Chapter 40 Fetch Me His Soul
Fetch Me His Soul
Groans and other sounds of dismay filled the room as everyone scrambled for their phones to turn on their flashlights.
Shining them around like a drunken disco, the occupants finally calmed when they saw everyone was still in the same place.
“What happened?” Glenda demanded loudly. “You forget to pay your bill, girl?”
Shaking her head slowly, Chuck spoke in a low voice, “No, I paid it. Maybe there’s something going on with the transformer or line.
I’ll check the neighbors.” Moving warily towards the front window, she peeked outside the curtains and surveyed the homes around hers.
“Huh,” she murmured. “No one else’s house is dark.
Just mine.” She eased back from the window and asked, “Malachi, are you able to sense if it’s anything supernatural? ”
Eyes closed, Malachi was already in tune with his surroundings, searching the area.
He sensed darkness intent on harm, creeping into the backyard from the side.
Growling low, he gave terse commands. “Glenda, Kelly, into the bedroom. Lock the door. Wait for me. I can get in under the door frame once it’s safe.
Do not open it, no matter what you hear, no matter who they say they are.
Nathan, with me. There are intruders in the back, and they fully plan to come after her. Not fucking happening.”
“Malachi, I’m capable of facing an intruder,” Chuck snapped angrily, her fists clenched at her sides, gritting her teeth. “Hello, police officer, not a helpless damsel in distress.”
“I know,” Malachi answered softly as he moved to her and ran his hands down her arms, noting how tense she was.
Squeezing her hands, prying her fingers apart so he could weave his through them, he leaned down to her.
“But you’re also vulnerable to the type of blade he has, and you are mine.
You just told me you love me. I need to be able to enjoy that without watching you possibly die in my arms. Because then I would go insane and burn the whole world down, probably start the apocalypse.
So please, for the sake of the whole world, go to the bedroom where I know you’re safe from this guy.
I would never bench you if it weren’t for that forsaken blade.
Next time a homicidal maniac shows up, and he just has a regular gun, I’ll hide behind you and whimper like a little bitch so you can redeem yourself. Deal?”
Her mouth opened and closed several times before she finally smirked and shook her head. “Fine. I’ll do what you ask this time. Next time, lead with that whole magical weapon thing, okay?”
Smiling back, he tugged a lock of her hair in acknowledgement, then shifted into his canine form. He trotted over to Nathan and stared at him. I’m going out through the dog door. I don’t know if he knows what or who I am, so I’ll feel that out and let you know.
Nathan nodded his understanding and pulled his service weapon, then crouched by the door. He offered, “Good luck,” as Malachi slipped through the flap.
In the yard, Malachi stood on the patio and let his tongue hang out, giving the impression he was just an average dog.
He stared around with a vapid expression and sniffed the air.
The smell of nervous sweat and desperation was thick in the gathering dusk as his senses narrowed in on the invaders.
The sour stench wafting from them was nearly palpable, and Malachi shook his head.
These men were full of madness and religious fervor, but he was willing to bet these guys didn’t know Chuck was a cop.
Concentrating, he realized the first man was absolutely terrified and the main source of the stench of fear.
The second wasn’t as afraid, but unfortunately for him, just as intent on harming Chuck.
A low growl built in Malachi’s throat at that thought.
He finally knew true happiness and love, something that most demons thought was a myth, and he was not about to lose it to some misguided fanatics.
Sending to Nathan, he advised, two suspects, both male.
On the west side of the house, moving towards the backyard.
I’ll keep them distracted; you want to slip out the front and circle around?
If so, tap on the door twice. Quietly, I’ll hear it.
Waiting, he heard the faint taps to indicate Nathan had heard and agreed.
With a feral grin, Malachi muted his sounds and crouched low, slinking towards the corner.
He felt the men separate, one heading back towards the front.
Incoming, he sent Nathan, perp two heading back your way.
Silently, he crept closer, dragging the grass, and paused, ready to launch as soon as the asshole rounded the corner.
Dismayed, Malachi realized the person with the forsaken blade and the darker soul was the one heading back to the front.
The intruder coming towards him was just the terrified extra muscle.
A shaking hand holding a gun breached the edge of the house and was soon followed by the lean, rangy frame of an unkempt man whose eyes rolled wildly as he scanned the backyard.
Unfortunately for him, he did what most amateurs did and only looked for threats level with his line of sight.
He didn’t look down at his feet, which was fine by Malachi, who was blending in with the lengthening shadows anyway.
As soon as the man’s arm was over his head, Malachi leapt, biting his wrist, which forced him to drop the gun.
Ignoring the screaming, although it was rather delightful, he wrestled with the intruder and dragged him to the ground.
Once the man was down, Malachi shifted to his natural form and grinned demonically at him.
Given that he actually was a demon, it was even more unhinged than usual.
Staring at the crying, babbling mess of a person beneath his claws, he shook his head in amused disgust mixed with a heavy dose of pity.
This man was a type he knew well, and a favorite pick for corruption from demons.
Meaning Amaryllis was definitely more interested in Chuck than he was comfortable with, and they were getting closer to her.
He disliked everything about this and growled, the sound rattling around the small yard with an ominous echo from the brick walls surrounding it.
The rumbling scared the scrawny pimple on Satan’s ass even more, and he began screaming louder, shaking like a leaf.
Rolling his eyes, Malachi groaned, “For Lucifer’s sake, will you shut the fuck up before I snap your putrid neck?
Grow a damn pair.” He lifted the man off the ground and shook him slightly for emphasis.
“What was your goal here?” Huffing an impatient sigh as the man only whimpered while he dangled over the grass, Malachi tried to make his tone more reasonable.
“Look, stop crying, and answer my questions, then I’ll put you down, okay?
I don’t want to hurt you; I need to know about your orders. ”
“P-p-pro-promise?” stuttered the would-be attacker pathetically as he wiped snot on his sleeve.
Mentally cursing his luck, Malachi quickly agreed. “I so swear.” He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing as the man relaxed with the sarcastically intended formality. “Why are you here?”
“To kill the abomination,” the man answered promptly, albeit breathlessly. “The bounty was to kill the woman with the short brown hair because she’s an abomination against Heaven.”
A snarl built in Malachi’s throat, but he refrained from letting it out as his eyes lit with Hellfire. “She is not an abomination. Who set this bounty?”
“The angel!” blurted the man. “He told us she was a threat to Heaven and if we killed her, we would be accepted into Heaven when we died.”
Chuckling low, Malachi leaned closer as he lowered the man to his feet but still kept a grip on his shirt. “Did this angel tell you what kind of abomination she is?”
Shaking his head frantically, he sputtered, “N-no, only that she was evil and needed to be taken down before she threatened the foundations of Heaven.”
Nodding thoughtfully, Malachi tapped his claws absently on the man’s shoulder, enjoying the way he flinched with each strike on his flesh.
“What if I were to tell you that her only crime was being born? She’s half angel, half human.
And one-hundred percent cop. Did they tell you that?
She’s a police officer and armed to the teeth.
” At the choked gasp from the intruder, Malachi snorted in glee.
“Not only that, but Heaven itself appointed me her guardian. Now, why do you think they would do that if they truly wanted her dead? I think you’ve been lied to, my friend. What do you think?”
A slow spread of horror dawned across the man’s face as he stared into the fiery depths of Malachi’s gaze. “A c-cop? She’s a cop?”
“She’s a cop, and I’m her demon. She’s mine, so unfortunately for you, now I have to kill you. Because you don’t threaten what’s mine,” Malachi delivered casually with a grin.
Mouth opening and closing rapidly while his hands fluttered like startled pigeons, the man finally squeaked out, “You promised!”
“I promised if you answered my questions, I would put you down and not hurt you. I did those things. Now, we can strike a new deal if you want. I can refrain from killing you, but I’ll need your soul in exchange.”
“My SOUL?”
“Hi, demon, remember?” Malachi snorted. “Of course that’s what I want. You think you have anything else I need?”
Slowly shaking his head, the shell of a man crumpled in on himself as he realized how well and truly fucked he was.
“I have nothing,” he murmured. Raising his gaze, he threw his shoulders back in a last-ditch scramble to salvage his manhood.
“Will it hurt?” he asked quietly. His voice steady and unwavering.
“A little,” Malachi admitted. “But not as much as me killing you. Tell you what, you tell me what this angel looked like, and I’ll reconsider letting you go as long as you leave my angel alone. I’m feeling nicer because she just told me she loves me.”
Blinking rapidly, the man began spouting a description of the angel.
With a sinking feeling, Malachi decided the man must have truly seen an angel this time.
That or the demon realized they were busted as a fake angel and upped their game.
Regardless, Malachi realized two things at once.
This guy was small potatoes, and he hadn’t heard from Nathan or the other intruder.
Growling, he waved a claw negligently, then mumbled for the guy to get and stay lost. He barely noticed as the gangly man sprinted hard for the gate and was gone in a flash.
Shifting back to dog form, he slipped quietly through the door and let his senses roam.
Right away, he could tell something was dreadfully wrong.
He could smell blood and knew it wasn’t from the would-be assassin.
The darkness was thick like heavy fog, much darker than it should be for the time of day.
Creeping forward, he heard another voice, Nick’s, trying to coax Kelly and Glenda out of the room.
“Come on out, dearest niece, it’s okay, everything’s alright now,” the voice reassured.
The growl building in his chest was getting hard to stifle, but Malachi choked it back, not wanting to alert anyone to his presence yet.
“You need to hurry,” the man urged, his voice silky and comforting. “Malachi and Nathan are hurt; they need your help!”
I’m fine, stay put, Malachi sent to both ladies.
That’s not Nick. I don’t know who he is, but he has the blade and some spell that he’s using to mimic angel Nick.
I’m pretty sure Nathan is hurt badly. What do you want me to do?
I can kill him, or check on Nathan, or my personal favorite, I can take his soul.
It won’t kill him, but he’ll wish it had.
The stillness was thick and tense, making his fur stand on end. Just when he began to worry Kelly hadn’t heard him, his ears perked forward at her soft command.
“Malachi, fetch me his soul.”