by Logan Jacobs
By the time I finished dressing, Ashe was tucked into the corset of her new dress, and her cleavage swelled above the intricate black stitching and green satin. Her cloak covered the healing black gouges in her arm where her shackle had been, but even with her shoulders covered, she looked good enough to eat.
I had half a mind to tear the whole outfit off her to steal a taste already, but then she dragged me over to the mirror so she could admire how we looked side by side.
I was a little surprised to find I did look a lot like the richer mortals I’d seen in the streets of Rengfri.
I had an infinitely more muscular build, though, and there was still a clearly deviant quality to my face. My jaw was strict and angular above my corded neck, and when I grinned, my gleaming but subtle fangs only added to the devilish impression, but Ashe purred with approval at the sight. Then I straightened my choppy hair so it looked a little less scruffy, and I turned my gaze to the gorgeous demon in the mirror.
Together, the two of us looked like sinful nobles in attire way too nice for Hellscape runaways, and our violet and pink eyes glowed greedily in identical ways.
“Shall we head to the Church, my love?” I growled as smoke seeped through my smile.
“We shall,” Ashe snarled, and her demon voice sent a chill down my spine.
Chapter 13
The church was lit up by giant, ornate lanterns that had been placed along the path and in the grass that surrounded the vaulted building. A warm orange glow swarmed out around them, and the candle flames flickered ever so slightly from inside their iron cages. The church itself towered over us while the gleaming spires and stained glass disappeared into the night sky, and the entire area was enclosed by fifteen-foot tall iron railings while a matching gate had been placed at the front of the pathway.
An endless stream of city folk were all headed in the same direction. Some were entering the dwelling of the Church, and others were deep in conversation throughout the pristine grounds outside. They all wore incredibly fine clothing made from silk, satin, velvet, and fabrics I’d never even seen before, and the women wore their hair styled neatly on top of their heads. It was clear that they had put in a lot of effort for the Church’s banquet, but I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about.
The Holy King would no doubt bless them well whether or not they shelled out thousands of pieces to be here tonight.
It was ridiculous how much his beloved Church could get away with on the surface world.
As I looked around at the ostentatious display, I couldn’t help wondering if the Holy King even paid attention to all that happened here. I knew the Dark King left most of the work to his minions, so he rarely bothered examining the tasks we did in his name. Knowing how questionably the Church tended to behave, I had a feeling the Holy King was just as hands-off in his managerial approaches.
Ashe and I tried to keep our heads down as we strolled up the cobblestone lane so no one could spot our glowing irises, but it appeared as though most of the passersby were too caught up in conversation to notice us. Our glamorous attire from Madame Nyra seemed to be doing its job to help us blend in, but I did spot a few mortal women looking in my direction.
Then I spotted a few more, and I gradually noticed several elaborate hair-dos turning my way as I passed.
“The old fairy gave you too nice of a suit,” Ashe whispered under her breath. “It’s the only thing these holy ladies are noticing. That new haircut doesn’t help, either.”
I bit back the smirk that curved over my lips. “Are you sure it’s the suit?”
Ashe huffed lightly at the statement, but I caught the light blush on her cheeks.
“I’ll have you know, the women aren’t the only ones looking,” I murmured as I tipped my lips closer to her.
It was clear from the hungry look in the noblemen’s eyes that Ashe was their main focus while their own women eyed me up and down. The huntress looked delicious in the deep-green dress that complimented her icy-pale skin and the silver braid that ran over one shoulder. She even kept her eyes lowered, so she looked almost demure, and demon or not, these mortal men would’ve had to have been blind not to notice how fucking irresistible she was.
One quick glance around assured me she was the most beautiful woman in the area, in fact.
And every delicious sinful inch of her was all mine.
“Remind me to ravage you at the first opportunity,” I whispered as I offered Ashe my arm.
“You as well,” the demon purred. “These innocent women are reminding me how very ill-equipped they are to pleasure a man like yourself.”
“I’m sure you could teach them,” I growled lightly. “I’m sure not all of them are innocent. Or… maybe we could find one that is very pure.”
“That could be fun,” Ashe sighed. “Maybe we could find a young maiden who has no idea what we are but is so very inclined to disobey her upbringing. We could take her back with us, and I would spread her apart while your cock claimed her womanhood for the first time. Then you could pour your demon seed deep into her womb… yes. I could imagine the look of deviant ecstasy on her face during the night.”
“Perhaps after our work is done.”
“I suppose that there will be time for playing once we are safe and established,” Ashe agreed.
There was definitely a hint of treachery and evil in the air tonight, but it didn’t seem as though it was coming only from the mortals around us. Most of it was drifting from the open doors of the stained-glass dwelling ahead of us, but I ignored the sudden hunger for vengeance in my veins.
We had to find the viaducts that the black fairies had mentioned, and hopefully, we’d arrive in time to trap the four Blessed when we found them.
Ashe and I continued past the church toward the southern quarters of Rengfri, and we moved casually since so many eyes were trailing us now. Too many men looked eager to ditch the women they were with just to dance with Ashe this evening, and I decided to loop my arm around her slender waist, instead. Then I placed a soft kiss in her silver-blue hair to give those mortal fuckers a message, and Ashe shamelessly leaned into my hold while she clung to my belt.
More people were seen lingering around the side of the stained-glass dwelling and further onward down the next hill. The way they walked gave me the impression they may have enjoyed one too many dragon’s breaths before they came here, and one man stumbled over his feet and caught himself off the church fence. The one beside him still had a sloshing drink in hand, and they sang a song I hadn’t heard before on the surface world. I couldn’t decide if this was because of their slurring words, or because it was a song that they made up on the spot, but they didn’t appear as if they were going to take part in the banquet. I guessed they intended to spend their merry evening on the streets, and as long as they didn’t interfere with our plans, then I’d allow them to continue.
Still, judging by the faint scent of debauchery that came from their skin, I wouldn’t have had any issues adding them to the pile of dead bodies at the end of the night.
Once we had passed the drunk men, we came across the entrance to the viaducts below the church. The stone canals arched over the streams of water below and cast shadows across the surface. A line of trees was seen on the opposite side of the water, and the faint glow of lanterns illuminated the area beyond the trees. I couldn’t see what was on the other side, but I assumed it must have been some more buildings of the southern quarters. As long as we weren’t in the view of anyone, then we could complete our plan without any added problems.
It looked as though we were the only people lingering near the viaducts, but I knew this wouldn’t be the case for long. The ripe scent of the Blessed permeated the air here, and the anticipation building in my chest assured me it wouldn’t be long until bloody satisfaction was mine.
I could practically taste it.
But victory wouldn’t come easily.
The Church and the banquet were within sight of us from here, and we had to mak
e sure we killed these bastards without drawing too much attention to ourselves. As long as we could catch the Blessed while they were unaware, I figured we could kill them swiftly and dispose of their bodies before the Church officials caught on to what was happening.
“Hey, look at this.” Ashe broke me from my thoughts, and she pointed toward the dwelling of the Church beyond the hill we’d just come down.
“Oh, shit,” I said when I caught on to the ghostly figures. “I guarantee those holy bastards have no idea what’s flying over their heads right now.”
“No clue,” the demon snorted.
The ghosts were illuminated by a pale blue light with a silver sheen where their bodies were meant to be. Some of them were flying around directly over the heads of the mortals, whereas others were gracefully wandering along the grass and would swoop through anyone who got in their way.
They all wore the clothes that they died in. Some were in armor, a woman was in nightdress, and a man wore a tunic and pants like the men I saw in the poorer areas of Rengfri. One weathered ghost floated closer toward the viaducts, and I could even see the battle scars that lined his face.
Whenever a ghost flew over a lantern, the silver sheen glistened harder, and I was able to get a better look at the person they used to be. I saw that one man in armor was missing an arm, and a woman had a darker patch in the center of the white clothing that she wore, almost as if she had been stabbed to death.
Our fascination with the ghosts was quickly cut short when the mouthwatering scent of holy evil suddenly grew stronger and stronger.
Some of the Blessed were on their way over here, and I could only hope it was finally time to enact our plan.
“I’ll hide back here behind the wall,” I whispered to Ashe as I pointed toward my hiding spot. “If you can get their attention, they’ll run straight for you, but then I’ll jump out of the shadows and catch them off guard.”
“Okay, just as long as I get to kill some of them, too,” she snickered.
“Don’t worry, I’ll leave plenty for you to stick your teeth and talons into.” I winked.
Her pink eyes gleamed at the thought, and I snuck back against the wall of the canal as Ashe stepped closer to the light of the street lanterns.
Ashe had one arm behind her back which held the onyx blade, and she stroked her hair with the other hand. I could tell she was trying to appear weak to the approaching men, but I recognized the look on her face from our first encounter.
She was using another clever tactic to distract her prey from her true intentions, and I was pleased to see this side of her again. The side that wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted and wouldn’t let anything get in the way of her victory.
But then Ashe gasped lightly and swiftly jumped back into the shadows where I stood near the wall.
I looked at her with a frown and silently asked what she was doing, but before she could make another move, the scuffing footsteps came closer to the viaduct.
We both kept quiet and out of sight as a group of ten men sauntered past.
They had their broad backs to us as they continued to walk up the hill toward the church, but the golden glow that faintly lit up the ground, as well as their intense scent, told me that this was another band of the Blessed. I didn’t recognize any of their voices as they spoke in low tones and chuckles every now and then to one another, but the fact that even more of the Blessed were walking around here was a sign that the black fairies had been correct.
There were far more of these holy bastards lurking around the southern quarters of Rengfri.
“Fuck, that was a close one,” Ashe whispered once the men were out of earshot.
“We need to be more careful,” I replied. “Who knows how many of them are roaming this area, and we sure as hell won’t be able to kill them all off tonight.”
We stayed silent in the same spot for several minutes more, and when the same familiar scent returned, I focused on the sounds alone, in case I spotted a noise that matched the men from the night before.
If one wrong group had already passed us, there was a chance that a second, or even a third, could do the same thing. We had to be certain that these were the four we were after before we made another move.
I peered around the wall enough to take a look. I could just make out one of the men, but from the greasy hair and scars on his face, I knew we had met before. It was the leader of the Blessed who’d ambushed us last night, and I had to stifle the growl in my chest.
It was finally our time to send them back to the angels.
I gave Ashe a nod to tell her to get into place, and with a slight grin on her face, she stepped out from the shadows of the wall. Ashe kept her head down while she wandered forward without any haste, but as soon as the Blessed were close enough, she raised her head and looked directly at them with her bright pink eyes.
Then she feigned a tiny gasp and did absolutely nothing to flee, and the glowing, gold-eyed bastards snarled as they ran straight for Ashe.
There were six of them in total, but I recognized the four who had fled the night before among them. They were all dressed nicer than when we first saw them, and even though they were still dirty and reeked of malice, it looked like they had dressed up for the banquet. They kept a fighting posture in their bodies as they ran like animals toward Ashe, almost like they’d been trained to stay in that stance no matter what happened, and as soon as one of them was close enough to attack my demon lover, I lunged out from my hiding place with my onyx blade in hand.
The blade still had the blue tint around it, and whatever the gorgons had infused into the onyx was clearly still going strong. I used that to my advantage as I brought the blade down into a holy fucker’s head with all my strength. Then I watched in pleasure as golden blood and shattered bone splattered from his skull and to the ground, followed closely by the rest of his twitching body.
The Blessed were unprepared for our ambush, and they were unarmed thanks to the swanky event they intended to join in this evening. One brought a holy sword from the side of his belt, but that was about as lethal as it got, which meant they’d be stuck relying on their physical prowess while both Ashe and I could use our tampered blades at a safe range.
Ashe crouched in a fighting position with her onyx blade held out in front of her now, and as the one armed Blessed bore down on her, she swiped the blade across his ankle. He yowled in pain as he almost collapsed on the spot, but then Ashe rose and rammed the blade straight into the man’s chest. She used so much force that the handle of the knife broke through his ribs and into his chest, and when she twisted the weapon, a geyser of gold blood spewed from him.
It drenched his dress shirt while he shook and gawked at the murderous huntress, and she chuckled mirthlessly while she kept him there bleeding in a pool around their feet.
My mouth salivated at the delicious sight of her ruthless attack, but there were only two Blessed down, and four more to go.
“We told you to run when you had the chance, cretins,” the Blessed leader snarled at me. He took slow steps toward me, like he thought this would intimidate me, but when I stepped forward as well, he stopped in his tracks.
“Yes, but if you recall, that was before we slaughtered half your men,” I retorted. “Oh. And before you fled like a bunch of holy bitches.”
The man snarled and lunged for my weapon, but a powerful punch to his stomach caused him to stagger backward. Then I punched him again, harder, and the man was thrown off the ground and back into the stone wall of the viaduct. The bricks crumbled from the force, and a hairline crack rippled through the stone. The sound of the collision echoed all around us, but there was music coming from the church now, and I hoped it was loud enough to hide the sounds of our killing spree.
I was about to pounce and finish the Blessed leader off when another of his cronies jumped me from behind, and he wrapped his muscled arm around my neck. Unbearable pressure pulsed in my head as he tried to kill me in one swift wrenching m
ovement, but I was stronger than he was. I tensed every muscle in my upper body while I summoned my hell power into my own arms, and as I reached over my head and grabbed a hold of the back of his neck, the surge of my Infernal Tempest increased.
His holy arms refused to let go of me, but I felt him starting to weaken as more of my thunder built in my palm. Then he started to convulse, and as I kept him clamped in one hand, I drove my onyx blade down into his thigh with the other.
The man was too overpowered by the electrical surge I forced into him to scream. He collapsed in a twitching heap with my blade still embedded in his thigh, and the Blessed leader took the opportunity to come at me again.
He’d grabbed a holy sword from the first fucker Ashe killed, and the arm he held it in was raised just high enough for me to slip under.
I dodged his first attempt at a strike, but this big bastard was light on his feet, and he flipped around and managed to catch my calf with the tip of his sword as I ran.
Icy pain shot through my entire leg as the holy blade froze my sinews, but I forced my stiff leg to keep moving so I could avoid his next strike.
I stumbled aside, dove past the leader’s leg, and rolled to grab my onyx blade from my previous prey. Then I narrowly avoided crashing into Ashe while she slashed the throat of her victim clean open.
The Blessed leader snarled proudly as he managed to keep up with me the whole time, and he slashed wildly any chance he got. His golden eyes almost blinded me as I kept evading his attack, and even though I slashed at his legs and arms three times each, he didn’t slow down.
He just absorbed the boiling pain, but then he got cocky.
The Blessed leader let out a murderous laugh as he grabbed his hilt in two hands, and I stopped dodging him.
I let him raise it high to plunge into my chest, and then I dropped my blade on the ground and planted my boot in his groin with all my strength.
The holy bastard’s golden eyes almost fell out of their sockets as I heard either his bones or his dick shatter, but it didn’t matter which. He’d dropped his sword, and his neck was in both my hands now.