11 BLOOD LUST #2
As they approached with rapid speed, she could discern a figure seated beside it, holding a stick of meat over the flames. The figure had horns and folded wings, with a short, stocky build. It was alone out there on the plains of Hell, and she wondered what—
Raum’s leg shot out—the one not holding her—and he snatched the demon in his talons and swooped back into the sky.
Sunshine stifled her scream as the creature writhed and shrieked and the bird’s powerful claws dug into its flesh, shredding its leathery wings. Higher and higher Raum flew.
And then he opened his talons and dropped his prey.
The demon plummeted, hoarse screams fading as it fell, torn wings flapping futilely. At the last second, Sunshine closed her eyes to avoid watching it splatter as it hit the ground, cries silenced abruptly.
Raum swooped again, and a moment later, he landed neatly beside the mangled corpse. He set Sunshine down, who stumbled slightly from her shock.
“By the Spheres!” she shouted before she could stop herself. “Why did you do that?”
“We need to kill a demon,” Raum said, shifting back to human form. He stalked toward the bloodied remains that Sunshine was still trying not to look at.
“He was just sitting there, cooking his dinner. He didn’t do anything. We can’t just murder him in cold blood!”
Raum pinned her with a piercing look. “He’s a demon. They’re evil, remember?”
She sputtered. “But—”
“That’s why you made that bargain with me, isn’t it? Because you wouldn’t hesitate to kill a demon in cold blood. That’s why your threat worked, right?”
She swallowed her protest. If she denied it, he would know how she’d manipulated him. “You’re right,” she said stiffly, forcing her voice to be level. “I don’t care if you kill him.”
“Pass me one of your knives.” His stare never wavered. His voice was level.
With a hand that shook slightly, she unsheathed a blade and passed it to him. On Earth, he wouldn’t be able to touch it without it burning through his flesh. In Hell, however, the weapon had no extra power.
She watched with quiet horror as Raum swung the knife and decapitated the splattered demon with a single strike, the blade hitting the soil with a heavy thud.
He passed it back without wiping it, staring at her as if daring her to react to the violence.
She did not. She would not. Instead, she pulled a rag from the pouch on her belt, carefully cleaned the blade, and resheathed the weapon at her thigh.
If there was one thing an angel was practiced at, it was maintaining an even temperament through any trial. Hours of meditation and strict discipline ensured they could remain levelheaded at all times. No matter what turmoil raged within, she knew how to project a calm facade.
The next several minutes were equally gruesome as Raum proceeded to use the decapitated demon’s blood to draw a sigil on the ground. When he finished the last line, the entire circle burst into flames, and she realized he had just summoned hellfire.
Without hesitation, Raum dragged the pieces of the demon’s carcass into the flames and then stood back and watched them burn.
Demons could regenerate even from decapitation, but incineration with hellfire would permanently destroy them. It was a grave transgression of the rules to kill a demon without sanction. Yet here Sunshine stood, watching it happen.
Was there no line she wouldn’t cross to regain her rank? Would she even be worthy of it at the end, after all she’d done to get there?
She was discovering a side of herself she hadn’t known existed. There was a part of her that was calculating and cold and would do anything to achieve her aims. It scared her a little, but not enough for her to stop.
She and Raum stood side by side while the demon was cremated, her eyes stinging from the stench. He was right: The smell was awful.
“I can’t believe I’m complicit in murder,” she murmured, shaking her head.
“If it makes you feel any better, he was in the middle of roasting another demon.” Raum pointed to their victim’s campfire, and she saw the meat on a stick he’d been cooking over the flames before he’d been captured.
Upon closer inspection, she distinguished the shape of another creature impaled on the stick. Bones, skin, teeth, and all. Its charred face was still open in a silent scream, eyes burnt out of their sockets.
She grimaced. “How awful.” But she had to admit it brought a measure of relief. “Won’t a demon survive being eaten like that?”
“Yep. They’ll regenerate right in the pile of shit. And you know we don’t need to eat to survive. This guy was cannibalized just for kicks.”
“That’s horrific.” Her guilt had all but vanished at this point.
Raum had the audacity to laugh.
Finally, their victim finished being incinerated, and the hellfire was extinguished. What remained at the center of the circle was a pile of gray ash.
“Now what?” she asked hesitatingly, staring at the pile.
“You’re not going to like it.”
“I already guessed that.” She wanted nothing to do with a dead cannibal demon’s remains, ashes or otherwise.
Pulling a small jar from his pocket that she recognized from the loot pile, Raum bent and filled it with ash. He stood again. “Come here.”
Warily, she approached. He dipped a thumb into the container and reached toward her face. When she lurched back, he cocked a brow. Grimacing, she leaned in again and forced herself to be still.
He swiped a streak of ash on each of her cheeks below her eyes like some hellish war paint. He drew another line across her brow. She wanted to throw up.
He leaned back and surveyed his work with a hint of a smile. “Looks badass.”
Even the sight of that rarity couldn’t make her feel better about this. “It smells horrendous.”
“That’s why it works. Take off your gloves and hold out your hands.”
She did as he bade, pushing her sleeves up, and he streaked a long line of ash down her arm, over the skin that sparkled in the fading light.
Despite everything, despite her disgust and the awful smell, her attention fixed on where he touched her.
Tingling rose the hairs on her arms where their skin connected.
What is wrong with me? She’d never been like this a day in her life.
“Hold your cloak shut and close your eyes.”
She did as he asked. “Why—”
He flicked a burst of ash at her, and it spattered down the front of her cloak. She couldn’t stifle her exclamation of disgust.
A smile twitched at his lips. “Turn around.”
She obeyed, flinching as he repeated the motion at her back.
“Ugh. Revolting.” Her skin was crawling with the urge to wipe the ash from her face. “This is possibly the most disgusting thing I’ve ever done.”
He looked amused by her plight.
Bending over the ash pile again, he refilled the jar and pocketed it. “So we can give you a refresh later,” he explained at her questioning look.
“Excellent.” Her lip curled.
“I can see your face. When we get there, make sure you keep your hood low.”
She nodded. “What if you’re recognized as we’re flying in?”
“We’ll take a hellgate from here. We’re far enough from the cave that it’s safe. The Market is a good day and a half of flying from here.”
“Oh.” She hadn’t thought of that.
She hadn’t thought of any of this, in fact. Her blood chilled with the realization of just how lost she would have been without Raum. She’d been smart in securing his aid, even if she felt terrible for manipulating him.
Dusting the ash from his hands, Raum set about casting the hellgate sigil, not far from where he’d summoned the hellfire.
There were several materials sigils could be drawn from.
Most common was chalk, but since chalk didn’t work well on dirt, Raum used the blood of the demon they had murdered.
The ground was cracked and dry here, and the fluid hadn’t absorbed immediately, so he was able to dip the end of a long stick into the remaining puddle like a gruesome paintbrush.
When he was done, he tossed the stick and turned around. “This gate will take us right into the Market. There are public hellgates there that can be used by anyone, so expect to immediately be surrounded by demons.”
She swallowed hard and nodded.
“Keep your hood up and your head down. Keep your hands inside your cloak. If something happens and we’re separated, find a hellgate and take it back to Earth. I’ll meet you at your apartment. If I don’t show up …” He paused. “What I said before holds up.”
He was referencing his request to tell his brothers not to come after him. Because he didn’t want his family endangered on his behalf. Because he was brave and selfless, even if he would hate being described as such.
She nodded mutely.
Raum pulled his cloak hood over his face until the faintest gleam of his golden eyes was all she could see beneath it.
And then … he grew.
He gained almost a foot of height, but as far as she could tell, he was still in human form. Until she noticed the claws and leathery skin of his hands.
“What—?” She cut herself off. It seemed rude to bombard him with questions about his appearance, but she couldn’t deny her curiosity.
“I’m half shifted.” It was impossible to discern his emotions with his face hidden behind the hood. “It’s safer to look like a demon at the Market.”
“That makes sense,” she said stiffly, but she was too busy wondering what he looked like beneath the hood.
Heading over to where she’d dropped the sack of treasure, he hefted it over one shoulder. Then he returned to her and held out his free hand.
She placed her palm in his, and they stepped into the hell-gate together.