Chapter XXVIII
Kyla waited with a smug grin on her face for her rescuer to arrive, her arms folded across her chest in victory. Azazel stood watching her, his face pleading with her to understand and forgive him. Within minutes, a black BMW pulled up, its windows tinted and its occupants hesitating in opening the doors to reveal themselves.
As the driver’s door opened, Azazel’s face paled to a milky white as he stared at the tall, broad man before him.
“I might have known you would be involved,” the man said, his deep masculine voice booming through the air.
“You know him?” Kyla asked, striding towards the passenger side of the car.
A quirky smiled passed over the man’s lips. “Yes, you could say that.”
Kyla opened the passenger door, her face lighting up with joy as she saw the familiar face staring back at her. “Gran,” she said, wrapping her arms around her for all she was worth.
“Oh, don’t look so shocked,” Kyla’s granddad said to Azazel. “You know there’s something about the women from this family.”
Azazel managed a weak smile before stepping towards Kyla. “Can we talk?”
Kyla turned to him, her face clouding over with anger. “I think we’ve done enough talking.” Without a second glance, she slid into the back seat, shutting herself away from Azazel’s reach.
Azazel could do nothing as his heart shattered watching his old colleague and former boss drive off with his soul mate.
***
Once safely back inside her grandparent’s quaint old cottage, Kyla waited for the inevitable questions.
“What on earth have you been getting yourself into?” Lily asked, staring at her granddaughter with amusement flooding her blue eyes.
“Oh, Gran,” Kyla sighed, dropping her head into her hands. “You have no idea…”
“Oh I think I do.” She smiled, looking up at her husband. “You’ve not been wearing your ring, have you, young lady?”
Kyla blushed. “I’m sorry. It was just too beautiful to risk getting damaged.”
Lily smirked. “And now, you’re the damaged one aren’t you?”
Kyla forced a smile onto her lips, words not enough to describe her current torrent of emotions.
“Those two brothers are trouble, Kyla,” Lily continued, resting a frail, wrinkled hand on Kyla’s forearm. “But I have never seen that demon look at anyone the way he looks at you.”
Kyla’s heart warmed before a stroke of fear shot through her. Her voice was barely a whisper as she dared to ask, “How do you know them?”
Lily looked up at her handsome husband, Malcolm. “Your grandfather hasn’t always been human, my dear.”
Kyla’s mouth dropped open as she stared at her grandparents in disbelief. “What?”
“Say hello to the former Malphas,” Lily announced, grasping her husband’s hands with a proud undertone. “The Great Prince of Hell.”
“No way,” Kyla breathed, her voice barely audible. “Really?”
“Yes indeed,” Malcolm confirmed. “And your Gran here was the one who saved me.” His chocolate brown eyes glanced down at Lily, the warmth and love exuding from them obvious as they became lost in each other’s gazes.
Kyla remained silent, feeling slightly awkward that she was privy to such a private moment between them.
“You have had a spell woven upon you,” Lily said, returning her steady gaze to Kyla. “What have you been doing?”
Kyla’s heart jumped at her words, panic soaring through her as her mind raced with a thousand possibilities. “What do you mean a spell?”
“Had any déjà vu moments lately?” Lily’s red lips inched up into a smirk as she glanced over Kyla’s aura with a knowing nod. “You’ve discovered your elemental side,” she said, joy in her voice. “At last.”
Kyla thought back over the last few days, her mind flagging up the déjà vu she’d had just yesterday. “Yes,” she said, goose bumps raiding their way over her body as she dreaded the oncoming discussion.
Lily smiled with a contented grin. “Let’s see what they’ve been up to.”
With her delicate aged fingers, Lily reached towards Kyla, her silent movements skimming through the shining aura that both she and Malcolm could see as clear as a bell, but Kyla was still ignorant to.
As she touched the dancing jumble of rainbow colours, Lily shuddered, her eyes closing as her body tried to rid itself of the mixed energy surging through her. She reached one of her hands up to Kyla’s head, placing a feather light touch on her temple. It was then that the memories flooded through her, the ones which had been buried beneath the miniscule passage of time which the two demons had rewound.
“Oh dear,” she whispered, her hands falling down to the kitchen table with a graceful movement. She opened her eyes, worry and anxiety washing over them as she prepared to tell her granddaughter the bad news.
“What?” Kyla asked, her heart beating hard as she began to panic at what had happened.
Lily pursed her lips as she glanced up at Malcolm. His sturdy hands had been on Lily’s shoulder the entire time, gifting him with the images she received from Kyla.
“Are you sure you want to know?” Lily asked, not sure if Kyla could handle the knowledge. She agreed on this occasion that the two demons had been right in their actions.
“Yes,” she said. “Tell me now.”
Lily gave her a sympathetic look before nodding her agreement and reaching for Kyla’s hands. “Close your eyes,” she said. “And relax. I need you to be open to the images I am going to send you.”
Kyla’s heart beat a nervous rhythm as she followed her grandmother’s instructions. Apprehension and excitement spun around in her stomach like a hurricane.
Lily closed her eyes. She pushed the images from her mind with her own energy, and imagined Kyla’s energy soaking them up like a sponge. As a warm, bubbly sensation crept through both of her arms, Lily knew the action was working—Kyla was receiving the replay of time that she had been hidden from.
Kyla became more and more horrified as she saw herself from a third person point of view, acting out the terrible deed which Balthazar had allowed her to do. She tightened her grip on her grandmother’s hands, her anger, her fear, her years of unspent emotions fighting through to the surface as deep down, she realised that she wished she had known she had done this.
Several minutes later, after seeing the brothers fight, watching them piece everything back together before submitting the memories to her subconscious, Kyla gasped as she opened her eyes, hot tears pooling onto the wooden surface beneath her.
Lily and Malcolm remained silent, knowing that Kyla needed to figure this out for herself. They had been alienated from Kyla after her mother had done what she did. Anna-Rose had threatened to out their secrets to Kyla if they didn’t back off and leave her alone. Well aware that Kyla wasn’t ready to hear the truths of the world, Lily and Malcolm had no choice but to sit back and wait for their only granddaughter to need them. Finally, this moment had arrived.
“Is it wrong that I want to do that all over again?” Kyla whispered, her face strained with emotion.
Lily managed a meek smile as Malcolm beamed down at her. “No dear, not at all. I think it is perfectly normal what you wish to do, considering what they both have done.”
Kyla’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. She hadn’t expected her grandparents to agree to having such sadistic thoughts. “But you always said you weren’t getting involved. You said you had no opinion on what happened.”
Lily’s hands squeezed Kyla’s with affection. “Of course we had an opinion, my love. Your mother forced us into a corner to stay out of it. We told you we would be here if you needed us and now, finally, here we are.” Her smile broadened as she gazed at Kyla with love. “We’ve missed you.”
Kyla smiled, her tears falling as her face creased up. “I’ve missed you too,” she said. “What do I do about all of this?”
“Whatever you want to do,”
Lily replied, knowing full well what would come next.
Kyla replied without a second’s hesitation. “I want to kill him. Again.”
Chapter XXIX
Lily couldn’t help the smile that passed over her elegant features as she took in Kyla’s stern determination.
“Well,” she said, leaning forwards in her eagerness. “If that’s what you want to do then you will need all the help you can get.”
Kyla was startled and truly surprised by her gran’s easy attitude towards the subject. “Really?”
Lily smiled as Malcolm took a seat next to her. His dark eyes lit up with the idea of teaching his granddaughter the ways of the world—including how to harness her elemental abilities.
***
It was later that evening when Azazel appeared. Kyla was laid on the pink, flowery quilt in the spare bedroom. She was slowly turning her hands around, and smiling in delight at the mini tornado that appeared at the end of her fingertips.
Azazel materialised at the end of the bed, his arms folded over his chest, and giving off vibes that he really shouldn’t be giving off.
“What are you doing?” Kyla yelled, sitting bolt upright. “Get out!”
“We need to talk,” he replied, his tone of voice firm and commanding.
Kyla cocked an eyebrow up as she looked at him in disbelief. “I beg your pardon?”
His arms dropped and his features softened. “We need to talk,” he repeated, his voice softer and more welcoming this time. “Please, Kyla.”
Malcolm burst into the bedroom, his weathered face wrinkled in disgust as he glared at Azazel. “There is such a thing as manners, you know. Knocking on the front door wouldn’t have gone amiss.”
Azazel grinned at the burly man. “But that would be far too easy.”
“You mean you knew I wouldn’t let you in?”
Azazel shrugged his shoulders. “Something like that.”
“Kyla?” Malcolm asked, turning to his granddaughter. “Do you want him out?”
She tore her fiery stare from her handsome demon, and smiled at her granddad. “I can handle him.”
“You sure?”
Kyla nodded.
“Ok, petal. Your grandmother and I will go for a walk to give you two some privacy.” He shut the door on his way back out, silence remaining in the small guest room until the front door was heard banging shut.
“What do you want?” Kyla spat out, every fibre within her glowering with rage.
“Can you please at least try to forgive me? Please?” His green eyes were swimming with a pleading look as he cautiously made his way to the end of the bed, sitting down.
“It’s not the fact of what you did, Azazel. It’s the fact that you lied about it. If you’d just told me right away then none of this would be happening right now.”
Sighing in defeat, he glanced at the floor before looking back up at her with a mischievous smile. “I could fix that.”
“Don’t,” she snapped. “I know what you and Balthazar did. That’s a whole other discussion we need to have, matey.”
He visibly swallowed as his flesh paled to a sickly whiteness. “Oh,” he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Yes, oh,” she said, standing up as her mood darkened. “What the hell did you think you were playing at?”
He faltered for a few seconds before stuttering, “I…we…we didn’t expect you to…”
“Find out?” She advanced towards him, her hair falling around her face as she leant forwards in her rising anger.
He nodded, his gaze dropping to the floor. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “We did what we thought was best.”
Kyla tried to ignore the images of him tenderly stroking her face as she had lay knocked out on the bench in the pub. Despite her best efforts, her heart began melting, his feelings for her had been the underlying meaning behind everything that had happened so far, and it was impossible to put that aside.
“I’m not happy,” she said, taking a seat next to him. Her mood softened as he looked at her, and she closed the distance between them. “But I think we can sort it out.”
His entire being lit up with joy at her words as a broad smile swept across his lips. “Really?”
She nodded. “Life is too short to fall out. But you are still in the doghouse so don’t get any cute ideas.”
His eyes twinkled for a brief second before he grasped her face between his hands, kissing her with such passion it took her breath away. “Like that kind of cute idea?”
She nodded, too mute for words.
He grinned before submitting her to another heart-stopping kiss. His grin soon fell however.
“You can start making this up to me,” she gasped, finally regaining some breath.
“How?”
“By helping me kill Tony again.”
His face fell into darkness as he shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea…”
“Either you help me or I’ll ask Balthazar, seeing as he’s helped me once already. I’m sure you wouldn’t want a repeat session…”
His face immediately hardened as a low growl vibrated through the air. “Don’t say things like that, Kyla…”
“Don’t tell me no then.” She crossed her arms over her chest as a victorious smirk worked its way over her red lips.
“You are absolutely infuriating…”
“And you are trying to get into my good books.”
“Fine,” he snapped. “But it’s not going to be that easy, not this time. You need to think about this properly. What about your mum? Your sisters?”
Not a flicker of emotion passed over her face as she looked him square in the eye and said, “They can all die too.”
Chapter XXX
Kyla stood outside of her mother’s house over a week later. Her control of her elemental abilities was now almost to perfection. Knowledge of the world, and the truths she had been hidden from all these years, were new nuggets of information safely tucked away inside her mind, ready to be pulled out and used when needed.
Azazel and Balthazar were at her side, quiet and observant. The two brothers had forgotten their latest row, burying the memories as quickly as they had happened. Balthazar was now fully healed; it had taken him nearly three days to recover from the barrage of splinters.
With an arrogant smile on her face, Kyla walked to the front door, ringing the doorbell constantly until the door opened.
Anna-Rose gasped as she opened the door. “Kyla? What the…?”
Tony appeared behind her, his own face paling as he saw his ex-girlfriend for the first time in years.
“Well, hello, mother dear. How has one been?” She pointed a finger at the door, her smile spreading as the door flew wide open, allowing her passage into the house. She pushed past her mother’s stunned body, turning her head every which way as she looked around the house. “Done quite well for ourselves haven’t we?”
Kyla’s two sisters came from the living room, the eldest asking, “Who are you?”
Kyla grinned as she bent down to greet the two girls. “I am your older sister.” The smile playing out across her red lips was nothing short of an evil twinge.
“What do you want, Kyla?” Tony’s voice cut through the air, his distaste at her sudden arrival more than apparent.
Whipping her head around, her blue eyes flaming with anger, she replied, “Well, I’ve come to…collect my debt, shall we say.”
“What do you mean collect your debt?” Anna-Rose’s voice rose in panic as she began to wonder what Tony had been up to behind her back.
Kyla chuckled as she stepped forwards, placing her hands on her mother’s quivering shoulders. Her grin slowly dissolved into dark menace as she answered in a malicious whisper, “I figured it was only fair for me to share the pain I’ve had to endure.”
Anna-Rose’s face paled as her eyes widened in shock and fear. “Kyla,” she whispered, tears already sliding down her thin cheeks. “Please don’t. It was such a long t
ime ago…”
Kyla smirked, her head cocked to one side as she gripped Anna-Rose’s shoulders firmly. “If it was such a long time ago, then how come I can’t forget about it?”
“Enough,” Tony snapped, grabbing Kyla’s shoulders as he attempted to shove her away from his wife.
With a mere flick of her head, Kyla shot him across the room with a gust of wind. His head clunked against the wall, knocking him out cold.
She rolled her eyes in annoyance as the two girls and her mother screamed in horror. “Shut up,” she snarled, staring her mother down in an easy game of wills.
“Just don’t hurt them, please. It’s not their fault, they didn’t know any different…”
“I don’t care,” Kyla said, her eyes flashing with fury. “They’re still a product of you and him, and one that shouldn’t be allowed to continue.”
Anna-Rose burst into sobs as the two girls clung onto each other, their pathetic little cries driving Kyla mad. She took a second to glance outside to see that both Azazel and Balthazar had disappeared. She cursed them in her mind before closing the door and returning her attention to her mother.
“So,” Kyla said, slapping a hand over her mother’s hunched back. “Where shall we start? Would you like to know what it feels like to have your insides scratched to pieces by a thin piece of metal?”
Anna-Rose could do nothing but beg and plead with her wicked daughter. For all of ten seconds, she thought she was getting through to her as her daughter fell silent.
“I said shut up,” Kyla yelled, throwing her weak mother onto the soft living room carpet. She stared at Anna-Rose’s stomach, and with a twist of her hand, the poor woman was soon writhing around in agony, screaming for all she was worth as blood pooled between her legs.
Kyla could do nothing but laugh as she felt a rush of satisfaction and relief at subjecting her mother to the pain she had suffered herself. “Does that hurt enough?” she asked, stepping forwards. “Or shall we have some more?” She clenched her fist shut with a knowing smile as Anna-Rose howled in front of her, clutching her body as sobs of pain and fear left her skeletal frame.
Sex, Lies & Demon Ties (Dark Desires #1) Page 14