by Layna Snow
“Really? Didn’t we cover this? I thought that you had understood me. You were quiet when I ordered. But maybe you don’t speak English. Hmm.” He said, as if he was mulling it over. At the same time, he angled his body more in line with hers, pressing his pelvis against her butt.
“Nice.” He whispered, before wrapping his arm, and hers, around her. “You’re going to have to follow directions. Deja la bolsa. Tenemos que irnos, ahora.” Because her father taught her Spanish, she knew that the guy had said to forget the pack and that they had to leave. But no matter what language he spoke. She wouldn’t be able to respond.
No, a car accident six years ago stole that ability from her. And there was nothing she could do about it.
She shook her head, which just rasped against his facial hair—Oh gosh, did that ever feel erotic!—but that didn’t seem to be enough.
“Oh come on! You can ignore me all you like. Oh hell, no you can’t! I will prove to you how persistent I can be. But at a later time! You don’t want to see what else could be coming. And really, I can’t fight them if I’m worried about your sweet behind!”
Sweet? Gosh! He obviously had been missing female company for a while!
Her butt was too big, it always took up way too much room in her jeans. Not that the rest of her was small either. She had always been a little chubby. Her father used to call her his little Chunky-monkey, while Annie was well, slightly thinner—she did play sports after all. For this person—Demon?—to think she was attractive was like some cosmic joke. At her expense.
Soph shook her head again and nodded to the pack. She needed to get her stuff. He couldn’t leave it! Not only did it have her weapons, but it also contained some of her favorite things. There was a locket that Annie gave her on their 16th birthday. The picture of her family. And a few other objects that she treasured. She couldn’t just leave them.
She wouldn’t!
Sophie struggled, pulling against his arm. But it was no use. The guy was strong! Effing strong! And all she seemed to do was make him mad.
“Aren’t you a brat? Trying to top from the bottom, huh? Well, if we weren’t in the Outer, I’d spank your ass until it turned red.”
Sophie gasped. Heck, she would have whimpered and for once she was happy that she had no vocal-cords. This way, she could keep that needy sound to herself. But she felt her body respond anyways. A tight liquid clench in her tummy. One she’d never have imagined she’d feel at the thought of smacks on her bottom!
“Too late.” The voice growled in her ear.
Well, that sounded ominous. Was he really planning on spanking her?
Sophie looked over her shoulder, turning slightly so that she could see. And, she had wished she hadn’t.
Beyond him the darkness was alive. Or at least, things in the darkness were. Beings seemed to spring from the blackness, scurrying forward towards the light. They weren’t just on the ground. No, they clung to the walls like insects, pulling their misshapen bodies forward. These weren’t the same things as the little creature before. No, these were worse.
Their joints cracked and clicked, moving in odd directions as if they were dislocated. Legs extended forward past arms, and they seemed to fold the wrong way. Their faces were rotting, bone exposed in places, fur covering some. And their whole bodies seemed to be oozing, noxious liquid that coated their skin.
Not to mention their expressions!
They looked mad, hungry and out of their minds. When they got within view, they started making noises. And she used all her energy to stay standing, and to avoid throwing up.
The guy holding her twisted her back around, and thrust his body in front of hers. It gave her a view of a broad, muscular back covered with knives, but it would do little to stop the hundreds of creatures from devouring them whole.
And whatever he took out of his pocket probably wouldn’t do the trick either.
After a click, he started talking, “Death? Have a hoard of Lessers you need to deal with. Clean up on isle one.” He sounded…excited?
What was he talking about? Was he actually talking with someone? Was someone else down here? And, was the only answer that came through a grunt?
Oh, heck. They were screwed.
3
The lady was seriously smoking. If only she wasn’t cowering behind him.
Oh hell, Adrian liked that she was trusting him to keep her safe. And safe he would keep her. At least, from other people.
She would have no defenses against him. Just as he liked it.
He would love to show her his battle prowess, but now wasn’t the time. He could get too caught up in the fight and forget he was protecting someone at all.
He just liked to fight too much.
He enjoyed the blood, guts and butchery. He enjoyed cutting things through with his sword. He even liked the look of terror on other people’s faces. If that meant that he was a sadist. Well, fuck! He’d have to agree.
But he hated having to duck in this itty bitty tunnel in order to avoid hitting his head.
This happened to be the worst Hellgate. Well, that wasn’t true. The one that came out under water was bad. And the one that went through a volcano. But still this ranked up there.
The damn Hoard Lesser Demons would need to go through him, even when climbing on the ceiling.
“Come on hot-stuff, let’s get out of here!”
But she wasn’t listening. She was too busy staring at the Lesser Demons climbing the walls. Yeah, always an impressive feat. He was sure that if given a set of stairs, they’d all try to go up backwards like the little girl in that one movie. They were freaky little shits, but one of the easiest to kill.
The reason being that they were low on the totem pole. And low on intelligence. They acted sort of like animals. Starving animals on crack. Okay, so maybe rabies was a better term. Either way, they were mad and liked to swarm things without thought of cunning or strategy. And they often didn’t know when to retreat.
And as much as he disliked the idea himself, he was going to have to leave the battle early.
Well, as soon as he could get the hot piece of ass behind him to follow.
She seemed more than happy to stay right where she was. Which was well and fine if they weren’t about to be attacked by a thousand Lesser Demons.
“Lady, kick your ass into high gear. We need to skedaddle.” He said, trying to move to the side again. But she clung to his back, keeping him rooted to the spot.
Yeah, this was fucking great. He got stuck with a woman who had nothing between the ears, and no survival instincts in her whole, gorgeously made, body.
He was never picky before, but hell. It’d be nice to tap someone that had something in her brain. That’d be a fun change of pace. People would say that he couldn’t afford to be fastidious in Hell. But he could be as picky as he fucking wanted to be! He could always go up from any Hellgate and pick up a woman. Actually, he did that all the time. Women flocked to him.
Apparently he had that dangerous edge that attracted women. They loved that shit. He could also give them what they wanted.
His radio clicked twice, a sign that the cavalry would be on its way.
Damn, he was so fucking glad that he had tricked out these walkie-talkies. Normal technology didn’t work down in Hell. Nothing strongly mechanical would function. He had no idea why, but maybe it had something to do with keeping these beasties in line.
Not that it helped really.
Adrian took a step back, pushing the woman back with him.
She meekly followed. Which was good. Seemed like the luscious lady had a submissive side.
He had a suspicion earlier, when he had tackled her. She had been turned on. He could see her pupils dilate and her breathing get faster. Sure, those were both fear responses, as well. But, her beaded nipples didn’t lie.
The Lesser Demons continued to move forward, their pace never changing. Their movements always bizarre.
Come on, any time now, Death.
They were r
unning out of room to retreat. Their backs—okay her back—was pressed up against the rock wall where the Hellgate was located. But they could still get to her. The fuckers could climb from the ceiling.
And they just kept coming.
Fuck-cupboard, he’d have to kick some ass.
There wasn’t any rest for the wicked, which was for damn sure. “Alrighty then.” He muttered. His favourite knives would see action after all! They were curved and double sided. Real beauts. They sliced through things like butter. Could gut a Demon in a second.
But there was a screech.
It came from further down, the other end of the tunnel.
One of the Hoard Lessers went down, then another.
Oh, what a wonderful sight, the blood flying, spraying the walls of the tunnel.
The Lessers closest to Sin stopped, looked at them, then at their fallen companions. They didn’t give a shit about their dead. They’d most likely eat them later. But they weren’t sure which prey to attack next.
It didn’t take them long to make up their mind though. Two was always better than one.
The Demons started to charge them again and Adrian reached back again for his knives. He only connected with the left one.
What the hell?
But he didn’t have time to figure it out. The momentum was all he needed to slash the one closest to him. What perfect timing!
He caught the fucker in the neck, ripping into his rotting skin and then slipping right between the vertebrae.
Oh, he loved the feeling of separating a head. It was an awesome sight to see: severed head rolling to the ground, its mouth opened on a scream, while the body continued twitching. He barely noticed the spurt of blood, not having time to relish it.
Because another had taken its place.
The job was never done. And now he needed to act like a body guard for this Human.
He’d have to force a way through, since Death wasn’t being quick enough!
Adrian jabbed his knife into the body of the next being, twisting as he shoved forward. And then he hit the next two in a sweeping arch.
He beheaded one on his right, then cut off a few limbs on the left. He needed to get to the passage a few feet down.
The things began to scream again, the sound echoing up to their location.
If he hadn’t been worried about a tunnel collapse he would have just used an explosive. He loved to watch pieces of Demon rain from the ceiling. It gave him a warm bubbly feeling in his tummy.
But alas, that was not to be. This part of the tunnel was too weak. They weren’t far enough into Hell yet. Inner Hell was a lot more stable.
Why? Fuck if he knew. Magic? Evil? If didn’t matter.
Adrian felt himself smiling as he hacked another Hoard Lesser up. He felt lighter, freer, happier. Oh, fighting was fucking great! Peace loving creatures were totally missing out.
Talk about stress relief!
He could still feel the woman behind him, holding onto the back of his armor. He turned to the right, where a few Demons had pushed past their comrades to attack. If they were smarter, he’d say that it was a trick to get to the tasty plump one behind him, because just as he attacked them, another Lesser went around the other side and took a bite out of his arm.
It hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, but that was the least of his worries. If one could get to the back of his arm, then one could get to the girl.
Adrian turned swiftly, using his blade to cut through the ones around him, but as he bent his arm to attack he noticed that there was nothing there. At least, there was nothing standing. There was however, a dead Lesser Demon on the ground.
And a bloody, knife wielding woman going into shock.
What the fuck?
Well, that probably explained his missing knife. At least it wasn’t lost in the tunnel. And seeing her standing there after killing a Demon with his blade? That was fucking hot. He was totally going to do her. If she agreed.
Of course she’d agree! Everyone wanted a taste of Sin.
Most people. His honest side supplied. But, hey, it was probable.
But now wasn’t the time to think about that. They needed to get out of this fucking melee and somewhere safer. Clearly she wasn’t used to killing zombie Demons, but then again, who was?
“Playtime’s over, baby. Hold on to that for now. But I want it back later.”
Already, he was killing Demons again.
These Hoard Demons were like vermin. They just kept multiplying. It was why they called them Hoard. He didn’t know the real name. Probably some Latin bullshit. He just knew, that they always attacked in groups.
The numbers were starting to thin, he noticed as he moved them through the sea of blood and guts.
He picked off a few from the ceiling, as they tried to drop down on them like spiders—or Spider Lesser Demons.
You didn’t want 100 pounds of exoskeleton and legs falling from the ceiling!
Adrian wasn’t used to fighting with just one blade anymore. He once fought with a sword but it was much too long ago.
He had switched over a few decades ago, and then realized the carnage he could inflict with two. Going back to one didn’t feel right. But he didn’t necessarily want the girl to be left unprotected.
Sure, one of the reasons he purposely left her bag behind was so that she was totally dependent on them. But he wanted her alive.
After all, he was kinky, not into necrophilia. Not that he thought that there was anything wrong with it. It just didn’t turn his crank.
They didn’t call him Sin for nothing.
Okay, so he started that, but it was part of his last name. Really!
Adrian could still feel the stinging in his arm. It felt wonderful. It throbbed and ached, and showed him that he was alive.
That feeling, along with the glee from the fighting, filled him up inside. It gave him a high. He could do this all night!
The chick stumbled, probably over a dead body, and fell against him. He could feel the cushion of her breasts against his arm and reminded him of another way to get this feeling. Another thing that he could be doing tonight.
It also reminded him that they were basically at the little secret tunnel that led off into the darkness. The light didn’t reach this far. In fact, there was a large rock in front of it—thanks to some quick thinking and some innovation—so no one would know that there was a tunnel there at all.
He’d need to remove it before pushing the woman in. And as much as he didn’t want to leave her alone with only a blade for protection, he needed both hands to open the damn door. As fierce as she was when she killed that Demon, she did not have to strength to push the rock away from the entrance.
Just as he went to turn towards the rock, he heard a gasp.
What the fuck now?
Were there rampaging elephants? But then again, it could be that more Hoard Demons were attacking.
Adrian turned back, taking in the girl’s shocked, and terrified, expression.
He panned around, to figure out if there was some issue that he should be addressing.
Then he saw it. Saw what gave her the freak out.
A man stood in the middle of a… well hoard of Demons. He, too, was bent, even though he stood farther down, in a taller area, which just showed how massively tall he was. He was bald, his torso uncovered, save for the gallons of Lesser blood coating him, hiding his dark brown skin.
He would look insane, if not for the utterly calm way he destroyed the Demons. He hacked through their bodies in smooth motions, taking out many at once. His thick muscles bulged at the movements, effortless.
Boy was he ever glad that Death was on his side today! And that the Demons were so distracted by their brethren’s screaming, that they practically left Sin and his guest alone, for now. Instead, they attacked the big muscled man who looked to be a much juicer snack.
Not that Sin wanted to give it a go. He’d rather snack on the brunette beside him.
“That’s Tha
natos, better known as the Greek God of Death. Ain’t he great? But he’s not going to distract them forever. Soon they will realize that we’re getting away and come back. Just keep a lookout and yell if anything comes this way. Okie dokie, smoky?”
He didn’t wait for a reply, simply put his knife away and gripped the rock, planting his feet firmly on the ground before giving a large shove. The boulder scraped along the hard, dirt packed ground, and revealed a dark tunnel.
There were no lights inside, not even dim ones like the one that Death brought with him to the fight. No, this tunnel connected some pretty seedy places and it was best not to draw attention to themselves. Hell, he’d rather not draw attention down here at all, at least not if he wanted to avoid a fight.
Actually, never mind. He usually wanted to pick a fight with any baddie in Hell---save one of course—and he could change his mind if he fucking wanted to!
This time, he wanted to stay under the radar. He didn’t think this woman would appreciate it much if he got her killed because he wanted to have a little fun.
Sin didn’t stop and bother to ask, he just wrapped his arm around the girl and picked her up, only to deposit her in the dark opening. He then went in after her, pushing her back even more. There was only a few feet illuminated. And he could tell that she was trying to stay in the light patches. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t feel safe for long. Because just as quickly, he took hold of a large crack in the stone and pushed it back into place.
Which not only blocked the monsters, but blocked out the light as well.
As soon as he shut it, he heard another gasp.
Couldn’t the lady do something more impressive? Well, maybe not a full blown scream—that would call the bigger Demons to them—maybe a squeak?
Great! She was afraid of the dark. Oh well, she’d just have to suck it up and get over it, because they had a long way to go before they got to somewhere with more light.
Adrian took her hand and led her along the passageway. She was reluctant, but he didn’t give her any time to object.
He’d drag her if he had to, but he’d prefer not to. It would slow him down, and might hurt some of that delicate skin that he couldn’t wait to get his hands on.