine white teeth. They had some kick ass dentists in Hell. “See how considerate I can be?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, don’t kill the puppy.”

“Fine,” he sighed. “Now, what about this one?” He flicked his hand toward the gel still pinned to the wall. “Can I send this one somewhere? He touched you and he is already half-fallen. I haven’t had one of those in a while.”

I hated to disappoint my uncle, he looked so hopeful, but it wasn’t happening. “No, leave him alone, too.”

He glared at me but waved his hand toward the angel and released him. “There. You ruined my fun. Now, mind telling me what is happening in your life? The thelac was a little flicker of flame, but you yanked on my realm so hard you nearly brought one of my demons to your side. Yet you did nothing with the fire.” Uncle Luc closed in on me. “You haven’t done that since Chicago. It would be nice to have a repeat of that little episode, infans. What fun to be had.”

I glared at him. Set an entire city on fire one time and it was thrown in my face for eternity. “Nothing’s wrong. I just had a little hiccup, but I’m fine.” I so wasn’t telling him the truth. Instead, I waved my hand toward the suite’s door. “You saw me using hellfire just fine a second ago. Everything is in perfect working order.”

“Yes, but that does not answer my question.” He closed in on me and I took a step back. I wasn’t afraid of Uncle Luc really. I was just… afraid of Uncle Luc. “What caused you to pull from the ninth circle for no reason?”

“Um…” I hadn’t realized I’d gone so deep. I typically stuck to the first or second circle and Uncle Luc was none the wiser.

Thankfully-ish, the crack of wood and screech of metal cut off the rest of my words as the room’s door crumbled. In a blink I was shoved behind a large male, the broad shoulders and barely restrained strength making the pink parts of me ache. As that first bolt of arousal hit, it was then followed by a wave of disgust. My uncle? I was lusting after my uncle?

Gag.

The man looked over his shoulder and his gaze clashed with mine. Oh. The gel blocked my view, not my uncle. Okay then, commence with the lusting and pink-part-aching.

When the angel’s attention returned to the main entrance, I peeked around his body. Uncle Luc stood a few feet in front of us and slightly to the right which gave me room to see the entryway.

To see it and watch… Papa Al—Alrick—stride past the splintered mess he created. I groaned and retreated to press my forehead against the gel’s back.

“You shouldn’t make those sounds, amica.” The gel’s deep voice vibrated through me. “It gives a man ideas. Even if he is an angel.”

Amica. Sweetheart. Right. I wasn’t anyone’s “sweetheart.”

A deep growl reminded me we had an audience. When that sound was followed by a flare of heat, I knew my father and uncle were about to go toe-to-toe and I had to get my ass in gear.

Stepping past the gel and nudging him aside when he attempted to keep me back, I moved to the two males about to do battle.

Uncle Luc had a nice roar going. “She is my niece.”

“Well, I’m her father. Caith is my daughter.” No one could deny Papa Al was right.

“One father of many,” my uncle sneered. Well, he was right, too.

“Only because your sister didn’t want Caith ending up an evil asshole like you.”

Another point to Papa Al. Mom had really been trying to have a baby who wasn’t totally evil. Hence the hellborne mojo that gave me five fathers. Literally, five donors. At least I preferred to think of them as donors. I did not want to contemplate the mess that accompanied my magical gang-bang conception. My flare to life included a petri dish, not a penis. Or five.

The heat increased and sweat dappled Papa Al’s forehead. I noticed Uncle Luc’s narrowed eyes. “Did you just call me an asshole?”

Hokay then. I placed my hand on Uncle Luc’s forearm, wincing at the sting that came with touching the High Lord of Hell. “Let’s slow our roll here.” The heat grew even more. “Uncle Luc,” I stepped in front of him and blocked my father. “You both care about me, isn’t that enough?”

The snort from the angel couldn’t have come at a worse time. The fiery gaze of my uncle swung to the man and Papa Al’s had as well.

Papa Al began, “Who—”

“—are you?” Uncle Luc finished.

I slid myself between the angel and my family. “This is…” I gestured behind me, wracking my brain for his name, realizing he hadn’t actually introduced himself. “This is…”

“Sam.” His deep voice rolled over me and my wolf whimpered.

Stupid, stupid, horny wolf. Confused, I turned and gave him a questioning look. Kind of a bland name for a gel. On High wasn’t known for simple or generic.

He just shrugged. “Samkiel, if you wanna get technical.”

Right. Wonderful. Angel of destruction. At least the sword made sense now.

“Right. Sam, meet my Uncle Luc and one of my fathers, Alrick Fallon.”

The creak of dried leather announced that Sam stepped away from me and then his large form entered my peripheral vision. I turned, giving me a better look at the large, alluring gel. He tilted his head ever so slightly. “Dark Lord,” he addressed my uncle, “and High Wolf, nice to meet you.”

Yeah, Mom couldn’t bump uglies with just any werewolf, it had to be the biggest and baddest. Papa Al was the werewolf in North America. Hell, he often said he could have South America, too. He just didn’t want the bother.

Both powerful males glared at Sam and no one said a word. The silence strained my nerves until I snapped.

“Look, either whip out your dicks and grab a ruler, or we can talk like reasonable adults.” All three males glared at me.

Well, my uncle didn’t, but that’s because he was a little bit evil and uncaring. If anything, pride filled his features. My dad, however, looked disgusted and Sam… was anything but. No, he was very, very interested in whipping his cock out. It wasn’t just his look that told me, either. It was his body, the way he breathed, the way he smelled. My wolf was out in full force and each passing second increased its need for the angel.

“Caith Belinha Morningstar!” Papa Al was obviously outraged.

Uncle Luc chuckled.

Sam merely whispered, “Anytime, amica.”

At least I’d broken the tension. “So, Papa, Uncle, what brings you two to my door?”

“I already told you, Caith.” Uncle Luc glared.

“Eron called me,” Alrick snapped and I groaned.

“Eron?” Of course, Sam couldn’t stay quiet.

“One of my other dads. He’s Father Earth—”

“Not Mother Earth?” Sam interrupted, laughter lingered in his tone.

I sighed. I’d explained this so, so many times. “Mother Earth is great, but she’s working with a limited reproductive system. Know what I mean?” If I stayed clinical, I might not be grossed out. “Whereas Father Earth can, uh, plant his seeds everywhere.” Nope, I got grossed out and fought the urge to heave. “Between him being my dad and the Father Earth gig, he can sense my emotions. He was supposed to contribute the whole nurturing-slash-love of nature genes to the biological soup pot.” I rolled my eyes and focused on Sam. “That hasn’t quite kicked in yet.” Turning back to my family, I gave them a rapid, if sugarcoated, run down of events.

“Green eyes?” Uncle Luc murmured.

“Yes, green eyes.”

“And they were aware?” Papa Al’s words held more than a little skepticism.

“Very. The big guy nearly took my head off. On purpose. And I don’t think he had fresh brains in mind.” That was such a big deal in zombieland. Huge.

“Hmm…” Uncle Luc turned to Papa Al. “The little tweens won’t talk to me.” He flicked a few fingers, gesturing toward the door. “Why don’t you speak with them? I’ll see to her protection.”

My uncle said the word tweens as if they were lower than dirt. And since all five of my fathers were tweens…

And the offended growl in three… two…

Instead, Papa Al didn’t make a sound. He did glare though. “I’ll accept your dismissal. For now. But you and I will go claw to claw soon, asshole.” Papa Al stomped to me, and despite his fury, he cupped my cheek with a gentle hand. “You take care of yourself, baby girl.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead and his love flowed over me in a gentle wave. It soothed the frayed edges of Hell’s fire as well as the bristling fur of my wolf and I released a soft sigh. “I’ll call you if I hear anything,” he murmured against my skin. When he pulled back, he focused on Sam. “You’ll be here with her, Samkiel? You’ll use that sword of yours?”

“Of course.” Those two words struck my soul and reassured me more than I wanted to admit.

I didn’t need a man to take care of me, dammit. I opened my mouth to tell my father just that, but snapped my teeth together when I became the subject of his serious stare.

Papa Al’s gaze searched mine. “If he’s what you want, Caith, take it. Your wolf knows. I know you hate the beast but—”

“No,” I shook my head. “I don’t hate my wolf. I just don’t understand her.”

Hundreds and hundreds of years and I still didn’t quite get the animal inside me.

“You don’t have to understand its desires. You just have to listen.”

Desires… He really shouldn’t have said that word. Then again, my father knew me well and obviously knew my wolf wanted Sam. Hell, all of my parts wanted Sam in my bed.

“I’ll call. Love you,” another murmur and then he was gone, striding through the suite, stomping over the debris until I could no longer see him.

Uncle Luc clapped his hands together. “Now that the dog is gone—”

“Uncle Luc,” I snapped. He may be the High Lord of Hell, but it didn’t mean he had to be an asshole.

“I think it does mean that.” The tempting voice filled my ear and I realized I’d said that aloud. Nice.

I groaned and dropped my head back. Instead of looking at the ceiling, my head thumped against a very wide, very firm chest, and I looked into a pair of all too tempting pale blue eyes.

My wolf whined and rolled to its back, baring its belly.

I was in so much trouble.

“Ahem.” Uncle Luc’s dry tone pulled my attention from Sam. “Tell your plaything to close his eyes.”

“Uncle Luc, you can be a little nice—”

“I can be exactly what I am. Now, tell the toy before I burn them out of his empty little head.”

Ugh, my uncle was such an asshole.

Sam chuckled and I wondered if I’d said that aloud. When my uncle didn’t snarl, I assumed I hadn’t. But how…

Heat that had nothing to do with my uncle and everything with the gel, surrounded me. “Your anger, your annoyance… It’s in your tone,” he ran his nose along my neck like I’d seen wolves do. “Your scent.”

I shuddered. Not from fear, but from desire. Dammit, I did not need this. Especially with a fucking gel, even if he was half fallen.

The scent of sulfur banished the angel’s musk and I focused on my uncle as he repaired the door and then brushed the frame with ghosts. Actual ghosts.

“Uncle Luc,” I whined. “You can’t leave them there.” I glared when he flashed an innocent expression.

The man hadn’t been innocent in his entire life.

He huffed. “They won’t make a sound unless someone tries to break the barrier and these don’t have eyes or ears. They’ll simply sense the presence and shout.”

At least he’d learned his lesson after that perverted ghost he tied to my bedroom door when I was sixteen.

“You swear?” My eyes narrowed.

“On my own fires of Hell.” He pressed a hand to his heart. Or rather, where it’d be if he had one.

“Good enough.” I jerked my head in a quick nod.

“Call me if you need help.” He spread his arms wide.

I rolled my eyes and stepped forward, allowing him to wrap me in a hug that was almost comforting. It totally would have been if it weren’t for the race of hellfire that accompanied the hold.

“I promise, I will. I’ll scream for you all.”

“And we will come running, infans.” With that, I got another kiss to the forehead. Uncle Luc pulled away, flashed a glare at Sam, and was gone in a flurry of sulfur.

“That was… interesting. Eclectic family.” Sam’s voice cut into my thoughts and my wolf rushed forward, aching for him.

I fisted my hands, tightening until my nails dug into flesh. My skin itched and stung with the animal’s fight to be free and I knew what’d happen if the beast got control. I’d throw myself at the man. I’d drop to my knees and beg to be taken over and over again.

Horny bitch.

It agreed.

“Yeah, my family’s a little different,” I snapped, still fighting my wolf.

“I’d heard the rumors…”

All of On High, tween, and Hell had heard the rumors. It was what caused more than one cocky male to make a pass at me.

Just because my mother made love with five men to conceive me didn’t mean I played that game. And it was making love. Mom cared for each of my fathers as much as the sister of Lucifer could. They still had their dicks when all was said and done, and for Mom, that was the closest thing to true love.

My hellfire stirred, sliding forward and lurking behind my wolf’s coiled form. “Contrary to popular belief, I am not my mother’s daughter. Orgies are not my thing.”

“Good to hear.” He strolled forward, predatory menace in each step. He was so very, very dangerous.

He closed in on me until his warmth overrode the fires of Hell and his scent filled my nose. I was so aware of him. Every cell in my body called for him, his touch and taste. He leaned toward me, lowering his head until his mouth hovered above mine. Would he be sweet or smoky? I’d heard gels were all about purity and light, but he wasn’t a pure gel anymore…

His voice sank into me, stroking every nerve as if it were his hand, and banking the fire that roared in my veins. “Because when I finally make you scream my name, there will only be the two of us.”

The wolf said yes please, and when his orbs flared with red-hued need and he flashed me a smirk, I wondered if he’d heard the animal. Instead of commenting, he took a step back, stealing the comfort of his nearness.

“You can have the shower first.”

I licked my lips and shook my head, trying to banish the arousal that clouded my mind. “Shower?”

“Shower. Quit looking at me like you want to eat me. If you don’t, I’ll taste you right here and now, Caith.” Aching desire filled his words.

“But,” I blinked, still battling my want. “But gels don’t…”

“No, but half-fallens know about pleasure. So, unless you want my hands on you…”

Oh, I did. I very, very much did… Instead of succumbing to him, I went against every instinct. I did something I hadn’t done since I was a toddler playing with the pixie king, Papa Percy.

I ran.