“For the beginning part of her life, she had a demonic guardian… angel.” He shrugs, and I laugh.
“Wow. That’s crazy.”
“It was when her first guardian became ill that the vampires first came to Bethlehem. Until then, Bethlehem was pretty safe and quiet, but… not anymore.”
“It should be,” I protest. “Demons can’t enter anymore.”
“Yes, that’s true, but someone’s been coming around.”
“Me.” I grimace. “I didn’t mean for her to get hurt.”
“Clarissa’s told us about you, about what you’ve been trying to do.”
“Yeah, well, I’m failing.”
“No big surprise there.”
I narrow my eyes at him.
Marlon holds out his hands as he shrugs. “Your father knows just about everything.”
“He’s not coming for me directly,” I murmur. “Just undoing what I’ve done.”
“You’re trying to make a difference in the world toward the light. Do you honestly think he wouldn’t take notice of that?”
“I was hoping he would… He offered me…” I shake my head, unwilling to admit what Lucifer wants of me.
Marlon just stands there, waiting for me to share what I’m willing. It’s easy to talk to him, and I think I’m starting to understand the relationship between Clarissa and him. It’s a friendship-type of love that is strong and true and loyal. I’m more than a little envious of it. Their friendship is almost like that between siblings, and I’m not nearly this close or comfortable with any of my siblings. Lily, who had seemed a little more comfortable with me lately, went off on me. I mean, we didn’t get physical, not like that time when she had a fist-pulling mud fight with Lani. I forget what sparked the fire of that fight, but it might’ve been along similar lines, Lily being upset that the guy she had been with was eyeing her sister. Why guys would be willing to look at us when Lily’s a succubus…
Does that mean she had been trying to be with guys without using her powers? So she was afraid she was going to lose them? But Lily has a point in a bit of a messed-up way. If a guy is willing to look around and see the other fish out in the sea, then they aren’t ready to settle down with you or anyone else. Weren’t we doing her a favor then?
But even that guy I failed.
And even worse, his victims… How many had he killed?
“Fighting him won’t be easy,” Marlon murmurs.
“I know that. I realize that, and I don’t want to talk about that right now.” I try to think of another topic and latch onto one that isn’t much better. “Christopher.”
“My half-brother.”
“Half-brother?”
“Yes. I’m half human, but my brother is a full angel. My father died when I was five. It took my mom five years to move on and almost another five to find love with an angel. I think she had been afraid that I would think she hadn’t loved my father, but I know she did. A heart can love and love and love. I’ve only gotten to know Christopher for the past year. He spent the rest of his life up in Heaven, but now, he’s been here on Earth, and…”
“He wants to make a difference, and he thought he would start in the one place where demons can’t venture, huh?” I ask wryly.
“Well, that is where his half-brother lives.”
I nod several times and blink back sudden hot tears. “You’re a good brother.”
He grunts. “You’re sure about that?”
“You think differently?”
“I do what I can.”
“That’s all anyone can expect of you.”
“Easy to see, isn’t it?” he asks, eyeing me carefully. “You don’t live by that, do you?”
I blow out a breath. “I’m doing what I can,” I say evenly. “It’s not enough, though. It won’t ever be enough.”
“You can’t take on your father alone,” Marlon murmurs. “To try would be foolhardy.”
“Aren’t you a bundle of wisdom?”
He chuckles. “I try.” His gaze shifts over my shoulder. “Wow.”
I follow his gaze to see my hellhounds trotting over. “Hey, boys.” I greet them warmly. “Marlon, this is…” My lips curl into a smirk. “Demonfang and Shadechomp.”
“Did you name them?” he asks.
“I might’ve. When I was younger.”
A little younger. Like five years old, though.
“Hello, Demonfang, Shadechomp,” Marlon says formally, and I just have to laugh despite everything because a half-angel just called my hellhounds by their names, and that is pure gold. Pure gold.
Chapter 28
“You should probably head back to Clarissa,” I murmur. “Double check on her for me, will you?”
Marlon nods. “Of course.”
He turns to go.
“Marlon?”
“Yes?”
“What happened to her? It was just a simple car accident, wasn’t it? You had to use magic to heal her, didn’t you? But why? She should’ve been able to heal herself some, right? Or maybe not…”
“Clarissa has used vampire blood to heal herself a few times. Because of that, it’s harder for her to use her own abilities to heal herself.”
“Really? She’s ingested vampire blood?”
Grimacing broadly, Marlon nods again.
“She had to have been really desperate for that.”
“She’s been through more than most in several lifetimes,” he says grimly. “She had no choice, but it hasn’t been without consequences that showed up much later, unfortunately.”
“Wow.” I rub the back of my neck. “So a regular car crash could kill her potentially?”
“It won’t,” he assures me.
“But if you weren’t around…”
“I’ll be around.”
“The one time you aren’t…”
“You care about her.”
“I don’t know her well enough to care about her.”
“For being one of his daughters, you’re a terrible liar.”
“The worst lies are the ones you tell yourself.”
“Why lie then?”
“When the truth hurts…” I shrug one shoulder.
“Why does the truth hurt.”
“The truth is that I have no friends outside of my hellhounds. They’re the only ones I can count on.”
“Clarissa isn’t made of glass,” Marlon says. “I don’t want you to think that. That’s just simply not the case. She’s strong and fierce and powerful in her own way. There’s nothing she won’t do for her friends.”
“But Bethlehem comes first.”
“It always has for her,” he murmurs.
“You trust me because she does.”
“Yes,” he says simply.
“Even though I’m…”
“You aren’t your father.”
“Maybe not, but my siblings…”
“Who they are is on them. Their sins aren’t yours. You have enough of your own sins.”
I smirk. “I thought you aren’t supposed to judge.”
“Eh. Maybe angels judge more than most.” He grins.
“Certainly seems to be the case with your brother. I mean, I guess I can’t blame him for thinking I’m just like all the others, and I don’t even know all of what I am, who I want to be, but… I’m trying to figure that out. I… Clarissa has Bethlehem. She has a home. I… I don’t want to return to Hell. It’s supposed to be my home, but if my father knows what I’ve been up to, and clearly he does, if I return…”
“You’re going to have to face him sooner or later.”
“Later,” I murmur. “Much later.”
I close my eyes briefly, trying to put out of my mind the notion of seeing Lucifer again, and when I open them, Marlon is gone.
And in his place stands Leo.
His dark eyes burn with Hellfire, and I grimace. What do you want to bet that Lucifer sent him?
“Hello, Leo,” I say sweetly. “How are you, dear brother?”
&
nbsp; “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” I ask, purposely ignoring his warning.
“Don’t start with me.”
“I don’t understand. I’m not starting anything except for a conversation with one of my brothers whom I care for very much.”
“Is that so?” Leo asks coolly. “Because it seems as if you don’t care for any of us, not one of us.”
“Why on Earth would you think that?”
“Maybe because you haven’t returned to Hell in how long?”
I swallow hard. “Leo…”
“You care more about your hellhounds than you do the rest of us.”
I can’t help bristling at that. “My hellhounds are there for me. They have my back always. They don’t go around sneaking behind my back to undo everything I’ve done.”
“And just what have you done here on Earth?” Leo asks darkly. “What are you trying to accomplish here?”
“Why don’t you ask our father why I’m here?”
“You think you’re doing what he wants?” Leo rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “You aren’t, and you know it. You’re going against everything he stands for.”
“As if you should talk. What have you done lately that would elevate you in Daddy’s eyes?” I mock.
“You want to fight?” Leo asks, his grin dark and twisted with malice.
With a flick of his wrist, we’re teleported to the middle of nowhere. Flat plains stretch all around us, the grass sparse and intermittent, the soil dry, an ugly clay color.
“Where are we?” I ask.
“A spot where no humans can see us,” he says calmly, “so if this gets ugly, we don’t have to worry about witnesses.”
I pucker my lips, ready to whistle, and then think better of it. The last thing I want is for my hellhounds to be caught in the crosshairs.
“You want to fight me?” I ask. “You want to go to war against your own sister, is that it? Is that how you plan on making Lucifer happy?”
He smirks and brushes back his dark locks. “I almost thought you forgot his name, considering you’ve been avoiding saying it for some time now, haven’t you?”
He has a point. I haven't been saying Lucifer's name aloud lately, and it is for a good reason. I suspect saying his name will alert him to me and my actions, but clearly, he knows what I've been up to all along, so my playing quietly under the radar has been for naught anyhow.
“Lucifer,” I hiss. “Lucifer, Lucifer, Lucifer. See? I’ll say his name. There’s nothing I’m afraid of.”
“That so? You aren’t worried that he’s made a deal with me?”
I freeze, refusing to allow myself to reveal any hint of my thoughts, but I’m petrified.
What if Lucifer has decided that I won’t do as he asked so he’s sent Leo to take care of me so Lucifer doesn’t have to take care of me himself? It would be like Lucifer to choose his warmonger son to be the one to take me out, although I’m sure Lance would’ve jumped at the chance to as well. Lily, too, for that matter. Honestly, are there any among my siblings who would think twice about attacking me? About killing me? When my death would mean approval for the winning child in the eyes of the almighty Lucifer?
“Maybe Lucifer and I made a deal,” I say slowly. “Maybe I’ve been avoiding fulfilling my end of the bargain because I have a heart, and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It’s precisely because you have a heart that Lucifer wants you dead,” Leo hisses.
“So you want me dead because Lucifer does? Wow. Real brother of the year material there, huh?”
“Go ahead and taunt me,” he says. “You’re the one who is going to pay the price.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” I say coolly. “I’m not ready to die.”
“You will,” Leo promises me.
“As will you. One day, we’ll all die. Hell will come crashing down, and there will be nothing left. No legacy for any of us, but then I guess it doesn’t matter that none of us have married or have kids or anything like that. Why haven’t you married a nice demoness?” I question. “Can’t find one who Daddy will approve of?”
“You don’t need to worry about my love life,” Leo snaps.
“Because you have no love life.”
“At least I have a life,” he spits out. “You’re trying to forge one here on Earth because you can’t handle the heat in Hell. Why is that, Lydia? Why do you think you’re too good for Hell?”
I stare at him, wondering what's going on in his head. Can he sense my sliver of angel? Does he realize why I'm not like him and the others? Is that why he's willing to turn against me and treat me like the enemy? Does Lucifer have him under his thumb so much that Leo will kill me without stopping to think about it first?
“Why you and not Lance?” I wonder.
Leo says nothing.
“Lance I can understand. He has to hate that Lucifer has his eye on me, but you… you shouldn’t care.”
“This has nothing to do with jealousy and everything to do with your going against everything that our family stands for.”
“Hmm. And you know what your mother stands for?” I ask idly.
Leo's growl sounds rather animalistic, and in the blink of an eye, he's shifted into his demon form. I barely have time to get my arms up to cover my face before he's slashing at me, trying to tear through my skin, but I teleport behind him and land on his back, wrapping my arm around his neck and securing a rear naked chokehold, but Leo grabs onto my arm, tugs down to try to give himself some space to breathe, falls onto his knees, and leans forward, throwing me off his back. I land awkwardly on the hard-packed soil, the wind knocked out of me.
Leo stands over me haughtily, and I spy the glint of something silver in his hand. As his arm arcs downward, my claws dig into the soil, and I throw the dirt into his eyes as I rock onto my back and jump up to my feet.
My brother staggers back, blinking furiously. “What in the world?” he mutters.
“What’s wrong, brother?” I mock. “Can’t handle a little dirt?”
“Did they do something to the soil?” he grumbles.
“Who’s they?” I ask, baffled.
“We’re near that blasted HEX Unite.”
“HEX Unite,” I murmur. “Why would you bring us here? Are you asking for them to send paranormal executioners after us?”
"They won't dare. They're hoping one of us will kill the other and help them out." He rolls his eyes. They're a bit bloodshot, so clearly, they did do something to the soil.
HEX Unite stands for Paranormal Hunters, Slayers, and Executioners Unite. The students who graduate from Magical Hunters Academy work for the agency. It actually disbanded for a bit last year because the oracles and their magic had all gone haywire. It was all over supes.com, and I read about it as it went down. That was back when I didn’t bother to go up to Earth. I didn’t want to risk losing my magic like it happened to witches, vampires, and so many others.
Paranormal hunters go after evil paranormal creatures and beings who are to be sent to Magical Prison. Paranormal executioners go after the worst of the worst with the intent of killing them. Finally, paranormal slayers are to, ideally, bring in the evil ones to the prison, but if the beings don’t go gently into the good night, the slayers can go ahead and slay them.
There’s no doubt that HEX Unite would send executioners after us just because of who our father is.
Just like Christopher, they would judge us before they even know what we’re capable of, what our own individual plans are. Lucifer’s vision isn’t mine.
But right now, his aligns with Leo’s, and they both want me to go down.
“You really pissed off Lily,” Leo comments as he circles around me. “You really hate us, don’t you?”
“Hate isn’t my MO,” I murmur.
“No? You too good for such a demonic feeling?” he asks.
“Something like that,” I challenge. “You want to end me, Leo? Then you are welcome to try, but just know I’ll fight back.”
“Not going to call your hellhounds, huh?”
“I don’t need their help to bring you down.”
“Or you love them too much, and you’re worried you won’t be able to keep them safe, that they’ll die because you won’t be able to take me down fast enough even with their help.”
“You won’t touch them,” I growl.
And I launch myself at him.
Chapter 29
When you can fight with fire but fire doesn’t hurt the other person, it’s not necessarily in your best interest to use fire.
That’s quite all right, though. I have some other tricks up my sleeves.
Unfortunately, though, Leo has all of those same tricks, too, and it's not as if knowing I'm a sliver valkyrie gives me the knowledge and the wherewithal to know what precisely I can do, if there is any kind of valkyrie or angelic ability that I can tap into.
Leo wants war. Well, he’ll get one.
Honestly, I’m surprised he doesn’t fight his siblings more often.
I tackle Leo, forcing him down to the ground. Trying to drain some of his life, only enough to slow him down, doesn't work because he turns that right back on me, trying to sedate me.
Yes, demons have all kinds of “fun” little abilities. Drain life and sedation are only a few of them.
His sedation, however, is far more potent than my drain life attempt considering I’m holding back while he isn’t, so I teleport away to give me some space to recover from his attack, but he’s right there in front of me.
“Well, well, well,” Lani draws. “What do we have here?”
The sister closest to me in age appears out of nowhere beside me, and I hope she’s on my side because if she isn’t…
“She’s been living here on Earth, doing her own thing, pretending she has no family,” Leo spits out. He shoves my shoulder.
I don’t react to his blow outside of narrowing my eyes. “It’s not as if any of you care about me.”
“Why do you say that?” Lani asks. “Because what? We don’t hug you enough? Share our feelings? Give me a break, Lydia. You aren’t human. You shouldn’t need any of that.”
"I don't need anything from either of you," I say warily, maneuvering myself so there's a bit of space between my siblings and me. "I just want to be left alone."
Daughter of Flames: A Mayhem of Magic World Story (A Girl and Her Hellhounds Book 1) Page 18
