by T. F. Walsh
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Demon’s Mark
Hell Unleashed Series
T.F. Walsh
Demon’s Mark © Copyright 2017 T.F. Walsh
www.tfwalsh.com
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
For more information…
Hell Unleashed Series
Demon’s Mark
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Discover More…
Demon’s Fever Excerpt
Also by T.F. Walsh
Fallen Ashes Excerpt
About T.F. Walsh
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To my family and friends who have always supported me through my writing journey.
Hell Unleashed Series
Demon’s Fever
Demon’s Mark
Demon’s Magic
More on the way…
DEMON’S MARK
A Hell Unleashed Novel
As a half-demon, Cary has survived a lot… but this love thing might be her undoing.
Levi Walker, master demon hunter, is on a mission to find the demon bastard who killed his best friend. As he finally tracks down the beast, he’s suddenly distracted by the newest Argos recruit – the sexy vixen who also broke his heart – and the battle takes a deadly turn. Now with the recruit in the beast’s sights, both she and Levi are instantly marked for death.
If Cary Stone’s secret is revealed (she's a demon half-breed, after all), she'll be thrown straight into Hell. After a lifetime following her father’s advice – never let anyone get close, never stay too long in one city, and ALWAYS work alone – in the past year she’s broken all the rules.
Not only did she get a job hunting demons, she also fell in love with the most badass hunter of them all. Oh and, if things weren’t interesting enough, she managed to grab the top spot on the hit list of the biggest mercenary in Hell. Yeah, shit just got real.
Chapter 1
Cary Stone pushed herself through the crowd until she reached the edge of the dance floor before releasing the breath she’d been holding onto. The techno track booming from the speakers reverberated through the wooden floor and traveled up her body. The sound only added to the headache already banging inside her skull. LED lights flashed over the bobbing heads of the dancers, splashing bright colors across the masses.
Focused on finding the enemy, she ignored the crushing pain and scanned the room. No silvery aura in sight. Damn, where’d the bastard go? If it was a jumper, she was in serious trouble, and the poor victim it possessed would be dead within days, if it wasn’t already too late to save them.
Her phone vibrated in her hand—a message from her employer, Argos Inc. She clicked it open and found a bounty notice for a jumper demon in her area.
“Already on top of it, boys,” she whispered under her breath. Working as a demon hunter for a clandestine organization that tracked down evil spirits who’d escaped hell meant she was on call 24/7. “It would have been nice to have the night off and enjoy Tasha’s birthday party.” Cary's bestie was celebrating here, in her home town of Ann Arbor, in a pub down the block. Cary had meant to only be a minute, getting some fresh air, when she sensed the jumper and chased after it.
Another thing she would have to make up to Tasha.
To Cary’s left, a set of steps led up to a platform that curved around the back of the dance floor. Underneath, a bar ran along the wall. She weaved her way up the stairs, sliding in between a muscle-head and a large-nosed guy who wiggled his eyebrows at her.
Not in this lifetime.
Upstairs, Cary scored a spot near the railing overlooking the dance floor. Below, people gyrated and swayed. This close to the ceiling, she could hear the giant strobe lights buzzing around her and see the smoke machine releasing waves of white fog. When the next song started, the crowd burst into cheers, and more people crammed into the undulating sea below. Nothing could get her to join them.
She glanced at the victim’s photo on her phone. A man in his late twenties, tanned complexion, large, round eyes, a bulbous nose, and jet-black hair. “Mediterranean descent,” the message said. “Last seen at the Ten Twenty Eight nightclub in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan.” Yep, she was in the right spot, and suddenly nervous. Those freaky jumper demons were tough to take down alone. An icy chill crept over her as she remembered her last encounter with one; her broken rib had barely healed properly.
No one knew for certain how long jumpers possessed victims, but they blended in with their prey’s family and friends, bouncing from one person to the next over weeks or even months, devouring their souls.
Cary’s eyes focused on the darker corners of the club. Despite the alcohol and perspiration smells, the familiar sulfuric sti
nk of a demon stung her nostrils. The jumper was still here.
Scrolling down the message, she saw the bounty being offered: ten thousand dollars! “Damn,” she said aloud. All thoughts of the jumper erased from her mind. “With that much money, I could finally get new wheels for the car, fix the pipes in the kitchen, and put the rest into my mortgage.” Argos usually paid her a couple of thousand per hit but because they sent all of the other local hunters the same information, she was lucky to capture two or three demons a month no matter how many she chased, and Argos didn't cover expenses, didn't offer health insurance. The target on her phone would be like winning the lottery.
At least a little one.
Someone cleared his throat behind her. “This ain’t my scene. Wanna hightail it out of here?”
She spun around to confront the douchebag with the big nose and froze when she realized who it was.
“Levi Walker,” she said, trying to sound distant. “You’re the last person I expected here.”
“You say that,” Levi said with a grin, “but then again, you know you’re on my turf.”
Cary tightened her grip on the cell. Six-foot-five inches of spanking hot demon hunter stared at her. As much as she’d told herself to rein it in, her pulse spiked. Built and tanned, Levi flashed that perfect smile like he was Santa Claus handing out candy, and every girl wanted his candy.
With a nonchalance that she’d practiced for the next time she bumped into him, she released a long breath, slipped her phone into her back pocket, and tucked her thumbs into the belt hoops of her jeans. “You know, if you avoid those lame pickup lines, it might work in your favor.” Before he could answer, she turned slowly back to face the crowd below.
A quick scan around them revealed no aura and gave Cary something to do other than mentally drooling over Levi.
He joined her at the railing, leaning in close and grinned so sinfully she bit her bottom lip until it hurt. Levi ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair, the kind that most guys couldn’t carry off. But on Levi, it transformed him into a God. Especially with that sharp jaw and chin—not to mention lips ready for the kissing.
“Sorry, Levi, I’m not falling for your charm,” Cary said. Not again, anyway. She ignored his smirk, the way his cheeks dimpled. “Several months ago, you stole my hit and claimed the demon stone I fought for. Is that your plan today?” Every soul-sucker left behind a stone after being vanquished, and her employer required them as evidence before paying out.
Levi’s stare fastened onto her as if she were a creamy, key-lime pie. Damn, she’d be his pie any day. Pull it together.
“Still holding a grudge? That was months ago. Come on, Cary, business is business, and hunters fight each other for contracts all the time. How was I to know Brent gave you a deadline to capture one as a job interview?” He waited but when she didn’t answer, he kept talking. “Okay, I fucked up. I thought we put that behind us?”
The temptation to tell him he was wrong bubbled up to the forefront of her mind. Last time she let him into her life, she fell hard, heart and all. But it only left her devastated. She thought he was the one, and she’d let herself believe it. That memory compacted in her chest, threatening to flood her with memories she’d tucked away.
“I almost lost my shot and was just lucky that Brent felt sorry for me, enough that he offered me a job. You knew I was pretty much homeless at the time, and everything rode on me getting the Argos job. It didn’t stop you from taking my demon.” And that wasn’t even the worst of it. She’d opened up to him, trusted him, which in hindsight was her fault. She was a demon offspring to a human mother, and if she intended to keep her head on her shoulders, she had to keep her distance and secret. Demon hunters like Levi, and cambions like her, couldn’t mix.
Levi cocked an eyebrow and sighed.
Sulfur prickled her nostrils again, so she scanned the area around them, then over her shoulder. No visual. She faced Levi again, who hadn’t backed away. “Excuse me,” she said. “I have to go.” The words tasted sour on her tongue, and every molecule in her body begged her to retract them.
When she tried to move past him, Levi stepped into her path, blocking it with his wide shoulders. People crowding onto either side of the second set of stairs trapped her in. Yet her insides crumbled at such close proximity with Levi. She knew what was coming next, but couldn’t move or push him away. Shit, a part of her missed him desperately, but another part screamed for her to shove him over the railing.
Levi leaned in closer, his seductive musk-and-leather aftershave urging her to give in. With his arms on either side of her, hands clasping the metal frame at her back, he leaned toward her, his stubble brushing against her cheek. “You vanished from my hotel room and never returned my calls. I’ve missed you.”
“Don’t—” Cary’s words flat-lined as Levi pulled back.
The corners of his mouth curled upward, his expression matching the same one he wore last time they shared a bed, when he was naked between her legs and about to slam into her. Tingles swarmed her insides. It had always been them, a blaze rippling through her until nothing else mattered but the two of them. She daydreamed about letting herself go, unleashing all her pent up hunger for Levi, but to keep her secret, letting him in was out of the question. That was why a few months earlier she had left his hotel room and never returned. Distance was the answer.
“What are you running from?” he asked quietly.
Her first attempt to speak failed miserably as she stood frozen, mouth gaping, staring into eyes so close she could see the tiny gold flecks within them.
Her dad’s words burned through her mind. Don’t ever let anyone discover what you are.
“Not running. Just busy.” She licked her suddenly dry lips. “Working.”
“Bullshit. It’s been quiet over at Argos lately, fewer hits.” His gaze swept over her shoulder at something she couldn’t see.
Curious, she started to turn around, but Levi’s lips brushed against hers, passionate and demanding. He brought one hand up to just below her ear, while the other drifted to her hip. Warmth radiated from his touch, slowly spreading through her. Cary softened against him, and her heart fluttered, remembering their time together in Detroit. Lost in a savage kiss that promised so much more, she stifled a rising moan, and the sensation of her skin against his fingertips weakened her resolve.
He broke their kiss suddenly, backed away with a wicked grin, and vanished into the masses.
Cary’s knees wobbled as she reclined against the railing. Images from their previous times together came flooding back. The time he offered her a place to stay when she got kicked out her apartment, him teaching her to use the demon lasso he favored, and the times she’d fallen into his arms—too many to count.
But it didn’t change the cold hard facts: Cambions should never date demon hunters. At best, he’d despise her; at worst, she’d end up at the gates of Hell.
Then reality hit her hard, along with the distinctive smell, and she spun around, inhaling sharply. In the far corner of the dance floor was the gleam of silver she’d been searching for before Levi showed up. The jumper was threading his way toward the exit.
Levi rushed into the horde of dancers, towering above most of them, as he shoved his way through the dance floor. He seemed to ignore a guy who pushed him back, focused on one thing: his target.
Damn, Levi was playing dirty! Fire coursed through Cary’s veins as she sprinted down the stairs in time to spot him leaving the dance floor, chasing the possessed man.
Such a huge payment for this job could have meant this jumper shouldn’t be handled alone. She might have let him help, but without her, Levi could get himself killed. Or worse, possessed.
Besides, lover, Cary thought as she ran after him, this time the demon stone was hers.
Chapter 2
Levi burst through the front doors of the nightclub and onto a sidewalk with a line of people waiting to get inside. He pushed past them, scanning over their heads f
or the silvery aura of the demon.
Fuck. Where’d it go? he thought.
“Hey, asshole,” the bouncer barked at him. “You ain’t gettin’ back in.”
Levi ignored the man and scanned Liberty Street for the demon. Sweat prickled down his spine from the heat that showed no sign of easing tonight. Back in the club, he’d spotted the possessed man crossing the dance floor, but as soon as their eyes met, he bolted. Levi had been too obvious; seeing Cary had distracted him. Her presence left him bereft of common sense… exactly why he was drawn to her.
And, after capturing this demon, he was going to figure out what happened between them.
First, he had a huge paycheck to catch. Ten grand! That payment would cover the rest of the debt he owed Argos and finally get them out of his life.
He stood on the curb, looking over everything and everyone—the crowd behind him, cars zooming along the road, shops and office buildings. Across the street, to his left, he caught movement: black hair, the flash of a leather jacket, and a silver glow. Of course, where else would the scum from hell go but into a dingy alleyway?
Levi ran across the potholed street, swerving around an oncoming car. Its tires screeched as the driver slammed on the brakes, screaming some profanity Levi didn’t have time for. Cars were backed up in the opposite direction, so he jumped over the hood of a hatchback and kept running. He reached for the silver cuffs in his back pocket, his thumb grazing the circular entrapping rune engraved into them.