The Demon Mistress

by Ashlee Sinn

  Something about him was just…

  “Come on,” he said, breaking off my thought and holding the thick wooden door open for me.

  …annoying.

  I trudged up the stairs, still a little sore, and let him escort me inside. The building was unlocked and lights flickering like candles lined the walls of the colossal interior. Reminiscent of churches from the Old World, the builders did an excellent job of capturing the gothic vibe. Arched stone walkways, dark oak pews, stained glass windows that even I had to appreciate—the church was beautiful despite the not-so-demon-friendly stories told within these walls.

  Jericho stepped ahead of me and walked backward down the aisle. The mischievous grin on his face almost had me smiling to. This angel had a naughty streak in him. When he threw out his wings, he glanced over to me and winked.

  I wasn’t sure I liked the way that made me feel.

  His eyes scanned the ceiling, one at least four stories high, and the smile on his face grew as a shadow passed over me. I blamed it on the way my night had gone, but I ducked just before I heard him laugh. A stream of air rushed over my head and the distinct sound of flapping wings filled the empty space. Seconds later, a scraping noise, reminiscent of nails on concrete, pulled my attention to the ground behind me.

  A gray creature, as big as a lion but with large, black eyes and a pair of small wings protruding from its back, sat there staring at me. It cocked its head to the side when I studied it, at one point licking its lips and flicking its demon-like tail. Another large scratching sound had me spinning on my heel to look behind me toward Jericho. In between the two of us sat another gargoyle, this one much larger and harboring golden-yellow eyes. He, too, licked his lips and flashed his stone fangs as he eyed me up like a piece of steak.

  “Jericho?” I asked, wondering if I was going to have to fight my way out of here.

  The angel laughed as I glowered at him. “Don’t be scared, little demon. They are more like you than me.”

  “We are not demon,” the large one said in a very human-like and strangely deep tenor.

  “We are not angel,” the female chimed in. Her voice had more of a hiss to it, like some of the harpies I’ve met in my past.

  “We are neither here nor there,” the male continued.

  “Yet we watch all, everywhere,” she finished.

  When I glanced up at Jericho, his smile grew. “Arabella, meet Cosmas and Vara. Twins, just like you and your sister.”

  The female, Vara, stepped closer to me and it took a bit of courage to not run away. “Twin you be?”

  “But I didn’t see,” Cosmas added.

  Vara started to sniff my leg. “Demon pairs are very rare.”

  Cosmas stood on his hind legs and touched my hair with his claw-like hands. “How long have you been aware?”

  That last question was directed at Jericho who continued to stand there with a smug smile on his face. “Arabella and I just met each other.”

  Vara scented the air again. “She’s been touched…by you?” Her soulless eyes swallowed Jericho.

  “No, it cannot be true!” Cosmas flipped his body around and growled at the angel. “You cannot interfere.”

  “I…I didn’t,” Jericho started.

  “No lying in here!” Vara flew up into the air and buzzed his head before landing on the walkway that ringed the edge of the second floor. She hung on to the small railing like she weighed nothing and I feared it might not withstand her weight.

  Jericho watched Vara until Cosmas stalked toward him. The male gargoyle’s back was as high as Jericho’s waist and the way his tail flipped back and forth, like a cat getting ready to pounce, made me nervous. Jericho held up his hands in front of him. “Arabella was hurt. She needed my help.”

  Cosmas hissed. Actually hissed, and I swear Jericho flinched. “But she is not of flesh and bone. The higher power would not condone.”

  Vara made a weird kind of growling noise and flew back down to sit right next to me. For a brief moment, I was tempted to reach out and pet the top of her head like I would for Ivan or Tore, but I stopped myself. Did gargoyles like affection?

  “Someone allowed me to heal her, Cosmas.” Jericho’s voice softened when he looked at me. “And now we’re here, together, because we need your help.”

  “Information you seek?” Vara asked me. When I nodded, she finished her rhyme. “Well, go on, speak.”

  Giving a shrug to Jericho, I went ahead and started the questioning. “There are some of my kind who want to reveal themselves to the human world like the shifters did last year.”

  Cosmas and Vara sucked in a collective breath, but Jericho continued before they could say anything.

  “I need to know if the same conversations are happening above. Have you two overheard anything that might make you think the angels are interested in revealing themselves as well?”

  The two gargoyles shared a look that said they knew something, but they stayed silent.

  “I need to find those who would support us,” Jericho added. “Both Arabella and I think it would destroy our worlds if humans knew about us. They can have their faith and they can have their superstitions, but illusions are different than seeing a demon or angel in the flesh. Everything would change. We can’t let that happen.”

  Cosmas spoke first. “The two-natured now walk free.”

  “A success, does it not be?” Vara asked.

  I shook my head. “Not really. They have to register like criminals. They can’t get married. Many have a hard time finding work if they’re outed. And a lot have been killed in hate crimes and scientific experiments. They’re treated like second-class citizens and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”

  “Imagine what the humans would do to a demon,” Jericho added, much to my dismay. Even though he was right. Demons weren’t thought of very highly in the human faiths.

  Vara licked my leg and I jumped back. Jericho chuckled. “Or what they might do to you?” I added, looking down at her.

  Cosmas sighed. “We protect, nothing more. They have no reason to scorn.”

  “You’re not human,” I said. “Anything different from them is a threat. Demons, angels, shapeshifters, vampires…gargoyles. They fear what they do not understand.”

  “We can’t let the archdemons reveal,” Jericho said. “That’s why I need to know who on my side can help us stop them.”

  Vara swished her tail. “There once were three, who could not agree.”

  “Fighting over words, they struggled to be heard,” Cosmas continued.

  Vara looked directly at Jericho. “An older one, like you. He didn’t want it to be true.”

  “But the dark ones prevailed, until the white one yelled.” Cosmas stepped closer to Jericho. “Then the three disappeared, leaving the white one with fear.”

  “That the dark ones might deal with those who want to reveal,” Vara finished.

  Tired of the cryptic rhymes, I sat in one of the pews and let Jericho handle the two gargoyle poets. I think they told us something useful, but my head hurt and my patience was wearing thin.

  “The dark ones?” Jericho asked. “Demons?”

  Vara shook her head. “Not quite, nay. Like you with the gray.”

  Jericho jerked his head over to me. With a growl in his voice, he said. “Three angels with gray wings.”

  “Your brothers?” I whispered.

  “It would appear so,” he snapped. “We need to find them.”

  I stood and glanced at the stone creatures. “It might be a little easier to get information out of the angels.”

  Vara growled at me. “We provide what you ask.”

  “No need to be crass,” Cosmas finished and I laughed.

  “You’re right, I’m sorry. Thank you for your help.” Then, looking over at Jericho, I added, “Can we go?”

  He sucked in his wings and nodded to the two gargoyles. Leaving without saying another word, I heard the creatures scamper back up to their perches on the ro
of and wondered how many other things came to life in that church at night. Jericho was practically running down the stone stairs, but I took my time. My neck hurt like I’d been twisted in a vice and any jerky movements sent a new round of spasms down my back. Maybe Aldrich had broken my neck. All the more reason to find him now. Demons loved paybacks.

  “Do you know where they’re at?” I asked Jericho as he stood with his hands on his hips and walked in several circles.

  “What night is it?”

  “Tuesday.”

  “Then, yes. I do. Let’s go.” Holding his hands out to me, I wasn’t sure what he was suggesting.

  “Aren’t we taking a cab?”

  “No need to avoid my brothers now. We’re going right to them.” He wiggled his fingers. “Come on.”

  “I can transport myself if you just tell me where—”

  “Arabella!” he shouted. “Do you trust me or not?”

  Narrowing my eyes at him, I let the red show through. “You don’t get to talk to me like that,” I hissed.

  Jericho threw his arms down to the side and sucked in a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m just pissed—”

  “At your brothers?”

  “Yes!”

  I gave him another glare. “Well, you can’t take that out on me.”

  “I know I can’t. But if you don’t come over here in the next two seconds, I’m going to leave you behind.”

  There was something about his demanding voice and demeanor that had my insides tingling. Squeezing my legs together, I willed away all of the sexy thoughts swirling in my mind and tried to remind myself that Jericho was an angel. A sexy-as-fuck angel, but a different species than me. My sworn enemy.

  We had no chance of ever being together.

  Finally agreeing that we needed to show a united front, I walked over to Jericho and wrapped my arms around his waist. He smelled of spice and vanilla and I wondered why. But when his large, muscular arms coved my back and he pulled me close, I didn’t have the mind to think about that anymore.

  In one whoosh of air, Jericho extended his wings and pushed off into the air. I kept my eyes closed, not liking heights that much. But I did like the way his heart beat beneath my ear. And the way his chest muscles flexed with each beat of his wings. He carried me with ease, so it felt like just a few seconds together before my feet were back on the ground again. Disappointment roiled through me when I scented the disgusting alley where we’d landed.

  “Where is this?” I asked, looking around and seeing nothing but trash, rats, and few humans slumped in the corners.

  “Vinegar Hill.”

  “Brooklyn?”

  “Yes.” Jericho pulled away from me and closed his eyes. Sucking in a deep breath, a small beam of light started glowing from his back where his wings would be.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, hating the smell of low tide now making its way down the street.

  “Searching for my brothers.” He suddenly snapped his head forward and started marching out of the alley and toward the less industrial area.

  Saying nothing to me, I quickly jogged to catch up to him. “I guess you found them?”

  “Yes,” he growled.

  “Where?”

  Jericho stopped and turned abruptly to the left. We stood in front of an older brick building reminiscent of a speakeasy. Three stories high with three windows on each floor, I wondered if there was any type of connection to the three brothers.

  “In here?” I asked and he nodded. “What’s the plan?”

  Jericho huffed. “The plan is to find out why they want to destroy the world.”

  I laughed to myself at the way Jericho was being so dramatic. Destroy the world? I wasn’t so sure. Disrupt life as we know it? Yes, that could happen if humans knew about our existence. But Jericho’s reaction toward his brothers seemed a little bit exaggerated. Even as he threw open the door and ushered us inside the bar, he acted like nothing else I the world mattered except for finding his siblings.

  I immediately recognized that there was a shifter behind the bar and the space was full of everything except humans. Minus a few here and there, this was definitely not a place for the mortal. A table of vampires occupied the far corner. Several lower demons glared their red eyes at me from the bar. And two, very large shifter men stood like sentinels on the side of an open doorway.

  Jericho headed directly toward them.

  Hustling up behind him, I did my best to act like we were a team even though Jericho had been ignoring my presence since we’d stepped inside. The shifter on the left, a bear I think, looked down at me from underneath the rim of his ball cap. He raked his eyes over my body and his lips turned up in the corner.

  “Let me in,” Jericho demanded.

  The shifter in the hat huffed. “No.”

  “I need to talk to my brothers.”

  “I don’t care.”

  Jericho’s body started to shake with anger. His hands glowed with the power of his light, but just as he was lifting them to us it, I slid my hand into his. Smiling up at the man, I said, “Come on. We only need a minute. It’s important.”

  Both shifters only focused on me, so I gently pushed Jericho behind me. Using my Mammon-given skills of persuasion, I gently rubbed my fingers down the chest of the one with the hat. “What will it take to get us inside?”

  “Arabella,” Jericho warned.

  “Arabella?” the other shifter asked. He wore a black tee with jeans and had hair so short it was almost buzzed. He smelled like some kind of cat shifter. “Ashby’s sister?”

  “Yes,” I said, surprised.

  “No shit,” he laughed. “Pete this is the sister of that demon I was telling you about. The one who—” he stopped abruptly when he remembered I was listening. “The one who used to dance at that club. Remember?”

  Pete smiled. “I do remember that story.” Turning to me, he added, “It would seem that your sister did Devon here a really great…favor not too long ago.”

  “Yeah?” I asked, looking at Devon.

  “She saved my ass,” he admitted. “Big time.”

  Thanks, Ashby. “So, could you help us out tonight?”

  The two shifters looked at each other and then stepped to the side. “Just don’t cause any trouble.”

  “We won’t,” I cooed as we walked through the doorway and into a poker room. Several small, round tables filled the space, each decorated with green felt and covered in bills, coins, watches, and other valuables. It reminded me of the Wild West—men with their cigars, betting away their daily earnings just so they didn’t have to go home. The air was heavy with smoke, the haze so thick, I didn’t even see the angel brothers at first. Tucked away into the corner with their backs facing us, the three men sat there with their gray wings hanging free as though no one would give them a second glance.

  “I can’t believe them,” Jericho growled beside me.

  “The wings?”

  “The wings. The gambling. The smoking. The drinking. I mean it’s like…it’s like they don’t even want to try to gain favor.”

  “They tried to kill me,” I said with a shrug.

  “Yeah, but I wonder now if that wasn’t just for the sake of killing you.”

  Shivering with that thought, I let Jericho step around me and stalk toward his brothers. As he approached, I noticed one of them, Griffin I think, jerked his wings up and down a few times. The other two looked at him and then turned to spot Jericho…and me. Jumping to their feet, the table almost tipped over as the other two patrons complained about their cards getting messed up.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Aldrich asked me.

  “She’s with me and in here, you don’t touch her,” Jericho growled, putting his hand on his brother’s shoulder and forcing him to sit. “We did not come here to fight.”

  Really? By the looks of Jericho when we were standing outside, I would have guessed otherwise. But as I twisted my head around and saw Devon and Pete watching us closely, I
knew Jericho was right in saying that.

  Elijah, with his blue eyes and perfectly messy blond hair, glared at me. He chewed on a toothpick and by the way he stared, I thought he might be planning all the different ways he could kill me with his dagger fingers.

  “Can we have the table?” Jericho asked the two other players and the dealer. The dealer looked like a newer vampire, and if I wasn’t mistaken, the other patrons were some kind of mixed fae. Not full-blooded like Flint, but something mystical circulated in their blood. Plus, from their wide eyes and shaking hands, they weren’t powerful enough to challenge four angels and a demon.

  Once the seats opened, Jericho gestured for us to sit. He held the chair out for me, which earned us several glowering stares. “I thought we killed you,” Elijah said.

  “I’m tough to kill,” I replied.

  “What did you do?” Griffin asked his brother. “Did you fucking save her?” Spit flew from his mouth with that last question and Jericho tensed beside me.

  “What do you know about the demons wanting to reveal?” Jericho asked, instead of acknowledging the question.

  “Baby brother,” Aldrich tsked. His brown hair hung freely over his brows and his thick biceps stretched against the fabric of his button up shirt. “Always trying to do the right thing. Who would have thought you’d give up some of your white to save a demon?” His eyes flicked to where Jericho’s wings would be, even though he didn’t have them extended. How did Aldrich know some of Jericho’s feathers turned gray? The large man snapped his eyes at me. “Because I know what happens when we disobey,” he said, answering my silent question.

  “Telepathy too?” I asked in my head.

  Aldrich nodded and sat back in his chair with a smirk dancing across his face.

  “You broke her neck,” Jericho snapped at his brother. “Someone allowed me to save her. It wouldn’t have worked if Father didn’t have a plan.”

  “Father?” Griffin huffed. “Do you really think Father has anything to do with us?”

  “You? No. But me? I’ve done nothing but serve him well.”