“You were never responsible for Sally’s death, Valyn. I’ve told you that before. Had you not been there with her, then she would have never been found. Because of your help, the man responsible for so many was caught and hanged. You did a great many children a lot of good by doing just what you were supposed to do.”
Valyn felt better than he had in a while. “I’m rested and happy. I have a good wife, a baby on the way, and I have friends. People that I can count on to keep me in line.” He thought of Judith and what she’d done to keep him from killing Butch. He told Boss what had happened, as if he didn’t already know. “Then he picked up the axe and tried to kill us. We did try our best to get him to move on. To go away and forget this place.”
“Even though he would have left, he would have returned. Knowing that his child had it better than them, it would have been too much for them to bear. Now Heather is free to be the child she was meant to be. She has uncles and aunts that will be just as protective of her as her new parents. I cannot thank you enough, Valyn, for doing this for me. I love you, son.”
“And I love you.”
They turned away when the couple was pulled apart. Hanna’s head came off, and one of the medic’s puked on Butch. There would still be enough evidence to convict them both. Enough even to give the dead peace. Valyn left for his home—Jenny was there waiting for him.
“Are they taken care of?” He nodded, holding her in his arms as he did every day. The feelings that came over him when he did made him rest easier, his body relax more. “Good. I heard that Parker is taking her to the mall tomorrow. The rest of us are going to show up in time for lunch. We certainly do eat a great deal in this family, don’t you think?”
“It’s all right. It’s good food.” She kissed him on the cheek and he picked her up in his arms as he made his way to the living room. “I feel better than I have in a long while. When they were both dying, all I could think about was that I’d done this—that I’d killed them. But then when Boss showed up, I had a feeling wash over me like I’d had a load taken from me and my heart. I told him that I feel like I’ve been able to vindicate Sally with my actions tonight.”
“Good. I’m so glad to hear that.” He held her, thinking of the things he needed to tell the others, the things that Judith had gotten from the surrounding properties. “Judith stopped by. She told me that tomorrow we’re going to be taking care of the demon. I hope that Tholan and Parker are ready for this. They’re such a cute couple. And so quiet. I also know that she’s been working on a few things with the rest of the attorneys that we’ve hired to get things rolling on the charity fundraisers. I don’t understand why we can’t just keep it in house.”
“The community needs to be a part of this. For no other reason then they’ll feel like they’re a part of it and won’t be shy when it comes time for them to need something from the good works that we’re doing. Last week, Mr. Bush came to me about his neighbor, telling me that he thought they’d had their power shut off. It was nothing for me to go down and have it paid for them, but while I was there, I noticed that he, too, was behind in his payments, and was set to be shut off in a few days. He wouldn’t have told me about it had he not helped with the fundraisers that we had two weeks ago.”
She nodded and snuggled up under his chin. “You’re such a good man. As are the rest of the people here. I’m just lucky enough to have ended up with the best of them. You’re my hero, Valyn.”
He’d never been anyone’s hero before. Valyn didn’t even think that he’d ever been loved like Jenny did him. As he carried her up to their bedroom, her sound asleep in his arms, Valyn gave thanks, as he did every day, that he had found her—or better yet, that she’d put up with him. Valyn was a very lucky man.
Chapter 9
Hell had no time for this today, but he knew that if the king from the other realm said that he needed to speak to him, then it was important. Last evening was the first time he’d worked directly with him in a long while. As he made his way to the deli, a place that he’d come to enjoy even when he wasn’t here on business, Hell ordered a coffee and a blueberry muffin just as Tholan and his mate showed up.
They had mated. It was written as clearly on Tholan’s face as it was the young woman’s. As happy as he could be for any couple, he was for them. Both had gone through a great deal and had come out on the other end good people.
The child was a surprise. It looked to him as if she had gone through a great deal too. Only in a different way. Abuse, no matter what the kind it was, could make a person into something they normally would not be. The child was terrified of everyone, even the couple, but she was being brave. It took him a moment to realize that it was the child of the couple that he’d taken. Heather, he knew her name to be then and when she went off with one of the others, he sat down.
When the woman—he believed her name to be Parker—sat down across from him, Hell smiled at her. She was a beauty, even in her apparent anger. When she took his muffin he stared at her, thinking that he might not be hurt too much if he didn’t laugh at her right now.
“I know who you are. You touch one hair on her head and I will do something really terrible and come to your home town and make you regret it for the rest of your days. Which I will point out won’t be all that long if I have to come down there.” He said nothing, just watched the fire behind her eyes. “She is nothing like her parents.”
“I should hope that she is. Aren’t you and Tholan her parents? As far as I know, sickening as I find it, you two are the best that has ever come to this realm.” She was shocked, and he loved it. Taking back his muffin, he asked her why he was here.
Like the one they called Boss knew nothing of Hell’s realm, he knew nothing of this one. There were things that he could gleam from others around, but nothing solid, nothing concrete. But the woman in front of him, just her anger made him think that she should handle the one that had fucked up so badly that he’d had to be called. She’d make short work of the demon and never bat an eye.
“I have a part of one of your men. A hand, I suppose, that looks like a stick now that it’s no longer attached to him.” Hell spit out his muffin; it had lodged someplace between his teeth and his neck. Coughing hard, he felt a firm hand on his back, pounding him hard, trying to either break a rib of this form or to dislodge the muffin. “I see that you didn’t know that.”
“No, I didn’t.” Taking a drink of the water that was offered, Hell looked at her. “And how is it that you have a piece of him? I’m assuming that you not only know what it means, but his name as well.”
“I do. But I have something that I want to ask you first. Not a favor, not really, but something that I’d like to, I guess, bargain with.” He nodded for her to go on. “There are two of your...men, I guess…tormenting me. And, yes, I have both their names. But the one that I’m going to give you is the one I want to bargain with. He’s claimed my stepmother. Not that I give a shit what happens to her—she was instrumental in me not getting to spend the final days with my da when he died—but I don’t want her to suffer as she is, not by this demon’s hand.”
“You said that there are two of them that you’re dealing with. I see. I had no idea that you were even having trouble with one of them.” He refilled his cup of coffee and had a glass of juice set in front of Parker. “These two demons, do they know of each other?”
“Yes, the one I have a piece of, he did something to Angela that sort of sold her to this other demon. While, as I said, I could care less, I don’t want her to suffer by anyone else’s hand but my own.” He laughed. “You wouldn’t think this was so funny if you knew my plans for her.”
“I could look, I suppose. Not for the names—I cannot do that—but your plans for your stepmother. What has this first demon, the one that sold her, done to you?” She told him what Angela had done. “I’m sorry, but that’s not possible. If she is only...unless he doesn’t know that you’re only her stepdaughter. I’m guessing that is it. Not that you’d
know yet, but the only way that he could have you is if your biological mother sold you to him.”
“I didn’t know, as you have guessed.” Boss sat beside her, and he too had a muffin, but his looked to be berry. He loved all manner of sweets, but muffins, the way they were made here, were his all-time favorite. “I was just telling him what my bargain is.”
“I want you to know that while I didn’t put her up to this, I do applaud her for what she’s doing.” Hell had a feeling that Boss might not know her plans for her stepmother. Or he did, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as the woman thought. “The couple, they are faring well with you?”
“They are busy.” And they were too. Hell had assigned the two of them to clean up the cinders that were shat out of his ass and take them to the incinerator. He didn’t really need them to do that, but it was fun hearing them complain. It was what he lived for most days. “About this bargain. What happens to your stepmother after I step in? There are times when it might be too late for you to save her.”
“I don’t want her saved. I don’t think she’d even welcome me stepping in this far. And I’m not doing this for her, but for my da. I think at one time he might have loved her, and that is the only reason I’m doing this.” Hell nodded. He liked this woman more and more with each minute. “If you would do this for me, make me a promise only that the demon that hurts her is taken care of, then I will tell you his name.”
“And the other? What will happen to him?” She said that she was going to deal with him, but he could be there. “Well, thank you so very much. What, may I ask, is your plan?”
“You cannot. Trust me when I tell you that when I am finished with him, you won’t have enough of him left to punish. If you do that sort of thing to demons like him.” He said nothing. Hell was sure that she’d not be able to take in what he did to those that he punished. He had only to show her Markum to let her see that he was not a man to trifle with. “Do we have a deal?”
“Yes.” He put out his hand and she just looked at him. “Unlike those that work for me, you can take my hand as freely as you would your king’s. I do not need to lie and cheat to get what I want. Most of the time, it is offered up to me without any kind of fight.”
She took his hand and the power of her pure white magic burned him. Not only was this woman as good as any he’d ever come across before, but she might well be up there with her own king. Hell looked at Boss and noticed his smile. He had a feeling that this man had plans for this couple that went well beyond training the others in how to do their job.
“His name is Merlin. Do your guys get to pick their names? If so, you need a book for them to choose from. Merlin was a good wizard. He had some bad traits too, but for the most part, he was a good guy.” He didn’t say anything to her, but she might be right. It would be easier for them to choose from, too. “You’ll make sure that he releases my stepmother, right?”
“Yes, and there will be no stipulations on this. I could just have her released, her body left as it is, but I won’t. For you. You must learn to bargain with better demands. I believe that is where most humans fail.” She smiled at him, and Hell, for the first time in his entire existence, felt a shiver of fear. “You knew that. You were perhaps counting on me to be honest? Or were you hoping that I would leave her as she was?”
“I’m going to take care of the other demon at six tonight. How will I contact you with the place?” He said that she only had to think of him, that they had a connection. It didn’t go unnoticed by him that she had not answered him, but he let it go for now. “I will take care of him. You step in and I will do more to you than him. Understand?”
“I do. But if you fail, you will give me something of yourself.” She said no. “Just like that, a no? What if I should strike a bargain with you? Would you be more receptive then?”
“No, I say no because I will not fail. This guy, this thing, has fucked with me enough. He will rue the day that he tried to take me.” Again, the shiver of fear. “Do you wish to be there still?”
“Yes, I would like to see you at work.” He stood up when she did. “It will be a pleasure to watch you, I think. I will be honest with you, Parker—I can almost feel sorry for the demon that has dared to fuck with you. I honestly do.”
“Oh, trust me when I tell you, he will be sorry. As sorry as I can make the fucker.”
Hell was laughing as he made his way to the counter. He would pay for his meal, even though Parker had eaten most of it. But when he reached the counter, Judith, another one of the king’s children, handed him a large container and told him thanks.
“I must pay you for these.” She shook her head and he peeked inside the box. “There are a great many muffins in here. I should not like to be responsible for you going out of business. I have come to enjoy the treats that you make.”
“I won’t. But you do this for her, let her do this her way, and I’ll make sure that you have a box like this weekly. Not that I want you to sway things in her favor—I just want you to stand back and let her do this her way. I think they both, her and Tholan, need this more than anyone knows.” He knew that as well. Taking the box, he put a hundred-dollar bill in the tip jar. “Thank you for that. The staff, they’re donating everything in that to buy tickets at the next charity event. We’re giving away a college education, a full ride to a college of the winner’s choice.”
Hell moved out of the building and to his own realm. Snapping his fingers, he put nine more of the large bills in the jar and smiled. It wasn’t like him to be an upright person, but he had had a good morning. And he had a box of muffins all of his own. Sitting in his chair, he contemplated the plan. Taking a muffin and eating it, he decided to get the first part of this over with.
Calling to Merlin, he wasn’t the least bit surprised when he came to him in human form and naked.
“You have been to the other realm? Without my permission?” There was blood on his body, and he reeked of human. More than likely Hell did as well, but he was in charge, not the minions that worked for him. “You have taken a human form for what reason, Merlin? And to be so covered in blood, you must tell me who it is I have to look for when they arrive.”
“I have.... She is.... You would not know her, my lord. She is nothing but a bit of pussy that we enjoy. I mean that we both enjoy. She and I, we enjoy what we are doing together.” He told him that he was stuttering. “Yes, I am.... You called me at a bad time. I was close.”
“Close? Then I shall return you.” He was gone in that moment, and Hell followed him. “You are telling me that she enjoyed this from you?”
The room was destroyed. There was blood, hers, all over the room, and parts of her as well. Hell picked up a finger and showed it to Merlin. He only smiled and took it from him. Then he looked at the woman.
She would not survive. Even with the immortality that had been given to her, the way it was worded would not allow her to live through this. He could save her, but she would never be the same. Her head was nearly gone; her fingers had been bitten off and spit around the room so that they looked like a nightmarish sort of artwork lying on the table by the couch. Nine of them looking like petals of a bloodied flower.
Her thighs were burnt to the bone, and even those were dry and brittle. He wondered what Parker would say when she saw the mess that she’d become. Looking at Merlin, he told him to finish.
“Finish? I cannot, my lord. You are here.” He crossed his arms over his chest, not saying a word but waiting for him to do as he’d bidden. “Sir, she is mine. I have taken her as my own.”
“Then you will not mind that I watch the two of you at play. Though, I have to tell you, Merlin, she does not look to me as if she is much of a participant. Are you using your magic to keep her alive for you to make suffer?” He had his answer, and it pissed him off. “You have. You have broken not only our laws by doing this, but you have made a human suffer unnecessarily. What do you have to say for yourself? And I do not expect you to give me half-truths, Merlin. I wan
t to know what you were doing here with this nearly dead human.”
He could tell that he was apprehensive of performing in front of him. He also knew that, while the man boasted that he had a big cock, he had nothing more than a nubbin, and even that would not satisfy the most horny of women. Hell told him once more that he was to do it or he would, and the man backed up, just as Hell had thought he would.
“All right then, bend over.” Shock was written as plainly on his face as it might have been on anyone’s. “I said that I would finish, and you are in such obvious pain from not coming.”
Hell bent at the waist, looking hard for the cock that the man was saying was ready. He asked him if he was ready still as he could not tell, when Merlin, in all his stupidity, drew back and hit him.
~*~
Tholan looked at the body that had once been a woman. He had told Parker that he would come here when the police had called her. Benny asked him if he was all right when he turned his back to what was left of Angela Brooks.
“He made her suffer in ways that I am not sure that anyone could have guessed.” Benny nodded and said that she’d been barely alive when he’d arrived. “Do not tell Parker that. She has been crying since the call came in. If not for Heather, I think she might have gone to her bed for the day. But they are shopping and getting ready for school.”
“I won’t tell her. But if you can tell me that it’s Angela, I can have her body removed. Lily came by; everyone here sees that she died from a drug overdose. I don’t think even my seasoned men could have handled this.” Tholan told him that was a good idea as well. “Hell was here too when I arrived. He had a message for me to give to Parker. Will you pass it on?”
“I will.” Tholan nodded when he’d been told. “I think that he is in awe of her. She bravely stood up to him several times today at the deli.”
Tholan: Mystic Protectors: An Angelic Paranormal Erotica Page 12