My Funny Demon Valentine (Hell Bent #1)

Chapter 12

12

Somet h i n g Smells Fis h y

R oughly five thousand kilometers away on Vancouver Island, in the private office of his art studio, Dan Gregory cursed a blue streak. Cursing some more, he grabbed the eraser and wiped the series of complex chalk sigils off the blackboard and then slammed the decaying grimoire shut. A cloud of dust blew out from the pages.

It had been a week since Jacqui had sprung those four names on him out of the blue, and he’d been performing tracking sigils with dogged determination every spare moment since.

The results were clear. They didn’t make a lick of sense, but they were clear.

It only gave him more questions. Where had Jacqui gotten those names? His beautiful wife had told him she “must have read them somewhere.” She was lying. It was too great a coincidence that she would hear those four names in particular, and then he would get these bizarre results. Not that Jacqui knew the real reason he’d hurried out to the studio that day, or any of the secrets he’d kept from her throughout their lives together.

She’d lied to him last week, but he’d been lying to her for twenty-seven years.

He hadn’t, however, made up any of what he’d told Jacqui about those four demons that day. He’d just downplayed it a bit. What he hadn’t told his wife was that this wasn’t the first time he’d heard mention of these four demons together, though he didn’t understand why.

Demons didn’t have friends. They were demons. But some connection existed between them, and his wife had somehow pulled their four names out of a hat.

And coincidentally, all four of them were missing from Hell.

The tracking sigils were clear. A successful result would tell him what realm the demons were currently in and, if he added a few extra details to the designs, tell him where precisely in those realms they were. They were no ordinary sigils and they’d come from no ordinary grimoire. They were ancient and powerful and unknown to all save for a secret sect of protectors that had been guarding Earth from demonic influences since the dawn of time.

Dan was certain the demons weren’t in Hell. That much was clear. There could be no doubt that Belial, Asmodeus, Mephistopheles, and Raum were all loose on Earth at this very moment. If that wasn’t frightening enough, Dan had been completely unsuccessful at pinning down where on Earth they were.

The only conclusion he could draw was that the demons were hiding behind wards or, god forbid, had somehow found a new source of Nephilim blood—a possibility that scared the hell out of him. But it made no damn sense.

Why would a King of Hell come to Earth and then hide? He was a King of Hell. If he came to Earth, he came to make himself known. What would he have to hide from?

Dan didn’t know, but after a week of getting the same inconclusive results, he realized that he needed answers. He had a bad feeling, and it was getting worse with every passing day. If Jacqui hadn’t asked him herself about those four names, he’d have been happy to let it go. He was retired, after all. He wasn’t supposed to concern himself with this anymore.

But she had, and she’d clearly lied about why she wanted to know. At the very least, he needed to make sure she wasn’t somehow involved in something she shouldn’t be. He had to make sure she hadn’t inadvertently put herself in danger.

It was time to talk to her, though he was hoping he could get the information he needed without giving himself away.

He remembered what Jacqui had told him of the advice she’d given Eva. If you want a real relationship, it has to be built on trust. If the foundation is weak, the structure will fall. It made him feel sick to his stomach.

He’d been lying to his wife from the day they’d met. With every passing year, it grew harder to keep doing it, but it never stopped being impossible for him to tell her the truth. Now he feared his chance for honesty had long passed.

If she ever found out, she would never forgive him.

The following Thursday, Eva hid behind a corner in an alley and tried to gather her nerves. She’d been talking to Ash on the phone every night, but she hadn’t seen him in a week. And now, he was going to be waiting for her outside Bootleg, and her heart was racing.

She had it bad, it was undeniable.

But how could she not? She’d never had more chemistry with another person. Conversation flowed so naturally between them. Sometimes they talked for hours without noticing how much time had passed. He was a great listener, and he seemed to be interested in all the same things she was.

All week, they’d talked about music and shared their influences. They’d had more phone sex. She’d told him about her artist parents, and he’d told her about his out-of-control brothers. And she’d finally convinced him to meet her at Bootleg again tonight.

Apparently, he’d been working with his brothers on something important, though he’d been vague on what it was, and they had been successful after a week of hard work. Ash had admitted he wanted a night out, and she’d convinced him to come jam.

Unfortunately for him, he’d called a few hours ago and told her that when he’d explained to his brothers where he was going, they had all insisted on coming along. He’d sounded pissed, but Eva was kind of excited. She wanted to meet them properly. She’d certainly heard enough about them to be curious.

So here she was with her back against the brick wall, knowing that when she stepped around the corner, Ash and his brothers would be waiting outside the club. She was nervous. She couldn’t help it. She’d never been this hung up on a guy before, and though she told herself it was too early for it to be serious, she couldn’t help fantasizing about what kind of future they could build together.

Heart fluttering, she psyched herself up for the big reveal and peeked around the corner. There they were. Four brothers hanging outside the club entrance. She watched them, thankful they hadn’t seen her yet.

Ash took her breath away even though he was smoking a cigarette. He leaned against the brick wall, boots crossed at the ankles, gorgeous hair spilling all over his leather-clad shoulders. Good god, it shouldn’t have been possible for a man to be that attractive.

She stared at his brothers next, and her eyes bugged. Where the hell had these guys come from? She couldn’t wait to see Skye’s expression when they came upstairs.

The huge, tall one who must be Belial looked like a Greek god come to life. He was built like a football player and the size of a small mountain. He had to be seven feet tall and towered over everyone, even Ash. Clad in a white T-shirt and jeans, his short, platinum-blond hair fell onto his forehead with that perfect, messy look like he’d just rolled out of bed.

Beside him stood the other black-haired brother, Meph. It was hard to notice anything about him except the tattoos. They covered every available inch of his body, spilling over onto the left side of his face, and he had piercings in his lip, the center of his nose, his ears, and one eyebrow. It certainly gave him an intimidating appearance, yet despite that, he had a big lopsided grin plastered across his face that was strangely endearing.

He was the shortest of the four but made up for it by being a freaking bodybuilder. His arms went beyond jacked into legend territory. She could see the veins bulging and individual tendons of muscles from there. He wore baggy workout sweats and Nike high-tops—definitely a gym rat.

And his favorite gym buddy was probably the fourth brother, Raum. He had dark skin and hair trimmed to the scalp. A thin line of facial hair traced his upper lip and chin, and he was as obscenely jacked as Meph. His eyes were a brilliant and unusual gold, bright enough to notice from a distance. She’d never known eyes could be that color. The somewhat broody look on his face told Eva he wasn’t one to smile often.

Compared to them, Ash almost looked normal, she thought with an inward chuckle. Unfortunately, her stalker routine hadn’t calmed her nerves. If anything, it was worse. She wanted Ash’s brothers to like her. He’d said over and over that they were jerks, but they were obviously still important to him.

She told herself to woman up. She knew she looked hot. She’d put on her favorite gold cowl-neck top and a pair of hoop earrings to match. Her curls were piled in a messy bun on top of her head. Black leggings and scuffed-up Dr. Martens completed the look.

She was pretty sure Ash wasn’t going to give a damn about her clothes anyway. If he was thinking anything like she was, he’d only be concerned with how soon he could get her out of them.

She took a breath and stepped confidently around the corner, striding toward the brothers as if she hadn’t been lurking in the alley like a creep. They all stopped what they were doing and stared at her. Ash had frozen with his cigarette halfway to his lips, and she could see his eyes darken into that hungry look she’d been missing all week.

She stopped beside him and smiled. Her lady parts were clenching just from the sight of him, which was embarrassing because his brothers were all grinning at her like they knew exactly what she was thinking. She did her best to ignore them and looked at Ash. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

When he smiled, it was breathtaking. He held her gaze, and the rest of the world fell away. A bomb could have gone off and she wouldn’t have noticed.

Damn, she was falling fast, and it was terrifying. She wanted to say all this cringey stuff like I missed you and I thought about you all week , but she held her tongue.

“Well, hello,” said another voice, reminding her they weren’t alone. “I’m Meph.”

He stuck out a tattooed hand—even his palm was covered—and when she shook it, he bowed low and kissed the back of her hand, which looked odd coming from a guy who looked like he was on his way to a gang meet.

“It’s an honor to meet the mysterious woman who’s interested in poor old Asmodeus here.” He straightened, released her hand, and eyed her suspiciously. “Tell me, why did you seek out the ugliest, most boring man in all the world? Self-torture, perhaps? A healthy dose of guilt means you don’t believe you’re worthy of having a sexual partner you’re actually attracted to?”

Eva’s mouth dropped open.

“Meph, shut the fuck up,” Belial growled.

Ash looked like he wanted to stab the lit end of his cigarette into Meph’s eye. She wouldn’t have blamed him if he did. Hell, she might have helped hold him still.

She planted her hands on her hips and got good and pissed. Ash had warned her his brothers were tools. Guess I should have believed him.

“First of all, it’s none of your damn business who I want to sleep with or why, asshole. And secondly, Ash is ten times hotter than you could ever dream of being, so I suggest you look in the mirror before you go calling him boring and ugly.”

It wasn’t completely true. Meph was undeniably gorgeous if one wasn’t put off by all the ink and piercings, but he needed to be taken down a notch, and she was full of righteous indignation on Ash’s behalf.

“Oh, snap,” Raum said.

“Meph, she can see him,” Belial said.

See him? What the hell was he on about? And had she thought Ash was weird? Because he had nothing on his brothers.

Meph’s retort died before he got a chance to begin it. He looked up at Belial. “Wait, what?”

“She can see through his... you know.”

See through his what?

Meph stared at Eva with his mouth open. Raum stepped beside him and did the same. She felt like a bug under a microscope. “But how?”

“I don’t know,” Ash said through gritted teeth, “but can we not talk about this right now?”

“Are you a closet lesbian?” Meph asked.

Eva sputtered indignantly. “Excuse me?”

“It’s a valid question! The only people who see Asmodeus are people who aren’t attracted to him sexually.”

“What the hell are you guys smoking?” she snapped. “ See him? He’s standing right there! And no, I’m not a lesbian, not that it’s any of your damned business!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! Trust me, I’m sure.”

“How can you be certain? Have you—”

“Yes, okay? In high school. I experimented. It was fun, but not for me. I like men. I like dicks.” She huffed. “Unfortunately for me.”

All four of them were grinning at her now.

She threw up her arms in disgust and glared at Ash’s brothers. “You guys think so little of your own brother that you assume I’m a freaking lesbian rather than consider that I’m actually attracted to him? What the hell’s wrong with you?”

Belial dragged his fingers through his pale hair. “It’s not like that.”

“It’s the opposite,” Meph agreed quickly. “We think very highly of Asmodeus. We know he’s real hot stuff, right Ash?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Ash said, dragging hard on his cigarette.

“We’re just making sure you want him for the right reasons, that’s all.”

“He’s sensitive,” Raum agreed, his teasing words belying the perma-scowl on his face. “We don’t want you to hurt his feelings.”

“I will kill you all slowly and painfully,” Ash growled.

Some of Eva’s anger dissipated. They were just looking out for their brother, though they had a messed up way of showing it. “You guys remind me of my dad,” she said, rolling her eyes. “He used to drill all my dates with questions until they cracked under the pressure.”

“Hear that, Ash?” Meph punched Ash in the arm, earning him another glare. “Think of us as your dads.”

Ash recoiled. “No.”

“Too far,” Belial agreed. He shook his head and looked down at Eva. Way down, because he was so tall. He had one of those super masculine faces, with a jaw that could cut steel and a long, straight nose. His eyes were bluer than the sky on a clear day, and she’d never seen such light-blond hair. Skye was going to die when she saw him.

“Let’s start again.” He stuck out a palm. “Bel.”

Eva shook it. His huge hand swallowed hers completely. “Eva.”

She tried not to cower under his direct stare. There was something incredibly intimidating about him, more than just his size and attractiveness. Tension vibrated from him even though he looked relaxed, and she got the sense making this man angry would be a fatal mistake.

He released her hand and gestured to the other two brothers. “Birdbrain there is Meph, and that idiot is Raum. Just ignore everything they say. I do.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said.

Meph was back to grinning again. She hadn’t noticed before but his irises were red. Red. How the hell was that possible?

“Let’s go inside,” Ash said, tossing his cigarette onto the curb. She winced. She’d been raised to respect the environment and couldn’t stand littering.

“Did you know a cigarette filter can take up to ten years to disintegrate?” she asked sweetly.

Meph laughed loudly.

Ash looked at the butt and then back at her with a blank expression. She sighed. They’d have to work on that later. “Never mind.” She grabbed his hand. “Let’s go play some music.”

Upstairs was, as usual, packed. Standing room only, back to front, as it always was on Thursday nights. It was going to be an effort just to make it to the bar.

“You guys want drinks?” she shouted, and the brothers nodded at her as if she was asking them if they, too, breathed oxygen. Keeping hold of Ash’s hand, she led the strange siblings through the throng of tightly packed bodies toward the bar.

Her guests were already attracting stares, especially Bel, who loomed over every single person in the club. She had never seen a guy so big before. Most people as tall as him had the whole willowy thing going on, but not Belial. He was as broad as he was high. The guy was a walking Everest.

And judging by the expression on Skye’s face as they approached the bar, he was making an impression on her too.

“Hey!” Eva called to her friend from across the counter.

Skye had frozen halfway through polishing a glass. “ Who is that?” she whispered like she was being blessed with a heavenly visitation.

Eva was more excited to show off her own date. “Skye, meet Ash.”

She turned to the man still holding her hand. Their eyes met, and her stomach flipped at the instant connection. Man, their chemistry was off the charts.

“Ash, this is my best friend, Skye. She’s the one I told you about.”

He nodded at Skye but said nothing. She could tell he wasn’t used to socializing much, and didn’t blame him for being shy, considering the circumstances. The bar was packed and loud and not the best place for making new friends.

Eva looked back at Skye, waiting for her friend’s inevitable reaction to witnessing firsthand the level of sexiness that was currently holding her hand.

Except... Skye’s gaze traveled right over him like he wasn’t even there. “Yeah, hi,” she said blandly.

Eva blinked. After she’d told Skye about Ash, her friend had been almost more excited than Eva was to meet him, so why was she acting like this?

“This is the guy I told you about,” Eva said, giving her friend a pointed look.

Skye frowned and glanced disinterestedly back at Ash. “Him?” She seemed confused.

Eva frowned. First his brothers had implied she couldn’t be attracted to him, and now Skye was glazing over when she looked at him. Skye loved gawking at hot guys. This was so unlike her, it was like Eva wasn’t talking to her best friend. Was this some kind of mean joke?

She glanced over at Bel, Meph, and Raum, who had already found a group of women to flirt with. They hadn’t been near the bar yet. There was no way they could have orchestrated this.

She looked back at Ash to see if he looked hurt or pissed, but he seemed fine. “What’s wrong?” he asked, reading her confused expression.

“Skye is being weird. She was so excited to meet you, and I don’t know what’s gotten into her.” Maybe it was embarrassing to admit she’d been talking him up to her friend, but she felt bad, damn it.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s get a drink and a table. I want to sit where we did last week so we can see the stage.”

She glanced over the crowd and saw their spot was open. “You go hold the seats. I’ll get us drinks.”

He bent suddenly, planting a kiss on her lips that had her wanting to abandon their jamming plans and take him straight back to her place. When he pulled back, she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was having the same thoughts.

The only reason she held off was because she wanted to encourage him to play music. He was so talented, and she wanted him to overcome his reluctance to play in front of others. “Go get that table. I’ll meet you there.”

He nodded and released her, melting into the crowd. She watched him go, frowning as she noticed how nobody seemed to be aware of him. A few guys in the crowd stepped back warily, but not one female head turned.

Look at him! she wanted to scream at all of them. Are you all freaking blind?

She stepped up to the bar, waved Skye back over, and ordered two beers. “What is up with you?” she snapped at her best friend while she filled the drinks from the tap. “You were dying to meet Ash all week, and you barely looked at him.”

“Forget him, who are they ?” She was gawking at his brothers again.

“His brothers,” Eva growled.

“His brothers?” Skye’s mouth dropped open. “Girl, why the hell are you dating him when his brothers look like that?”

Eva’s mouth dropped open too. “Are you freaking kidding me? You did not just say that!”

“The tall one is what I fantasize about at night with my vibrator! I have never seen a man that size before. I didn’t know guys could actually look like that!”

“They’re all players,” Eva snapped, pissed at Skye for reasons she couldn’t properly identify. “They’re all the kind of assholes who will sleep with you and never call again. The reason you swore off guys, remember?”

“I don’t even care,” Skye said, still drooling over the sight of Bel’s broad back. “He can never call me again all he wants if it means I get a taste of that.”

“Ugh.” Eva snatched up their drinks. “I’m going to find Ash.”

“Tell his brother to come talk to me!”

Eva grumbled as she wound her way through the crowd and found her date sitting at their table. She passed him his drink, and they sipped them in silence while she tried to shake off her irrational anger.

“Eva, don’t worry about it,” Ash said, accurately reading her mood. “I get it all the time.”

“How? I mean, I’m not blind. I know you’re not ugly or boring. Why did your brothers think that?”

He shifted on his seat. “I guess I kind of... blend in.”

“You don’t blend in!” How could anyone ever say that about him?

“I really don’t care, Eva. Trust me, I’m used to it. I came here to play music with you. You spent all week talking me into it, remember?”

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m making such a big deal out of this. I don’t even know what I’m making a big deal of .” Catching sight of the guitarist on stage, Tim, who was in charge of the rotating lineup, she took a final gulp of her drink and stood. “Let’s see if I can get us up to jam for the next set.”

A few minutes later, she returned to the table, grabbed her flute from her bag, and yanked Ash up by the hand. “Come on, we’re up!”

They went together onto the stage, poor Ash looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. The other people in the band were friends of Eva’s and welcomed him with friendly handshakes. She had vouched for him as a musician, so they had no concerns about letting him come up.

The band members were mostly Francophone, and she experienced a moment of amazement when Ash switched to flawless French to communicate. He’d said he wasn’t from here, so she’d assumed he didn’t speak French at all. How had he learned to speak so fluently? And where was he from, anyway? She realized now that she’d never actually gotten a straight answer when she’d asked last time.

A moment later, however, she quickly forgot all that when Tim started the jam, firing off a few tasty chords on his guitar before the rest of the band joined in.

Unsurprisingly, Ash was amazing. He knew just what to add to complement the other players, accentuating his parts when it was his turn and never overshadowing anyone else in the band. The others made room for him to take a solo, and with some hesitancy, he did, and of course, it blew her mind. It blew everyone’s mind, judging by the reaction of the crowd.

Eva’s anger was quickly replaced with satisfaction. The crowd was riveted, watching his every move, cheering at all the right times. He wasn’t boring or invisible to them anymore. And the band loved him too. They jammed together on another two tracks before it was time to switch the lineup.

As Eva climbed off stage, she overheard Tim asking Ash if he wanted to stay up for the next jam as well. He started to decline, but she could tell by the glint in his eye he was riding the high from the music and would keep his butt glued to that piano bench all night if he could.

She raced back up on stage and jumped between him and Tim, effectively cutting him off. “He’d love to stay up for as long as you want him,” she interrupted, grinning at Ash when he glared at her.

“What about you?” he asked, melting her heart a little bit.

“Eva, stay up too if you want,” Tim offered.

“No, that’s okay.” She smiled at Ash. “This is your time to shine, baby. Knock ’em dead.”

She wanted him to get comfortable with the others without her there. It was all part of her little scheme to loosen him up and build his musical confidence.

Before he could protest, she darted back off the stage, waving at him from the audience. He shot her a look, but she could tell he was secretly dying to keep playing.

“My work here is done,” she said proudly to herself, and then she weaved her way back through the crowd to find Skye.

That was when shit got weird.

Eva hadn’t reached the bar yet when Skye started waving frantically at her. “Oh my god, who is that piano player?” she exclaimed when Eva reached her.

Eva frowned. “That’s Ash. I introduced you earlier, remember?”

Skye laughed. “Yeah right, I’m pretty sure I’d remember if you had introduced me to him. Eva, that guy is a freakin’ god. Look at that hair!”

“I know that! You were the one who didn’t notice him before!”

“What? You’ve gotta lock that one down tight, girl.”

“Skye, what is going on with you? I literally introduced you an hour ago, and you barely looked at him!”

“Eva, hon, that was not the same guy you introduced me to. Pretty sure I’d remember if I’d met him before.”

“You have met him!”

Skye scoffed, and Eva kept staring at her, beyond confused. A tingly feeling went down her spine, and she spun around to look at Ash up on the stage. She scanned the crowd, gauging their reactions.

It was night and day from before. There was no mistaking it. There was a noticeably strong female presence right up front beside the piano, and they were all craning to get a better look at him. Ash was talking to the others in the band and didn’t seem to notice. Eva scanned the crowd and looked for his brothers. Her confusion deepened.

They weren’t flirting and messing around anymore. They were standing in a circle, talking suspiciously to each other, looking as confused as she was as they watched Ash on the stage.

Something was going on. Something not normal. Images of bat wings and headless gargoyles flashed through her mind, but that didn’t make sense. What could her hallucinations possibly have to do with... whatever this was?