A Demon Made Me Do It

by Penelope King

  “Here we are,” I mutter as we reach the classroom door. This time, however, the only empty seat is on the other side of the room. I take my place in the far corner and stare at the back of Tristan’s head, wishing he was still sitting beside me.

  Chapter 3. Lucky

  My eyes scan the forest. “Bones….Bones!”

  Where is he?

  I dismount Diablo and approach the River of Kings, pulling my cloak over my head. Bones told me he was on patrol tonight, so he should be here. But it’s quiet, and there’s no sign of him anywhere.

  Automatically, I reach for my dagger and cast a wary eye across the surrounding grounds. I know I’m just being paranoid, but one can never be too careful, especially these days. The bridge is supposed to never be left unguarded, especially since that incident several weeks ago when Cody and Ivy were attacked and killed. Even though only Bones, Kieron and I know what really happened that night, the rest of our tribe is still on edge. It was nothing short of a miracle we were able to diffuse the situation and stop an all-out war. Fortunately, Bones can be a pretty good liar when he needs to be.

  I cross the river of dancing flames and head to the enormous grey boulder resting against the hillside. Only after I press the secret lever to enter Demon Bar do I dare put my dagger away. Daisy, Ivy’s replacement, greets me warmly as I reach the bottom of the steps. I smile back, but a flash of anger rips through me as I remember how I’d discovered Ivy’s beaten, broken body…and how it was I who’d put the final nail in her coffin, ending her suffering with my own deadly bursts of fire. Not one of my happier memories.

  Daisy twirls her pink hair around a finger and loudly smacks her gum.

  “’Sup, crazy Daze?” I lean forward, air-kissing both her cheeks. No contact here. One controlled touch from her can turn any demon or demion into ash, stone or fire, depending on what she feels like at the moment. We’re friends, but one can never be too careful. “Bones here?”

  She rolls her eyes and loudly pops a bubble. “Yeah, he and Catalina are in the back drinking. They might as well get a room or something.”

  My eyes narrow. What does she mean by that? I’d noticed Bones and Catalina have been spending more time together than usual, as they were both very close with Ivy and Cody. Still, as pure demons, they can’t still be sad and needing to commiserate. Surely they’ve long since shut off their upsetting feelings the way only demons can. The way I wish I could.

  So what are they doing together?

  I sashay across the room, barely glancing at the other patrons. My eyes fixate on the couple in the back, obviously enjoying each other’s company. A little too much for my liking.

  “Hi, Lucky,” the stunning redhead greets me as I pull up a chair and plop myself next to them. I have to give Catalina credit. If there’s a demon in here who is close to being as beautiful as me, she might be it.

  I turn to Bones and give him a wide smile, but he glances away. My chest tightens. “Hi, Cat. Hi, Bones. What’s up? Why you guys sitting way back here?” I ask, hoping I sound casual. But inside I’m seething. It’s one thing for Bones to go off and seduce his Sapie women…he has to do that or he’ll die. But it’s quite another to see him making time with another demon, one he has no business being interested in.

  Catalina fluffs her long, wavy crimson hair and leans forward to reach for her glass, her ample cleavage catching Bones’ approving eye. “Oh, we just wanted somewhere we could talk quietly while we had our drinks. Sometimes it gets so crazy in here, I can’t even hear myself think!” She gives a high, tinkling laugh. Bones smirks and leans back, one muscular arm cocked behind his head, the other casually draped over Catalina’s chair.

  My insides smolder as I glance back and forth between the two of them. What the hell is going on here?

  “You missing something?” Now a mischievous twinkle lights up Bones’ eyes.

  “Obviously, I am.” I narrow mine, and he smirks again. I hate this cocky look he gets…the one that says how he knows he’s the sexiest creature alive and no woman can resist him. I hate it because he’s right. But demons are supposed to be immune to his incubus charms. Yet here Catalina sits, looking like she’s just dying to jump in his lap. Bitch.

  “You don’t have a drink.” He stands up and removes his black leather coat, revealing a muscular torso beneath his form-fitting sweater. God, he’s beautiful. “What’ll it be?”

  I wave my hand. “Whatever.” He steps over to the bar and I catch the lustful look in Catalina’s eyes. I know this look well, too…the one that says I’ll do anything to be yours. It’s the same expression that must’ve been plastered on my face every time I looked at him. That is, until I met Kieron.

  Kieron…Damn him…Where the hell is he?

  If Kieron was here, I wouldn’t be having all these mixed up feelings over Bones. I wouldn’t care if he was making time with some trampy demon with slutty red hair. I wouldn’t care that he was looking at her the same way he used to look at me.

  “So, Lucky, when is Kieron supposed to be returning?”

  It’s all I can do not to slap Catalina’s perfect, pouty lips right off her face. “Dunno. Soon, I guess.” I smile and shrug.

  “Must be hard on you, him being away for so long—”

  “Here ya go, Lucky Lady. Jack on the rocks with an extra shot of Source Energy. You look like you could use it.” Bones returns and sets the drink down on the table in front of me.

  I shoot him another glare. What the hell does that mean? I look amazing, as always. Better, in fact, as I’m wearing a brand new, low-cut, sparkly red and black outfit specially made for me by the fire-witches of Rome. Top of the line and devastatingly sexy.

  I gulp my drink, eying the two of them. When I finish, I storm up to the bar to grab another. I return to the table to see Catalina’s hand lingering on Bones’ shoulder, and him leaning into her as if they’re sharing an intimate secret.

  “Sorry if I’m interrupting something,” I say loudly and sit back down.

  “Oh, it’s not a problem, Bones was just telling me about the time he—”

  “I thought you were supposed to be on patrol tonight,” I say to Bones, cutting Catalina off. Like I really give a crap about anything she has to say.

  “I thought so too, but I guess it’s Alik’s turn at post. That’s what Khalil said earlier—”

  “I didn’t see him at the bridge. No one was there.”

  Bones gives me his full attention. “Are you sure? He has to be. Maybe you just missed him.”

  I shake my head. “Nope. No one was there. Trust me, I looked. I was looking for you,” I say pointedly, “but there was no one there.”

  Bones stands and gulps down the last of his drink. “I better go check it out. If there was some sort of mix-up and the bridge was left unguarded…”

  “I’ll go with you,” Catalina says, rising to her feet. I swear, her bright-pink outfit might as well be painted on her body. Whore.

  By now, I’m sure steam is coming out my ears. “Not me. I have better things to do. Later—”

  Just as I set my glass down, a commotion behind me catches my attention. A thunderous crash is followed by angry shouts and panicked screams. Then a deafening explosion. And another.

  I jump to my feet and spin toward the main room. Suddenly a band unfamiliar demons storms in, shooting off fireballs and knocking over tables. For a moment I’m frozen with shock, and before I can blink, the whole room erupts in a huge brawl. Bodies fly everywhere, and right in front of me, a young succubus named Zanna gets vaporized by an enemy flare. A pool table flies across the smoky room amid explosions of fire and lightning.

  Instantly the whole place descends into chaos, and the deafening yells and screams become the sounds of battle. Dozens more enemy demons swarm the enclave, some with weapons, others with their own balls of fire hurling from their hands.

  “What the—?” I stagger towards the corner as a flaming ball of electric fire the size of a watermelon comes flying at m
y head. I duck, and fire singes the side of my face.

  “Oh...No…!”

  Panicked, I turn to see a horrified Bones. Adrenaline surges through my body, and it’s another whole second before I realize Catalina is no longer standing behind me. The small pile of ash beside my feet tells me she didn’t move out of the way in time.

  “Lucky, get out of here!” Bones shouts. He grabs my arm and pulls me to the back wall as the whole room explodes with smoke and fire.

  He braces his body over me protectively and we half-run, half-stumble, blindly toward the secret exit in the back. When we finally reach the small door camouflaged in the rocky wall, I kick a stone on the ground to let us out. Together we race down the dark, twisty tunnel, guided only by the light in my palms. I wonder why Bones hasn’t transformed…he’s much less vulnerable as a hellhound. I keep checking over my shoulder to make sure we’re not being followed as we rush through the narrow corridor, but so far we’re alone.

  Finally we emerge from the other side of the rock and into one of Dryndara’s Dark-fairy forests. Bones and I exchange looks as we try to regain our bearings. I don’t know what frightens me more, the scene I just witnessed in Demon Bar, or the terrified expression on Bones’ face now.

  “Bones, what was that? What happened? What’s going on?” I cry, falling into his arms, panting more from shock than physical exertion.

  It takes a long moment for him to answer me, but when he does, his normally strong and confident voice sounds hollow…haunted.

  “That, Lucky, was a declaration of war.”

  Fire with Fire is on sale now!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Penelope King graduated from the University of California, Irvine. She lives with her family on the Carolina coast.

  authorpenelopeking.blogspot.com

  Also available:

  Fire with Fire (Demonblood Series #2)

  Witchy, Witchy (Spellbound Trilogy#1)

  A personal note from Penelope:

  From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank you for welcoming my stories and characters into your life. I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. As an “indie” author, the best way others can be made aware of our work is through positive word of mouth and feedback from happy readers. Leaving a quick review on the site you purchased this from will go a long way in helping me get my work out to other readers. If you think someone else might enjoy this story, I encourage you to express your thoughts.

  Thank you so much for your support and stay tuned for the next installment of this exciting series!

  ~Best Wishes and Happy Reading~