by Bella Klaus
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Demons are just like any other supernatural species. Some are evil and some are okay.”
My eyes bulged. “Just okay?”
“Well, you don’t expect us to be angels.”
I tore my gaze away from Dami’s eyes. The divider between us and the driver was down, and our eyes met in the rearview mirror. He winked, and my veins surged with prickly heat. I stared out of the window, and went through the last few words we’d exchanged.
The underground road’s wall lights whizzed past, and occasionally, we passed other vehicles driving on the other side. What did I know about my best friend? She’d just turned up as a cat last Samhain, claiming to have burrowed through a tiny hole in the wards.
Mother had warned me about the outside world and about the monsters who were eager to drag me into Hell. But not all monsters came with sharp teeth. Some of them were charming and beautiful.
“Are you a demon?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.
She paused. “Not really.”
“What…” I swallowed. “What does that mean?”
Dami fumbled at her seatbelt and coughed. “I’m a Hellcat.” Her words tumbled over each other. “Hellcats are sort of shifters.”
I twisted around in my seat and glared at the side of her face. “Why didn’t you tell me this when we met?”
She bristled. “I didn’t think it mattered.”
My jaw clenched, and every warning Mother ever issued me about demons tumbled into the forefront of my mind. She had told me that they were wicked, devious, seductive. They would use any means necessary to make an innocent woman fall from grace, so they could claim her soul for an eternity.
The worst part about this was that Dami had helped expose Mother’s rants as paranoia. I bit down on my lip, not knowing who to believe. Mother, who wanted to keep me safe by any brutal means necessary, or my friend, who hadn’t revealed she was a shifter demon?
“Do you really work in a coffee shop?” I asked.
Dami turned to face me, her eyes blazing. “Are you calling me a liar?”
“I just want to know the truth.”
Her lips tightened. “Yes, I work in a coffee shop run by a demon who likes cats. They don’t allow me near the till or the coffee but I clear up the dirty cups and plates. Anything else?”
“Did you know he was the Demon King?”
She frowned. “Who?”
“Hades,” I snarled.
“Not until you told me,” she said in a small voice. “After that, it sort of made sense.”
I shook my head from side to side. “How could you not know your own king?”
Dami curled her hands into fists. “I’m a bloody cat most of the time, alright? Hell is a big place and creatures like me are at the bottom. The last time I got to see the Demon King, he was in his chariot and looked a lot different, so forgive me if I didn’t recognize that sexy guy right away.”
My shoulders sagged, and guilt wrapped around my shoulders like a shroud. I’d let paranoia get between us. “I didn’t mean to accuse you.”
She dipped her head and sniffed. “I never thought you’d think differently about me because I was born in Hell.”
I reached across the leather armrests and squeezed her hand. “You know everything about me, and I thought I knew all your secrets. Tonight’s uncovered a lot of things I never realized about you. I had no idea your mate lived in the palace or that he could transform into a leopard.”
Dami nodded. “Are you still angry with me?”
“Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”
She raised a shoulder. “Apart from the fact that I won’t be able to shift into a girl in my next life, no.”
I bit down on my bottom lip, remembering having read something about cats having nine lives. “What will you become?”
“A regular tiger, just like Macavity can shift from a leopard to a cat.”
“How long do you live?”
“Centuries if nobody kills us,” she replies. “Then we go back to Hell until we can secure a contract to leave.”
“With a demon?” I asked.
“It could be anyone. Demons, vampires, witches… As long as they can provide the power to raise us from Hell.”
I bit down on my bottom lip. Mother was a powerful witch, but I doubted she would hire Dami to keep an eye on me. “And who’s your contract with?”
She shook her head. “My mistress went missing a long time ago. We were only together for a few hours, but I’ve been in search of her for centuries. Last year, I thought I felt her power in your mansion, but it vanished.”
At the pain in her voice, all tendrils of suspicion drifted away. At least that explained why Dami had infiltrated our wards. “Mother and her coven had gathered that Samhain night to perform a ritual. Maybe that’s what you felt?”
“Maybe, but at least I made a friend.”
I leaned back in my seat and pondered my future.
“This will probably be the last time we see each other,” I murmured.
“She can’t keep you locked up forever,” Dami said.
My throat thickened. “Actually, I’ve been a bit of a hypocrite.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“There’s something I’ve kept from you.” My gaze dropped to my lap. “I wanted one friendship where I could be myself.”
Dami intertwined her fingers with mine. “Kora, you can tell me anything.”
I swallowed. “I have corporality sickness, and it’s terminal.”
A tense silence stretched out for several moments, broken only by the beat of my pulse. When Dami loosened her fingers and her arm went slack, my chest tightened. I couldn’t face it if she dissolved into a flood of tears or wilted like the plants did whenever I brought up the subject of my impending death.
Moments passed, and she still didn’t speak. The car ascended a ramp that led toward our neighborhood, and we were reaching the end of our journey.
“Dami?” I whispered.
“Ummm…” She bit down on her lip. “How long have you been told you were dying?”
“I’ve always known.” My brows pulled together.
“Right.” She cleared her throat.
We continued down a road of detached houses before reaching the more exclusive part of our neighborhood, where the houses were hidden behind tall brick walls. I bit down on my bottom lip, waiting for Dami’s reaction, but she continued staring ahead as though she couldn’t muster the words.
“For the love of Mani,” the driver growled. “Call yourself a Hellcat?”
“Shut up,” she snapped.
My breath caught. I glanced from my expressionless best friend to the driver, who glowered at us in the rearview mirror. “What’s happening?”
“Didn’t you go to the academy?” the man sneered. “Corporality isn’t a disease. It’s what everyone succumbs to in the end unless they’re a phoenix, a god, or one of the other creatures in the world that are truly immortal.”
My brows drew together. “What are you talking about?”
“You’ve got a case of what everyone else calls mortality.”
I rubbed the back of my head, my frown deepening. That couldn’t be right. If I was the same as everyone else, why would Mother always fret so much about my health?
“But my body’s more fragile than normal,” I murmured.
“If you can shag the Demon King and live to cry about it in the back of my cab, then you’re healthy enough.” He shook his head. “Bloody hell, your mother sounds like a conniving wench if she’s fed you so many lies.”
I spluttered, letting his words sink in through my skull. “Are you sure I’m not dying?”
He huffed a laugh. “Where have you been your entire life?”
A sharp blade of betrayal slipped between my ribs, bringing with it a painful realization. If Mother had been lying about my terminal illness, what else had she told me that wasn’t
true?
My blood boiled, and anguish coursed through my veins. All her controlling tactics were supposed to be for my protection. But it had all been a filthy lie.
Dami finally met my eyes with an expression of pity that made me cringe. “Well, everyone who isn’t immortal dies, even newborn babies.”
My throat dried, and my chest thundered with harsh palpitations. “Why would she say I was ill?”
“To keep you under her claws?” asked the driver. “Maybe she’s one of those females who fear the empty nest.”
Six huge figures emerged from the walled enclosure, each holding flaming torches.
The driver slowed the engine. “Who the fuck are they?”
Sweat broke out across my brow. Mother, Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Diana, and Pirithous stepped into the middle of the road, looking like the kind of welcoming party nobody would want to gatecrash.
Hot fury burst through my chest. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to rush at Mother and confront her, but my sense of self-preservation pushed itself to the surface. What was the point of raging at a powerful witch who would still lock me up for the rest of my life?
“Turn the cab around,” I said.
The vehicle stilled.
“Shit,” the driver hissed.
“What’s happened?” I asked.
“They’ve caught me in a magical ward.” He leaned to the passenger side, reached into the glove box, and extracted a gun with a glowing magazine.
I reared back, and Dami let out a pained yowl.
“What on earth are you doing?” I yelled.
“This is an Überwald Achtung,” he snarled. “What do you think?”
Dami clung to my arm, her fingernails sharpening into claws. “We have to get out and run.”
I nodded. “Alright.”
The driver flicked a button, making all the door locks click. “You two are safer here behind my wards. Most magical missiles won’t penetrate the windows or chassis. Your safety is part of the Achtung guarantee.”
Mother, Pirithous and her coven advanced toward us holding their flaming torches aloft. Every drop of moisture in my throat evaporated out of terror, leaving me gasping.
I clung to Dami and whispered, “If they break into the car, shift into a cat and escape.”
“No,” she whispered back. “We’re in this together.”
“They’ll kill you.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and shuddered. “I wish I could shift into a tiger. Then I’d tear through them with my claws and teeth.”
The driver revved his engine, trying to push through Mother’s power, but it was a futile effort. Five insanely powerful witches would demolish a magically enhanced vehicle, no matter what the Überwald company guaranteed.
“What the hell is this?” he growled.
I turned my gaze to the windscreen, where a large figure in red armor dropped from the sky and landed in front of the car with his black feathery wings outstretched.
My throat dried. That was what Hades had worn when I’d last seen him battling the Vampire King.
Six winged men in black uniforms landed on either side of him on leathery wings, and about twenty of them landed behind Mother and her coven.
The driver turned around and whistled, his gaze raking up and down my body. “Bloody shit. You must have stolen something precious from the Demon King if he’s come after you with reinforcements.”
I shook my head and swallowed back a sob. “What does he want?”
A tall figure appeared on the other side of the driver’s window and rapped on the glass with her knuckle. She wore black armor like the others, but unlike the others, she had no wings.
The driver reached for the red button that operated the window.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“The Achtung guarantee will help you run from the law, but our service ends once you’re caught,” he said.
“Don’t expect a tip from us,” Dami muttered.
He wound the window all the way down and turned to the woman. “May I help you, Captain?”
The woman’s gaze fixed on mine, and a jolt of panic pierced my heart. “Kora Olympia?”
“Yes?” I squeaked.
“My name is Captain Caria, and I’m a demon enforcer of the Supernatural Council,” she said. “Please step out of the car. I have a warrant for your arrest on suspicion of spousal abandonment.”
Chapter Six
“You’ve made a mistake,” I said to the female captain. “I didn’t abandon anyone.”
The corners of her lips pinched. “According to the arrest warrant I have here, it says that you left your spouse.”
“Kora isn’t married to anyone,” Dami snapped.
“That’s right.” I gave my friend a vigorous nod. “Whoever issued this arrest warrant was a liar. You should arrest them for wasting police time.”
Her brows rose. “His Majesty, King Hades, says you abandoned him on your wedding night.”
My mouth dropped open. “It wasn’t me who got married!”
“Look at her fingers.” Dami grabbed my hands. “Do you see a wedding ring?”
The driver leaned back, so that the captain could peer inside. She stared down at my hand with narrowed eyes and said, “Actually, I do.”
I glanced down to find a monstrosity on my finger—a golden skull wearing a silver crown stared up at me through diamond eyes. I worked my nails beneath its jet-and-pearl-studded band, trying to wrench it off, but the garish thing clung to me like I was its only source of sustenance.
“Someone must have magicked it on my finger,” I said, my voice rising several octaves. “It doesn’t belong to me.”
“It wasn’t there while we were holding hands,” Dami blurted.
Captain Caria’s hard gaze shifted to my best friend. “You were holding hands with His Majesty’s bride while whisking her away in an Überwald Achtung,” she said in the way TV lawyers summed up the defendant’s guilt. “What is the nature of your relationship?”
“We’re best friends,” Dami snapped. “I’ve already got a mate, thank you very much.”
Scenarios flickered through my mind. Hades set us up as revenge for me running away, and he would probably punish Dami as my accomplice in this trumped up charge of spousal abandonment. It wasn’t even a crime.
“Open the door,” the captain said.
Dami rushed toward the front seat, trying to reach the driver’s broad shoulder. “I’ll pay you double if you keep it closed.”
Ignoring her, the driver leaned forward and flipped a switch that released the locks.
Despair washed through my sinuses like the scent of deadly nightshade. If I was going to be captured by demons, then I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.
I leaned toward my best friend and whispered, “Turn into a cat and escape.”
“No.” She clung to my arm. “I got you into this mess and now I’m going to get you out.”
My gaze darted back to the windscreen. Up ahead, Mother and her coven shoved against Hades and his winged underlings in a spray of fire. A bubble of iridescent magic formed over our stretch of the road. I suppose this was a ward to make sure that the humans we lived among didn’t get to see a supernatural skirmish.
Captain Caria opened the door and gestured for me to get out. “Your Majesty?”
“Who are you talking—” My teeth clicked together. If she believed I had married the Demon King, that would make me his queen, right?
“There’s been a terrible mistake,” I said, my insides twisting with trepidation. “I only spoke to the Demon King for a few minutes. He helped me find my friend. Absolutely nothing happened between us.”
She reached into the pocket of her jacket and extracted a pair of glowing cuffs. “Are you resisting arrest, Your Majesty?”
“I’m not the one you’re looking for.” As far as lies went, this was one of my most feeble, but Mother and her coven were embroiled in a battle with demon enforcers and looking like s
he was on the losing side. She was in no position to help me with my predicament.
With an annoyed breath, Captain Caria huffed and leaned into the vehicle’s interior and wrapped her hand around my wrist. “Don’t make me hurt you, Your Majesty. The Demon King is rather protective of his wife.”
“But they’re not married,” Dami said.
The captain’s gaze turned to my friend. “Are you obstructing an officer of His Majesty’s demon enforcers?”
“No.” I raised a palm, turning her attention away from Dami and back to me. “I’ll come with you if you leave my friend alone.”
“Don’t.” Dami’s voice shook.
“It’s alright.” I stepped out of the car, offering my best friend a tight smile. “Mother won’t allow me to be in the Demon King’s clutches for long.”
She stared up at me through shimmering green eyes. “But she’s hardly trustworthy.”
I chewed my bottom lip. Dami was right, but I knew what to expect with Mother. She was violent, controlling, and a complete and utter tyrant, but at least I had a chance of escaping her again. No matter what, she seemed to want to keep me alive.
Hades was a completely different matter. I had no idea why he would go to so much effort to capture me when the Fire Queen had assured me he was a womanizer.
Captain Caria wrapped an arm around my shoulders. She was six feet tall, eclipsing me by just a couple of inches. Our figures were nearly identical, except that she appeared more athletic in her black armor, with broader shoulders. Her fingers gripped my arm with an intensity that made me clench my teeth. There was no escaping her clutches.
“What’s going to happen to my friend?” I asked.
“Nothing, if you come quietly,” she replied. “Resist, and I’ll reduce her to dust.”
“This is a mistake,” I said.
“If you’re really unmarried and innocent of the charges His Majesty has leveled against you, I’ll return you to your mother myself.” The captain marched me around the back of the vehicle, where a black van awaited.
“Maybe you could take me somewhere else?” I said. The last thing I wanted was to return to Mother’s clutches. “Like the coffee shop where my friend works?”
A loud bellow filled the air. I glanced over my shoulder to find Pirithous flying backward through the air with a ball of fire lodged in his chest. Another demon roped a lasso of fire around his neck.