Abominations (Demonkin Book 3)

by Sean Hayden

  "Now, what shall we do with this?" He tossed Rayna's vessel up into the air and caught it, lost in thought.

  "Can you destroy it? If I never see her again, it will be too soon."

  "Even without it, I'm sure you will be seeing her again. However, without it she cannot return to the mortal realm unless she is summoned by someone or something. Do you wish me to destroy it?"

  "I would beg and plead if I thought it would persuade you."

  "No need. Her kind of evil is a little too much for this world. It upsets the balance. And in the end, that's what it's all about."

  "Balance?"

  He nodded. "No good without evil, no evil without good. The demons try to upset that balance, we work to keep it level. I've tested you so many different ways to see which side of the scale you sit, that it’s a wonder you're still sane. But, you do have my word that I am done testing you and you have passed. Your future shall rest solely on your actions, just like any mortal."

  He crushed the vessel between the palms of his hands. Just like that. The fine dust not even visible on the stadium grass.

  I made a resolution to stop calling him a dick.

  "Thank you. And thank you for explaining everything to me."

  "You needed to know. If you think you will be living a simple life from here on out, you are sorely mistaken. I'd wish you peace, but that is not written in the heavens for you. Be strong. You'll get through it."

  "Can I ask you one more question? And then I promise to shut up."

  "If it's about your future, then no. I may have broken a few rules just giving you a heads up, but I felt you deserved it."

  "Thank you, but no. The question is about my father…"

  "Ah. You wish to know why he hates you?"

  "Yeah."

  "The simplest of answers is that demons are incapable of love. Maybe once they were before they Fell, but no longer. They are twisted and evil to maintain the balance. Do not feel sorry for them though. Their fate was of their own choosing. With that said, he hates you because you should not have been. He tested the letter of the law and now must either vanquish you or suffer the consequences. He upset the balance."

  "By raping my mother and having me?"

  "Yes. There were to be no more Nephelim. It was decreed. He thought by consuming your mother's soul, she could not produce an heir. For without a soul, a human cannot give the spark of life."

  "But she didn't have a soul?"

  "He devoured it, but a soul is an infinite thing. Sometimes a soul is split…"

  "My aunt?"

  "Yes. Your mother's soul lived on because an infinite thing split between two bodies, becomes two infinite things. Make sense?"

  "Oddly, yes. Thanks."

  "No more questions?"

  I shook my head, firmly deciding ignorance is bliss.

  He stood up and offered me his hand. I gently took it and feared being pulled up from the ground. I wasn't sure if I was ready to move yet. Thankfully, he was gentle and steadied me before letting me go.

  "I have one more gift for you," he said. He brought his finger to his lips and opened his mouth, exposing a set of fangs that surprised me. Shocked me actually. He talked normally. Even I had a problem perfectly making certain sounds when speaking. They were totally unnoticeable when he spoke or laughed.

  He brought his finger to the tip of one of them and pricked the skin. A single solitary silvery drop of angelic blood formed at the tip. He carefully brought it over to my mouth and motioned me to open. He placed the drop on my tongue and I heard a crystal chime in my head. Fireworks went off in my head and the world exploded in light. I was falling and I was flying.

  He caught me before I fell to the ground I had just vacated.

  "Holy shit."

  "Don't call my blood shit, young lady," he said with a smile.

  "Wow."

  "Liked that did you? It's better when it's freely given and not stolen?"

  I nodded.

  "Feel better?"

  I tested my limbs first, then my back, then my wounds. I felt a thousand times better. "Yes. Thank you."

  "A gift from me to you. To dilute all that demon blood you've been consuming. And to heal you. You amaze me, Ashlyn Thorne. Please continue to do so," he said and vanished.

  The Suburban pulled back in through the tunnel we had entered the first time. Mel saw me and waved through the windshield, parking, getting out, and running over to me. She threw her arms around me and gave me a hug.

  "I think I peed a little when I got your text. Where's our partner?" She started looking around the infield after she asked, fearing the worst.

  "He's up there with the elves," I said and pointed at the squad of elven archers, standing at attention. Only Daren had moved to the healer while she still worked on mending my partner.

  "Holy fuck."

  "What?"

  "That…that…that's Oberon's wife, Lady Titania. And those are his guards."

  "What? Are you sure?"

  She nodded, and kind of hid behind me. Putting a buffer between her and the royalty, even though they were a hundred feet away.

  The police finally made their way inside. No less than twelve cop cars pulled in to the outfield, spreading out and parking. Then the feds showed up. Not just the FBI either. I caught sight of a couple DHS vehicles.

  "What's going on?"

  I looked at Mel who looked like she was about to run away.

  "They're probably here to stop an invasion or something."

  "Seriously?"

  Sadly, I shrugged.

  I was planning on waiting to check on Thompson until I saw him standing, but I kind of didn't want to hang around answering questions either…

  "Come on. Let's go check on Thompson," I said to my roommate.

  "Um, Ash?"

  "Yeah?"

  "I'll uh, wait in the car."

  "Okay," I said with a laugh, making chicken noises as I walked away.

  I stopped for a moment and gazed at Rayna's body, face down on the grass, and the wickedly barbed tips of the elven arrows protruding from her flesh. They had stopped glowing. I could only imagine what spells they had to have been imbued with to kill a demon. I never wanted to be on the receiving end of one of those.

  Nagging fear still clutched my heart and I prodded her prone form with the tip of my shoe. Her body began to crumble. It took a moment for her to completely fall apart and then even the dust vanished in a puff of black smoke, leaving a pile of elven arrows. I breathed a sigh of relief and continued toward my partner.

  The elven guard parted as I walked up the steps, allowing me to get through. I nodded in thanks, but they stared in resolute attention ahead.

  I gasped as I got closer to my partner. I had seen the hole in his flesh. Lycanthropes are hard to kill. He might have lived through the wound, but it would have taken him a while to heal. They healed a lot slower than vampires but a hundred times faster than humans.

  With the healing hands of Queen Titania, he looked whole. His eyes were open, and he didn't seem to be in any pain. He tilted his head, looked over at me, and winked.

  "Hey, kid."

  "Hey, yourself. Feeling a little better?"

  "Yes, thanks to their kind healer."

  I turned my attention to her. "Queen Titania," I said and bowed low, "Thank you. For everything."

  "No sweat," she said, not looking up from her healing.

  I'd expected something totally different.

  The green glow faded from her hands, and she stood up, dusting off her knees. "That should do it," she said, focusing her gaze on me. My breath caught in my throat. She might have been the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, but she had a motherly air to her and mischief in her eye. "I'm sorry. I zone out when I'm healing. You must be, Ash." She walked over to shake my hand.

  Scared shitless, I took it.

  "Not what you were expecting, child?" Daren stepped a little closer.

  I shook my head at him.

  "S
he surprised me as well. This was my first time meeting her."

  "Well it won't be the last, Lord Darenthalis. Oberon was not only impressed by Lady Thorne here, but you as well. I shall look forward to the next time we meet."

  The DHS agents and a few FBI agents leading Reese made their way up the stairs. The elven guard moved yet once again, this time blocking the path. The humans looked very confused. One of the DHS agents even started yelling. The elves ignored him.

  "We'll be down in a moment, Reese," I called down to them. He nodded and sat down in one of the stadium seats. The DHS agent didn't look too happy, but backed off.

  "And that is our cue to return back Underhill. Ashlyn, next time you find yourself in Faerie, do stop by. As long as you're not being chased by the Wild Hunt…" She winked and whistled to her guards.

  "Yes, Queen Titania," I said and bowed low, laughing.

  "Lord Darenthalis. Make haste home. We have much to discuss."

  "Yes, Queen Titania."

  The guards started marching up the stairs while Queen Titania uttered a spell in elvish. A bluish light swirled from her fingertips and created a giant mirror casting no reflection in front of her. Without another word, she stepped through and the guards followed. As the last one passed, it fell into itself and disappeared.

  "Magic is so cool."

  "It has its moments."

  "Well, I like the healing," Thompson said and got up from the ground.

  "You all better, bumpkin?"

  "Yeah. I feel like a million bucks. So, what happened after I got the shit kicked out of me?"

  "I got the shit kicked out of me. Then Daren and the elves showed up and saved us. And then an Angel appeared and healed me and smashed the jar."

  "Good. Shall we go deal with the troops?"

  "Do we have to?"

  "Yeah. It's kind of our job."

  We sat in Wrigley Field and gave Reese and the DHS agents a detailed account of what transpired. I left a whole bunch of shit out, but nobody could call me a liar. I didn't remotely mention the Angel. I didn't want to end up on paid leave. They believed me about the demon. By then half of North America had seen the video. Most people believed it was some sort of super vamp, but the word demon was out there. People were afraid and for good reason. The stuff of nightmares had returned to their world and there was no hiding it now.

  "Good work, you three," Reese said when the rest had left.

  "Don't look at me. It was Daren and his Elven ninjas who pulled my ass out of the fire," I said and squeezed his arm.

  He patted my hand. "Glad to help, young one. Now if you will excuse me, I need to return to DC, give my report to Deputy Director Sanders, and then return Underhill for some time."

  "You coming back?"

  "Sometime in the future," he said cryptically.

  "Is everything all right?" I whispered to him.

  He just nodded, not giving me any indication of what was going on. It was his business. I left it at that.

  "Well if you need rescuing, give me a shout."

  That cheered him up a little. "I will, youngling. Take care of yourself for me."

  "Oh, I'm planning on it. But, we'll see what the universe has in store for me. For now, I'm hoping it waits until I shower and sleep."

  "Say goodbye to your roommate, who refuses to leave the vehicle, for me."

  "I will."

  He leaned in and gave me a brief hug and a kiss on the head. It warmed me up almost as much as angel blood.

  "You about ready to go home, kid?"

  "Yes, please."

  "Holy shit, it only took a demon to beat some manners into you."

  "Fuck off."

  "That's better," he said and we trotted down the stairs and back onto the field. "Wanna take the day off tomorrow?"

  "That's the smartest thing you've said in years."

  "You haven't known me for years."

  "I know. But word gets around."

  "Ha. I'm going to sleep. You gonna do anything tomorrow?"

  "I might join you."

  "Three in a bed might be a little tight. Plus, you'll piss my wife off."

  "I'd be more afraid of you rolling over on me."

  "Well, I was only asking what you had planned because there's a certain nervous police lieutenant standing by our SUV. Thought you might suddenly find yourself with plans tomorrow."

  "Oh, shit. How do I look?" I asked nervously as we slowed our pace to the Suburban.

  "Like you just got the shit kicked out of you and somebody stuffed it back in."

  "So normal?"

  "Pretty much."

  "Uncle Jim! Are you okay?"

  "Been better. Don't tell your dad."

  She laughed. "I won't. I remember you promising him you weren't going to do stupid stuff anymore."

  "Yeah. Told my wife the same thing. I'm going home. Night, Kim."

  "Night," she said and watched him get in the SUV.

  I stood there patiently through their exchange, not wanting to interrupt. Or if she even wanted to talk to me. I just wanted to say thanks. Yep. That was it.

  She turned around and gave me a concerned look. "Are you okay…"

  I laughed. "Been better, been worse."

  "I'd hate to see what worse looks like."

  "It's not pretty."

  "I doubt that. I um… I… I would…um…like to see what better looks like? Would you be interested?"

  My heart did flip-flops, and my knees went weak. "You wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen in public with your God parent's cute little partner?" I couldn't help but tease her a little.

  "Oh, my gods. I can't believe I did that," she said and covered her eyes with her hand. "That had to be the most embarrassing moment of my life."

  "Well then we should definitely go out sometime. I promise to embarrass you so badly, that your previous time will seem like nothing. You'll completely forget about it."

  "So, are you asking me on a date, Agent Ashlyn of the FBI?"

  "Yes, Lieutenant Alvarez of the Chicago PD. Would you care to go out with me some time on a date? Like a movie or something, because yeah, going to a restaurant with a vampire can be pretty boring."

  "I'd love to. I'll eat before I pick you up."

  "Tomorrow night? I work, but I feel a strange ailment coming on. Might have to play hooky."

  "Well, I just happen to be off tomorrow. Maybe I should come over and help nurse you back to health…and oh, my gods, I just embarrassed myself worse. Did that sound slutty? I was going for cute and then realized that I sounded like a total slut–"

  I kissed her quickly on the lips to shut her up and let her know I didn't care. "See you tomorrow, Alvarez."

  "See you tomorrow, Ash."

  I shut off the water and let most of it drip off me, making sure it wasn't tinged red. That was the easiest way to tell if you got all the blood off. I slid open the door and grabbed my favorite scratchy towel off the bar. It pushed the water off me, more than absorbing it, and I loved the way it left my skin feeling.

  I walked out into my room, still drying my hair. Dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top, I headed to the kitchen for a pouch of blood before hitting the hay.

  Mel was watching television, flipping through channels with the volume off. I didn't blame her. There wasn't much on at five in the morning.

  I grabbed my bag of blood, jabbed a pointy straw in it, and plopped down on the couch next to her. Turning my back to her and leaning back, I used her for a cushion.

  "Nothing on Netflix?"

  "New season of Seven Deadly Sins."

  "Are you kidding me? Put that on."

  "No. We're going to bed shortly. Save that for a binge watch night."

  "Fine. Meanie."

  "You going to work tomorrow?"

  "No. I have a date. You going to work tomorrow?"

  "Yeah. I need to open the Dungeon back up or our clientele will find someplace else to get their jollies."

  "You think about changing the theme?
Making it a more normal place?"

  "No. But I might open another one in the future. The Dungeon was Marcel's. I'd like to keep it that way to honor his memory."

  "Oui," I said in a horrible accent.

  Mel started rambling in something that sounded like French but was nonsensical words. I started laughing, letting the brief moment of happiness dull the pain. I missed Marcel, and I would continue to miss him forever.

  "You about ready for bed?"

  "I suppose. Sunrise isn't for another hour, but it's been a long night…"

  "Too true. Come on, I'll sleep with you tonight so the boogey man doesn't get you."

  The doorbell chose that exact moment to ring.

  Mel jumped.

  I pretended not to.

  "You expecting anybody?"

  "Nope, you?" I said and wandered over to the door.

  Something felt off.

  Instead of opening the door, I turned on the porch light and peered through the peephole. Ginger stood on my porch. She was wearing a nurse's outfit and staring at her hands.

  I opened the door. "Ginger! Oh, my gods. I'm so glad you're okay," I said and hugged her.

  Her soul must have been released when Rayna died.

  "Ash?" She sounded scared.

  "What's wrong?"

  "Don't you recognize me?"

  "Yes? You're Ginger."

  She shook her head. Tears began falling down her cheeks. "Master, it's me. Victoria…"

  The Demonkin Series:

  -Origins

  -Deceptions

  -Abominations

  Rise of the Fallen Trilogy:

  -My Soul to Keep

  -Your Soul to Take

  -My Soul to Give (Coming 2019)

  Lady Dorn (steampunk novella)

  A Very Scary Christmas (Anthology)

  -The Ghost of Christmas Last

  Flashy Fiction and Other Insane Tales (Anthology)

  Flashy Fiction and Other Insane Tales 2 (Anthology)

  You're probably sitting here thinking you don't have to read the "About the Author" page. You probably think you already know everything you need to know about Sean Hayden. Well you don't. I bet you don't even know his middle name is Patrick. HA. And you call yourself a superfan. Get in the box of shame.