by Eve Newton
“Oh my,” I whisper, fanning myself with my hand. He is one hot Demon.
But speaking of hot Demons, I need to find Drescal. I want some nice consensual fucking to occur in the next few minutes and he seems the best choice out of…well…none.
That thought depresses me more than I’d like, but there is no way in Hell I’m going to Elijah. He will only agitate me further, and any other Demon that would have sufficed yesterday, just doesn’t make the grade today. My standards are rising, and it worries me. I may never find a male that will satisfy me, so I’m going to take a leaf out of my mother’s book and find a few. The sexy Incubus seems to care about me and not just about screwing me, but I know that I can’t accept him screwing other women anymore. One last fuck and then I have to end it. I want to get serious about finding, I gulp, love. Or something akin to it, anyway.
I decide that it is something that I can discuss with Gregory later when I go back to see him. Then I’m going to find out what he writes about me in those books of his. I chew my lip as the thought excites me, but it also worries me on a level that confuses me. I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks of me.
Except now I do, and he is a human no less.
“Oh, the shame of it,” I murmur and head out for one last Hell-shattering fuck before I must make my way to Inbound and see what delights Roberta has managed to recycle for me in the last couple of days, and ask her to round up all of the Demons, apart from the Serpent Demon, who were in the sin bin last night. I want them thrown in prison until I decide how best to handle their eradication.
12
Annabelle
I find Drescal scowling at his trainees in the teaching room. His face doesn’t lighten when he sees me, in fact, it goes darker.
The three newbies turn to look, their faces going brighter as they see me.
I give them a serene smile which I turn on to Drescal as I saunter forward.
“What do you want, my Queen?” he asks.
“That’s not a very nice greeting now, is it?”
“Neither was yours last night,” he responds.
“Touché,” I murmur. “I’m here to fix that. Sort of.”
“Sort of?” he scoffs. “I’d tell you to get fucked, but we all know that you would and that you’d enjoy it.”
I snicker as he struggles to keep the smile off his face. The three newbies are looking at him in horror that he could speak to me that way, but honestly, I like it from him. I like him. But I can’t get past what he does for my Kingdom. Not anymore.
“Can we talk?” he asks me quietly.
“Yes,” I say with a sigh.
“Don’t move, I’ll be right back. Think about the ways in which you can please a woman without thinking about yourselves,” he adds to the newbies.
They nod eagerly and he grips my elbow, leading me into a smaller room just off this one.
His eyes rake down my body, taking in the purple leather dress. “You look ravishing,” he murmurs.
“Thanks,” I whisper, stepping closer to him. “So do you.” I run my hands up his black duster then grip the lapels tightly to drag him nearer.
“Wait,” he says. “If we kiss, I will forget what I want to say.” He pushes me gently away from him, annoying me a bit. He actually wants to talk. I thought that was just an excuse to get me in here.
“Let me get this out before you say anything,” he says before I can say another word.
“Okay,” I say anyway.
“Last night, I realized something,” he says and then starts to pace.
I watch him and rest my hand on the table that’s in here with two uncomfortable looking chairs.
“I was in my room, on my bed and I…felt something. Something that I’ve never felt before. It was a pull, a hard tug on my heart and I knew instantly that it was you. I knew that you needed me. I don’t know how it happened or why, just that it did. I was drawn to you and I know, in spite of what you say, that I saved you from something. You were afraid, Anna, and even though I wish you would tell me why, you don’t have to. I’m making that clear. I have no expectations of you but having that feeling and knowing that we are connected somehow, forced me to make a decision that has been a long time coming. I’m retiring, Anna. Ever since I first met you, the work just hasn’t been the same. My heart isn’t in it. All I think about when I’m with those females is you. I can’t do it anymore. I don’t want to do it anymore. I want to be with you and I also know that this is the only way that you will even consider what I’m asking of you.”
I blink at him. “You are my best Incubus. You can’t retire,” I blurt out so that I don’t say something else I might regret later. He has cornered me with my own thoughts about his job. He knows me too damn well. Fucker.
“I can and I will, for you, for us. I will still teach,” he adds dismissively, waving his hand in the direction of the newbies, “but I will no longer be on Earth screwing other women. I only want to be with you.”
“How do you know that?” I shriek at him, suddenly panicking. I was prepared to end this after one last fuck. I came here to tell him that I couldn’t be with him anymore, that I needed something he couldn’t give me. Now he’s telling me that he can, that he wants to.
Damn him!
“Know what?” he asks confused.
“Know that you only want me!” I exclaim. “You were made to be a Demon who screws around. It’s not just your job, it’s your whole reason for being!”
“Your mother quit, so can I,” he states, stopping my tirade dead in its tracks.
“That’s not fair,” I say quietly. “She and my father were in love and she had two other men to keep her Seductress satisfied.”
“I am in love with you,” he says just as quietly. “I only want you.”
“I don’t know if only one male can satisfy me!” I shriek again.
“So have two other men, three, four! I don’t care, Anna!” he practically yells at me. “I just want you. I don’t care if you need to find satisfaction elsewhere.” He grabs my hands, squeezing them tightly. “I expect it. You are a complicated female. One male will simply never be enough to fulfill your every need, your every whim, your every desire.” He brushes my hair out of my face. “You are my Queen and I will be one of however many you choose to please you.” He kisses my hands. I’ve gone cold inside and hot on the outside. He is saying pretty much everything I want him to. There has to be a catch.
“I don’t know if I can trust you to keep your word,” I mutter.
“I haven’t lured a female down to Hell with sex for over a month. Ask Roberta. She is about to fire my ass anyway. That’s because I just can’t.”
“A-a month is nothing. What happens in a year? Two? A decade?”
“If you still want me in a years’ time, my love, I will be the happiest Demon in Hell. I will continue to do everything that I can to make you happy. I love you, Anna.”
I stare back at him completely and utterly dumbstruck.
13
Shax
I stare at the ceiling. I’ve been this way since Annabelle left. I’m concerned with why she wanted to know about Night Mares. Does she want to release him to cause anarchy? Doesn’t sound like something she would do. She likes order. She knows where she stands with that.
I sit up and reach over to turn the music up. The rip of the guitar through the room causes the female on the floor on the other side of the bed to come out of her drugged-up state. She insisted on drinking my blood last night. I was reluctant, but she whined about it, so I gave it to her to shut her up. I’ve done this once before and nearly killed the bitch. This time, I smeared some on my thumb and let her suck it off. She went as high as a kite for the length of an okay fuck and then she crashed. Hard.
“Get out,” I say to her.
She blinks at me and knows that it’s not worth fighting me over. She gets unsteadily to her feet and gathers up her dress. She slinks out of the room quietly and I breathe a sigh of relief. I really
hate this, but I can’t seem to stop. The war that rages inside me over my two sides drains me. I try to forget, but it doesn’t work. Only being with Shadow brings me some peace, but she is hardly ever around.
I make a snap decision.
I shower, change and then head out to the gates of Hell. I look up at the huge iron structures and step through. I walk forward into the mist of the Wastelands. All eradicated Demons go here. But there are also creatures here that will eat your face off if you cross paths with them. I keep going for a little while and then I think about Earth and I’m there, looking down from the top of Mount Cook in New Zealand. The blue sky above me and the snow under my feet makes me smile. A real genuine smile that almost never passes over my face. It’s as close to Heaven as I think I can get. I can’t actually get to the real deal, in spite of being an Angel. I don’t think it has anything to do with being Dark. I just don’t think that I can. I don’t know how, and I’ve tried.
“Shax,” a soft male voice says my name from behind me, startling me. I’ve never encountered another being up here before.
I turn to look up at a large male with bright blue eyes and dark hair. I feel myself gawp as he steps forward, and I see his wings. White feathered wings spread out around him.
“How do you know my name?” I ask cautiously, but the admiration is hard to hide. I know he can see it. It is in his smile.
“My name is Vazna,” he says. “I’m Heaven’s Guardian. I have been waiting for you to return to Earth so that we may speak.”
“Heaven’s Guardian?” I ask very warily. My father used to be Heaven’s Guardian before he met my mother and fell from grace to be with her.
Vazna nods. “Yes, I know who your father is. Dashel was once a great Guardian over the Heavens.”
I blink as I have no words. I am completely speechless for the first time in my life. I even had something to say when I first found out that Shadow could shift into a human.
“I know this may come as a surprise and it was not my intention to ambush you,” Vazna says, his tone exuding caution now as well. “But I have wanted to talk to you for a very long time.”
“Why?” I croak out.
“You are a special creature, Shax. I can feel even from this short interaction that you are struggling with your two halves. I want to offer you another option.”
“What would that be?” I inquire with narrowed eyes. “Don’t think you can use me to get to my sister.” Protecting her is the only thought in my head.
“Oh, this has nothing to do with your sister. She is the Ruler of Hell. She is where she belongs. You though…you don’t feel that you are?”
“I am where I belong and that is with my sister,” I say carefully.
“What about you, Shax? Don’t you wonder what else there is for you?”
“No,” I state blandly. I’m not trusting this fucker just because he’s sporting a pair of white feathered wings and a fancy title.
“You can lie to yourself, but you cannot lie to me. I know how special you are.” He comes closer and strokes my cheek with the back of his hand.
I slap it away and step back. “Sorry, man, I’m not that into guy-on-guy.”
He gives me a curious look as if he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. That shouldn’t be surprising, though.
“You were born from great power, Shax. You shared a womb with the Ruler of Hell. You are her opposite in every way. Every way.”
I remain silent as I take in his words, trying to figure out what exactly he is talking about. “Are you saying I belong in Heaven?” I ask slowly, almost afraid to hear the answer.
Vazna gives me a searching look. “Is that what you want, Shax?”
I shake my head and give him a twisted smile. “I’m not buying what you’re selling so leave me the fuck alone,” I say. He is here to mess with my head, and I have enough shit going on in there without having him add to it.
“Shax!” he calls out as I spread my wings.
The black feathers are even more noticeable against the white glare of the snow-capped mountain.
I shake my head at him again. “I’m not who you think I am,” I say desolately. I belong in Hell, that much is clear from the contrast between us.
“Shax, wait!” Vazna says, but I flap my wings and transport myself back to the Wastelands with a heavy heart.
Heavier than usual, anyway.
I don’t know what to think about Vazna. I don’t even really want to think about it at all. It’s too painful. It creates too much conflict inside me. I hate asking for help, but I feel there is only one course of action and that is to speak to my dad. I can’t confide in Annabelle. She won’t understand. There is nothing in her that can make her see what I’m going through. Even though I know she’d try to help me, her natural scorn for anything good will cloud her judgment.
Good.
I ponder that word as I make my way to my parents quarters. I know there’s good in me, but it is being squashed by the evil. I live in Hell, good has no place here. Not even inside me. Maybe the answer lies in leaving here and seeing what comes out. I turn on my heel, decision made. Speaking to my dad isn’t necessary now. I will discuss it with Shadow later. I’ll track her down and ask her if she will go to Earth with me. To make an informed decision about who I am, I need to be in a neutral place and Hell isn’t that place. Annabelle will be furious, but she will accept it. She’ll have to because I need to calm the war inside me.
I finally feel some sort of peace settle over me, but it doesn’t last long as I remember the box and key that I took from Elijah and what it unlocks. I have a feeling of dread about it which is why I haven’t passed it on to Annabelle yet. I have a feeling that what it unlocks will release her father, but also something else she isn’t ready for. I have to figure it out before I leave here.
I scoot past one of the older Demons down here. The Serpent Demon is headed towards the sin bin, deep in conversation with another of his kind.
“Razor,” his companion hisses. “You took a risk. You’re supposed to be laying low.”
“Pah,” he spits out. “That little slut had it coming to her.”
“But was it even her? She had no powers.”
“It was her,” Razor says, full of confidence.
I’m about to leave them to their conversation when I’m stopped in my tracks.
“She looked at me with that fucking imperious look on her face. Entitled little bitch. Just cuz her father was the Devil doesn’t make Hell hers. I don’t know why she didn’t stop…”
“Stop what?” I ask harshly as I turn around, the rage bubbling up.
I pull my knife out of the back of my jeans, ready to gut these fuckers.
“Err, Shax, hey,” Razor says, giving me a cool smile.
“Stop. What?” I grit out, wondering what they meant about her having no powers.
“A bit of play last night,” he says with a casual shrug. “You know how she is.” He lets out a lewd laugh, grabbing his crotch. “She likes it rough.”
I give him a look of utter disgust and stow the blade. I have no desire to hear about my sister’s “playtime”.
What concerns me is the part about her having no powers.
“Touch her again and you’ll die slowly, painfully by my hand,” I inform them both and storm off to look for Annabelle and find out what the fuck is going on.
14
Drescal
I stare into her green eyes and I totally lose my cool. I have never been nervous around a female since I set foot in Incubus training school. She is right. It is what I was made to do. But now, standing here, looking at her, looking at me with an expression that I can’t even begin to figure out, my palms start to sweat.
“Say something?” I croak out.
“Uhm,” she stammers.
I relax. She is as nervous about this declaration as I am, but she hasn’t told me to go and fuck myself. I take that as a good start to a negotiation that I know is going to be steep, long-w
inded and over-thought out by her.
She pulls her hands back and starts to pace.
“Drescal,” she says, coming to a stop in front of me a few moments later. “I appreciate what you’re offering, I really do, but…”
“No!” I snap at her, feeling this about to slip away. “Don’t overthink it, please, Anna. Go with how you feel right now.”
“If I do that and you turn out to be some loser that I can’t stand, where does that leave us?” she asks quietly.
“Loser?” I ask with scorn, looking down at myself. “Do I look like a loser to you?”
“Well, not right now but it’s further down the line I’m worried about. You are sexy as fuck because of what you do. If you aren’t doing it anymore, then what are you?”
“Ouch,” I mutter. That was a serious blow to my ego. “I will find something to do. Roberta can reassign me.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Dres. You know it as well as I do.”
“So you’re saying no because of something that hasn’t even happened yet and may never happen? How do you know that I won’t remain sexy as fuck as an ex-Incubus?”
“You will never be ex,” she points out. “It will always be in you. You will always want the chase, the kill.”
“Oh, so this is really about that?” I ask, getting really confused. She is trying to talk herself out of it by using everything she thinks she knows about me.
“Yes! No! I don’t know!” she shrieks and spins around to walk away from me. “I want it,” she adds quietly. “I’m worried that if I let you in and love you, you will hurt me.” She turns back around with a ferocious look on her face, “And then I will have to kill you.”
I chuckle at her. “The way I see it, I can only really hurt you in one way. By sleeping with another woman. I’m telling you that isn’t going to happen. Please, Anna, you have to trust me.”