Sex, Lies & Demon Ties (Dark Desires #1)

by C. J. Laurence

  Tears pricked at her beautiful eyes as she heard his words. Her own need to kill her ex-boyfriend far outweighed Azazel’s. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s in the past. I’ll deal with him when the time comes.”

  “Am I missing something?” Balthazar asked, stepping forwards from the shadows.

  Azazel looked up at his brother with a grim face, pulling his lips into a thin line before he spoke.

  “Her ex. He got her pregnant and gave her a home abortion with a coat hanger.” He clenched his fists as he said the next words. “And then he took off with her mum.”

  CHAPTER XV

  Balthazar sat under the cover of the budding spring trees watching the shameless man with his cute little daughter, Kyla’s half-sister, in the park. The girl was barely five years old and absolutely adorable with her big blue eyes, sunshine yellow hair, and her excited gargle of a laugh as he swung her higher and higher on the swing.

  An older girl, around ten or eleven years old stood watching, a look of disdain on her face. Her arms were folded across her chest as her dark eyebrows furrowed together and her bottom lip pouted with an obvious look of unhappiness.

  The man seemed like any other family guy from the outside—respectable clothes, a happy, friendly face, clean shaven, and a nice car parked on the road. Combined with taking his two daughters out for some quality time, it was the perfect picture of family happiness.

  But there was something lying underneath his façade that Balthazar could see straight through—something that a normal human would be absolutely shocked to discover when they thought of Tony Williams.

  Balthazar shrank back into the shallow depths of the trees and headed towards Tony’s house—the house he shared with Kyla’s mum, and her two half-sisters she had no idea about. The house was a good five or six miles from the park and sat on the outskirts of the city, a mere half an hour drive from Kyla’s village. It was a modest three-bedroom detached house with a garage adjoining and perfectly landscaped gardens with well-used kids’ toys strewn across the green grass.

  He spotted Kyla’s mum through a downstairs window. Her bright red hair was tied up in a messy bun as her slim frame shot around the ground floor level of the house at breakneck speed with the hoover. He could smell sweat dripping off her and hear her hurried breathing as she sped through the housework, making sure everything was neat and tidy for when Tony came back.

  It was a warm day today. The sun had a clear sky to beam down its rays of light onto the earth and make all the humans hopeful for a good summer after the depths of a harsh winter. Kyla’s mother, Anna-Rose, was wearing a turtleneck jumper and baggy jeans, hiding her beautiful body.

  Balthazar attempted the human way first and stood at the front door, ringing the classic “ding dong” doorbell.

  Panicked steps hurried to the door in seconds. “Yes?” she asked, peering out through the minute gap the safety chain allowed.

  “Good afternoon, Miss...”

  “Mrs Williams.”

  “I beg your pardon, Mrs Williams. I was wondering if you would allow me to use your phone at all please? My car has broken down and my mobile is dead.”

  He watched with interest as she swallowed a dry lump and placed a hand over her chest to calm her pounding heart.

  “There are plenty of other houses around here. Try one of the others.” She slammed the door shut before returning to her housework.

  Balthazar smiled. He’d tried playing the nice way. If she wouldn’t let him in, then he’d just help himself anyway. He drew a deep breath, absorbing every molecule of the environment around him. Like a chameleon, he became cloaked in his surroundings, invisible to the human eye, but his presence still ever present.

  He stepped through the solid brick walls and moved around the house, watching and following her every step. He smirked to himself as her paranoia escalated with every passing second. The nervous woman was now checking over her shoulder, shuddering at the cold spots he left behind, whipping her head around every few minutes as she felt the burning stare of someone watching her.

  This was a game that never tired for Balthazar, especially when paranormal investigators were sent into places to “record” his or his minions’ antics. He absolutely loved creating “ghosts” to appear on film, making objects move, and touching people with icy cold fingers. Azazel and his advocates tended to become a little violent and played a bit too rough, whereas Balthazar and his followers enjoyed the psychological aspect more than the physical.

  His favourite haunt, and most documented, was Borley Rectory in Essex, England. Whilst he was back in Hell for nine months of the year, his workers would continue his fun. The ghostly nun and headless horsemen drove the reverend and his family mad for years. Things had turned a little violent when he had come back one year to see Harry Price leading an investigation into the house. Balthazar had taken an instant dislike to the man and shattered his career into pieces, deeming him a fraud before instructing his lesser demons to burn the old building down once he was gone.

  Now though, a little too eager to indulge in his dark side, he was biding his time and waiting for Tony to come back home.

  He didn’t have to wait long.

  Balthazar sat in the middle of their beige living room carpet, chuckling to himself as they complained about the room temperature. After their ritualistic Saturday night takeaway, the two girls headed to bed, leaving their parents to enjoy each other’s company.

  “Time for us to go to bed too, don’t you think?” Tony said, slipping an arm around his wife’s waist as she washed the dirty plates. “Early night sounds good.”

  Anna-Rose said nothing, merely nodding quickly as her face paled.

  “Hmmm,” he whispered, kissing her neck. “It’s been too long since last time.”

  “It’s only been three days, Tony,” she replied, her voice sharper than intended. She instantly cringed as the words left her mouth.

  Tony’s grip tightened around her waist as his eyes flashed with anger. “You can be a real frigid bitch sometimes, you know that? Perhaps I should have stayed with Kyla, she was far more up for it than you, and a lot tighter too.”

  Balthazar raised his eyebrows at Tony’s words. He was actually worse than Azazel, and that was saying something. Azazel could be cruel, really cruel, but it was only as a result of one of two things—he either had to do it and made it fun to enable it to happen, or he was using it as a cover for his feelings. This guy was being cruel just for the sake of it because he couldn’t get his own way, and he needed to feel like top dog, needed to patronise and strip the self-esteem from others in order to make himself feel better. This irked Balthazar considerably, especially as he was subjecting a woman to it.

  As Anna-Rose struggled to bite back her tears and willingly comply with her demanding husband leading her upstairs, an evil grin crossed the demon’s face as a perfect idea popped in his head.

  He found a metal coat hanger from the wardrobe in the older girl’s room. Taking a worthwhile couple of minutes, he ran the thin wire between his fingertips, imagining his energy pouring into the weak material. As his hand moved along the triangular shape, the parts he’d touched grew, plumping out to twice the size and twice the strength.

  He strolled into the dull grey bedroom where Tony was currently “marking his territory”. Anna-Rose was laid on her back, her eyes harbouring a lifeless stare as her husband grunted away on top of her, bringing himself to his own sweet relief but not sparing any thought for hers.

  Balthazar sharpened his nails, coating the razor-like ends in a magickal anaesthetic. Waiting no longer, he gouged three slots into Tony’s back—one underneath each shoulder blade and one a few inches down from the nape of his neck, right at the top of his spine.

  As Tony revelled in releasing himself inside his non-compliant wife, Balthazar clicked his fingers, a loud snap cutting through the air like a leather whip. Not only did this unsheathe him from his spy status, but it ripped the magickal analgesic fro
m Tony’s nervous system. He crumpled over in pain, roaring in agony.

  Balthazar grabbed the wretched human by the scruff of his neck and pushed the coat hanger through the holes he’d gashed into his flesh. The familiar sound of squelching tissue rang through Balthazar’s ears like music. Having the gift of selective hearing meant Anna-Rose’s screams of terror literally fell on deaf ears.

  Blood poured from Tony’s wounds, streaming down his back in thick rivulets. The sinewy muscle gave way with ease as Balthazar dug his fingers into the hole above the man’s spine and pulled the hanger through. It had taken him barely two seconds to do, and whilst he could have done it with magick, he wanted this monstrous creature to feel the full effects of it.

  Anna-Rose trembled on the bed, the duvet wrapped around her as her tears soaked the bed beneath her. She could do absolutely nothing as the mysterious handsome stranger from earlier picked her husband up by a coat hanger, slung him over his shoulder like a jacket, and whistled “Hi Ho” as he exited the house.

  CHAPTER XVI

  “I have a present for you,” Balthazar said.

  Kyla looked at him from across the bar as she pulled a pint for one of the locals. She raised her eyebrows up at his smiling face, his dark eyes glinting with promise. “A present?”

  “Yes, a present. You know—a gift that someone gives to someone else.”

  “I know what a present is. I just wasn’t aware that your kind were into giving presents.”

  “Well…perhaps not necessarily conventional presents, but still presents nonetheless.”

  Her blood ran cold as she looked at the handsome devil perched on the velvet bar stool. “What do you mean ‘not conventional’?”

  He grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, not every woman may appreciate my idea of a gift. That’s all.”

  “Where’s your brother? What’s he done?”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “Oh, this is all my doing. He’s not taking the credit for this.”

  He circled his hand in the air and produced himself a frothy pint from nowhere. Kyla narrowed her eyes at him, but her curiosity soon overtook her distaste for his open magick tricks.

  “What is it?”

  “You’ll have to come with me and see for yourself. I’m not telling you—that spoils the fun.”

  She checked her watch. “I finish in half an hour.” Before she walked off to a needy customer, she had to clarify something. “It better not be pushing me off the flipping Eiffel Tower like your brother did?”

  Balthazar smirked and took a long sip of his drink, the white froth covering his top lip. “It’s much better than that. Trust me.”

  ***

  Forty minutes later, Balthazar was walking Kyla through his house towards the three-inch thick mahogany door leading down to the basement.

  “Where is he anyway? Azazel?”

  Balthazar grimaced after remembering his brother’s confession earlier that day. “He’s gone out for the day.”

  “Oh, OK. Fair enough.” She stumbled as she misjudged the steepness of the cold stone steps curling down into the damp darkness. “Why are you taking me into your basement?”

  “You’ll see, just trust me. Here…” he held his hand out to her, “…watch your step.”

  Her heart jumped as she placed her delicate hand in Balthazar’s huge, strong grip. She found herself musing about the quieter of the two demons, wondering about him and his ways, and how he could be so different to his brazen brother.

  Balthazar strode into the huge yet dimly lit room. Spanning the entire foundation of the house, it was nothing but dank, musty, and very unwelcoming. In the far left corner, the shadows from the aged oil lamps enabled Kyla to make out a shape hanging from the ceiling. A steady drip, drip, drip splashed onto the cold concrete floor, sending shivers chasing over her body. As Balthazar guided her closer, her eyes adjusted to the dim light to allow her to see a patch of pink flesh.

  “You’ve got a pig hanging up in your basement? That’s disgusting,” she said, screwing her nose up. “Just go to the butchers like any normal person. Oh, that’s right, you’re not normal.”

  “Yes…a pig is something you could call it.”

  She took a few steps closer and gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. The dancing flames illuminating the bleak walls highlighted Tony’s sickly, grey face.

  “What…what the hell is this?”

  She stepped backwards, her heart racing and muscles quivering. Her mind struggled to process the scene before her—her ex-boyfriend hanging from a metal hook with a coat hanger straining through his sweat soaked flesh. Stripped bare, his slim frame was coated in dark shades of red, puddles of blood pooling beneath his dangling feet. Red, puffy eyes, and shallow, laboured breaths told of his agony.

  He spoke Kyla’s name, the gruffness of his voice sending chills down her spine. His chest heaved with the exertion of speaking.

  Ignoring him, she doubled over with her hands on her knees and drew in deep, shaky breaths. Her head whirled in a thousand different directions with this revelation. A surreal sense of reality struck her in the gut, nausea threatening to take control of her.

  “Are you ok?” Balthazar asked. He placed a hand on her lower back, steadying her, as well as offering some reassurance.

  She lifted her head, meeting his sincere hazelnut eyes. “Yes. Just…what…?”

  “It’s nothing he doesn’t deserve,” Balthazar said, his voice quiet in a bid to keep her calm. “I thought you would want to…exact your revenge.”

  Tears swam through her eyes, highlighting her vulnerability. Memories of her eighteen-year-old self knocked at her conscience, screaming for some sort of closure.

  Being five years older than Kyla, Tony had been livid at discovering her pregnancy. With her mum having endured Kyla at the tender age of sixteen, she was also not a fan of the shocking news.

  Tony’s father was a well-known politician and with an impending election, his son fathering an illegitimate child was not something he was willing to contend with. After ordering Tony to “deal with it”, Kyla found herself being tied to her bed, spread-eagled, whilst Tony “resolved” the situation.

  Bile rose up in her throat as phantom pains stabbed at her insides, reminding her of the torture of her delicate tissues being ripped, blood oozing from between her legs, staining her bright white sheets forever more.

  The internal damage Tony had caused led to Kyla almost bleeding to death. As she passed out, he finally called for an ambulance. Her life was saved, but her ability to bear children had been torn from her.

  “Hey,” Balthazar said, resting a hand over her abdomen. “He left you unable to do the one thing you were born to do. He took away your womanhood, your fertility, your ability to harbour and give life. He needs to know how much he hurt you, how badly he scarred you. Don’t be ashamed of wanting to do it.”

  Kyla shook her head, blinking away her tears. “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” She wrapped her hand around his and pressed it against her stomach. “Some things are just meant to happen.”

  Balthazar reached forwards with his free hand. Using his index finger, he laid a gentle touch on her chin. “Like you meeting me and Azazel?”

  She thought about his words for a few seconds. The raw urge to wrap her hands around Tony’s neck and squeeze the life from him had haunted her for years. Understandably, the grudge she held for him had never waned in its ferociousness.

  However, now presented with her prime opportunity, the cold-blooded nature of it ebbed away at her. She had always envisioned a boiling temper and rage taking over when she killed him—not this. But then again, she’d also never envisioned becoming acquainted with a pair of demons either.

  “Do you want to hurt him?” Balthazar asked.

  “Of course I do. I hate him for what he did to me, but this just feels—”

  “It feels like whatever you want it to feel like.” He paused for a second and pressed his lips together. “Do you need it t
o feel right to hurt him?”

  She nodded, her cheeks flushing with shame.

  “What do you need to make it feel like that?”

  “I don’t know…”

  Balthazar stepped over to the near-dead man. He swept two fingers through Tony’s hot blood and returned to her side, offering his bloody treat to her.

  “See his most recent memories and you will find your feelings.”

  Hesitation flickered through her eyes for just a brief second. He nodded to her, gifting her a warm smile. With that being the only encouragement she needed, she held on to his wrist as she sunk his fingers into her mouth. Her tongue wrapped around his thick digits, lapping at every last drop of blood. As the sweet life essence mixed with hers, her mind’s eye jumped into action, giving her the perfect view of what Balthazar had seen earlier in the day.

  She held on to Balthazar’s burning gaze as she slid his fingers from her mouth. Her lips plumped as she licked the last trickle from his fingertips. A hungry desire glazed over his dark eyes at the seductive gesture, but Kyla was now focused on other things.

  “I have sisters?”

  Balthazar nodded.

  “And he beats my mum?”

  He nodded again.

  Kyla snorted. “It’s nothing she doesn’t deserve. Bitch.” A grin to rival a Cheshire cat enveloped her features as she thought of how her mother had finally had her karma delivered to her in bucket loads.

  Balthazar watched her, his expression remaining impassive as Kyla’s fight with her emotions and her conscience ended. He struggled to suppress his own beaming smile when she spoke her next words.

  “Give me the knife.”

  Obliging the changed woman before him, Balthazar handed her the serrated hunting knife from inside the waistband of his jeans.

  In the heat of the moment, she grabbed Balthazar’s head, pressing his rosy lips to hers with a deep hunger. She parted his lips with her tongue, seeking him out to caress her into a sweet, dark mix of heaven and hell. His hands curled around her waist as he crushed her against him, his mind whirling with how much he had missed a woman’s need of him.