A Demon's Debt

by Cece Rose

  He moves slowly, giving me every opportunity to pull away, and I can feel that he expects me to. He really expects me to run away, but I know he doesn’t want me to, and I don’t want to either. He presses his firm lips against mine and kisses me. His kiss is like a spark that explodes on contact. There’s no gentle touch, just burning need there. His hand twists in my hair as he pulls me tightly against him, and I feel completely consumed by it as our lips crash together and our hands snake around each other, needing to feel closer.

  Then I feel something else, a turbulence in my emotions, but they’re not mine. Mason. Mason’s home, or he’s close by at least. I pull away from Nick, feeling a wrecking feeling roll inside me. I look at Nick, and I can see the confusion there, but no pain. And then the front door slams.

  “Someone’s home,” he says, watching the bedroom door as if expecting someone to come through. The sound of a car engine starting outside shocks me. “Someone’s leaving?” Nick says quizzically as he heads for the window to peek out.

  “Mason,” I whisper as I hear the screeching of his car pulling quickly away. I look at Nick, finally admitting to myself that I feel something for him, and I want to run knowing he can feel my feelings too.

  “Mona,” Nick says quietly, as he steps closer again. I step back, heading for my bathroom. Without answering him, I shut the door firmly behind me and lock it. I turn on the shower, needing the noise. The sound of the rushing water blocking his voice, and everything else out.

  If Nick knows, the others will know—they’ll all know how I feel about them. The dread pools in my stomach as I realise my feelings for all of them will leave me with none of them. I slide down against the bathroom wall, cradling my knees to my chest as I sit on the floor.

  What the hell am I supposed to do now?

  Epilogue

  “What do you mean they escaped?” The council leader asks the demon prince sitting across from him.

  “They escaped. One halfling gathered a big group of them together, nearly forty in total, and they escaped through one of the portals. They’ll be somewhere in this realm now. They burned off their ownership marks, so we cannot find them through regular means,” he answers, clarifying what he has already explained several times already.

  “You can’t even control your muted, powerless offspring?” the council leader questions. “It’s no surprise really, you cannot control yourselves, let alone them.”

  Chaos breaks out in the council chambers at that comment, the room erupting into shouts and people standing, waving their fists. Someone shoots a strike of magic at one of the council leaders, earning being trapped into a bubble in return. The yelling reaches almost deafening levels, when the door is slammed open, and a tall figure stands shadowed in the doorway.

  Silence takes over the room as the occupants turn to face the newest arrival. The demons in the room all collectively step back, sensing the power that has entered the room. The council members, however, aren’t as quick to react, and instead stand gaping as the figure slowly steps into the room. His large wings are stretched out, filling the space. There’s an arrogant look to his otherwise attractive face as he looks across the people in the room.

  “This has gone too far,” he says, his deep voice easily carrying. “If you cannot control the half breeds, they will have to be exterminated. They prove too a great risk to mankind in this realm. Unstable, tainted by your evil. Your kind only continue to exist so long as you do not make your home here. You know the agreement your kind made, it applies to your children, too,” he says, directing his comments to the demons of the room.

  “And we thought your kind were no longer visiting this realm. No sticking to your side of the bargain I see,” Fleruty comments snidely.

  “We do stick to our own realm, unless needed here. The imbalance has been noticed, and I have been sent to rectify the problem. Do we have a problem, demon?” the winged man says, addressing Fleruty directly.

  “No, no problem. I was simply checking where the accords stand between us, angel,” he replies, matching the other man’s tone.

  “Our agreements stand for now, but if all the demons and halflings are not residing back in your own realm soon, they will fall. I will ensure that myself,” the angel says narrowing his silver eyes on the demon.

  “What of the girl?” another of the demon princes, Satanachia, questions.

  “What girl?” the angel asks.

  “The halfling with magic, the one who caused this mess and riled the halflings up!” Fleruty snaps. The angel gives the demon a strange look.

  “Halflings do not possess magic, your kind knows the limitations cursed upon you,” the angel huffs, disbelievingly. “If the girl has demon magic, she is a demon, not a halfling.”

  “She is a halfling, she has lived with humans her whole life!” Fleruty insists.

  “How she manages to reside in the human realm by day is a question for another time. If she possesses demon magic, she is a demon, not a halfling,” the angel responds, his tone brokering no argument.

  “A demon she shall be considered then,” the orange-eyed demon king echoes solemnly. “A powerful demon at that.”

  The End.

  Coming Soon…ish!

  The Desdemona Chronicles Book Three!

  The story doesn’t end here!

  Join Mona and the guys again in book three, An Angel’s Defiance, coming to Amazon in 2018!

  About Cece Rose

  Cece Rose is the proud owner of one dog, four turtles, and one annoying boyfriend.

  She hails from Devon in the South-West of England, but dreams of sunny skies and sand between her toes. Although, whenever abroad, she will moan about the heat, and the sand that gets everywhere.

  She has largely convinced all who know her that she is a vampire, mainly due to her nocturnal habits. In reality, it’s because her creativity only ever strikes when the sky is dark, and the stars are shining. (Plus, it’s actually quiet enough to concentrate on writing.)

  You can find Cece on Facebook and Twitter. And, don’t forget to join her Facebook group, Cece’s Demon Den!

  Other Titles by Cece Rose

  THE DESDEMONA CHRONICLES

  A Demon’s Blade – Released: May 2017

  A Demon’s Debt – Released: December 2017

  An Angel’s Defiance – Coming: May 2018

  FATED SERIAL

  Fractured Fate – Released: July 2017

  Twisted Fate – Released: August 2017

  Rejecting Fate – Released: September 2017

  Accepting Fate – Coming: January 2018

  THE MARKED SERIES – Written with G. Bailey

  Marked by Power – Released: November 2017

  Marked by Pain – Coming: February 2018

  Marked by Destruction – TBA

  SOULS OF CREATURES SERIES

  Vengeance – Released: December 2017

  Justice – TBA

  THE LAST SIREN’S SONG

  Blood Sea – Coming: March 2018

  Please continue reading for a short excerpt of Fractured Fate…

  Selena's world is turned upside down when she meets a mysterious man in a London nightclub. He’s a man with secrets, a man with enemies.

  As the tangled web of secrets and lies begins to unfold, Lena needs to make a choice, but what’s a girl to choose when she knows that what she wants is wrong?

  And him? He knows what he wants, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to get her, right or wrong be damned.

  But Lena fracturing fate itself, driving it from the original path, wasn't a part his plan.

  18+ Reverse-Harem

  This is a serial release.

  Prologue

  The whole left side of my face is stinging, I look down and see drops of blood dripping down onto my clothes. Not that it matters, they’re already ruined. Just like everything else.

  “Tell us what he's planning,” the strange man's cold voice demands. I swallow and shake my head slowly, not feeling abl
e to form words anymore. “You think this has been bad?” he asks. I keep my head turned down and try to ignore him, focusing instead on the dirty, grey floor beneath me. It’s not like I know the answers to his questions anyway. Not that they believe me. Hell, maybe they do, and this is just for kicks.

  I flinch as a sharp silver blade brushes up gently across my throat. My eyes draw up to look at the man holding the knife against me. His dead-eyed stare back at me sends a shiver right down my spine.

  “You will tell us what you know, one way or another,” he threatens. He pulls the knife away from my throat and I breathe a small sigh of relief, which is cut off suddenly by a hand smacking across my face. The right side this time. At least my bruises will match. The man shakes his hand out as he shoots me a cold glare. As if the pain he was experiencing in his hand, was my fault.

  The door to the room creaks open and another man walks in, dressed completely in black, with a large bag slung over his shoulder. This one, I know. I wriggle my arms behind my back, as much as I can with their restricted movement, desperately trying to get loose. The man sees my struggles and a twisted smile takes over his face. He turns to the other man. “I believe a change in tactics is in order.” The first man grunts in reply, and walks over to the far-right side of the room and leans casually against the wall.

  The man that has just walked in, slumps the large bag down on the ground in front of him and bends down to rifle through it. He pulls out a laptop case and a wireless webcam. He then grabs one of the chairs littered around the room, sets it directly across from me and then places the webcam on top, adjusting it, so I would be perfectly in its view. He moves and sits to my left, out of the camera's view on another of the chairs. He opens up the laptop and taps away on it, clearly setting something up.

  I fidget nervously in my chair, worried what change in tactics they have in mind.

  “What are you doing, man?” asks the one standing against the wall.

  “Setting up a little webcam chat, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see her,” he answers, chuckling darkly. Realising their intent, I freeze. Not taking any notice of my panic, he continues, “Turns out the bitch was being truthful, other than the other night, she hasn’t seen him in months. She’s been avoiding him, from what we can tell.” He directs his gaze back at me, eyeing me with scrutiny. “Not that we know why,” he adds, an eyebrow raised as if in question. I stare back as blankly as possible. He sighs and returns to tapping away on the laptop.

  The little red dot on the webcam in front of me turns green. I look down and keep my eyes on the floor, not wanting whoever is watching the feed to see my face. I can hear pings from the laptop, messages being exchanged back and forth for a few minutes. Then, there is silence for a moment, and then, finally, another ping.

  “He’s watching now,” he calls over to the man leaning against the wall.

  “You sure this is a good plan?”

  “I’m sure now she doesn’t know anything, but she still works as leverage,” he answers. He taps another message on the keyboard, another ping comes back. “I’m going to turn the speaker on now, so he can hear her, be careful of what you say,” he warns. “We want to make him desperate, hearing her beg for his help should do the trick. Do you understand?”

  “I got you,” he answers.

  I shift in my seat uncomfortably, realising who is watching the screen. I could almost laugh. They are expecting him to care, they don’t have a clue.

  “Speaker going on in 3…2…1.” I hear him tap a button on his keypad.

  I press my lips tightly together. No matter what, I’m not begging for anyone’s help, certainly not his. I hear the man that was against the wall moving, I cast my eyes sideways towards him and see him making his way towards me. I clench my hands, knowing what’s coming before it hits me, quite literally. Another smack whacks across my face, harder this time. I can taste the coppery tang of blood on my tongue. I keep my lips pressed tightly shut, refusing to react.

  He walks around me in a circle, stopping behind me, his hand grabs at my hair roughly and jerks my head back so I’m facing directly into the camera, I dart my eyes away, trying desperately to look anywhere else.

  I feel his hot breath on my neck, and then his lips as they brush against my ear, I instinctively try to pull away, but he just jerks me back by his grip on my hair. He whispers softly into my ear, “Beg.”

  I shut my eyes tightly and try to block it out, his grip on my hair loosens. And then I feel the silver blade pressed against me again, this time at the top of my arm. He holds it there for a moment, giving me a chance to speak out, I refuse. He slices down my upper arm. I flinch and bite down hard on my bottom lip, drawing blood. I only barely resist the urge to cry out in pain as the burning sensation sets in. I can feel the blood seeping out of my arm. Not cut deep enough to do lasting damage, just enough to hurt and enough blood to make a show. I glance up at the camera. I wish I could see the watcher and see his reaction. The thought surprises me and I shake my head slightly, trying to clear my head of it. A hand smacks me across the head again.

  “What're you shaking your head for?” he demands. I stay silent. He grips my hair again, turning me around to face him. “What. Are. You. Shaking. Your. Head. For.” he demands again, accentuating every word.

  “Fuck you.” The words slip out of my lips before I can stop them.

  He growls and then roughly shoves the chair I’m tied to, to the floor. I brace myself the best I can, but the hit still sends pain throughout my bruised and cut body. His heavy boot kicks into my stomach hard, knocking the air out of me.

  He moves and kicks again, this time, at my head, causing me to feel dizzy. Faintly, I can hear a pinging sound repeatedly in the background. Another kick hits me in the head, harder this time, then another. The pinging sound is more frequent now, almost frantic. Another kick, I see a quick flash and then nothing, as I descend into unconsciousness.

  Chapter One

  Two Months Earlier…

  I down my drink quickly, eager to join Melissa back on the dance floor. The loud music pounds in my ears. I can feel it pulsing right through me. My heart is beating so fast it feels like it’s trying to keep in time with the pulsing music. I look across the crowded club and spot her, grinding her body between two strange, but rather attractive men. I smile to myself. It never takes her long. I make my way across the dance floor to her, moving with the flow of the dancers around me. A man’s arm encircles my waist drawing me into him. I look up into the face of the man and smile up at him.

  “Let go of me, please?” I ask, pitching my voice to try and sound over the music, pulling back slightly with my body to make my request clear.

  He smiles and tries to pull me back in even closer, he shifts his hand that was resting on my back lower, so it's resting on my ass. I keep smiling sweetly. Carefully, I lift my left foot and quickly bring it down so the point of my high heel stabs into his foot. Instantly, his hold releases. I step back and flash him a wide smile.

  “Thanks,” I mouth cheerily at him and carry on my way to Melissa, who has spotted the exchange and is staring daggers at the man. I give a little hand wave and smile to Melissa to let her know it’s okay. She smiles back at me and reaches out her hands and pulls me into a hug.

  “I might not make it back to the hotel tonight,” she whispers softly into my ear.

  I look over her shoulder between the two men she’s been dancing with. “Which one is the target?” I whisper back.

  “Who says I’m just targeting the one?” she whispers back. She pulls back from the hug and gives me an impish grin.

  “You’re wicked,” I tell her. She shrugs.

  “Lena, this is Alex and James. Alex, James, this is my best friend Lena,” she gestures with her hands introducing us. Alex is the taller of the two. He’s striking to look at with his icy-blond hair, sharp blue eyes, and tall, broad build. In contrast, James stands a few inches shorter, though just as broad, and his face is complemented by darker
features; chocolate brown eyes and black hair.

  “Hey,” I give another little hand wave.

  “Hey there,” James greets, Alex just gives an incline of his head.

  “Well, now introductions are out of the way, let’s dance!” Melissa cheers happily. She grabs my hands and twirls me around, enticing me to give into the music and booze, even if just for a little while.

  Walking across the club, I look around trying to spot Melissa who disappeared to the toilets nearly twenty minutes ago. Knowing Melissa would never normally leave without warning me first, I double check for a text on my phone. No signal. I frown at my phone screen, then look up and try to spot the nearest exit, knowing that I’m likely to get a better signal outside; even if that means facing the cold, January air.

  I spot a black door across from me and make my way towards it, hoping for a back exit or something. I push the door lightly to check for it being locked, but it opens with ease. I push the door open and peer inside, it leads into a dark corridor. Maybe there’s a way out through here. I wander in and the door shuts quietly behind me, cutting off most of the noise from the club behind me.

  There’s only one door in the hallway, right down the other end. I check my phone again for signal, still no luck. Maybe that door will lead outside. I know it’s unlikely, but I can feel something pulling me forward. Like that feeling you get when someone is watching you and you keep looking over your shoulder. You know something just isn’t right. But this feeling is different, it’s just urging me to keep moving, so I walk down the hallway. My heels click softly against the hard, concrete floor. The long, beam light that runs centrally down the ceiling flickers above me.