My Funny Demon Valentine (Hell Bent #1)

Chapter 24

24

Fade to Black

E va caught a glimpse of white wings as the attacker struck again before Ash had time to recover.

Time froze in a tableau of horror as the blade swept across his chest, and white light cascaded over his body like lightning. He roared as it swung again, Eva screaming all the while.

When he moved to dodge the strike, she caught sight of his attacker, and the scream dried right up in her throat.

It was her father.

Her dad had feathered wings and was wielding a broadsword, raising it above his head and swinging it down toward Ash’s neck. And Ash was throwing his body to the side, which was rapidly getting larger and redder, but he wasn’t moving fast enough.

Another scream erupting from her throat, Eva threw herself at him without thinking. Colliding with Ash, she knocked him to the ground, his body now fully in demon form beneath her, his blood staining her clothes.

He grabbed her and rolled them at the last possible second as her dad’s blade sliced into his back, spraying more blood. There hadn’t been time for him to pull back his strike.

If Ash hadn’t rolled her, her dad could have killed her.

Dan seemed to realize this, because a hoarse shout burst from his throat, and he stumbled backward, eyes wide with horror. Eva quickly turned her attention back to Ash.

He was huge now, around seven feet tall, his skin back to that vivid crimson. His shirt hung off him in tatters, torn by the sword strikes and the wings that had erupted from his back. Black horns parted strands of his silky hair, curving along his skull and swooping up to sharp points. His leathery wings were draped protectively over her, and his claws dug into the hardwood.

Their gazes met and locked briefly. At least, she thought they did—his eyes were solid black again, and it was hard to tell where he was looking.

Then his head jerked back, and he growled in an animalistic way at her dad who was approaching again with the sword held high.

“Dad, no!” she shouted.

Ash crawled off her and climbed gracefully to his feet. He raised his claws to his neck and tore the remains of his shirt from his body. Blood poured from his wounds, and she saw his breath coming in sharp pants against the pain he wasn’t accustomed to feeling, thanks to his curse lifting. How the hell was he still standing?

“Grigori,” Ash snarled.

Okay, that was weird, considering her last name was Gregory, not Grigori, and why he thought that mattered right n—

It sank into her shock-confused head. The wings. The sword.

DUH flashed in her mind’s eye like a blinking neon sign.

“You want me?” Dan’s voice was low, attention fixed on Ash, sword raised as he slowly backed across the room toward the exit. “Then come and get me.”

Ash growled in that feral way again, but remained where he was, his body angled protectively in front of Eva.

Dan frowned like he was surprised Ash wasn’t taking the bait, but his smile returned. “I’m on my way to kill your friends. Think I’ll start with Mephistopheles, since he’s the youngest—”

That got him going. Ash roared and launched across the room at Dan amidst Eva’s cries for them to stop. She didn’t know if she was shouting at her idiot dad for provoking Ash, or if she was shouting at Ash to please not attack her dad even if he was being an idiot.

Dan darted out of the den into the living room, moving miraculously fast, and Ash chased after him just as rapidly despite his wounds. Eva raced behind them, still screaming futilely at everyone to stop fighting. In the few seconds it took her to cross the room, she heard Ash’s enraged roar fill the air.

It was earsplitting, and Eva stumbled through the doorway with her palms over her ears. She skidded to a halt, and her mouth dropped open.

Ash was standing on a sigil drawn onto the floor, looking none too pleased about it. He was roaring like an enraged dragon and swiping his claws at her dad, who was swinging his sword, trying to stab it into the circle.

Somehow, Eva pieced together that her dad must have lured Ash out of the den so he would cross into the sigil he’d somehow drawn without either of them noticing his presence. And now Ash was trapped, and her dad was trying to kill him.

“Dad, no!” she shouted yet again, running across the room to intervene. Where was her mom and Ash’s brothers? Why hadn’t they come to help?

“Eva, get out of here!” Holding her back with one arm, Dan didn’t even glance at her. He continued trying to stab her boyfriend while he was injured and trapped. Ash gave as good as he got, swatting away the sword with those deadly claws and ducking out of reach.

“Stop, damn it!” She yanked on her dad’s arm with all her strength, trying to throw him off his game and distract him from trying to kill Ash.

For a moment, she thought she’d succeeded. He lowered his sword, stepped back, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then he spun, grabbed the hand on his arm, and slapped something cold and metal onto her wrist. She froze, staring at the metal blankly for a second, and then it dawned on her.

Her dad had just handcuffed her!

Ash figured it out too because he did the whole dragon-roar-of-fury thing again.

“What the fuck!” Eva shrieked in her dad’s face, struggling madly as he scooped her into his arms. He crossed the room and deposited her at the base of the staircase.

“Honey, I’m so sorry about this,” he said, and then the motherfucker cuffed the other side of the handcuffs to the wrought-iron banister.

Eva stared in utter astonishment, unable to believe her own father had handcuffed her to a staircase so he could continue trying to murder her boyfriend.

“What are you doing?” she bellowed at the top of her lungs. “What the hell is wrong with you!” A roaring filled her ears, a dark wrath springing to life at the center of her being.

“I’m so sorry, honey. I’ll be right back, I promise.” His eyes were full of regret.

She was way too pissed off to care. Especially as he turned to Ash and said, “I’m going to go deal with your friends, Asmodeus, and then I’ll be back for you.”

And then he turned and ran out of the house amidst Eva’s furious screams and Ash’s rageful roars.

Jacqui stared at Belial. “Angels?”

“Well, fallen angels, to be precise.”

“They’re called Grigori,” Raum supplied. “Or Watchers.”

“Horny angels,” Meph called out from the other room, which made no sense whatsoever.

“I’m sorry,” Jacqui said, “I’m really not following.”

“Grigori are fallen angels who came to Earth to get involved in the drama and mate with humans.” Belial straightened from the grimoire that lay open on the desk in front of him, lip curling in distaste. “They consider themselves protectors of humanity.”

“Okay, so these Grigori wrote that book? But how does that prove anything about Dan?”

“Only a Grigori would be in possession of it or have the knowledge to draw these tracking sigils. If your husband has it, that means he’s a Grigori.”

“Dan?” A hysterical laugh burst out of her. “My husband is a lot of things, but an angel isn’t one of them.”

“Technically, he’s fallen,” Belial said, but that didn’t make it any less ridiculous.

“And if he’s a Grigori,” Raum added, “that means your daughter is a Nephilim.”

“Which means we have a serious fucking problem.”

“What is a Nephilim?” Jacqui screeched. “What is wrong with my daughter?”

“Nephilim are the kids of the horny angels, and they’re hunted for their magical blood,” Meph called out from the other room again.

“Look, we don’t have time to talk about this,” Belial interjected. “Your husband was trying to track us. We need to get Asmodeus and get out of here now.”

“But what if Eva’s a Nephilim?” Raum asked him.

“Then we help her out by the getting the fuck out of here even faster before I’m forced to kill her dad.”

Jacqui choked.

“Ash won’t like that,” Raum said.

“Asmodeus will do whatever keeps her safe.”

“What is a Nephilim?” Jacqui asked again, barely following at this point.

“There’s no time to explain now,” Belial said, already moving toward the door. “But you can ask your husband. If he really is a Grigori, he’ll have all the answers you seek. If he’s not, then you have no need to know anyway.”

Bel left Dan’s office and crossed the open studio space, Raum and Jacqui following behind.

“Check it!” Meph exclaimed as they approached, stepping back from the vulture statue with a grin. He flung a tattooed arm toward the sculpture.

Jacqui’s mouth fell open.

The vulture’s head was attached flawlessly. He’d even put a slight angle in its position, so it appeared to be tilting its head inquisitively. It brought a lifelike poise to the sculpture that it hadn’t had before.

“Amazing!” Despite everything, she couldn’t help but be impressed. “How did you do it?”

He shrugged. “I used these scrap thingies and some of this wire.”

“It’s beautiful.”

Meph ducked his head and shuffled a foot like he wasn’t used to hearing praise, and her heart melted. A sudden tenderness filled her, and she was struck with the urge to serve him meals and tuck him into bed at night. He just looked like he needed a mother’s love, and she wanted to give it to him. The last thing she needed was to adopt a demon, but she couldn’t help it.

Her phone rang in her pocket, snapping her back to the present. “It’s Dan.”

“Ask him about the grimoire,” Belial said.

She accepted the call and held it up to her ear. “Dan?”

“Honey, I need you to come outside.”

“Where are you?”

“Come outside first and then we’ll talk.” His voice was low, and he was speaking slowly. It was the kind of voice people used to address someone who had a really big spider on their back.

Jacqui was really getting sick of all his vague mysteriousness. “Dan, what is going on? Where are you? And why do you have a grimoire made by fallen angels in your office?”

“Come outside, and we’ll talk. I promise I’ll tell you everything. Just come quickly.”

“I’ll be right there,” she said and then hung up. It was obvious the three demons watching her had overheard. “I’m going to go find out what he wants,” she told them.

“Careful,” Raum warned. “It could be a trap.”

She scoffed. “He’s still my husband. I’m not afraid of him.”

She headed toward the exit but stopped when she noticed the demons following her and arched a brow. “I’m pretty sure I can talk to my own husband without backup.”

“He’s up to something,” Bel said with narrowed eyes.

“If he really is one of these Grigori, I don’t want you to fight with him. I may be angry at him, but he’s still my husband. It would be better if you waited here.” She wasn’t about to forget Belial’s offhand comment about killing him anytime soon, that was for sure. Though she was still having a hard time believing he was some sort of fallen angel warrior.

Hard time? Scratch that. She thought it was ridiculous. But her demon guests were genuinely concerned, and she respected their feelings, so she played along.

“I’ll be right back.” With a smile at her guests, she stepped outside the studio into the sunlight—

And was immediately seized around the middle by Dan’s strong arms and dragged a good ten feet away from the building. How the hell had he moved so fast?

“Jacqui, thank god .” He clutched her tightly, pressing his face against her neck like they’d been apart for ages.

That was nice and all, but she was too confused to enjoy the hug at the moment. She struggled in his hold, but his arms remained locked around her.

“Dan, let me go. What’s going on? Where were you? Why aren’t you wearing a shirt? Is that a sword ? And why do you have that grimoire?”

“I can’t explain now, but I will.” And then he transferred his grip, securing her against his side with his left arm like she was a sack of rice, which only made her madder.

“Let me go!” she snapped, struggling in his grip, a sense of alarm rising quickly within. A small part of her marveled at his strength. He’d always been strong, but she hadn’t realized he was this strong. He held her with one arm like she weighed as much as a feather pillow.

“I’m really sorry, honey, but I can’t let you go back in there.” There was genuine remorse in his voice, but Jacqui didn’t care about that right now. All she knew was that her husband was freaking her out and pissing her off, and she did not like being restrained like a recalcitrant child.

She struggled harder. “Let me go!”

“Heyyy,” came Meph’s voice. “Why don’t you release the nice lady, and we can have a chat like adults, yeah?”

She jerked around in Dan’s grip to see the tattooed demon standing in the doorway of the studio. It was then she noticed the big symbol painted on the front wall beside the door.

The other side of the double doors was thrown open and Belial and Raum came to stand beside Meph. Flames flickered in Belial’s eyes, and he looked furious, but he remained rooted to the threshold, as if he could go no further.

“Demons,” Dan said, still restraining Jacqui’s wiggling form. “Prepare to die.”

Meph scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning a shoulder against the doorframe. “Yeah, no thanks.”

The attitude was mostly just a cover up for anxiety. The Watcher asshole had warded the building, only this time the wards weren’t to keep people out, they were to keep them in .

Prison wards. Empyrean magic, too, so they were strong. With all four walls and the roof warded, the building had become indestructible. It was the one of the oldest tricks in the book, and honestly, it was a little embarrassing they hadn’t seen it coming.

As for dying, Meph wasn’t overly concerned. Grigori weren’t full-fledged angels anymore which meant they were less powerful. They could be defeated, but it still wasn’t easy. Meph was the youngest of his brothers, which made him more vulnerable to pricks like these self-righteous angel dropouts—especially because under no circumstances would he shift into demon form, even if it made him exponentially stronger.

But it wasn’t himself he was worried about. It was Belial.

Bel was doing his damnedest to be a good boy. He had worked hard to find a way for the four of them to get to Earth without being caught, and now he was working even harder to make sure they stayed free, all while trying to manage his dark side.

Jacqui’s asshole husband tightened the hold around her with his left arm and unsheathed a dagger from the thigh holster with his right, shifting his stance to attack position. As if he was going to battle them with his wife pinned to his side or some shit? Not cool.

“Do you know who I am?” Bel asked coolly, maintaining a casual pose. Except Meph could tell there was nothing casual about his brother right now.

Bel stood with those tree-trunk arms crossed over his chest and his legs slightly spread, all that pretty blond hair spilling over his broad shoulders.

“Oh, I know very well,” the Watcher replied.

“Dan, put me down , damn it!” Jacqui hissed at him, still valiantly struggling in his arms. “I swear to god I’ll never forgive you for this!”

“Do you not understand the consequences of pissing me off?” Bel’s voice was getting deeper and louder, though it never wavered from that ice-cold level tone. The hairs on the back of Meph’s neck rose. “Because you’re really starting to piss me off.”

“Shit,” Raum said, exchanging a glance with Meph.

Even the Grigori looked a little wary. Which was dumb because what the hell had he expected when he threatened fucking Belial? You didn’t go around threatening Belial unless you could back your shit up.

“Okayyy,” Meph said, maneuvering his way beside him. He did his best to push his brother back from the threshold a little, but it was like trying to move a skyscraper. He gave that up and put what he hoped was a reassuring hand on Belial’s bicep—which was several inches thicker than it had been a moment ago.

Bastard was growing. Not a good sign.

“Dan, is it? How do ya do. I’m Meph. We aren’t looking for trouble. We have no sinister agenda and mean no harm to any humans. All we want is to go our merry way and be left to our own devices. Isn’t that right, Bel, my big bro?” Meph gave Bel’s huge bicep a reassuring pat.

Belial was frozen, staring at Jacqui’s husband with his hands curled into boulder-sized fists.

“Bel here has been working really hard on his anger management,” Meph said. “Wouldn’t it be a shame to undo all that now? He’s getting a little worked up with you tossing threats around. And it seems like your lovely wife there really isn’t enjoying being restrained. I’m all for a little kink, but consent is key, you feel me? So why don’t you put Jacqui down, and we can all take a second to chill, and we’ll talk this out like— Oomph !”

Pain sliced through him, effectively cutting off his valiant speech.

Meph glanced down.

The motherfucker had tossed a fucking knife into his chest!

He opened his mouth to speak but choked. Blood came out. And then more pain. A shitload of pain. Because Dan had nailed him with a consecrated weapon, and he could feel it burning him up from the inside out.

Trying to keep his cool, Meph tried to speak, but he just choked again. And now the world was spinning. Cool. He looked up at Belial and saw the shock written all over his brother’s face.

Actually, it felt like time had frozen, because Bel’s mouth was opening really slowly. In his peripherals, Meph was aware of Raum leaping toward him, but it was like those scenes in action movies where the character ran in slow-mo to escape the blast, shouting, “ Noooooooooo ,” ten octaves lower than normal.

Meph stumbled to the side. That was lame. He was going to fall on his ass with a consecrated blade in his chest, right in front of his new human friend and her douchebag husband. And that asshole had thrown the knife at him while he was trying to call a truce. So embarrassing.

He heard Jacqui screaming. Maybe she was concerned for him. That’d be nice. Eva’s mom was cool, and she’d said she liked his tattoos, and no one said that. Most people gawked at him with judgment written all over their faces, not that he cared. Actually, he liked making people uncomfortable. It was one of his greatest pleasures in life.

He thought all these admittedly pointless thoughts in that little pause of slowed time, and then his respite was over, and the world went full speed ahead once more.

Meph hit the ground, blood all over him. Jacqui was still screaming. Raum landed at his side and tried to yank the knife out, except it seared his hand when he touched it.

And... Belial went off.

Meph wanted to tell him it was all good and not to bother losing his shit over him, but he’d already tried speaking and it hadn’t worked out so well. Plus, it wasn’t like Bel would listen.

Nope, his brother totally lost it. He really blew.

First, he grew. Had to be thirteen feet tall, the size of a freakin’ Mack truck. He had to stoop way down to fit under the doorframe, and Raum had to drag Meph out of the way by the armpits so the two of them didn’t get crushed.

Belial stretched his palms forward and pressed, putting all his strength into breaking the ward, which flashed with white light and flexed outward as he tested its power. Anyone else would have been blasted back twenty feet by magic that powerful, but not Bel.

It was a good thing he hadn’t had time to cut his hair, because it would have grown back right then. The white-blond locks blew all around his head in a phantom wind. The sky darkened. Lightning crashed around them for added effect. Huge, white-feathered wings burst from Belial’s back, tearing his too-tight shirt right off his body, and he levitated off the ground a few inches, pushing harder against the magic keeping him trapped.

And, of course, he burst into flames.

Raum dragged Meph further inside amidst Jacqui’s continued screaming. She was probably screaming more about Belial now than Meph and the whole knife-in-his-chest thing. Especially because Belial started launching fireballs through the ward at Dan, forcing him to duck and weave all over the place with Jacqui along for the ride. Poor lady.

Raum hunched over Meph, trying to pull out the blade in his chest, but the consecrated weapon was burning his brother’s palms up good. Every time Raum got a good grip on it, his hands would start to smoke and flame until he had to yank them away.

He ripped his shirt over his head and wrapped his fist in it, but consecrated weapons were no joke. It gave him a couple seconds of extra yank time—that blade was in Meph’s sternum good—but then Raum’s shirt burst into white fire and became more of a hindrance than a help.

The world was kind of going black now, which sucked because Meph actually could die from this wound. He’d been looking forward to tearing shit up with his trusty bros, but instead he was going to die in a pool of his own blood because he’d tried negotiating with an angel. Stupid. Lesson learned on that front.

“Help me!” Raum was yelling. “Fucking help me, Bel!”

Aw. A tiny tear actually gathered in Meph’s eye. Raum was the quiet one, always calm and collected, and he didn’t like the desperate tone of his voice, especially because he knew Bel wasn’t going to help. When Bel was this far gone, he lost all reason and rationale and existed purely as a force of destruction with a burning desire to kill everything.

Distantly, Meph remarked that the building was now on fire as Bel continued his Satanic tantrum, spewing hellfire at the Grigori and roaring so loudly it obliterated all else. The ward was flexing outward so far now, Bel was standing all the way outside. It looked like he might actually be able to break it, which was badass.

For once, the fire wasn’t an unwelcome sight. The outside of the building may have been rendered indestructible, but the inside wasn’t, and if Bel destroyed it enough, it could collapse internally and free them.

Meph hoped his cool vulture statue would survive though. Good thing it was made of metal.

His last thought was that he wished Jacqui hadn’t had to see her husband murder him because that shit was bound to be traumatizing. And then the world faded to black.