No, not my D.
Demoriel, son of the demon lord Belial. The resemblance was clear once I bothered to look. Same tall, muscular frame, strong jaw, high cheekbones, and full-lipped sinful mouth, Belial had apparently passed his killer looks on to his offspring.
I was such a fool.
And not just because I’d fallen for D’s act—Belial’s words threw me off guard, and he used it to his advantage. He grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me against him. Shock and pain rocketed through my body, and the power within me faltered. He had me, and he was going to drag me with him to hell.
I couldn’t see the rest of the team, but I heard shouts from the boss. A gentle hand landed on my back, as cool and soothing as the voice of the fallen Archangel who spoke. “Belial, my love. Let this one go. She’s served her purpose, and we’re in her debt.”
Belial’s grip loosened, but he didn’t let go. I felt as much as heard his rumbling voice, suddenly soft and filled with something akin to tenderness. No, the demon lord wasn’t capable of tenderness, couldn’t be. But he could probably fake it. His son had certainly fooled me.
“Haniel.” His voice broke. Wow, either he was a good actor, or he was completely smitten.
“Let her go, my love, and I’ll come with you. We are free now. They cannot stop us.”
“They control the portals,” he said.
This time Haniel’s laughter cut like a thousand razor blades over my skin. “Not all of them.”
I craned my neck, which hurt worse than the sound of Haniel’s laugh, and spotted the object in her hand, dangling from a silver chain. An amulet. A Sigillum Dei. Oh, crap. If Trinity was right, and she always was, that thing could allow them to open portals to hell, heaven, and let anyone and anything they wanted through without a summoner.
I bowed my head and gave in to the fine tremors running through my body until I shook in Belial’s arms. Shaking turned to sobs as I poured out pent-up grief, fear, and rage and buried my face in Belial’s chest in spite of revulsion. Haniel traced patterns over my back with her hand, and she leaned closer, drawn by my misery.
“Give her to me,” Haniel whispered.
Belial released me, and I fell into Haniel’s arms and let her cradle me to her bosom. She enveloped me in her arms. I accepted the blessed comfort for a precious few moments before I snatched the amulet out of her hand and used the last of my strength to burst free from Haniel’s arms. I could have easily stayed with her, lost myself in her warm embrace and angelic power. She would have taken me with her and healed me.
But the price was too high. I wouldn’t give up earth and all the people and demons I loved.
Before Haniel could react, I held up the amulet and willed the portal to reverse.
“I’m sorry, Hannah,” I whispered. “Good-bye.”
Belial and Haniel disappeared through the portal.
“Whoa!”
I turned around to face my bruised and battered teammates, who looked as bad as I felt. But they were alive. They’d recover. Even D, whose gaze I deliberately avoided.
“How the hell did you manage that?” Lacey asked, gracing me with a smirk. Finally! My partner’s death glare was getting old.
I shrugged and immediately regretted the action. I wouldn’t be able to stand much longer. “Angels feed on misery. I took a gamble on Hannah’s instincts, and it paid off.”
“Jinx, I need you to—”
I cut Trinity off, which was rude, but I’d had about enough for one week. “Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I’m at death’s door, and you want me to do something else?”
“Duck!”
I turned around in time to see a swarm of dark figures racing out of the not-quite-closed portal before the world went black.
Chapter Thirty
I woke up with a jolt and nearly ripped out my IV.
IV?
“If you get blood on our new carpet, Jinx, I swear to Lucifer I’ll throw you into the hell realm myself.”
I took a moment to get oriented. Spacious room with plenty of windows, a familiar skyline, the sound of rapid keyboard clicks, my ass sinking into well-worn cushions molded to perfection by said ass.
I was home.
“When did we get new carpet?”
Boice didn’t bother looking away from whichever computer screen had his attention. “A few days ago when you bled all over the carpet we used to have.”
Fair enough. But how did I get home? Why wasn’t I dead?
“What happened with the portal?” Ignoring the pain, which was significantly less agonizing than the last time I was conscious, I sat up, disentangled my legs from a mountain of sheets and blankies, and swung my legs over the side of the sofa. When that went well, I pulled myself up, mindful of my IV line and the bandages covering various parts of my anatomy.
“You shouldn’t be up.” Roice, sporting a T-shirt with a cartoon nurse beneath “You can’t fix stupid, but you can sedate it,” appeared in front of me and almost gave me a heart attack.
“Roice, what the hell?” I plopped down on the sofa and ran my hand along the back of my head. Big bandage. No surprise there. I assumed they must have shoved my brains back in. Otherwise I’d still be unconscious, possibly paralyzed.
“Did you assholes shave my head?”
Boice spun around in his chair and grinned. He wore a shirt that matched his twin’s, only his said, “Welcome to the ER. You’re fine. GTFO.”
“No. D wouldn’t let us. But we did hide your bedpan a few hours ago. Need to pee?”
I did, but I figured it could wait. D…he could wait, too, though I couldn’t ignore the anger and hurt cramping my stomach.
D was Belial’s son, and he hadn’t told me.
Shaking off thoughts of the demon who might have just broken my heart—again—I said, “Well, what’s the scoop?”
“You’d better pee first. We’ll give you water, and if you keep it down and are a very good girl, we’ll brew some coffee and explain everything after the rest of the team gets here.
I waited until I’d locked myself in the bathroom to pull out my IV line, which stung a bit but didn’t bleed as much as I thought it might. Why wasn’t I dead? Weird. I managed to pee, and after ripping off my bandages and exposing tender and mysteriously tattooed flesh, I took a long shower.
Tattoos? Had the twins inked me in my sleep?
If so, they hadn’t achieved the effect they were after. The tats that ran along my arms, torso, and all the way down to my thighs, were elegant and beautiful in shades of black, red, and gold. I’d always wanted some ink, but the swirls and sigils covered more skin than I would have chosen for myself. No, I couldn’t blame my roomies’ ninja-level prank skills for this—the patterns moved and swirled, and the black ink shimmered with blue-and-red sparkles when the light hit it just right. These weren’t ordinary tattoos. They were magic.
At least my ass was all clear. That would have been overkill.
After dressing, I took a deep breath and walked back to my spacious living/working area to face my colleagues and my family. Lacey, who looked much better without the black eyes and crooked nose, was there with Simon and Mara. Trinity and Sam sat next to one another on the sofa, hand in hand. Alexi was rocking his role as bartender, but he wouldn’t give me any alcohol. According to him, it would risk my recovery or something. Some friend.
Mom and Megan were there, too, though they’d apparently left Brad at home. Probably for the best. Conspicuously absent was D, aka Demoriel, son of Belial, sent by his father to…what? Catch me and bring me to the hell realm? No, he could have done that any time since his return to earth. Was he supposed to nab Hannah, or Haniel, the fallen Archangel and his dad’s long-lost lover?
Maybe he came to protect you?
I shut my inner voice down and walked to my couch that doubled as a sickbed with as much dignity as could muster while still limping. I sat down and took a sip of the coffee I was promised by my roomies, who’d deigned to turn away fro
m their screens, before taking a deep breath and calling our meeting to order.
“Where’s the boss?” I wasn’t sure if I was still in charge since my time as team leader officially ended with the completion of our mission.
“Out of town,” Boice said, a hint of disdain in his voice. “He’s working with the Archangels to get us some backup.”
I nearly choked on my coffee. Fortunately, I recovered before Mom and Megan dashed over to force me back in bed. “Backup? For what?”
“For the demons who escaped from the portal before it closed. They almost killed you, but it wasn’t on purpose,” Roice quickly added. “You were kind of in their way, and they were in a hurry. And you were already dinged up pretty bad.”
I sat dumbfounded, staring at the faces of my favorite people on planet Earth as the magnitude of my failure settled on my soul, threatening to crush me. A wave of dizziness had spots dancing before my eyes while alarmed voices echoed all around me.
I shook my head and held up my hands to shoo everyone away. “I’m fine. Really, I’m fine. So the boss is AWOL, we’ve got a fresh pack of demons roaming earth—harbingers of doom by way of seven sins, and there are probably seven so-called virtuous celestial beings out there itching to throw a monkey wrench in the program. Does that pretty much sum it up?”
“She’s fine,” Megan said, patting my head, which really freakin’ hurt. “And I’m sorry for all the times I questioned your life choices. I had no idea.”
“That I was such a badass?”
“That you were doing such important work. And speaking of, I’ve talked it over with your colleagues, and we’ve agreed it would be a good idea for me to join the team.”
I jerked my head back so fast and far that I almost passed out again. Oh, for the love of lollipops, this was totally not happening. “No way. I am not working with you. You’re way too bossy.” There were also the minor issues related to her total lack of training and the danger involved. I crossed my arms and glared at her.
She leaned down, violating my personal space to force a hug on me, and whispered in my ear, “You’re not fooling me. I’ll be careful. I promise. And I know you’ll watch out for me.”
I shoved her away and painted a look of shock and indignation on my face. “Oh my God, Megan, I will not set you up with Alexi. You’re a married woman.”
My werewolf demon buddy turned a deep shade of crimson, and Megan rolled her eyes at me. She put her hands on her hips and arched a brow.
I sighed. “Okay, fine, I guess you can join the team since we’re both rocking the celestial DNA by way of Dad, I assume. We’ll cover that at the next family dinner, right?” I looked at Mom, who averted her gaze but nodded.
Wow. It was the first time I’d ever seen my mother in such a state. Hunched shoulders, hands wringing, and not yelling at me or judging me. Not admonishing me to dress like a grownup or eat regular meals or questioning my life choices, like she cared.
But she did care. She’d always cared. The realization hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. I’d kept her at arm’s length for such a long time out of necessity and, if I was being honest, out of a desire to protect her.
And I’d justified it by telling myself she didn’t want me around anyway, that she never had, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
Had she been trying to protect me, too, from my father and his lineage, or maybe from myself? I’d have to think on that. I made a mental note to have Boice check into family counseling providers that served demons and celestials. We had a lot to work out in therapy.
But that would have to wait. First order of business was business, as in what to do about the latest crop of hell realm escapees who were probably wreaking havoc on earth while I sat on my sickbed wallowing. Sure, the grimoire had predicted this could happen, but it was still my fault. I’d failed to close the portal in time. It was my mess, and I’d have to clean it up.
But I couldn’t do it alone.
I stood up with some difficulty so I could issue my last executive order. “All right, folks, we’ve got lots of work to do, but the first order of business relates to leadership. We’re going to need someone qualified, knowledgeable, fearless, and smart to run this operation in the absence of the boss, and I think we all know who’s in the best position to do that. Trinity”—I turned to face my colleague, who seemed genuinely surprised—“consider yourself promoted.”
My team just stared at me in apparent shock. “What? Do I have something in my teeth?”
“No,” Trinity said thoughtfully. She eyed me with respect and, if I wasn’t mistaken, a hint of calculation. Uh-oh. She was up to something. “I just assumed you’d want more control over your new mission.”
“Oh, right,” I said, heat creeping into my cheeks. “I’m totally on board to take care of those demons I let out. I just figured it would be more efficient to have you in charge while I’m spending more time in the field since you’re, you know, the smart one.”
Instead of chastising me—or thanking me, for crying out loud, since I’d just promoted her—she stared at me for a moment, brows furrowed in confusion. Then her gaze went wide before softening. “Jinx, I didn’t mean…that is to say…look, it’s not your fault. Hannah opened the portal, like she was meant to. The grimoire’s prediction came true because that’s what prophecies do. And we’re all going to be spending more time in the field to fulfill the second half.”
I must have looked confused since Trinity took a deep breath and visibly fought the urge to roll her eyes. “You know? The part where the warrior imbued with the power of three realms leads us into battle against the celestials and demons?”
“Oh, right. I knew that.” I really did, but I was still confused about the whole warrior thing. D claimed he wasn’t the warrior from the grimoire since he didn’t have any connection to the celestials. By that logic, none of us qualified. I was human and celestial, like Megan. Alexi had the demon wolf, but as far as we knew, no celestials in the mix. Same for Lacey, though I would be requesting a DNA test for her. You couldn’t be that weird without some kind of supernatural mojo. I should know.
Sam and Trinity were out, as were my full demon buddies Boice, Roice, and Mara. Who did that leave?
A truly revolting thought occurred to me.
I planted my hands on my hips and glared at Trinity. She took it well, considering she was my new boss. “If you think I’m going to have some demon’s baby and raise it to be an interdimensional warrior, you’re out of your freakin’ mind.”
I was kind of glad D wasn’t there. He was the closet I’d ever come to making demon babies.
Trinity rolled her eyes this time, not bothering to suppress the urge. “Seriously? That’s where your mind went?”
“Someone should tell her.” Boice flashed me a wry smile. “We’ll be here all night before she figures it out. She hasn’t even asked about the new body art.”
Ignoring the insult, I said, “I was getting to that, but since you brought it up, how did I get these?” I held out my arms and turned them over, the swirling patterns undulating through my flesh. “And why is no one else freaked out about them? And…” I took a deep breath and blinked away the tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks. “Where’s D?”
“Well,” Trinity said, her voice laced with sympathy that made me want to run and hide. “You were mortally wounded in battle, and no amount of demon healing elixir could reverse the damage. Sam offered to patch you up using demon graft.”
I examined my tats with greater appreciation. I had a demon graft, as in demon in me? Wait a minute…
“Who’s the donor?” Dread and suspicion settled in my gut as I held my breath, waiting for the answer.
“Donors,” Sam said, beaming. “Each of us donated a bit of ourselves since you were quite damaged. Myself, of course, and the young ones.” He flicked a hand in the direction of Boice and Roice, who shot daggers with their identical gazes back at him but were smart enough to keep their indignation to t
hemselves for once. “Mara generously contributed, and naturally, as did Simon and Demoriel. You are imbued with a bit of all our essences. We’re family!”
“D is out looking for the escaped demons,” Trinity said. “If and when you’re ready to talk, just call him. And Jinx…I know you’re mad at him, but he does care about you. Whatever is between him and Belial, he didn’t betray you. He almost drained his demon essence dry to save you.”
Oh, I was ready to talk to him, all right. He should not have run off without talking to me. No worries. I’d make him pay, and if he really did care, we could both have fun with it if we didn’t kill each other first.
“So…I’ve got demon essences.” Dread spread from my gut throughout my body, sending shivers down my spine and straight to my ass. I needed a drink. Or ten. “I’m part human, part celestial, and now I’ve got demon in me, too, so that makes me…”
“Weirder than the rest of us, that’s for sure,” Lacey said. “Not that you had far to go.”
She grinned. Apparently, I was forgiven for the nose thing. That was the good news. The bad news?
“You’re the Warrior,” Trinity said. She had the decency to look sympathetic.
#wearesototallyscrewed
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