The Unknown // Colby Brock

~~ Chapter Fourteen ~~

The devil was at the front of the little line up. There was him, Jake, Tara, Corey, Devyn, Mike, and Kevin. Lots of muscle and power in the group, yet something told me there wasn't enough.

They came to a stop around halfway into the room. Tara and Devyn were staring at me, but I wasn't looking back. I was staring at the devil himself, who I knew was trying his hardest not to look at me. He was an asshole, sure, but we had real moments. I didn't know which were real; I just knew some were. He felt guilty for what he'd done to me.

"Your recent... contribution to heaven is appreciated, Colby, however, this does not solve the issue at hand. You still need a queen."

"And badly," Sam blurted, pointing a finger in the air. "I can't wait forever, I want Katrina to be my queen. Don't you think I've waited long enough?"

"No, you haven't, actually," the devil snapped back.

"Colby-"

"Now, now, Sam, I know you want Katrina to be your queen but we cannot fake the queen of hell. He needs to find someone who would be right for ruling with him. I'm not saying it's an excuse for taking forever, but we cannot expect him to find someone and get to that point so quickly," Fate reasoned with both Sam and God, who was watching her like she was the only person in the world. God was an asshole to everybody but her and Sam...

"He may have already passed up the opportunity, Fate," God mumbled back, turning to his stepson.

I wanted so badly to say something; to point out that, yes, he did find someone, and he gave her up to fucking heaven to save his friend. Or maybe I was never actually queen material.

"Tell me, Colby, have you run into anyone you've thought, for just a slither of a moment, could be your queen?"

"No."

"You're lying," Katrina snapped instantly.

I noticed that even Kevin looked at the devil weirdly, wondering who the hell he could have considered to be his queen. Nobody knew about us in that house, so nobody realized that we'd bonded so much... or fucking not.

"Colby?" Fate whispered. He reluctantly looked at his mother as she stood from her throne and carefully advanced forwards. She only stopped when she was directly in front of him where she placed a hand on his forehead. His eyes turned white as his entire body tensed up, making Jake stand on guard.

"Leave it, boy," God warned. "She's just fishing through his mind."

My heart stopped in my chest. She was looking through his head at his memories to figure out who he thought could have been queen of hell with him. That meant me... everything was about to be exposed. Out in the open.

When Fate 'woke up', she gasped and breathed out in shock. Colby 'woke up' too, almost stumbling back for a second. He caught himself. For the first time since he had entered the throne room, he looked at me. I saw the broken look in his eyes; the guilty expression. His mother, on the other hand, looked mad. She smacked the back of his head lightly, frowning at him.

"You're better than that, Colby, and you know you are. I can't believe you... I- ugh." Fate waved a hand in dismissal and walked back up to her throne, thumping down in it. God watched her as if he was asking for her to elaborate, but she said nothing else about the matter.

"I'm not giving you long, boy. Queen. As soon as," he snapped. The devil barely even nodded, disappearing in a red flash shortly followed by everyone else. Jake was last, though, and he gave me the saddest look I had ever seen. I actually missed him; I missed being called kitten and patted on the head every time I entered a room.

Fuck.

I missed hell so much.

Jake's POV
          We all flashed into the throne room where Colby was sat on his throne leaning his head against his fist; elbow on the arm of the throne. He looked distressed and genuinely sad, which had been the same for the last day. He missed Ari: I knew it. I wanted him to go up to heaven and save her, but I knew that it would only end in the poor girl getting hurt, or somebody else getting taken. Hell, even I wanted Ari back. I wanted to tease her again and call her kitten.

When I looked up after my thoughts, I realized that everybody was in the throne room. Not just those who were in heaven, but everyone.

"It was Ari, wasn't it?" Corey asked, bringing Colby's attention to him. "She's the girl you thought might be your queen. That's why your mother looked so angry. I saw the way you looked at Ari. You feel guilty and you never-"

"I told you I didn't want to do it," Colby snapped, glaring at Corey to shut his mouth, but he didn't.

"You gave up your possible queen to God to save me?"

"Corey," he warned.

"You can't run from the truth. Did you or did you not think she could be your queen one day?"

Colby's silence told us everything we needed to know. He was trying to keep himself together as he stared straight ahead at his friend. I felt the need to jump in, but I had no idea what to say. That they were an item? That they were clearly falling for each other? That Colby had made a massive mistake?

"Colby... did you really think she could be your queen?" Xepher asked so quiet I could barely hear her. Still, Colby didn't answer. At least, not at first. He took his time to think about his answer, and he never broke eye contact once.

"Yes, okay? I thought Ari might become my queen."

I couldn't hold myself anymore. "Then why give her up?!"

"Because I knew that she'd be fine in heaven, Jake. At any time, Corey could have been slaughtered. God thinks she's too precious to kill, so he's making her his own instead. She'll live, and Corey will live. That's all I can do right now."

"We could have gotten Corey back, Colby! Don't you see that-"

"Jake, no one's angrier about what I did than me, okay? So shut the fuck up." He stood and flashed out of the room leaving me staring at an empty throne. I knew he cared about her. I knew he wanted her back. I even knew he wanted her to be his queen. But Ari wasn't going to be so easy to turn back around if we got her back.

Colby had some serious thinking to do...