12 DEN OF INIQUITY
DEN OF INIQUITY
I MAGES OF THAT CURSED DREAM HAUNTED R AUM WORSE than any nightmare.
Every time he looked at Sunshine, he saw her naked and writhing beneath him, whispering promises of devotion, begging him to take her blood. Obviously, he had a death wish because that was the only reason he’d be fantasizing about drinking angel blood in his dreams.
Demons weren’t vampires and didn’t need blood to survive, but they had fangs, and it tasted delicious and was always enjoyable to imbibe. Unless it was poisonous angel blood, of course.
Worse than the blood fantasy was how he had responded to her. He’d been so … passionate. He’d never been like that, even before his missing memories.
So why the hell would he dream of behaving that way? It was disturbing.
He couldn’t seem to get his head straight in Sunshine’s presence, and since she was going to have to stick to him like glue while they were at the Market, that was really damn unfortunate.
The Blood Market was dangerous even when one wasn’t a wanted fugitive, and he needed to keep his wits about him.
As he’d warned Sunshine, the minute they appeared on the other side of the hellgate, they were surrounded by chaos. Bodies pressed into them from all sides. Shouting deafened him. He hadn’t formed his wings when he’d shifted because they were encumbering in a crowd, and he was glad for it now.
The hellgates were positioned in the center of the Market within a large pavilion with sturdy black pillars. There were over a dozen gates, full of demons coming and going. Even more crowded around, pushing and shoving, impatient for their turn.
There was no standing in line in Hell. It was first come, first serve. Every demon for themself.
Someone shoved Sunshine back, breaking her grip on Raum’s hand. Securing the sack of treasure on his shoulder, he spun and saw more demons surrounding her, pulling her away from him.
He swiped the claws of his free hand into the crowd, forcing those in his proximity to duck or get cut. Rules of the Market stated that no blood was to be spilled within its boundaries—disputes had to be taken outside. But right now, he didn’t give a fuck.
He started shoving people who wouldn’t get out of his way, hard enough that they lurched back into the crowd. When he caught sight of Sunshine’s hood and saw her struggling to reach him … something stirred inside him.
It was likely that stupid dream making him delusional, but a sudden dark wrath filled him, a need to destroy anyone that put a hand on her.
He fought back the urge to start a bloodbath and kept pushing through the crowd, albeit a bit more violently. When he finally reached her, he gripped her arm tightly, pulling her against him. She was so much smaller than him when he was in this form.
Shaking the madness from his head, he started working his way through the crowd again, away from the hellgates, keeping Sunshine at his side and holding on to the treasure sack.
At the edge of the pavilion, they descended the steps to the ground level. Here, the crowd thinned substantially, but the Market was still busy. Narrow lanes stretched in every direction, lined with ramshackle booths and bedraggled tents.
There was no system to the network of streets. Anywhere a lane could fit, it was made. Anywhere someone could squeeze in a stall without it being trampled, it was constructed.
Raum picked a random street and headed down it, just to get away from the worst of the crowd. Sellers hissed at them as they passed.
“Dried maggots?”
“Shriveled gargoyle hearts?”
“Incubus semen? So fresh, it’s still warm.”
“Currency exchange—we have all types of Earth money.”
“Inescapable chains! Even the strongest demons can’t break them.”
He ignored them and looked down at the angel beside him, making sure her cloak covered her properly. If someone caught even a glimpse of her, there would be a massacre.
Because of its unparalleled ability to incapacitate demons, angel blood was a valuable commodity in Hell, where everyone was enemies with everyone.
In fact, Raum was sure if he looked hard enough, he could find someone selling it for an exorbitant price.
And here was a fresh, untapped source, standing right in the middle of it all.
He hated it. He hated that he’d brought her here, and he felt like shit about it. But she’d forced his hand. He ought not to feel sorry for her at all.
The fact that he was still blinded by this notion that she was sweet and gentle was so fucking stupid, it made him want to punch himself.
The fact that he was having sex dreams about her made him want to gouge his own eyes out.
It was one thing to be fooled by that innocent smile when he hadn’t known what she was, but that wasn’t the case now.
“Do you know where we’re going?” she asked as they hurried down another lane. “It’s like a maze in here.”
“Gorath saliva?” A demon with a hunched-over spine stepped in front of them, holding out a bottle of liquid. “Dissolves bones in minutes. Finest quality.”
Raum sidestepped him and spoke over his shoulder to Sunshine. “I have some idea.”
“How?”
He pointed to a dark point looming in the distance over the tops of the stalls. “That’s her building. She put the spike on top so people could find it easier.”
“Who is she ?”
Raum shook his head. “A psychopath.”
“You’ll have to be more specific than that.”
He didn’t get a chance to respond as another seller stepped in their path, brandishing what they claimed was the finest quality wyrm leather but what Raum could tell was just dyed gargoyle skin.
He steered Sunshine around the demon and they turned another corner, entering a small clearing where a dozen or so streets intersected. With laser focus, he pushed through the crowd, keeping the tower in the distance in his sights.
Sunshine tugged on his hand. “Look.”
He glanced back at her and then looked to see where she was pointing.
In the center of the clearing there was a tall noticeboard covered in leaflets. Gathered around in typical demon fashion—pushing and shoving—were some of the roughest-looking creatures in Hell, big demons with weapons strapped all over their armor-clad bodies.
Most of the leaflets on the board had images with descriptions underneath. When Raum squinted to get a better look, he saw five recognizable faces at the very top of the board, all in a neat row.
“That’s you ,” Sunshine hissed. “And all of your brothers.”
“They’re bounty hunters,” Raum explained. “And those are the job postings.”
“You’re at the top of the board!”
“We’re pretty high profile, Bel especially.”
“But—All these demons are searching for you?”
“Some, not all. There are other jobs there too.” The bounty-hunting business had likely taken off in popularity after Mist defected. There hadn’t been much need for it in the past when the Hunter was so damn good at his job.
Sunshine looked at him with alarm—he could see her eyes beneath her hood. “We need to get out of here now!”
He wasn’t keen on standing ten feet away from a bunch of bloodthirsty killers either, so he started forward again. He forced himself to walk casually. The primary objective was to avoid attracting attention.
They reached the edge of the clearing unscathed, and after several more twists and turns, dodging more sellers, the black tower finally appeared at the end of a shabby courtyard.
Even from here, the sexual energy coming from inside was palpable.
Demons were fucking on benches lining the courtyard or up against the buildings on either side. They passed one openly jerking off who waved his dick at them in hello. Sunshine recoiled and stepped closer to Raum.
“What is this ungodly place?” she hissed.
Raum scanned their surroundings, noted a small alcove off to one side, and headed toward it.
“It’s a brothel, a bar, and a sex club all in one.
It’s a powerful succubus’s feeding grounds.
” He guided Sunshine into the corner. “I need to put more ash on your face. We can’t risk anyone scenting you inside. ”
She pressed her back against the wall, and he stepped closer, using his body to shield her from anyone behind him. It was dark in their little corner, but when she tipped her face up, he could see her grimace.
But she didn’t protest. He had a feeling she would take a bath in demon blood if she had to, now that she’d seen the dangers of the Blood Market for herself. A little ash smeared on her face was nothing.
Setting the treasure sack at his feet and pulling the bottle out of his pocket, he dipped his finger in and retraced the lines under her eyes and across her forehead, his gnarled black claw decidedly incongruous against her cheek.
Fuck, her skin was so smooth. Honey brown and silky soft, it was the kind of skin meant to glow under sunlight. Not be tucked away beneath an ugly cloak and smeared with ashes outside the dirtiest brothel in Hell.
Damn him for these persistent idiotic thoughts, but he really wanted to get her out of here.
“The succubus owns the club?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“And she’s the one who can get us what we need?”
He nodded, momentarily losing focus as he stared at her mouth. The temptation to run his thumb over her bottom lip to feel its fullness was so overwhelming, it was only the ashes on his hand that kept him from doing it.
“Why her?” Sunshine asked.
He shook himself. “She specializes in procuring things. She’s well connected, and she doesn’t pick sides. She’s like a neutral go-between.”
“I guess people are often at war here.”
“Always. Hold out your arms.”
There wasn’t room in the alcove for Sunshine to straighten her elbows between them. She lifted her hands hesitantly as if unsure what to do.
“Put them on me,” he grunted, hating himself.