Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
“ I have to return home.” As said, playing with the strands of my hair where it fell over my shoulder. My stomach clenched. It was a foreign sensation, and I didn’t know what to make of it. “I’ve been gone longer than I should have.”
“What’s so important there?”
“I am the lord of seven legions. It is my duty to maintain them. Demons tend to get a little careless when there isn’t enough oversight.”
“Careless?”
“They’re demons, love. I’m sure you can imagine all of the ways leaving them alone could go wrong.”
I could. I’d seen enough true crime dramas and watched enough Supernatural to know demons weren’t all Johnny Homemaker like the ones my friends found. I just never thought there was someone keeping a leash on them. It went against my understanding of Hell and demons.
Before I could ask about it, Asmodeus dropped a bomb on me.
“I’m taking you with me. ”
I sat up, the blanket dropped from around me as I shifted to glare at the reclining demon. Nudity meant nothing to me at the moment.
“You’re what now?”
“You’re coming with me. Our bargain is nearly up and I’m not willing to leave you here.”
He reached for me, but I leapt out of the bed. I blindly pulled clothing from the dresser and put them on. Not giving a fuck, I forgot my underwear.
“What are you doing?” Asmodeus said, sitting up. The sheet pooled around his hips, leaving his stomach and chest bare. A sight that would normally give me pause, but I was too angry to be distracted by his physical form.
“I’m going to work. I have a job to do and a little girl who needs to be looked after.”
I stormed out of the room and down the stairs, my blood boiling. How dare he assume I would give up my life? That I would follow him blindly into Hell?
“Violet, get back here.” the demon yelled, “You’re mine and you’re coming with me.”
The fucking hell I was.
“You’re a stubborn, arrogant, unyielding ass.” I said, throwing open the door to my house. “I’d say go burn in Hell but you’re already doing that! Do whatever you want, you're going to anyway.”
“You don’t get to walk away from me like this.” Asmodeus roared from inside the house. Unable to come out and scare my neighbors, who were probably enjoying me making an ass out of myself. I knew he could take human form, but I also knew it took a lot of effort to do so. I would be gone before he’d managed it.
“Watch me!” I yelled back, getting into my car. I was backing down the driveway when he came out of the house looking like an Icelandic god. Tall, long blond hair, piercing blue eyes. He stormed into the road and glared at me as I drove away.
Godsdamn asshole for thinking I would be okay with giving up my entire life and living in fucking Hell. Actual fucking Hell. I didn’t care I’d be his queen. I had a life, and a job I loved, and friends. I couldn’t just walk away from all of it.
I seethed silently all day even as I put on my best happy face for Lily. I blew up the group chat while she played at the splash pad. I mentally listed all of the reasons why Asmodeus was the worst possible thing that ever happened to me.
I was still hot and ready for a fight when I got home that night. The girls had been annoyingly quiet, letting me rant but not offering any feedback. Which I knew meant I was possibly being overdramatic, but it wasn’t like any of them lost anything when they fell in love with their demons.
Fell in love?
No, that couldn’t be right.
I wasn’t in love with the stupid, stubborn demon.
All we did was fight and fuck. That wasn’t love.
Was it?
I unlocked the door and stomped in, expecting him to be there and ready to fight with me. Instead, I found my house empty. There were no demon shadows cleaning, no skanky secretary to glare at me. The mess that had taken over my dining room was gone. And so was the giant demon who had been the bane of my existence for the last year.
There was no sign he’d ever been there. Nothing.
I walked upstairs in a fog, trying to figure out the hollow feeling in my stomach.
In the bedroom, I found the first and only sign he’d ever actually been there. The crochet werewolf from Clover sat propped on the pillows in the center of my bed. On its lap was a rolled up piece of paper sealed with black wax.
Carefully lifting the seal, I unrolled the thick ivory paper and read the broad, loopy handwriting. Then I sat down and read it again. After the third time, I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent a text to the group chat.
Violet: I need someone to take me to Hell.