“All right, dammit. I’ll tell you, but you didn’t hear this from me.” Her voice almost broke as she held back tears of terror. I didn’t blame her for fearing Hell. For her, it would probably be several times more brutal than I had described. Succubi bodies stop aging in the same way as mine, but they weren’t immortal. If they were killed, it would be off to the afterlife. There were some extremely rare cases where a few of them lived goody two-shoed lives. Conus turned those individuals into angels. This wouldn’t be the case here.
“Glad you see it our way,” I said. “Let’s go to the car. We’re going to take you to our boss. She’ll be thrilled to know that we’ve finally, for the love of fuck, got a link to Sunset.”
Chapter Nineteen
Elly, the succubus, sat across the table from us, coffee mug in hands, eyes tired. She had spent the past three hours answering Amony’s questions and probably freezing. Or maybe that was just me. Amony’s conference room felt like fucking Antarctica.
Sunset, our target, was a powerful demonic organization led by some devil. Sin claimed that Fallen are attracted to large gatherings of demons. The more they continued to meet, the higher the chance of Fallen to pick up their trail, eager to feed. That’s right, feed. I had found out that Fallen eat demons. Ha! Hilarious. Yet it wouldn’t be my problem if Sin wasn’t in the picture.
Bored, I unlocked my phone and attempted another round of this stupid game called Flappy Bird. I made it past like four pipes before dying. I hated this game. So much for my ten-pipe record. It’s going to take some serious work to make it again.
“All right, one last question, Elly,” Amony said, smiling.
Elly sighed. “What now, witch?”
“Would you like a job? I pay well.” Elly blinked twice. “Come on, that measly waitress job isn’t going to do. Besides—”
“Absolutely not,” Elly interrupted, face reddened with anger. “I answered your fucking questions. I don’t want to be anywhere nearby when Sunset slaughters you.”
“They’re really that strong?” I said, as I put away my phone.
“You really don’t know, do you, dumbass?” Elly shook her head. “They’ve been on the Paradise Realm wanted list for years, and not even one of them caught. Do you really think you’re going to just barge in there, kick ass, and then leave?”
“Yes,” I said with a wink. Elly threw her hands up. The succubus was attractive, a requirement for this predatory being. Her creamy white skin seemed to glow against the dim orange light of Amony’s conference room.
“You’re an idiot.” She folded her arms.
“And you suck,” I said. She simply glared at me. I shrugged, triumphant.
Amony shook her head. “The offer will be open, if you change your mind.”
Elly stood up. “Are you done wasting my time?”
“She probably wouldn’t be a good addition to the team, anyway. What can a succubus do besides get captured and raped?” I laughed a little. “She’s weak. That’s the only reason I figure she’s passing over a ridiculously high-paying job like this.”
Elly sat back down. “Ridiculously high-paying, you say? I’ll join, on one condition.”
“And that is?” Amony said, one eyebrow raised.
“I kill this asshole.”
Amony nodded. “If you think you can beat him, go ahead and show him some girl power.”
“Oh, I’ll do more than that.” Elly leapt over the table and dove on top of me. She tried to slug me but I caught her fist and then blasted her back with tons of force. She hit the wall with a smack. Or so I thought until she went intangible at the last second. Sadly, the succubus wasn’t done yet, as she hopped back through the wall, releasing force as she did.
Expecting it, I dodged, and dashed toward the exit. I needed her to follow me before she trashed Amony’s conference room. The witch is rich, but I couldn’t chance the damage coming out of my paycheck. When I was outside in the open, a wave of deep-purple power rushed out of the door way, missing me by a hair. Whew! The heat emitted would’ve fried me like Thanksgiving’s main-course meal.
Elly appeared out of the doorway, hatred in her eyes, purple light shining around her. It’s an aura, power’s visible manifestation, similar to heavenly-light. Where did this come from?
“What the fuck was that?” I said, with a laugh. “Why’d you let us capture you earlier if you could do this?”
She simply shrugged. “Not that easy to do. You pissed me off enough, though.” She seemed to be concentrating more power because I felt air flow toward her. The aura around her brightened until it was at least eight inches thick.
“Oh, shit,” I said. I manifested several smoke bombs and set them off. Good thing I’d watched some spy movies with Amelia the other day. Wouldn’t have thought of this so easily. Despite the thick smoke, I could still see Elly’s ridiculous aura. It made me realize that maybe this smoke bomb idea was stupid. What if she could track my power? What if she could simply follow my scent? I moved around just in case.
Then I felt it… the approach of that death beam. A large burst of wind erupted from nowhere carrying all of the smoke with it. When it cleared, Elly was right before me, her lips right over my neck, hand on my back.
“Game over, ass-hat,” she whispered.
“Fu —” I barely managed to get that out before a rapid heating sensation spiraled me forward at least twelve feet before I hit the ground.
My vision began to blur as consciousness tried to slither away from me. I fought. I wasn’t getting my ass kicked again.
No. I felt warm heavenly-light outline me as I stood up and faced Elly. Her eyes were wide. I bashed her to the ground with an intense force push. Before she could react, I sped over to her, emotion charged. I placed my hand on her forehead, replacing her hatred with her own medicine. Sexual desire. She flinched and just about jumped me.
I laughed as I dodged, charging more emotion. Before she could make another move, I replaced that desire with submission, snagging away her will to fight. It’s a good thing too because that drained the rest of my power. The heavenly-light that outline me vanished. I sat beside the succubus. “Let’s just call this a truce.”
“Sure,” she said softly. “Damn, you’re hard to fight.” She lay back, releasing a sigh of exhaustion.
“So, you’ll stay on the team?” I said.
“You…actually want me on the team?”
I nodded. “Damn right, we could use power like that. If you aren’t too afraid of Sunset. Amony pays a shit ton.”
Elly sighed. “I really don’t like the idea of just three people barging in on organization that strong. We’ll get slaughtered.”
“I think we can handle some lousy demons,” I said. “But you have point. I’ll tell the stupid witch to recruit some more guys to help us.”
Elly didn’t say anything, just stared at the starry five o’ clock sky. That’s when it hit me.
“Shit, I’ve got to go,” I said, thinking of Amelia. I doubt she’d like to hear that I’ve spent my nights demon-hunting. I felt her angry heavenly-presence all the way from here.
Chapter Twenty
What’s that famous human thief’s name again? Oh yeah, Robin Hood.
I felt like him as I snuck inside Amanda’s house. Or maybe like a husband who’s sneaking back into his house after a night of drinking with friends. Or maybe that kid who snuck out to go to a concert.
You get the point.
I actually made it a game to see if I could avoid the angry goddess, change into fresh clothes, and hop into bed. Most of the time, Amelia is in her own room, asleep. Other times, she’d be waiting for me. This was one of those “other” times.
She was sitting on my bed. My eyes widened at the sight of a flat-screen HDTV mounted on my wall. Some network thing called Netflix showcased a list of TV-shows and movies. The highlighter stopped on episode thirty-five of some romance drama. Shit.
“Is that a smart TV?” I said. “That’s badass.”
<
br /> Amelia gave me a blank stare before getting straight to the point. “Where have you been all night?”
I picked up a faint whiff of popcorn. Movie night, huh? Really, missing that left no hole in me.
“It’s a long story,” I said, walking toward the bathroom, ready to shower.
“Let’s hear it,” Amelia said, with ice in her voice. The doors slammed shut from a telekinetic use of force.
I turned to her. “I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear any of my beer stories, so let’s cut to the part where I shower and rest up.” I felt Amelia’s wrath stir, but continued. “I’m not some bottled-up child.”
“Why are you out so late?” she said, through clenched teeth. I put two hands in the air playfully.
“All right,” I said, with a light chuckle. “I got a job, okay?” She blinked twice, her expression showing surprise. “I’m not a princess or some damsel in distress. I thought about what you told me and this is my start at moving up in life. I even bought myself a smartphone.”
Amelia nodded in understanding, a small smile on her face as I wiggled the phone. She snatched the device from my hand, unlocked it, added her phone number, and tossed it back to me. The doors opened. “Get some rest. We’ll talk about this later.” She got up to leave, but not before planting a wet kiss on my forehead. In a swift motion, she snatched my badge from my pocket, inspected it, gave a smiling nod of approval then handed it back to me as she continued forward.
I turned around to watch her from behind as she headed out. That ass.
“I know you’re staring at my butt,” she said, as she disappeared around the corner. I laughed.
I woke up from a dreamless slumber, thanks to a buzzing phone. I glanced at it. A text from my boss. She wanted to meet with everyone this afternoon, to discuss battle tactics and recruitment. Fuck, did she not know that some of us had lives? It was time to take some of the money she paid me and blow it on something. Maybe snacks, human-made swords, or beer?
It was a little after twelve. I brushed up, changed into sweatpants and a white shirt that said, “I AM THE WORLD” engraved on the front of it in black letters. Black running shoes went with the matching sweatpants quite well. I met Keisha and Jade in the hall.
“Morning,” they said.
“Morning to you,” I replied. “How are things?”
Jade glared before responding. “Where are you off to?”
“Got a meeting with my boss,” I said.
“Really, now, and what kind of burger joint are we talking here?” Keisha said, smiling.
“I’m a special agent for a private police-like force,” I said, flashing my badge. Their jaws dropped. “Should you really be surprised? I’m a demigod. I maybe don’t like my father or many of the assholes of Paradise Realm, but I still gravitate toward fighting for what’s right.”
Jade smirked. “I do love a man in uniform.”
I laughed. “If you don’t mind, ladies, I’ve got to get going.”
They frowned as I hurried out of there before my ego skyrocketed, as I realized just how kickass my job was. Sort of. If you don’t count the bullshit that came attached with it.
Amony’s dwelling was a ten to fifteen-minute walk from Amanda’s house, past the park, through a few mildly populated blocks, past gas stations, banks, and eventually to a glass two-story building called Secure Corps. A normal private security ordeal was just simply a guise over the occult. Destroying Sunset wasn’t the only goal, of course, but Sin encouraged the witch to prioritize it. And she does. I still debated if those two were… Never mind.
I placed my badge in front of a scanner on the door. It beeped and opened. The front lobby was like one you’d see at a five-star hotel, equipped with an attendant sitting at the front desk. Smooth marble floors, crystal-glass windows. This place looked as if someone mopped and waxed it on the hour, every hour. Empty, soft, cotton-topped red chairs paraded the lobby to look as if lines of clients occupied them every day. And there were some, every now and then. Our stupid jobs came from somewhere.
The attendant’s pretty face seemed to light up as she greeted me with a warm smile and said, “Hi Agent Epex.”
Mickey appeared to be somewhere in her twenties and looked like a fitness instructor. Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t give her chills —I felt that. And her body wasn’t wrong, either —witches, demi-devil, even a human-world demon could trigger its instincts subconsciously. The human woman was better off not knowing anything of the occult.
“Hey Mickey,” I said. “How’s life treating you?”
“Pretty good,” she said. “Got some family visiting.”
After I waved her off, I continued to the conference room. Amony, Sin, and Elly were sitting at the table. As soon as I took a seat, the boss began.
“My sources have confirmed a possible location of Sunset. We don’t have information on them yet, like, say, for that devil leader’s name. Not even Elly knows. But what we do know is that the organization meets almost daily. They discuss Hell’s politics, own a few illegal drug factories, stuff like that. Many of them are murderers and rapists, and they seem to be up to something big. My sources don’t know what, yet. For now, I’m going to do some recruiting. In the meantime, I want you all to be vigilant. Look for anything out of place around the city. If you can’t handle it on your own, you have each other’s numbers. Get back-up immediately.”
After babbling on for a good twenty minutes, she opened the floor for discussion. We did so for about an hour before finally getting dismissed.
I headed back to Amanda’s house. No one was there, so I decided to charge my sword. The progressive charging went great, but not at the pace I needed. This shit would take years if I didn’t utilize a source. It also needed a name. Names are like reserves of power, for special weapons like this sword.
Well, the real reason is because I wanted it to become legend. Even if I’m partially immortal, I could pass it down to the kid that I’d eventually have, that is, if I somehow survived Paradise Realm’s onslaught.
Fingers crossed. Let’s call the sword, Ruin. Because after I’m done forging this baby, any hostile heavenly-being would have quite the ruined day getting near me. At least I hoped.
I sat on the floor in a lotus position while I charged for another ten minutes or so, but only grew even more irritated at the turtlish speed. Yes, I know that is not a word. Sue me. Let me also reiterate the fact that it took me years to charge the amount of power that had halted Conus. Years!
I felt Amelia’s holy presence seconds before I was engulfed in some sweet-smelling, princess-grade perfume as she hovered over me.
“What are you doing?” she said. I looked up into sparkling green eyes.
“Amelia, let’s go to church.”
Chapter Twenty-One
We trotted into the empty chapel and sat in the front seats. Angelic power swirled around me like a deadly mist. I unsheathed Ruin. It shimmered as it hungrily absorbed the angelic poison. It wouldn’t be enough but something is better than nothing.
Amelia looked from the sword to me, and then glanced around the chapel. I followed her eyes. It wasn’t much of a building, just old and dusty, with a tiled floor that looked as if it hunted mops for a living. That didn’t last, however, because something amazing happened. Amelia’s mere presence started to bring this place to life. Wilted roses stood up again, fully healthy. Dust started to vanish. Brooms marched out of the janitor closet and had a ball. Dusty paintings shined again. Murky glass windows became crystal-clear.
That’s when something else happened. In front of the podium, a black cloud of dust fizzled as it grew into a six-foot-tall human-shaped figure. Two yellow human-like eyes appeared on where the face would be. A raspy voice filled the air.
“You are not welcomed here. I claimed this old church as my territory.”
Amelia and I stood up and faced the creature. Dust-devils were evil spirits that formed from negative vibes and emotions left in the area,
sadness mixed with dust and filth being the most potent way of them forming. Add a little power, and boom, the spirit from Hell has found himself a new vessel.
And yes, humans can leave behind emotion. Suicide spots, to dirty places, prisons, hospitals——these places leave impressions.
“Your territory? Amelia said. “I don’t think so.” Winds burst from nowhere, as her angelic white wings appeared on her back. Golden, heavenly-light outlined her.
“You are a goddess, I knew this. But it does not matter. You’re in my place of power. I’m at the advantage, but I’m a generous spirit. Leave now and you live.”
“You dare defy me?” Amelia said.
“Perhaps you are under the impression that I’m bluffing, goddess, that I cannot kill you. Then I shall show both of you.”
I shook my head. “I believe we have a pissed-off goddess here. Think I’ll sit this out and let her tear you apart.”
With Ruin still unsheathed, I picked it up and went to the back of the chapel. Whew, shit was getting real. I didn’t want to be near Amelia’s wrath as it stirred. I sat down and propped my feet up. Let the show begin.
Just then, the dust-devil attacked. It didn’t even move its legs to run, just sort of insta-glided toward Amelia. A smoky, thick ring of black wrapped itself around her, squeezing both arms shut as it lifted her into the air with a single hand. Amelia tried to wiggle free but the spirit’s grip was too strong. It smashed her to the ground several times before letting her go. She didn’t move. The dust-devil looked at me.
“Now do you understand, godling?” it said. Its voice sounded ancient. Smug too, the bastard.
Hell to Pay (Blood for Soul Book 1) Page 9