Speak of the Devil

by Maya Daniels

  “Let’s see who the idiot is when I start killing them, one by one, before I end your life.”

  “Who are you? And why do you look like Amanda?” I want to tell Helena that no glamour can make anyone look like someone else, but I stay quiet in hopes to blend into the background.

  “Ah! You still think this is a trick, huh?” Amanda curls her lips, flashing teeth. “She thinks I’m not her friend, handsome. Care to tell her how wrong she is?” Turning to glance over her shoulder, she is almost bouncing on her toes from excitement.

  “Keep her talking,” I whisper to my mate under my breath “She might leave your friends, and Hector, alone.”

  Helena nods once.

  “The one behind her must be rubbing off on her with his arrogance.” I stiffen at the sound of his voice right before Abaddon walks up to Amanda.

  “It was you that night!” Helena hisses angrily. “I thought I recognized you before I put a bullet between your eyes.”

  “And tonight, you’ll pay for that inconvenience dearly.” Abaddon grabs George by the hair, pulling him up to his feet. “First, you’ll watch everyone you love die. I’ll keep you for last.”

  “What have I ever done to you?” My mate makes me proud, staying levelheaded enough to keep them talking. Still, the moment doesn’t feel right for any of us to make a move. My hand is ready to pull her back at any moment.

  Until Abaddon roars a laugh and she leans back, whispering to me. “Don’t pull me back, push me forward.”

  “No!” Hissing at her, my fingers tighten.

  “It’s the only way they won’t expect it.” Helena glances over her shoulder, not long enough to calm my anger at her demand.

  “I don’t need you! I just need your blood.” Abaddon stops laughing long enough to share his plans. “And his too.” Pointing a claw my way, all the laughter is gone from his face.

  “You need my blood too now?” I chuckle, since my plan to become invisible goes down the drain. “Mighty ambitious, even for you Abaddon.”

  “That’s because you’re as ignorant as the pathetic scum you’ve spent centuries protecting.” Hatred burns brightly in his gaze. “With blood from both of you, I will take Lucifer’s place.”

  “You are an idiot! No one can take his place, you moron. If he doesn’t exist, his realm doesn’t exist.”

  “Ah! But it will exist if he is still alive while I take his throne.”

  Helena bursts out laughing, shocking me into silence. Everyone is watching her like she is the strangest thing in this fucked up place. Slapping her hand on her thigh, bending at her waist, gasping for air, her laughter echoes around us. The waterfall of her blonde hair hides her face, and she flips it back when she straightens. A few chuckles escape her while she’s trying to regain her composure. Even Abaddon watches her stupefied. Then she turns to me, there is no humor in her liquid-fire gaze.

  “Now, Eric.”

  Helena

  My hand tightens around the hilt of the blade when Eric flings me like I weigh nothing. Sailing through the air, arching my back, I lift the dagger above my head, swinging it in an arc and embedding it right between Abaddon’s eyebrows. The same spot where my bullet made a hole a few weeks ago. The sharp blade slides in like butter, and Abaddon’s confused expression is the last one he makes before the symbols start glowing inside his skull. A gut-wrenching scream rips through his throat before he drops down like a tree. I ride him down to the ground like a pro surfer, pulling my blade out with a sucking sound.

  Everything is frozen in place, the silence screaming at me. Looking around, I see everyone watching me in various degrees of shock. I have no idea what their problem is. I didn’t do anything outwardly. I just stuck the pointy tip of a sharp object into a demon. Feeling all awkward, I wave the still glowing dagger around.

  “Who’s next?”

  And that’s when everyone gets animated. Maybe I should’ve stayed quiet, saying nothing and acting just as shocked as the rest of them. My mouth always runs amok on me. Screeching like a banshee, Amanda tackles me to the ground. I trip over Hector, hoping I didn’t step on the stump where his hand used to be. Luckily, my stumble makes Jared jump away from him like a scared rabbit. Kicking her over my head, I scramble to my feet in time to see white feathers tipped in pale green wrap around Adam, effectively pushing his away from my friends. Eric plows through Solomon, claws slashing, making quick work out of him. Cass is curled up in a ball, trying to make herself as small of a target as possible, but Eric doesn’t even come close to her.

  Using my momentary destruction to her advantage, Amanda kicks me in the center of my chest, sending me flying back a few feet until I skid to a stop close to the still-open front doors. I can’t help thinking, whatever it is that brought her back, it works well for her. Coughing out blood, lifting myself up, I grin at her. She flinches slightly, no doubt from my baring bloody teeth in her face. The doll face I’ve always envied on her twists into an ugly mask of rage. Hunching her shoulders and banding her head slightly down, she screams, running at me like a bull at a matador. Maddison pops out from nowhere, tripping Amanda and sending her arms cartwheeling comically before she falls down with a squeak.

  “Thanks!” Grinning at her, I run to Amanda, pulling her flailing body up.

  “I’m going to kill you!” Spittle flies from Amanda’s lips, her body twisting this way and that as she tries to dislodge me.

  “The infamous words of every dead villain, Amanda. You should know that.” Dragging her by the hair, I walk closer to where Hector is still sitting on the ground and taking everything in with wide eyes.

  “Hector?” Staying far enough away that Amanda can’t get to him if she lessens my grip, I sweep my gaze over him. My own eyes widen when I see both his hands where they need to be. “Oh, thank God it wasn’t your hand.”

  “What?” Eyes glazed over, he looks up at me.

  “Guys! It wasn’t his hand.” In my excitement, I ignore Hector, yelling for the rest of them to hear my good news.

  “Splendid!” Maddison is the only one as excited as me while she holds sniffling, snotty Jared by his throat pinned to the wall. I frown at Eric and Raphael.

  “You can at least pretend you’re happy my father didn’t lose his hand, assholes.” My words don’t sound as badass as I was hoping because I have to struggle to keep wiggling Amanda from getting loose.

  “Hel, put the blade away, would you beautiful?” Eric takes a tentative step towards me.

  Frowning, I smack the hilt of the blade against Amanda’s temple because my hand started getting tired from her pulling left and right constantly. She turns into a deadweight in my hand, so I drop her in a heap on the floor, still not looking away from Eric.

  “I’m not the psycho here, Eric.” Waving the blade in question, I point at the few remaining bad guys. “They are.” I make sure I speak slowly in case his anger is messing with his head.

  Maddison snickers, coughing when Eric turns his angry amber gaze her way. Raphael snorts before joining in with the coughing fit. Apparently, it’s a thing now. Who knew?

  “I think I’m missing something here.” Lifting himself up with a groan, Hector takes a step towards me, but Eric snatches him back. What the hell is his problem?

  “Hel, put the blade down. None of them are going anywhere, and your loved ones are safe.” Another tentative step brings Eric closer to me.

  “Monster boy, you sound like a broken record. I heard you the first time.” Turning from Maddison to Raphael, I get no help in figuring out what’s up his ass. “Wanna tell me what has got you all tied up in a knot?”

  “You’re feeling okay?” Tilting his head, he watches me intently. “I mean, like yourself.”

  “I’m going to have a bitch of a bruise where that thing calling herself Amanda kicked me, but apart from that, yes.” Closing my eyes, I examine myself for anything unusual and come up with nothing. “Nope.” Glancing back at him, I shake my head. “Same old me, the freak. I don’t understand why
, though.”

  He doesn’t answer, but in the blink of an eye, he is in front of me, wrapping me in a bone-crushing hug. Chuckling, and sounding like I’m gasping for air because I am—gasping that is—I let him hold me to calm himself. Eric’s body is trembling around me, and my heart melts. Whatever it was got him really worried.

  “Your eyes turn like liquid fire, especially when the blade is glowing,” Maddison says from somewhere behind Eric. “It’s…unsettling.”

  “You two sprout claws, Raphael turns into a goose, and my eyes are unsettling?” My words are muffled since my face is pressed to his chest.

  Eric is chuckling, and despite myself, my lips twitch. Maddison giggles, and Raphael’s deep laughter joins hers. Even Hector chuckles from somewhere, a laugh I’d recognize from miles away. This is good. It means we succeeded with one of our plans. Pulling away from Eric, I look around him. Even George and Cass look like they are smiling, although a little worse for wear.

  “I’m so happy all of you are okay.” Flicking my eyes to Hector’s hand to reassure it’s still there, my face softens at seeing him in front of me. “And with all your limbs intact, as well.”

  “Helena, don’t move!” Maddison’s shout freezes me in place.

  “It’s good that all of you are here.” Michael’s voice comes from behind me, and I twist around sharply, unwilling to leave my back to the holy asshole.

  Eric hisses in pain, and I see blood welling up on his arm before sliding in rivulets down towards his fingers. I realize I nicked him with the blade when I was turning to look at Michael. Not thinking anything of it, in my haste to stop the bleeding, I cut my own finger before pressing it on his wounded skin. Fat drops of blood splatter at our feet before my skin presses to his. A wave of energy explodes from us, sending everyone flying in the air before dropping like rocks on the ground. Only me and Eric are left standing to stare at each other.

  “What the hell just happen?” My words are said through a thick tongue, like I drank a bottle of vodka in one gulp. The ground under our feet feels like it’s shaking, but it can also be my thundering heart trying to beat its way through my ribcage.

  “I haven’t the foggiest clue,” Eric murmurs, looking around with a confused but wary expression on his handsome face.

  Thunder booms around us and my knees buckle, but I remain standing thanks to Eric’s hold on me. Lightning splits the darkness inside the sanctuary, as if we are standing in the middle of an open field while a thunderstorm is raging around us. Bright spots dance at the corners of my eyes when a familiar wave of power slams into me. I don’t need to turn around to know that Michael is standing behind me in all his feathered glory.

  “You two tricked me!” he roars as if we are deaf and can’t hear him from a few feet away.

  “No one invited you here for you to be tricked, asshole,” snapping angrily, I turn to look at him.

  My hands might tremble from fear at seeing him almost doubled in size, lightning bolts stretching out from his wings all around us like a silver spider web. It might be fear, but I’ll go with adrenaline because I need a self-esteem boost. So, I don’t run away screaming. Another wave of power pulses from Michael, slamming into me, and I yelp despite my best efforts to stay quiet. Tearing of fabric mixes with the crackles of energy around us before the stinging of Michael’s power is not felt on my burning skin. Wondering what caused the reprieve, I look over my shoulder before moving my whole body to fully face Eric.

  Gaping like a carp out of the water, I’m unable to close my mouth. The sound of tearing fabric was his tank top turning to shreds. That’s because massive black wings twice the size of the Archangels are spread out behind him, the tips of the black feathers surrounded with dancing shadows like flickering flames.

  “You have wings.” Playing Miss Obvious, I even point at them in case he can’t feel them sticking out of his back.

  “So it seems.” Eric doesn’t look happy about it, but I’m giddy because I want to start touching them now. “We did nothing to you, fucker.” Growling over my shoulder, he addresses Michael, the pissed off Archangel I forgot all about after seeing Eric’s wings. “Whatever it is you think we’ve done is just another reason for you to begin a fight. But this time I’ll finish it.”

  Michael opens his mouth to say something, but we will never know what wisdom the holy ass was going to grace us with. The ground under our feet shakes violently before splitting open. Eric throws himself back, pulling me along with him. Luckily, we land on a solid ground, the hole the size of an SUV, separating us from Michael. Screams are heard from the depths, heat coming in waves and burning my skin. My body is covered in goosebumps and cold sweat drenches my body when I realize what just happened. The memory of my blood splattering on the floor before I pressed my hand on Eric’s arm will haunt me forever.

  In my stupidity, I opened the gate to Hell.

  “I should’ve given you the dagger,” I tell Eric through numb lips, making him grunt behind me.

  “If one demon passes through that gate, I will destroy you both and the human realm.” Michael’s thundering voice shakes me to my core.

  As if that’s what they were waiting on, two wrinkly horned heads poke through the hole, glancing around. Hissing like cats, they pull themselves out and bolt through the open doors, passed the pissed off Archangel, faster than any of us can blink. Michael’s roar almost makes my ears bleed.

  “We need to close the damn gate, Eric.” My voice is high pitched, but I don’t care.

  “We can only close it from the other side.” Eric’s words sound hollow and numb.

  Lightning bolts start crashing around us as Michael tries his best to skewer us where we are still sitting on the floor. Somewhere behind us, I can hear the others coming around after being unconscious from the hit they took. I can’t even spare them a glance. Michael, knowing that Eric is blocking his power, gets more pissed off by the second.

  Maddison crawls over to us, still looking like she just walked out of a photo shoot. Her face is grim, and a look passes between her and Eric that makes me want to puke. Did they know something like this could happen? Why didn’t anyone tell me? Maybe then I wouldn’t have touched the damn blade to begin with. Hector comes near us as well, a lump forming in my throat at how frail and beaten he is. Michael’s words echo in my head. “I’ll destroy you and this entire realm.”

  “Let’s do it, Eric.” I want to run and hide, everything in me rebelling against stepping one foot in Hell, but innocent humans will die if I don’t. My eyes focus pleadingly on Maddison.

  “I’ll look after all of them until you two come back.” Turning her gaze to Eric, she sets her mouth in a firm line. “And you better come back. Fast!”

  “Amanda…” my words trail off.

  “I’ll keep her away from everyone until you get back,” she promises. “You two worry about staying alive, leave the rest to me.”

  After a moment, Eric nods once, standing up and pulling my numb body with him. We step closer to the hole, radiating heat in unbearable levels. My heart shrinks, trying to hide. I want to hide too, but instead I step next to Eric bravely, even while I’m screaming inside.

  “We will be fine.” Saying it out loud makes me almost believe it. “Get in, get out, go home.” I see Eric reluctantly open his mouth, and I panic. “Now is not the time to develop angelic traits, asshole. You better lie to me and be damn good about it!”

  “We will be fine.” Dutifully, like any man should be when his woman is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Eric reassures me.

  “Thanks!” Smiling at him, I take his hand. He nods once jerkily, but I ignore that. It can’t be that bad, right?

  Right?

  Closing my eyes, I take the step off the ledge. My body feels weightless for a second, clutching Eric with one hand and the damn dagger in the other. The menacing chuckle that freezes the blood in my veins must’ve been my imagination before we plunge into the depths of Hell.

  From the Author
/>
  Dear rebel,

  Don’t hate me, I promise I’ll get the third book out as fast as my fingers can type lol Eric doesn’t know what he got himself into by agreeing to visit his father’s realm. For that matter, neither does Helena. Do you think she might actually like Lucifer shocking everyone involved, or will they have a battle of wills when meeting face to face? I can’t wait for you to read the next book :)

  If you loved reading the story, please take a moment to leave a review. If you like to stay updated on my new releases or giveaways, sign up for my newsletter. I love hearing from you so feel free to email me!

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  Happy reading, and may the odds be ever in your favor :)

  Maya xxx

  Also by Maya Daniels

  Semiramis series-Urban Fantasy/PNR:

  Who am I - Prequel to the Semiramis series

  Semiramis Awakened Book 1

  Semiramis Reborn Book 2

  Semiramis The Vessel Book 3

  Stand alone-Dark Fantasy romance/ Mythology:

  The Cursed Kingdom

  Hidden Portals trilogy- PNR:

  Venus Trap Book 1

  The First Secret Book 2

  The Obsidian Throne- coming soon

  The Broken Halos series- PNR/Urban Fantasy:

  The Devil is in the Details Book 1

  Speak of the Devil Book 2

  Encounter with the Devil Book 3

  The Devil in Disguise Book 4 - coming soon

  New Blood Rising series- Dark PNR

  Risorgimento-Rebirth Book 1

  Rovesciamento-Overthrown Book 2 -coming soon