Hell Sucks: A Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy (Selena Pierce Book 2)

by Lucy Auburn

  “Damen.” It was a wonder to see him here, even in this state. I looked over at Elah, and at Leon, who was transforming back into his human form. “This is him—this is the guard who helped me escape the Underworld.”

  “You didn’t say before that he was a guard,” Elah said, kneeling on the other side of his body. “The wounds look relatively superficial, but they’re getting infected. We should take him to the doctor.”

  “I can’t believe it’s him,” I said, as Leon and Elah bent down to pick him up, each carrying half his weight. “All this time—I thought he might be dead.”

  He wasn’t that far from dead, by the look of him, and I had no doubt who had put him in this state: Persephone. Thoughts of what I would do to her as revenge for hurting him filled my head as we carried him through the woods and back to Leon’s car.

  It was only as we walked away that I realized, with a sickening start, that the meat-like smell was following us.

  Because it wasn’t the church I’d caught a scent of.

  It was Damen’s blood. Something about it had called to me, made me hungry even. I had to duck my head to hide the shame of it, following silently on Elah’s heels.

  As soon as I came to the realization that it was blood I’d smelled, I knew whose fault it was. And anger churned in my stomach, because he’d lied to me.

  I knew there was no such thing as a vampire who fed on love. Vincent was going to pay for lying to me. There was only one reason why his powers might have made blood smell so delicious to me that my stomach grumbled as I sat next to Damen’s prone form in the back seat of the car.

  I should’ve known better than to believe a dark fae.

  Thankfully, the strange sense of extraordinary smell went away as we were driving to the Collective. I was grateful for it as I sat by Damen’s bedside, my heart a lump in my throat.

  Leon and Elah had gone back to search the area we found him in. I chose to stay here. Watching over Damen as his body slowly healed itself felt like an exercise in stupidity, since I knew I was useless here. But it was the only thing I could do. After everything, I couldn’t let him wake up alone.

  “He’s already looking better now that he’s no longer dehydrated,” Tae Min said, adjusting the saline solution going into Damen’s IV. “You probably only found him unconscious in the first place because his body was shutting down critical functions to focus on healing instead. From the looks of it, he’s a pretty powerful fae.”

  “Demigod.” Tae Min’s head whipped around at my words, and I cleared my throat. “Not like Beelzebub. He’s half human. But he’s a demigod all the same.”

  The doctor whistled, his eyebrows raised. “Well then. I won’t be needed here much at all.” He looked at the clock on the wall, absentmindedly scratching at his right forearm. “I’ll have Sarah do a few rounds and call me if he shows signs of consciousness. His prognosis is good, though. Most of the healing has already gotten the job done.”

  “Thanks,” I said, meeting his eyes and really meaning it. “By the way, nice contacts. I didn’t know you wore them.”

  For some reason he flinched at that, then smiled, barely managing to cover it up. “My glasses broke, so I had to pull the spare contacts out. Maybe permanently, who knows.”

  There was something in his voice, and I wanted to ask about it. But the evasive look in his eyes felt like a wall, so I chose a careful tactic. “How are you doing? I know there’ve been a lot of cases for you ever since these demon possessions got so bad.”

  “I’ve been better,” he admitted, pulling at the collar of his shirt like he needed air. “There aren’t many people who can do what I do and know about the fae, so there isn’t really someone who can take over when I need a break. Thankfully training Sarah is helping to improve that some.” His eyes studied me, and I felt the weight of his gaze. “How are you?”

  Glancing down, I looked at Damen’s sallow face and back up at Tae Min. Voice rough, I said, “He saved me.”

  “Oh.”

  “It’s why he’s injured now,” I added. “Elah and Leon said they’d check things out, see if it was possible that something else escaped the Underworld with him and attacked him, but I know that it happened on the other side. When he stepped in to protect me, so that I could get out first.”

  It was tempting to reach out and brush Damen’s hair back from his forehead, feel the warmth of his breath on my palm, but we hadn’t had that kind of closeness when we knew each other. It felt like it would be a transgression.

  “At least he got out,” Tae Min said. “And he’ll be okay.”

  “There’s that.” I tried to keep my voice light; there were so many things I couldn’t tell Tae Min and the others, and I felt awful for keeping them to myself. “He’s strong. Stubborn. I’m sure he’ll wake up soon. I just feel like I have to be here when he does, so he knows he’s not alone.”

  “Of course. I should get back to my rounds, then.”

  Clearing his throat, Tae Min backed out of the room. There was something awkward between us now—the suggestion of something that could happen, but hadn’t yet—or maybe it was just my imagination. It seemed like he was going through something, though, and I didn’t know a way to get him to open up to me about it.

  Maybe it was for the best if I just pretended like our scorching kiss never happened. He was mostly human, after all, and I was something else entirely. The last thing I wanted was to hurt Tae Min, and it seemed certain that I was capable of doing just that.

  None of it stopped me from wanting him.

  But maybe I shouldn’t always get what I wanted.

  The minutes ticked by as I sat by Damen’s bed. To distract myself from the darkness beneath his eyes, I pulled out my phone to surf the internet. I’d given up on a response from Talia; if she was going to come around, clearly it would take some time. Instead I checked out the news, pop culture, and entertainment that my three months in the Underworld had denied me. As I did so, I wondered idly if Damen had ever been to Earth, or if this would be his first time.

  I knew so little about him. Despite that, he’d saved my life.

  I was shaking my head at the latest pop star and celebrity news when the door opened, and Leon walked in, Elah close on his heels. “Is he awake?”

  I shook my head. “The doctor says he should be up soon, though. Did you find anything in the woods?”

  Elah said, “No sign of a demonic presence that might have followed him in. We did figure out how he got out, though; there was some blood on the ground at the scene that couldn’t be matched to either of the dark hunters, according to forensics tests. He must’ve escaped while they were busy closing the gate.”

  “He lost a lot of blood,” Leon added. “Even for a fae, he should be dead by now.”

  I corrected them, too. “Demigod.” Glancing over, I swore for a moment that I saw Damen’s eyes stir beneath their closed lids. “Damen is a demigod.”

  Elah whistled, low and long. “Don’t see too many of those these days.”

  Sharply, Leon asked, “Is he dangerous?”

  I started to shake my head, then paused. What did I really know about Damen, after all? “He can be,” I admitted, “but he protected me so I could escape. I think it’s even possible he slipped through the gate to chase after Beelzelbub.”

  “Still, we should be careful.” The detective walked over to the other side of the bed to stare down at Damen. “We don’t really know what he’s capable of, after all.”

  Elah was more optimistic. “He’s injured, Leon. What harm could he do to us? And if Selena trusts him, so should we.”

  I opened my mouth to say that I wasn’t sure I trusted him, but stirring movements from Damen took my attention. I watched, breath caught, as his eyes fluttered open and those electric grey-blue eyes stared up at the ceiling. His dark brows creased briefly in confusion, and I reached out to take his hand, ignoring the shiver of sparks that ignited as our palms touched.

  “Hey there,” I said softly,
and his eyes looked over at me, blinking. “You’re awake. That’s good.”

  Damen swallowed, then looked over at Leon and Elah. His hand pulled back from mine, and I tried to cover up how much it hurt; maybe that moment we shared hadn’t been as special as it felt at the time.

  Clearing his throat, he asked, “Who are you?”

  Leon said, “Detective Hardwick at your service. We found you in the woods—you’d been through quite a lot. Looks like you’re feeling better now.”

  Damen’s eyes traveled to Elah, who smiled at him warmly. “Elah Havaala, of the blackfyre knights. Good to see you awake.”

  That was when Damen’s eyes looked over at me inquisitively. I explained, “They’re friends of mine. They helped me find you and bring you here—where it’s safe.”

  His voice was still rough when he spoke again, and he had to clear his throat more than once to get the next words out. “Who are you?” I stared at him, wondering who he was talking about—then realized it had to be me. I inhaled sharply as he asked, “Should I know you? It seems like you know me, but... we’ve never met before in my life, I swear it.”

  “No.” My hands were limp in my lap, and I looked up at Leon, horror and fear swirling around inside me. “He’s lost his memory.”

  “Let’s see how much.” Leaning in close, Leon asked him, “Do you know who you are? Here—have something to drink.”

  He handed Damen a glass of water, which the demigod slurped up thankfully. The whole time I could feel every beat of my heart in my chest.

  When Damen finally answered, it was to say, “Of course I know who I am. Damen. Damen Thorson.” He looked over at me and asked again, “But I’m sorry, who are you?”

  Feeling miserable, I told him. “I’m Selena. Selena Pierce.”

  “I’ve sorry if we’ve met before,” Damen said, no sign of the prickly guard I knew in the soft voice of his. “I feel like I’ve been kicked in the head.”

  I looked helplessly up at Leon again, then over at Elah. The knight nodded at me sharply. “I’m going to get the doctor,” he said, heading towards the door. “He should be able to help.”

  “Get Petyr too!” Leon said to his retreating back. Looking down at Damen, who I couldn’t seem to look at without feeling a sharp pang in my chest, Leon told him, “It seems like you’ve suffered some short-term memory loss. But not to worry; help is on the way.”

  “Thank you.” As Damen’s eyes fluttered closed and he leaned back against the pillows behind him, I couldn’t help but think, yet again, that none of this would have happened if it weren’t for me.

  “I have to go,” I said, standing up suddenly. My eyes met Leon’s, and I admitted, “I don’t know what to do with myself around him if he doesn’t remember me..”

  He nodded sharply, understanding in an instant. “I’ll call you if I get any news.”

  As I walked down the hallways and out the front door, I realized that I didn’t know where I was going. It was only when I reached the parking lot and pulled out my phone that I knew who I wanted to talk to—and see.

  She picked up on the first ring. “What’s up, Suck?”

  “Naomi.” Her voice was a soothing balm to the buzzing worry in my chest. “I need an outlet. Do you have anything I can stab? Preferably to death.”

  “Do I ever.”

  Just like that I had plans for the evening.

  26

  Selena

  There was nothing in this world to get your blood pumping quite like shadowing Naomi Shostakovich on a hunt. She prowled down the streets of Baton Rouge as the sun set, her eyes seeming to pick up danger before I had any idea which way to go.

  “Left,” she said, barely even looking before leading me across the street to an abandoned warehouse. “In here.”

  I stared at her, about to protest, but before I could she was shouldering her way in through the heavy, beat-down doors. With a sigh, I followed.

  When I’d called Naomi I’d expected a different sort of outlet for my pent-up energy might eventually... present itself. But we’d found three different demon possessed humans so far, called in a pickup to send one back to the Collective for treatment, and stabbed a few wildlings with our daggers.

  The wildlings were new. I’d heard of them before, but never seen one in the field. They were wild animals, turned a special kind of feral from living in fae realms, and apparently they were escaping more and more these days. “See that?” Naomi had pointed at a hissing cat in an alleyway, with eerily glowing blue eyes. “If it bites someone, we’ll all be in trouble. Usually you only find a few in each city every few weeks or so. These days...”

  It felt weird to creep up on a house cat with my knife drawn, but the closer we got to it the clearer it became that it wasn’t a house cat at all. When it started spitting blue goo onto the ground, I’d been almost relieved to see Naomi’s knife fly towards its side and take it out.

  “It’s a mercy, really,” she said, pulling the knife out and wiping it off on the ground. “They die within a few weeks of becoming infected. This is a better way to go out.”

  “So it’s supernatural rabies,” I mused aloud, and she just sighed. “It is!”

  Now we were apparently hunting another possession, at least from what Naomi’s mysterious danger senses could tell her, and that meant going into dark buildings with less-than-stable foundations and rusty metal doors. I had to hand it to Naomi—when it came to a night out destroying evil and shaking off pent-up energy, she didn’t go halfway in. She went all in.

  Creeping into the abandoned warehouse, we found, of course, that the floor was covered in stuff: empty crates and boxes, old trash, even a little broken glass here and there. The duct taped windows said where the glass came from; I was surprised even that much care had been paid to maintaining things.

  As we made our way carefully around the debris, Naomi spoke. “I’m proud of you, Suck. You’ve gotten a lot better at hand-to-hand contact.”

  I blinked at her, wishing I could see her better in the dark. “I have?”

  “Well, you’re less scared now. You actually held that possessed woman’s arms while I got my black knife ready,” she pointed out. “Used to be you whined about going out on missions. Now you’re volunteering yourself for one.”

  I’d had my own reasons for that, but her praise still warmed me. “I guess being in the Underworld put things into focus. The demon possessed are less scary once you’ve seen the real deal.”

  “Mmm-hmmm.” She led me towards rows of tall metal shelves that reached towards the ceiling, empty of the things that had once been stored here. “You were pretty gung-ho in that battle with the demigod at the graveyard, too. Quite a feat.”

  I was about to respond when she went still, holding up a hand to silence me. As she crouched down behind one of the shelves, I did the same, loosening the dagger from its sheath. My fingers brushed my skin as I did so, reminding me of Naomi’s touch and sending a shiver of warmth through me.

  We waited, for what seemed like forever.

  And then it came out of the dark.

  This was no demon-possessed human, that was for sure. It was definitely demonic, though; just the sight of it was enough to send me back to the Underworld in my mind, nausea rising up in my stomach.

  I fought it down, though. Looking over at Naomi, I reminded myself over and over again that this wasn’t Hell, because Naomi was here with me. Within a few moments, the nausea had passed, and I was able to focus on the demonic... thing again.

  It was at least seven feet tall, shaped like a man but only on the surface. This was no demon, at least not that I’d ever seen, but it wasn’t far off either. The skin of its body was dark and blue-grey in color; a dozen tattoos swarmed up and down its exposed legs and arms, twisting around in odd shapes. They looked familiar. It took me a long moment to place the memory: Naomi slapping down photos in front of the dark fae we captured, Percy Inn, who then killed himself.

  These were runes that were used to wo
rship one of the dark gods—and I was pretty sure I knew which one, based on the vision I’d gotten from Percy’s mind and the time I’d spent in Hell.

  Persephone’s lackey was walking through the warehouse right in front of us, and Naomi was in a crouch, ready to jump out at any moment. I could see it in my head: she would throw knife after knife at him, but knowing the kind of powerful things my mother chose as her worshipers, none of them would do a thing. By the time she realized what she was up against, she would be standing right in front of him with a dagger in each hand, ready to go down fighting.

  I couldn’t let that happen. Reaching out, I grabbed her arm, and ignored the cutting look she sent my way. I leaned forward until my mouth was a millimeter away from the curved shell of her ear, the scent of her hair filling my nose and my mouth—as well as my mind.

  “He’s too powerful,” I murmured. “We’ll have to get him together, or not at all.”

  “How do you know that?” Her voice was low, guarded. “He looks like any other dark fae scum to me, maybe with a little bit of demonic power at most.”

  I hesitated, unsure how to tell her what I knew without revealing the truth of my mother to her. Somehow it was harder to tell half the truth than all of it. “I just know. From... being in Hell.”

  It was enough; she nodded sharply, believing me. “Let’s get him together, then.”

  With hand signals and muttered words, we made a plan. The dark fae worshiper stalked around the warehouse the whole time, moving aside random crates and pieces of debris for no reason that I could see. Though only moments passed while we planned our attack, it felt like ages.

  But finally he was close enough that we could pull it off. I met Naomi’s eyes, and we nodded together. It was time.

  I rushed out of our hiding place, catching the dark fae’s eyes. “Hey there.” Holding my hands out, I gathered my succubus powers in them while Naomi circled around to his back. “What’re you up to?”