Cooper eyed the thing. “Can’t I just fly and meet you there?”
Alice rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly.” She nudged him to the portal, and together, they walked through.
FOURTEEN
COOPER
As it turns out, traveling through a portal was no fun at all. He was the only one of this opinion, though, because, beside him, Alice was hopping from one foot to the other, chattering away.
“Did you feel all of that power? Wasn’t that amazing? Do you have any idea how useful this portal would have been for me when I was a kid and on the run?”
Cooper’s heart sank. “I really don’t like thinking about little Alice out there all alone. It breaks my heart for you, love. It really does.”
Alice looked down at her shoes. “Don’t let it break your heart, Cooper. It was the right thing for me to do. I just couldn’t go home.” She scrunched up her face. “Actually, scratch that. I didn’t even have a home. What was I supposed to do? Go back to the coven that betrayed my mother? No. I had nowhere to go, but a portal might have been a game changer. Way less time spent in the woods.”
Cooper leaned over and kissed Alice to keep her from sharing any more from her sad past. Her life was different now.
“Look at this.” Lou motioned them over, helpfully cutting through the tension. “This is so worth it, isn’t it, Cooper?”
Still feeling a little bit green, Cooper lied and nodded. “Oh, yeah. Super fun to try once, but if it’s all the same to you, I would like to go back to the resort with my own wings.”
Lou wiggled his finger at him. “Not a chance, dragon man. You gotta use the portal. It’s not like you could fly back to the resort from here.”
Alice looked around at the beautiful beach. The water’s waves crashed against the rocky shore, but there was no wind to speak of. “Umm, Lou? Where exactly are we?”
He threw his head back with a laugh. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Lou,” Portia roared, coming through the portal. “Did you actually bring us to Hell?”
“No way,” Cooper shouted while Alice giggled. “Cool.”
Portia’s reaction was a little tenser. She marched right up to Lou and pinched his ear as if he were a little boy and not a demonic bartender who worked for Lucifer himself. “Take us back right now. You know it’s forbidden to bring humans here.”
“Oh, relax, Portia. It’s not like anything bad is going to happen to them. They’re perfectly safe here with us. Besides, Alice and Cooper aren’t reallyhumans. They’re a coven-leading witch and an alpha dragon.”
“I don’t lead a coven,” Alice pointed out. “I’m just a witch.”
“There is nothingjusta witch about you,” Cooper mumbled.
Lou gave him a head nod, silently agreeing with him, but of course, Lou couldn’t actually keep silent. It just wasn’t in his nature. “What your husband said. I’ve known many witches over the course of my life, and let me tell you something, little witch … If I were the leader of Hell, you can bet your ass thatyouwould be leading the coven, not those usurping dumbasses. I was so sad to hear of your mother’s passing.”
Alice gasped. “You knew my mother?”
Lou nodded. “In a manner of speaking, I guess I did, though I never met her. She did a lot for witches. She actually convinced some high-level demons to let her visit Hell.” Lou spread his arm out wide to the beach. “This, I am told, was her favorite spot.”
“Oh,” Alice covered her mouth.
“Your mother couldn’t be at your wedding, and you have no family home, so I thought this was the next best thing.” Lou beamed with pride.
“Lou, you’re so sweet, thank you.” Alice blinked back tears because the gesture was so heartwarming. A little off, but Lou was a demon, and they expressed themselves differently.
“It’s nothing, dear girl.” He pointed to a wooden table protected by some pretty and gauzy material that draped down from a gazebo-like structure. It was made of stone, and three little imps stood together beside it, looking as nervous as could be.
Cooper immediately recognized Secundus, Thrice, and Ocho. When the last imp spotted Cooper, Ocho opened his hands. “Gimme, gimme.”
Lou laughed. “I don’t know why these creatures love sugar so much, but they do. Now, come on. Let’s eat before our meal gets cold.”
The four of them sat at the table, and the imps immediately began to serve them all kinds of foods. Some were delicacies from Hell, and other dishes were more regular, something for which Cooper was very grateful. He didn’t know what he would have eaten if it wasn’t for the mound of breakfast sausages and eggs.