9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Zeke
By the time I returned home from the hospital, my anger had cooled, but it simmered beneath the surface, threatening to break free. One wrong word and both my demon and I would blow.
“What the hell happened, Isadora?” I called her the moment I stepped through the door. “You told me you’d wait a week. Instead, you sent incompetent idiots in to do a job they weren’t capable of doing.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I turned up today just in time to see Carlotta being pushed into a car, her father restrained by two goons. What the fuck is going on?” I fought to keep my temper.
“I told you. I don’t know, but I will find out.”
I heard her moving through the villa, her heels click-clacking on the tiled floor.
“Ernesto. Zeke is on the phone.”
A rustle and then came the voice I’d grown to hate.
“What do you want?” Ernesto was curt, as usual.
“Answers. Your idiots almost killed your granddaughter. Do you even care about her?”
“How dare you even suggest that?”
“Then how do you explain their incompetence earlier? Turning up, attempting kidnap in broad daylight? They fucked up, Ernesto. You fucked up.”
“Your insolence won’t be tolerated.”
“And your obsession with her will come to no good. Their attempt almost got her killed. There was an accident. She ended up in the hospital. Fortunately, it’s just a broken arm, but it could have been much worse. As for her father…”
“I don’t care about him. He is of no concern to me. Tell me more about what happened. I assure you, people will pay for what happened.”
“It’s a little late for that. No doubt they’ll be in touch. I told Isadora last week that nothing was happening. They’re two people trying to live their lives in London. I don’t know what you expected to achieve with today’s stunt.”
“I don’t have to explain anything to you. I employ you. You will do as I say.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to shove the job up his arse, but I’d said one week, and I intended to see it through and collect my one million.
“If it hadn’t been for me, you would have lost her.”
“You did your job. The one I’m paying you to do and a lot of money for that. It’s important my granddaughter is back living here with me. I don’t care how you do it. I don’t care if her father is hurt in the process. I want her here. Am I making myself clear?”
“So, you don’t care what happens to him?”
“No, but again, it’s no business of yours. If you can’t come up with anything in the next week, as you promised to Isadora, then I will do what I have to do. She belongs here with me.”
Sometimes, money is all important, and other times, like now, you realised it was the root of all evil. Yes, I was a demon. Yes, I liked money, but I was fucked if I was going to stick around and listen to him talk about doing whatever it took to get Carlotta back with him.
He might care about her, but he sure as shit didn’t care about Rory. There was no way I’d sit by and let him steal her from him.
From the off, I’d had my suspicions that he’d do something like this. I never thought he’d follow through. Now it was up to me to do what I could to protect them both.
“You know what, Ernesto? I don’t need your money, and I sure as hell don’t need to be working for you. I thought Dante was bad enough, but you…you’re worse than him. I’m done with you. Keep your money. I didn’t need it anyway.”
Since when did a demon have a conscience? When said demon realised that the father of the girl he’d saved was indeed his mate.
Since we’d turned up at Rory’s earlier, my demon had been going insane inside me. He’d been livid seeing him restrained, but my priority was the girl. I couldn’t allow her to be taken like that.
“We have a contract, Ezekiel.”
“Consider it broken.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I can and I will. You have no hold over me, Ernesto. Do your own dirty work from now on.”
I ended the call and stormed into the kitchen. I grabbed a beer from the fridge, opened it, and downed it in one. What on earth had possessed me to take the job in the first place?
Well, I knew the answer to that, but occasionally, lives mattered more than money, and I was rapidly arriving at the conclusion that Rory’s life was more important.
“Damn it.” I threw the empty bottle into the bin and strode onto the balcony.
I looked out over the city in the fading sunlight.
It’d soon be autumn. The nights would be drawing in, and then it’d be winter.
There was no reason for me to stay now. My job here was over.
I’d be back home in the arse end of the UK with Mal and Jason.
Fuck that. I couldn’t go through months of them again. I’d travel, find something on the other side of the world. Away from them. Away from Rory.
I didn’t want this mating. Fucking I didn’t need it either. I loved my life before I met him. I fucked who I wanted to and pleased myself.
Mating with Rory would bring a whole extra dimension to my life. One I hadn’t asked for. Leaving was the best thing for me to do.
I checked the time. It was relatively early. Rory and Carlotta would probably still be at the hospital. The waiting room had filled quickly. It would be hours before they got home.
Now, though, I had nothing to do. My demon was still agitated, and there were only two things that would appease him.
One was flying. The other was sex.
Seeing how we’d tried one of those and it hadn’t gone well, a transformation and a flight were the next best option.
Not from here, though. I’d find somewhere secluded, and I knew exactly where to go.
I’d already retrieved my bike, and soon, I was heading out of the city to a little-known place frequented by the many demons living in the city.
Think of a gentlemen’s club, but remove the leather seats and the concierge, and you were partway there. We weren’t as formal, but we had a code of conduct.
It’d been a while since I’d been here. A century, at least, as I preferred to live away from the hustle of London. Plus, I hated the demons here. In every city, there’d be a top dog. A legion of men and women supporting them, helping them enforce that code of conduct.
I’d always hated that, inclined to please myself and not obey the rules. Mal hadn’t either, and because of that, we were not exactly welcomed with open arms.
We were mainly accepted because of who our father was. A general, if you like, in the hierarchy, and for that reason alone, our presence was tolerated.
I parked outside and walked to the red wooden door with a brass knocker. For fuck’s sake. Pretentious or what?
“Well, as I live and breathe. Ezekiel.”
At least the demon opening the door was a friend of sorts. Mal and I had known him for a long, long time. Our parents had fought together in many great wars, making us comrades.
“It’s Zeke.”
“Ah, Ezekiel never really suited you. Much the same as Malcolm doesn’t suit your brother. How is he, by the way? I heard he got mated to a human, of all people. He hates humans.”
“He loves Jason, and that’s all that matters.”
I wasn’t here to make small talk.
“Can I use the arena for a while?”
“I’ll need to check with Samuel. He makes the rules around here.”
Fuck. That was all I needed. I knew his reputation for being a stickler and abiding by the rules. Strictly speaking, I should have announced my presence when I’d got to London, but I’d been hoping to fly under the radar, so to speak.
I’d need to make good in the hopes he’d let me use the space they had here. Yes, I could have gone elsewhere, but I really didn’t want to risk being spotted, not today anyway.
I hung around for five minutes when Samuel appeared. He was a beast of a man. Literally.
He would have towered over Mal, and he was fucking tall. He was a good head and shoulders taller than me and carried a lot more bulk. I’d best play nice.
“Samuel. Good to see you.”
“Ezekiel. What brings you to London? Have you been here long? I didn’t see your name on the register.”
“Well, I didn’t think I was going to be here long. Turns out the job lasted longer than I thought it would.”
“Tut, tut. You know the rules.”
“Like I said, I thought I’d be in and out. I’m here now, though. Registering.”
I mimicked signing a form, hoping he’d crack a smile.
He didn’t.
“How long will you be around?”
“A day. Maybe two. Then I’ll be on my way. Hope that’s not too much of an inconvenience for you.”
“The last time you were here, you caused no end of trouble. What was it you were doing again? Ah yes, fucking my first lieutenant’s wife. And not just once, if I recall.”
Well, when he put it like that. I knew there was a reason I stayed away.
“Look, I just wanted to use the arena. I’ll be quick and out of your hair before you know it.” Which was ironic because Samuel didn’t have a hair on his head.
His jaw clenched, as did his fists, but I didn’t care. I could deal with anything he or his minions threw at me and definitely when in demon form. I might be smaller than him, but my demon was strong, a dirty fighter when he needed to be, and I didn’t damage easily.
I took after my father in more ways than one. He was one of the most feared demons after Dante.
“You have an hour. Then I want you off my property and out of my city by tomorrow evening.”
He turned and left the room.
“It’s this way.” Darius my ‘friend’, led me down a corridor to some double doors.
It’d been a while since I’d visited. Looked like they’d had an upgrade.
They called it the arena, but it was an open space protected by spells. You could fly undetected for hours, and it was just what I needed right now.
“There are a few in here, but you shouldn’t be bothered by anyone. Take your time, and let me know when you’re done.”
He closed the door behind me, and it disappeared from view. I inhaled deeply. Pine trees, damp grass and clean air. The smog of the city filtered out.
I stripped and laid my clothes neatly by a tree, then stretched my muscles and released my demon.
Fuck, it felt good to be uninhibited and free.
If I could stay like this forever, I probably would, but that would mean moving to the other realm, and I hated that more than this one.
At least here, I could choose who I fucked with no repercussions. The other realm was full of demons wanting to claim you for themselves. It was all politics, propaganda, and fuckery.
A silver pool glistened in the distance. I’d make my way there, take a dip, and come back. That should be enough to please my demon and quiet his anxiety.
Who’d have thought a demon would get anxious? But this thing with Rory was causing him untold stress, and that was aggravating me.
The moment we hit the skies, he instantly calmed, all his concentration on keeping us in the air. I flexed my wings, feeling the wind flow between the feathers as they beat.
For once, I was flying naked. Not something I did often, but here, with no one around, I loved being unrestricted.
I made it to the pool, the moon reflecting off the mirrorlike surface. It reminded me of the lake near home, and a pang of something akin to homesickness bubbled inside.
I might have hated it down south, but I loved our home. It wouldn’t be long before we’d have to move on. When you didn’t age, people got suspicious. I’d lost count of the number of homes we’d had, but this one was by far the best.
I took a nosedive into the water, retracting my wings at the last moment. I powered through the water, using the momentum to dive deeper.
My tail acted like a rudder, steering me through the reeds until I finally surfaced near the edge. I trod carefully over the rocky shoreline and sat on the grass to catch my breath.
No one would ever understand the thrill of having a demon inside them. Not only did they offer strength and agility, but at times like this, in the night’s quiet, they offered solace and serenity. You were never alone.
Having a mate, though. That was a whole new level I didn’t think I could handle. One voice in my head was enough; another would be overkill.
Mal had said you could shut it off, but what if your mate was needy and wanted constant attention?
That wasn’t me, nor would it be. I was a loner. I liked my own company. Having someone else to care for was something I never wanted to do.
Voices in the distance had me moving out of the moonlight and into the shadows. Time to get back and make plans for the future.
Plans that may or may not involve Rory. While I wasn’t happy about having a mate, did I have the right to deny my demon?
If only I’d not gone to Italy. Then none of this would have happened, but hindsight was a wonderful thing, as they said.
I flew back to my clothes and dressed quickly, feeling a hundred times better than I had before.
The door reappeared, and Darius stood waiting.
“How did you…” I looked between him and the door, and he smiled. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“Samuel asked me to remind you to leave as soon as possible. He said you wouldn’t want to suffer the consequences of ignoring his ‘request’.”
“You can tell Samuel to—”
My phone rang.
I looked down at the number. Rory.
“How is she?”