The Demon Mistress

by Ashlee Sinn

  “You and your little magic hands,” Elijah teased. “So what if you can heal. Healing isn’t going to help prepare you for what’s coming next.”

  “What is coming next?” I asked.

  “Shut up,” Griffin snapped.

  “Don’t talk to her like that!” Jericho leaned across the table and glared at his brother. “She came here even after you tried to kill her. Have some respect.”

  I raised my brows and blew a kiss at Griffin. Had he been sitting right next to me, I might not have been so eager to taunt. But I loved getting under people’s skin—what demon didn’t? And Griffin was just too easy.

  “Now, tell me what you know about demons wanting to reveal.” Jericho’s voice changed, and his brothers seemed to sense it as well.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Elijah said.

  “Me neither.”

  “Nope,” Aldrich added last.

  “None of you remember the conversation with Raphael in the cathedral?”

  I whipped my head around to look at Jericho. Not understanding if he knew the white angel the gargoyles had talked about or if he was fishing, I was still proud of the tactic. The three brothers all bit their lips, Elijah chewing harder on his toothpick.

  “How did you…?” Aldrich asked and then let out an unamused laugh. “The gargoyles?” Jericho nodded and Aldrich spat on the floor. “Those fucking little stone monsters.”

  “So, you know about the plan?” I asked.

  “We know,” Griffin grumbled. “And we support it.”

  “But Raphael doesn’t,” Jericho confirmed.

  “He’s stuck in ancient times. He doesn’t see the benefit.” Elijah quickly took over the conversation. “Do you see that bald guy at the table behind us? He’s a shifter. An old panther whose days were numbered before the big reveal. But as soon as the shifters went public, he opened this place for the non-humans, and has made bank since then.”

  “The guy’s a millionaire ten times over,” Aldrich added.

  “He’s benefited greatly,” Griffin continued. “Raphael doesn’t understand that times are changing. Humans are more willing to accept—”

  “They’ve been killing shifters. All over the country,” I interrupted.

  “A few sacrificed for the many,” Elijah groaned. “It’s something my baby brother should understand quite well.”

  I looked over at Jericho, whose blue eyes glowered across the table at his handsome brother. “We can’t reveal ourselves. It wouldn’t be the same for us.”

  “No?” Griffin asked. “I think it would be marvelous. Angel and demon themed clubs. A consistent revenue to offer help to those willing to pay. Hell, you can even make a killing as an assassin.” He glared at me. “Or a stripper.”

  “And you could be a lumberjack,” I snapped back.

  “Regardless. It’s going to happen,” Aldrich said in a bored tone.

  “Why do you say that?” Jericho asked.

  “Because the demons want it and enough earth angels want it. If you two can work together, so can all of us. And together, we will all show the mortals just how fragile they really are.”

  I didn’t like the way Elijah stared at me with that last sentence. If he thought I was fragile, then I need to prove him wrong. I blinked in behind him and wrapped my arm across his throat. Squeezing hard, I yanked him off his chair and pushed him toward the ground. He tried to reach up and slice my skin open again, but Jericho was there pinning him down.

  “Get off him,” Griffin snapped.

  “No.”

  “Demon, I will kill—”

  “Arabella?” Devon stood above us with his hands on his hips, glaring at Griffin.

  “Fuck off,” the angel said. “This is none of your concern.”

  Devon’s hand shot forward in a blur, wrapping his fingers around Griffin’s neck. The two were similar in height and stature, but Devon had an animalistic fight in him that Griffin must have recognized. He raised his hands and ground his jaw together.

  “That’s right,” Devon said, releasing the angel’s throat. “Now, I suggest you all leave before I make you.”

  Aldrich stood. “We weren’t finished yet.”

  “You’re finished.” Devon looked down at me until I let Elijah go. “Hear me?”

  “Loud and clear,” I said with a wink.

  As the shifter walked away, Griffin grabbed Jericho by the front of his shirt and pulled him in close. “Now you hear me, little brother. You need to choose right now. Brothers or whore demons? Because the second we walk out that door, you are as good as dead to us.”

  “You can’t show your true selves to the humans,” Jericho whispered. “You just can’t.”

  “Wrong choice.” Griffin shoved Jericho backward and pointed at me. “She is a trickster, Jericho. She will not have your back when it counts and she cannot be trusted.”

  Jericho straightened his shirt and shook his head. “She’s not the one turning me away.”

  Griffin smacked his lips together, speechless for the first time since we arrived. He shared a look between Elijah and Aldrich and then slowly glared at his little brother. “We’re done here.”

  The three angels tucked in their wings and pushed past the rest of the patrons in the poker room who all pretended that they weren’t just listening to our conversation. Griffin knocked over a glass of alcohol, while Elijah and Aldrich kicked a few chairs. They all glared at Devon and Pete as they passed through the doorway. Somewhere out front, people shouted as the three of them continued to make their grand exit.

  “What a bunch of assholes,” I muttered.

  Jericho didn’t say anything. Instead, he stood there, watching the door like he hoped they would come back.

  “We’re not giving up yet,” I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. He flinched when I touched him, so I pulled away. “It sounds like your maker doesn’t want to expose the angels. Perhaps you could go talk to him?”

  “Yeah. Maybe.”

  Not liking the way Jericho acted like a crushed little boy, I let my mind run a thousand scenarios through it. “I’m going to find Ashby. She may have some ideas on who else we can try to get on our side.”

  “Okay.”

  Shoving the angel, I finally got him to look at me. “Jericho! Stop standing there. We need to go.”

  He nodded and headed for the door, leaving me to follow behind once again. Devon gave me a warning look as I passed, so I made sure that we both left the bar as soon as possible. Standing in the fish-smelling air had me ready to go back home, but I needed to make sure Jericho was all right first.

  “Jericho?”

  “What?”

  “It’s not over yet.”

  He closed his eyes and sighed. Rubbing his hands back on forth over his skull, he took several deep breaths before speaking again. “I need to go do something.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll…I’ll find you later.” Then, without another word, Jericho spread his wings and jumped into the air. Faster than my eyes could follow, he disappeared into the darkness. Leaving behind the faint scent of vanilla, I tried to grab onto that instead of the stink hovering in this part of the city.

  The sun was starting to come up, which meant Ashby still had another day before they left for the honeymoon. After witnessing the strangled relationship between the brothers, I really needed to see my sister. Sure, she might be able to help, but she could also just be my person right now. She didn’t know about Leviathan’s deal or that when the sun rose to its highest point today…my time would be up.

  She didn’t know that I was struggling with the loss of my sister in my life.

  And she definitely didn’t know about my growing feelings for an angel named Jericho.

  I stood outside the door to Ashby and Silas’ new row house and wondered how the fuck my sister had ended up in this suburbia type of neighborhood. We had always been city girls—both down below and here in New York. Ashby especially. She loved the peop
le and the chaos and the violence. In fact, she thrived on that.

  So, to see her out here in apparent domestic bliss surrounded by mortals made me feel for Jericho. His brothers had abandoned him, and my sister had left everything behind for a man that would die one day. She’d left me for a life I never even knew she wanted.

  Knocking on the door, I watched the way the sun lit up the sky like a fireball. Oranges, reds, and pinks danced across the horizon, gleaming off the moisture on the leaves and reflecting in the windshields of the cars lining the streets. I couldn’t deny it’s beauty. Nature had grown on me as I’d spent time up above. Sure, I missed some parts of the world I left behind, but I preferred the seasons and the daylight and all of the other things that came along with living above ground.

  “What are you doing here?” Ashby stood in the doorway, clutching a robe and looking like she just rolled out of bed.

  “I need to talk to you.” Stepping forward, I waited for her to open the door but was stopped cold when she didn’t budge. As twins, we were almost identical. But now Ashby had chopped off her hair to her chin and she wasn’t wearing her usual makeup. “What’s wrong with you? Let me in.”

  Ashby glanced over her shoulder, pulling the door to block my view. When she nodded at whatever was behind her, she finally turned back to me and sighed. “Can we do this later?”

  “No.”

  “Really?”

  Instant anger rushed to my face. My sister suddenly didn’t have time for me?

  “It’s okay. I’m good.” I heard Silas’ muffled voice from somewhere behind Ashby and narrowed my eyes at her when she faced me again.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Are you going to let me in?”

  Stepping away, she let me push the door open myself and I had to follow her into the living room off to the left without her officially inviting me inside. Silas sat on the couch, covered in a blanket and looking like he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Ashby gave him a seductive smile and crawled onto his lap.

  Boxes still lined the walls of the room that opened up into the kitchen, but apparently the two of them had broken in the couch. “What’s going on?” Ashby asked. She squirmed when Silas kissed her neck.

  “Seriously?” I asked him, letting a bit of the demon show through.

  Silas flashed his yellow, dragon-like eye at me as he kissed my sister again.

  “Grow up,” I grumbled. Plopping onto the only other piece of furniture in the room, I sunk into the cushion of the recliner. “Look, Ashby, I really need to talk to you. Alone.”

  She shared a look with Silas who gazed into her eyes like she was the only person on this plane. A part of me died on the inside when I realized I’d never had anyone look at me like that. My sister rubbed her hands over Silas’ chin-length blond hair and kissed him gently on the lips. He smiled into her kiss and when they were done, he jumped to his feet and said, “Why don’t I make some coffee.”

  “That would be great,” Ashby said in a sing-song voice.

  “Yeah. Great.”

  My sister glared at me and I raised my brows telling her not to push it. Once Silas left the room, Ashby pulled her robe tighter and sat back into the couch. “You should have called.”

  “Since when do I need to make an appointment with my sister?”

  “Since she got married.”

  “Oh, bullshit. You’re just using this as an excuse not to do anything.”

  “That’s not true.”

  Leaning forward, I said, “Oh, yeah? When is the last time you talked to Mammon?”

  “I…I…”

  “Exactly. Do you even have any idea what’s going on right now?”

  She bit her bottom lip and started bouncing her knee. “Echo told me a little bit about—”

  “About what, Ashby? Did he tell you about Leviathan?” From the way she tensed, I knew he hadn’t.

  “What’s he doing in the city?” She’d whispered that last part, understanding starting to sink in. Leviathan didn’t mess with demon business unless he had to. He preferred to stay tucked away in his lair with his snakes and mistresses.

  “He made a deal with Mammon.”

  “What? No, she would never—”

  “Lucifer wants to expose us.” When my sister’s jaw dropped, I continued. “So do some of the angels.”

  “Expose us to the humans?”

  I glared at my sister. “Yes! What else would they expose us to. Jesus, Ashby. Did Silas fuck away your brain?”

  Ashby blushed. “No.”

  “You’ve changed.” My voice dropped with the pain of realizing I was losing my sister.

  “Stop it, Arabella. You’re being dramatic.”

  On the verge of tears, I opened my mouth and said, “Leviathan is going to take me as one of his mistresses.”

  “What?”

  I nodded. “He gave Mammon an ultimatum. He would take me in exchange for fighting with her against Lucifer to keep our secret hidden.”

  “No. No, she wouldn’t do that. She’d never promise you to someone like him. There has to be more—”

  “She gave me a chance to get out of it.”

  Ashby dropped to the floor in front of me and placed her hands on my bruised knees. I tried not to flinch. “Okay, good. So, then you can get out of it.”

  “It’s not that simple,” I whispered.

  “What are you talking about, Arabella? You are the most straight forward demon I know. If she gave you an out, you would take it.” Sitting back on her legs, she glanced into the kitchen. “I think that’s why she let me marry Silas. She knew you were the stronger one anyway.”

  “You’re not making any sense.”

  “Mammon didn’t even blink when I told her I would give up Hell for Silas. It was like she’d always known I’d choose them over us.” With a shrug and a sad smile, Ashby continued. “She barely put up a fight.”

  “That’s not what she told me.” Sniffing and wiping at my cheeks, I tried to get up the nerve to tell her about Jericho.

  “Mammon’s a demon. Demon’s lie.”

  Huffing a laugh, I looked down at my sister. “You seem happy with him. I mean, I’m pissed that you left me after a centuries of existence, but at least you seem all right with your decision.”

  She glanced toward the kitchen again. I still didn’t smell any coffee brewing. “I am. It’s weird, you know. Only being with one man.”

  This time I laughed hard enough that I snorted. “Yeah. No, thank you.”

  She slapped my leg. “Hey, it’s not that bad as long as it’s with the right one.”

  My thoughts immediately flipped to Jericho. There was no denying a connection between us. But yet we were the exact opposite of what a couple should be.

  “So what did Mammon offer you?” As though sensing my thoughts, Ashby gave me a mischievous smile.

  “I was supposed to kill an angel.”

  “Really? And what do you mean by was?”

  Hanging my head, I sighed into my hands. “I can’t do it, Ashby. I tried and I can’t.”

  “Why?” Her voice was tense but not accusatory.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Like you physically can’t kill him or you don’t want to?”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “Interesting,” she whispered.

  I looked up at my sister and saw her studying me. We’d always been so mentally connected, even though I felt like some of that had been slipping away the past year since Silas had become a permanent part of her life. But now I swear she was sifting through my thoughts as I tried to work out exactly what was stopping me from killing Jericho.

  “You’re connected to him,” she finally said.

  “What?”

  “It’s almost like I can feel it. Like some of his light is inside of you or something…wait! Did you have sex with him?”

  “Don’t be stupid.”

  “No? But you want to?” She wiggled her brows.

&nbs
p; I didn’t even dignify that with an answer. “Jericho is—”

  “Ooh, he has a name.”

  Rolling my eyes, I tried to get my sister to listen. “Jericho is helping me—helping us prevent a reveal. His brothers are fighting against him, but he’s out there right now trying to convince his archangels to side with us and fight against Lucifer’s plans.”

  “This is too much,” she said as Silas walked into the room and handed each of us a mug.

  “What’s too much?” Silas asked.

  “Nothing.”

  Ashby gave me an annoyed look. “Have you heard anything about the vampires wanting to come out to the humans?” she asked him with that disgusting look of love in her eyes.

  “Are you kidding me? They’d be attacked much worse than the shifters. They like running in the shadows. Plus, I’d be out of a job.” As a vampire hunter, he had a good point.

  “That’s what I keep trying to tell people,” I said. “If humans know that demons and angels are real and walking amongst them, can you even imagine the chaos?”

  “Wait, demons want to come out too?” Silas’ eyes widened as he looked between the two of us.

  “Yes,” I groaned. “And so do some angels.”

  “And Mammon is using Arabella as a reward for siding with her.”

  “Ashby!” I didn’t want my sister sharing everything with Silas.

  “What? Silas has a right to know.”

  “Why? He’s not a demon.”

  “He’s my husband.”

  “So? That doesn’t mean he gets to know everything about my business!” Where a few minutes ago, I thought Ashby and I were having a great sister moment, I now realized I may have lost my sister forever.

  “Relax, Arabella. All you have to do is kill that angel and—”

  “Stop!” I jumped to my feet and glared at both of them. “Is nothing sacred between us anymore?” I felt the tears stinging the backs of my eyes and hated that I was so upset right now.

  “You’re being ridiculous.” But as she said that, she tilted her head to the side to let Silas suck on her neck.

  “Seriously? I’m. Right. Here.”

  “Oh, please. It’s not like this is something new, Arabella.”

  Grinding my teeth together, I started walking to the door. “It is, Ashby. We aren’t sharing Silas.”