Hell to Pay (Blood for Soul Book 1)

by Alvin Atwater

  I turned to Amony. “When will we infiltrate Sunset?”

  “I’m not sure if this will be enough,” Elly suddenly said.

  “We don’t have much time,” I said. “If they continue their meetings and attract the Fallen, it’s over. Everyone here will die anyway. Especially you demon-types.”

  “We’ll die pointlessly if we think we can march into their hideout with these numbers,” Elly argued. “Epex, these aren’t ordinary demons. The devil leading them wanted the organization to be something like the mafia but stronger. You can bet they’re going to be professionally trained.”

  “Not what I saw in the vision,” I whispered.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “Maybe we can attack them on an isolated basis.”

  “We still need more people,” Elly said. “At least a few more, strong people.”

  Just then, my heavenly-being senses hit the roof. It felt angry. Familiar. Oh fuck. Oh, fuckitty fuck!

  Chapter Twenty-four

  I half-smiled, maybe a little sad smile, as Amelia burst into the room. Her icy glare scanned the room before resting on me.

  “Let me explain,” I said quickly. “I’ve been hired—”

  She cut me off with the raise of a hand. “So, your idea of a job is to get yourself involved in the shenanigans of a demi-devil, succubus, witch, and a sorcerer. Are you crazy? Are you not trying to redeem yourself here?”

  I shook my head. “Let me give you another reminder that I’m wanted for treason against Paradise Realm.”

  Davante’s eyes widened.

  “Does that mean God wants to kill you?”

  I ignored him, focused on Amelia. Her glare didn’t waver.

  “Let me explain, great goddess,” Amony said, bowing her head before making eye contact with Amelia. “I’m the owner of this private law enforcement establishment funded by both my family and the government. Our goal is simple. Keep the supernatural threats off the streets. Easy day, right? However, there is a demonic organization called Sunset that meets every so often. The more they meet, the more demonic energy is left behind. That massive amount of left-behind demonic energy will eventually attract the Fallen. For Sin here, who’s trying to live a peaceful life, that’s bad. For Epex, even for you, that’s bad. Fallen will kill any otherworldly being, regardless of status. Their presence will be trouble for this city. Great goddess, may you join us? At least accompany us on our demon hunt tonight.”

  Amelia’s eyes widened, probably unsure if to be angry or surprised at the witch’s “insolence.”

  After a few moments, she sighed. “I will go with you on this demon hunt and pass my judgment. If it endangers the city, Epex, or myself, I will shut this entire force down immediately. Even if I have to drop it into the sun.”

  Amony smiled. “Pleased to have you with us.”

  Amelia simply returned a glare, letting the witch know to not get comfortable. She folded her arms. “I will return with my friends.”

  When Amelia left, Amony let out a sigh of relief to our surprise.

  “How do you put up with that?” Amony asked. She continued in an uncharacteristic rant before I could answer. “Witches live for the great goddesses, not demon masters. Sure, some of us don’t follow the path of the true witch, often looking up to some truly bad demons for power. But we stand for love, and respect, and we live for nature, in its purest form. We give our thanks to the goddesses as they show us that a female can stand stronger than a male, and not always succumb to dominance. The goddesses care for nature. We revive it. We nourish it. Witches, no matter what path, default to that core value.”

  She was tearing up now. “There is no witch that would enjoy a shunning from a goddess.” She inhaled and sighed, wiping her face. “I’m sorry.” Amony took a deep breath. “Please do not speak of this.” She stood up and stared out the window. “It’s a controversy in the Paradise Realm, I bet—that assumption that witches are servants of demons. But we’re not. We’re servants of nature. Witchcraft was always divided because there are some witches out there who really do worship demons and devils. There are even some who are neutral. Others are walkers of the pure, and will do anything to protect nature. Even if it causes another witch hunt.”

  That made me think a bit. Amony looked twenty-four but the chances of a spoiled, rich daughter of Sir Billionaire hiring us was out of the question. I thought about the misthanger queen’s and Amelia’s words. They were very wordy with this witch.

  “Amony, who are you?” I asked. Her blue-eyes changed to a purple. Purple aura revealed itself around her in a rare, visible state.

  “That’s a good question,” she said. “But I am not of my old titles anymore.”

  “A better question is, what are you?” I said.

  “I am a witch,” she answered. “Just a lot older than you think.”

  “You lived during the witch hunt times, didn’t you?”

  She didn’t respond.

  “You’re probably more than just some ordinary ancient witch, immortality aside,” I continued. “Amelia and the misthanger queen—”

  “Epex, that’s enough.” Sin intervened. “You, pestering our boss about her past, will not put us any closer to ending Sunset.”

  I sighed. The purple light show disappeared. Her eyes changed back to blue. She turned to the window, staring at the city.

  “What makes goddesses so damn high and mighty?” Elly said, standing, turning her gaze from Amony to me.

  “Monarchy isn’t something new,” I told her.

  “That Amelia girl didn’t look like she was ruling anything, other than you.” Elly folded her arms. “You should be careful around her.”

  I shot her a glare. “Don’t speak as if you know Amelia. She gave up all of her glory just to…” I stopped midsentence as all eyes shot on me. “Never mind.”

  Amony looked thoughtful. “I hope we can get her to warm up to us. I’d love to hear more about this in full detail.”

  Sin chuckled. “One hell of a romance, no pun intended.”

  “I still think it’s a big mistake,” Elly said.

  “The way she looks at Epex tells me something totally different,” Sin said.

  “All right, enough of this,” I said, face on fire.

  Elly turned her gaze back to her phone. “Fuck heavenly-beings. They’re so uptight.”

  I laughed. “I don’t disagree with you there, but we’re all not like that. Amelia’s pretty badass in combat too.”

  Elly looked at me. “Can you really call yourself a heavenly-being?”

  I shrugged. “You got a point there. I spent more time on Earth and Hell then in Paradise Realm. Still, I won’t let you bad-mouth Amelia.”

  “You seem a lot more affectionate for her than before,” Sin said.

  “I think he was always like this,” Amony said with a laugh. “He’s just no longer shy about showing it.” She walked over and pinched my cheek.

  Elly shook her head. “Are you sure she isn’t trying to turn you in?”

  “Positive,” I said, thinking about the pre-determined love of destiny thing. Yeah, there’s no way I’m telling them about that shit.

  “Then is she wanted by hunters too?”

  I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. No one’s come after her yet. No one knows that she did anything. And if they did, they’ll most likely blame her actions on her imprinting.”

  Elly shook her head.

  “What’s your problem, anyway?” I asked.

  “Just watch yourself,” she replied.

  “She trusts no heavenly-being,” Sin said with a slight shrug.

  “Really now,” I said. “Let me be the first to remind you that conniving and trickery is a demon thing. If a heavenly-being wanted something, they’d take it, own it, while lecturing or killing you.”

  Elly sighed. “Got me there.” She met my gaze. “But I still don’t trust any of them.”

  “Not even me?” I said half-jokingly.

&n
bsp; “I don’t know. You’re different. Technically, you’re part human.”

  I shrugged. There was no arguing with the succubus. We were both kind of in the same boat: two people who won’t age past twenty-five human years but could die if attacked. Yeah, immortality isn’t exactly fair.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Funny thing was, Amelia didn’t hold back in expressing her disgust with witches as we walked to the demon hunting ground. I won’t lie, there was some entertainment value deep within that. Amony acted as if she wasn’t bothered, focusing on Amelia’s friends, probably debating whether to offer them jobs or not. The ancient witch probably had more money than every billionaire on earth combined. I shifted my gaze to the succubus who seemed disinterested in everything. Her edginess showed as she trailed behind Amelia. She might have been a demon of earth, but somewhere within her was an instinct to oppose heavenly-beings. I suppose I couldn’t blame her. She didn’t know Amelia.

  “Amony, is it?” Jade said. “Where is this hunting ground located?”

  “At a graveyard,” Amony answered.

  “Is it the norm to hire demons and devils?” Amanda said.

  “Yeahhh. No offense,” Keisha said to Sin, “but I’d be worried about my soul being stolen or something.”

  Sin laughed to her surprise. “Demons or devils can’t simply take your soul, unless you offer it to them.”

  “Ah,” Keisha said. I could practically feel her relief. Devante shook his head.

  “Didn’t your goddess explain anything to you?” Elly snarled. All eyes turned to her. Elly shook her head. Amelia simply shrugged.

  “Sometimes things go in one ear and out the other,” she said. Elly’s cold eyes didn’t warm up to the goddess. I realized there seemed to be more than instincts at play there. Elly’s obvious hate was a message to all goddesses. To all heavenly-beings.

  “Calm your tits,” I said, breaking the icy stare-down of the women. “We’re on the same team, so direct your egos at completing the job.”

  The rest of the walk was in silence. The graveyard didn’t have any activity whatsoever. The temperature did seem to drop. I didn’t mind the chill.

  “If this is the job, then congratulations. Epex, you make the easiest money around,” Keisha said. As if her words were the trigger, we all watched as a grotesque hand lurched from the ground, grabbed her leg, and pull downward. Keisha yelped, but saved face as she kicked the hand away and gathered her bearings. She and her friends were used to fighting demons. I overlooked the Yulese fight—pretty damn sure they had never fought against gods. And in the face of a foe that they couldn’t beat, the women panicked.

  Anyway, we all sort of leapt into action, prepared to be the first with a kill. That went to Devante who launched a fireball, blowing the thing the fuck up. I expected more to show up right away but nothing happened.

  “Everyone split into teams, and spread out,” Amony said. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

  The graveyard was huge but even I didn’t like that idea.

  “What is this, Scooby Doo?” Devante said. “The moment we split up, shit hits the fan.”

  “That’s why I said to go in groups. This is a part of the job. If you can’t handle it, then you can leave.”

  Devante didn’t bother with a further argument with our witchy boss. He simply shook his head.

  “Half of us will go one way, the other half the other,” Amelia said. Amony looked as if she badly wanted to object. Her words wouldn’t change the goddess’s mind.

  “You know, I should’ve brought Ruin, just in case,” I told Amelia as our group consisting of her friends and I walked in the opposite direction of the other group.

  “You still have some ways to go with charging that thing,” Amelia said. We searched our half but came up with nothing. Nothing on top of nothing. Fucking fantastic. I wanted something to show forth and prove to Amelia that this job was worth it. But killing one stray demon wasn’t going to make the cut. She was already looking out me with glistening green eyes. Those eyes, reminding me of pure emerald. I don’t know what came over me, a strange feeling, but at that moment, I almost...almost decided Amelia was mine. I shrugged the distracting thoughts to the back of my mind. “So, this is your job, huh?” she said.

  “Nothing different than a cop, security officer, the works,” I said.

  “Well, if you look at it that way, I guess this isn’t too bad,” Amelia said. “Can’t complain about the pay.”

  “What do you plan to do with all of that money?” Amanda said.

  “Get my own place,” I said. They all blinked in surprised. “I—”

  “I think it’s a bit too soon for that,” Amanda said. “I’m pretty sure you don’t want to live here.”

  “Middleburg isn’t a bad place,” I said. I lightly tapped a gravestone with my foot as we walked past it. “I mean you’re living here, right?”

  “Only temporarily,” Jade said. “We’re only attending Middleburg University.”

  “Still, it’s not a bad place,” I said.

  “It’s not,” Keisha said. “With an exception of that hunter that attacked you. Or the demons that attack us every now and then. I think I’ve made over a thousand kills.”

  I shrugged at the badass. “Kind of my point. The misthanger queen thought she could hide me, Amony and Sin did but really, it’s going to be the same wherever I go.”

  “Well, there is no heavenly influence in the middle of a jungle,” Keisha said with a chuckle.

  “The tribes,” Jade said with a sigh. “Not excluding the tribes, we haven’t discovered yet.”

  “What about the desert?” Keisha said.

  “Desert Indians?” Jade said.

  “I wouldn’t want to live in the desert,” I said sourly.

  Amelia shook her head and laughed. “What about the Artic?”

  I rolled my eyes. The goddess simply smiled.

  “Look, I’m staying here and that’s final,” I said. “I’ll conjure up some documents—”

  “We took care of the documents weeks ago,” Amelia interrupted, still smiling. “Real ones. Why don’t you join Middleburg University? Maybe study criminal justice.”

  “You really did the documents?” I said. “Holy shit, you guys are awesome. But why should I waste my time with school?”

  “Amony’s job may not be around forever. With a degree, you could become the real deal, just working for the government.”

  I sighed. “I guess being a detective wouldn’t be a bad idea but for now, I’ll pass. Fuck school.”

  Amelia shook her head. “If I had to put my foot up your rear—”

  I tuned her out as I sensed something. The air chilled slightly. A breeze rustled in a way that was just too out of place for my tastes. The hairs on my body rose maybe just a millimeter. An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to detect these things, but a paranoid demigod would pick up the signs damn near instantly. Amelia caught hold of my sudden game face, as well as her friends. They all looked around into what was now blackness. The streetlights didn’t reach the graveyard anymore. Dark clouds covered the moon. Then there was an unfamiliar voice, one that sounded like a mix between a drunk car salesman and a giant dying frog.

  “There was a time where we once thrived upon the earth, blending in with humanity like it was nothing,” it began. We made sure we kept eyes in every direction, a three hundred sixty-degree coverage. The voice continued to talk. “Then we took control, not of all places but enough. Man couldn’t handle the job of ruling its people. A lot of times, they invited us, offering up something of high value in exchange for power. That included rituals of all kinds, some sacrificing their own for demons that they thought were gods. Even worse for the devils they believed in. It is funny, isn’t it? I thought I had seen it all until now. A group consisting of a demigod, a goddess from the above, and two humans. Did that oaf Conus finally lose the throne?”

  “Do not badmouth Conus,” Amelia said.

  The
demon laughed. I knew it was a demon because the presence wasn’t as dark and dank as a devil. Still dark, but not super dark.

  “You still defend him, but your memories spell out treason.”

  “That’s because it was self-defense,” Amelia said.

  “Is it that you still have intentions to return to the Above? You think Conus will accept you back with open arms. Maybe he would forgive you, but him? Ha! When he gets—”

  He didn’t finish that sentence because I had already found him. I also had my hand around his scaly green throat. The lizard-like man gasped a laugh.

  “My time is already out. I’ll see you on the other side, tissue paper. Meal! Stool!”

  I squeezed hard, crushing the fuck out of his throat. My rage, my wrath was beginning to kick in. All the memories of Hell, Conus, and what humans did to me during childhood slammed into my head.

  Then… A warm hand touched my shoulder. I gasped as I remembered my progression, my accomplishments, and even them…. whom I called friends now. Oh shit. I think I almost nuked the earth again.

  I turned to see a determined Amelia. Her friends nodded at me.

  “And never forget again,” she said and smiled. “Never.”

  Too bad that moment of sappy happiness didn’t last as we saw them: a horde of demons, many shapes, sizes, and forms bursting their way from their graveyard hiding spots and running toward us.

  I think they were pissed that their friend or boss or whatever was annihilated. Shit.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  I manifested a gun from some random TV show I once saw Jade watching: a loaded SIG Sauer. For those who prefer the old school of sword fighting, it’s fine but when you’re in a tight spot of murderous demons suddenly appearing, the time to think kind of vanishes.