“Three heads,” Jackie whispered in disbelief. Nothing about any of this made any sense whatsoever, but she was beyond comprehending any of it. It didn’t matter now. Her guardians leapt into battle. Admar’s claws slashed the air, and Iradon’s three massive heads snapped their jaws and latched onto the demon’s limbs like steel traps.
The demon howled in pain as Admar’s claws ripped into his flesh and Jackie tried to duck down behind the tombstone as black blood coursed down the demon’s chest and torso, but she was frozen in place.
The three demons battled for what felt like eternity, each one scoring blows on the other. The demon howled with victory as he sent Admar’s big cat limping with a blow to his front right leg and Jackie cried out for him as he slunk away with his paw raised. The unnaturally green grass beneath their feet was ripped and torn, and was slick with black blood.
All of a sudden, the demon’s attention turned to something else, and Jackie followed his gaze to see that the lantern lay on the ground where she had dropped it in her desperate attempt to hide.
“You have lost, pup,” the demon cried. He lunged for the lantern, but Armar leapt at him with a yowl, knocking the demon to the side.
“Jackie, get it! Get the lantern!” Iradon called out.
Without thinking, she scrambled from behind the tombstone and skidded across the grass toward the lantern. She grabbed the handle and clutched it tight against her chest. The ground beneath her feet thudded and she looked up to see the demon bearing down on her. She fell to her knees and curled her body around the lantern.
He couldn’t hurt her. She was supposed to be the Devil’s bride—if she was hurt, it was all over...
She shut her eyes tightly and tensed, waiting to feel the pain of the demon’s rage, but nothing happened. Iradon’s devastatingly terrifying bark ripped through the air and she opened her eyes and watched as one of Iradon’s heads clamped down on the demon’s wrist with sharp teeth while the other two savaged his torso.
Jackie scrambled to the side and pressed herself against a tombstone, knocking over an ornate floral wreath as the demon fell to the ground with a great crash, the force of it shattered a black granite tombstone and Admar leapt on top of the fallen demon to pin him to the grass.
Breathing hard, Jackie clutched the lantern tightly and felt its vibration shudder through her as her heart pounded in her chest.
“You’re ours now,” Admar hissed into the demon’s face.
Iradon shook off his hellhound form as black smoke gathered around his torso and he strode through it with purpose and kicked open the door of the chapel and disappeared inside.
“That doesn’t change anything,” the demon snarled. “You still have our master to answer to.”
Admar’s tail lashed the air and he dug his long, metallic claws into the demon’s chest to make him roar in pain. “We’ll see about that.”
Inside the chapel, Jackie could hear Iradon crashing around, and she rose to her feet slowly, the lantern clutched against her chest.
He came through the door with something clutched in this hand, but Jackie couldn’t see what it was.
“Hold him,” he barked. Admar kicked the demon onto his stomach and held the demon’s hands in his jaws.
“You can’t do this!” the demon shouted. He writhed under Admar’s paws, but the hellcat dug his claws into the demon’s back and he stopped moving to scream in pain. The demon’s torso was covered in wounds and black blood and Jackie cringed as Iradon bent and secured the demon’s wrists with a length of black rope.
“You’re just going to tie him up?” Jackie blurted out. “He’s a demon, he can get out of that—”
But as the rope was secured around his wrists, the demon howled in pain and Iradon grimaced. “He can’t get out of these.”
Admar stepped off the demon’s back and the black smoke that signalled his shift enveloped him and the handsome face she knew reappeared. He walked over to her and took her in his arms. She laid her head on his chest and took a deep breath. The warmth of his arms was more than comforting, but it didn’t change the fact that there was a demon writhing and howling in the grass behind them.
She flinched as something hot pressed against her arm and she looked down. A black substance was smeared against the sleeve of the plaid shirt she wore. She remembered the blow he had taken to his front foreleg when he had been shifted and grabbed for Admar’s arm and held it tightly. “You’re hurt,” she said.
Admar laughed. “It’ll be healed in no time,” he said softly. “Don’t even think about it.”
Behind them, Iradon hauled the demon to his feet and pushed him forward. The demon stumbled and fell against the side of the chapel, his black blood smeared on the stone wall and Jackie grimaced.
“What about him?” she asked.
“What about him?”
“Will his wounds heal too?”
Admar shrugged. “Probably. It’s really hard to kill a demon. Even when we’re fighting each other. Exercises in frustration, really.”
“But you kicked his ass,” she said. “To protect me.”
Admar shrugged. “We’d do anything for you,” he said simply.
“Oh.”
Iradon shoved the demon down on his knees beside the chapel steps and shouted over to Admar. “Watch him. I’m going to find some more rope.”
Admar released her and jogged over to Iradon who nodded shortly and then disappeared into the chapel again.
“What’s so special about the ropes,” Jackie asked.
Admar shrugged. “No idea, but he doesn’t seem to like them very much.”
Black blood drooled from the demon’s lips and he chuckled weakly. “Sacred relics,” he coughed. “Martyr’s ropes. The master keeps a supply in the Black Chapel…”
“Lucky us,” Admar hissed.
Jackie sat down on the chapel steps and placed the lantern on her knees. Iradon came up behind her and tossed more rope down to Admar who began to wrap the rope around the demon’s torso, binding his arms against his sides.
Iradon reached down to touch the top of Jackie’s head and tugged gently on her hair. “Are you okay?”
She smiled up at him weakly. “Yeah, just don’t ask me to explain what the fuck I saw.”
“No problem.”
He jumped down the stairs and helped Admar tie the final knots. Satisfied that the demon was secure, he crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at the defeated guardian.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
The demon laughed, but he sounded weaker and Jackie felt something like sympathy surge in her chest.
“Iradon, this is Moz’gethen,” Admar whispered. “He’s not supposed to be here either. He’s supposed to be at the Western Watchtower… not at a Black Chapel in the middle of the woods.”
Iradon snorted. “Did you get demoted or something?” he snarled.
“Unlike some demons, I do what I’m told,” the demon snarled. “You will learn your lesson soon enough. When our master arrives, there will be hell to pay.”
“Not gonna happen,” Admar said. “Why are you here, Moz?”
The demon growled at the shortened form of his name and glared at Admar with black eyes that burned with rage. “I am here because our master commanded it. Why are you here, hellcat?”
“I am doing my job,” Admar replied. He pointed to Iradon and Jackie in turn. “He is here because he tried to do someone else’s job and fucked it up, and she is here because our master is an HR nightmare. Got it? Are we all up to speed?”
The demon looked up at the darkening sky and the moon that was rising over the trees. “You’re running out of time to do your job, kitten,” the demon chuckled.
“I’m very well aware of that, thank you,” Admar said sarcastically.
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers and Jackie gasped and covered her face as black torches arranged around the walls of the chapel sparked and burst into flames. The demon sighed heavily and Admar struck
him in the stomach with a well-aimed kick that made the demon grunt in pain.
“Watchtower guardian,” he said bitterly. “Not so tough now.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Jackie said.
“Are you defending him?” Iradon asked incredulously. “If we hadn’t stepped in he would have killed you and taken the lantern.”
Jackie shook her head. “I doubt it. What would he do with the lantern? Pretty hard to suck up to the boss if you’ve murdered his bride.”
Admar blinked at her but Iradon nodded. “She has a point.”
“What were you doing?” Admar demanded. “Why fight us? You want what we want!”
The demon shook his head and the torchlight glinted off his smooth obsidian horns. “I had to stop you—this has gone on long enough. The master’s hunger for human brides is destroying hell. I can’t take another three hundred years with a human Queen at the master’s side!”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Jackie snapped. “Are you saying we’re not good enough? That humans aren’t good enough?”
“To be Queen of Hell? No, you are not,” the demon replied bitterly.
“So, what, you thought you’d keep them from doing their job so your master will have to force someone else to marry him? Another demon, perhaps?”
“Someone more suitable,” the demon said angrily.
“Unbelievable,” Jackie laughed.
Admar shook his head. “You idiot,” he laughed. “We’re not trying to fulfil the master’s request. We’re trying to end it!”
The demon bared his fangs. “Liar!” he growled.
Iradon shook his head. “It’s the truth. We want to break the cycle.”
“Why?”
Admar shifted on his feet and glanced at Jackie and then back to the demon. “Because— Because we can’t let the master take her. She’s ours.”
Theirs. Had they really just claimed her?
The demon laughed and the sound sent shivers down Jackie’s spine. “What would you want with a mortal.”
“That’s not important,” Iradon snarled.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Admar blurted out.
Jackie felt her cheeks heating as her lovers argued with the demon. She was theirs. And they were hers.
She looked down at the lantern in her lap.
“We need to destroy the lantern,” she said. “Will you help us do it?”
The demon looked at her strangely and then he nodded. “You must release me from these cursed ropes, otherwise I will never be able to heal.”
Jackie looked at Admar. “Let him go.”
“But—”
“He’s not going to hurt me, right?”
The demon sighed heavily. “No.”
“Do I have your word?”
The demon’s growl rippled through the air. “Yes.”
“Good. Let him loose.”
Admar muttered something she couldn’t hear, but he bent over the knots and began to untie them. “If he does anything I don’t like, I’m tying him to a tombstone and leaving him for the master to find the next time he goes on a tour of his chapel sites.”
Iradon shook his head and turned to her. “Are you sure about this?” he asked.
Jackie shrugged. “No idea. I’m not sure about anything anymore.”
Moz’gethen shook off the ropes and Admar hauled him to his feet. The demon glared at him, but didn’t do anything threatening. The tarred ropes had left marks on his flesh, burns and chafing that had exposed black bones and angry red flesh.
Jackie turned away and blinked hard to try and chase the image out of her mind.
Admar looped the rope around his hands and brandished it at the demon. “I’m keeping this close by, just in case you try anything stupid.”
The demon chuckled but didn’t argue. Iradon helped Jackie to her feet and they stood on the ruined grass in a circle, until Jackie cleared her throat.
“You keep saying that we’re running out of time,” she said haltingly. “How much time do we have left?”
Admar looked up at the rising moon. “One more night. The lantern has to be placed into its cradle at midnight tomorrow night.”
“One more night,” she said. “Great.” She pointed at the chapel. “Can we sleep in there?”
Iradon nodded. “It won’t be very comfortable, but we can make do.”
“Then it’s settled. Inside.”
She walked up the chapel steps with a determined stride and paused in the doorway. What would the Devil’s Chapel look like inside?
She took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder at Admar and Iradon as they glared at the demon who had joined their party.
It would be fine. All of this was fine. Completely fucked up, but fine.
She closed her eyes and stepped into the chapel and stood still for a moment. She felt nothing but the vibration of the lantern and the thundering of her heart in her chest—but otherwise… nothing.
What were you expecting?
She opened her eyes and let out a surprised breath. The chapel was no different than any other one she had seen. It reminded her of the church she had gone to once when she was a child… the one she’d been sent out of for having a tantrum in the middle of the choir’s first song.
The torches that had been lit by the snap of Admar’s fingers burned inside the chapel, and illuminated the stained glass windows with an eerie light. She hadn’t known what to expect, but there were no angels depicted here. No ethereal light of forgiveness or the dove of peace—
The images were dark and disturbing. Undulating dragons picked out in orange, dark red, and black glass wound their way around the leg of a dark figure with bat wings and a fearsome expression on their chillingly handsome face.
Snakes, manticores, sea monsters, horrors from the darkest places in the world took center stage in the artwork on the walls of the chapel, and the saints were depicted with blood red halos instead of the gold that she would have expected.
“Princes of Hell,” Iradon said reverently as he stepped into the chapel behind her.
“They seem nice,” Jackie said weakly.
“Not at all,” he chuckled. “Quite the opposite.”
“Uh-huh.”
This wasn’t making her feel any better. At all.
She walked toward the front of the chapel and ran her hand over the black wooden pews. The altar was strewn with fresh flowers, but there was something sinister about it, and she could hear the faint hum of flies.
A hand fell on her shoulder and she turned to see Admar beside her. “You don’t want to go up there,” he said. “Some things are better left as mysteries.”
“Sure,” she said haltingly. Admar led her back to where Iradon was pulling blankets from a wooden chest. He spread them over the floor and beckoned her over.
She set the lantern down on the floor and smiled at him. Being with them made her feel somewhat more at ease. The location wasn’t ideal, but it was something.
A third figure entered the chapel and Jackie flinched away, but Admar caught her and held her gently.
The demon they had fought, Moz’gethen, Watchtower Guardian, didn’t have goat legs anymore. He stood on very human, muscular legs, and regarded her with an aloof stare. His eyes were pale grey, unsettling and unflinching. He held the remnants of his coveralls around his hips to cover his nakedness and Jackie’s eyes widened slightly as she looked at him.
If she’d known that demons looked like that, she would have gotten more into demonology as a rebellious teen.
Smooth black horns still curved from his forehead and swept back over his head. His wounds had also healed, the only evidence of their fight was the faintest scarring where Admar’s claws and Iradon’s teeth had ripped into his skin.
Jackie cleared her throat and looked away from the demon and back to Iradon. “So, we’re supposed to get to a mausoleum?”
Admar led her over to the makeshift bed and she knelt on the blankets. “We have to get unde
r the chapel,” he said. “That’s where the lantern belongs.”
“And how are we going to destroy it?” she asked.
“I have something,” Moz’gethen growled.
Iradon glared at him. “You have what?”
“A weapon. You will have to use it to destroy the lantern before the master arrives. If he manifests fully, it will be too late.”
“Great. Always a time limit,” Jackie muttered. Her stomach growled. “I guess we’re a bit far away for takeout… I’m starving.”
Admar looked sheepish as he shook his head. “Sorry…”
“I know. Mortal problems,” she sighed. “I should have planned ahead.”
Iradon rubbed a hand through his tiger-striped hair and gritted his teeth. “Some guardians.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I just won’t think about it.”
Moz’gethen strode down the chapel aisle toward the altar and plucked something off it. He walked back to them with a small package in his hand and offered it to Jackie.
“Back off,” Iradon snarled.
“She’s hungry,” the demon said simply.
Jackie took the package gingerly and examined it. The rectangle fit in the palm of her and was wrapped in black paper and tied with a rough piece of red string.
“What is it?” she asked hesitantly.
“An offering.”
“Ohhhkay.” She tugged on the string and pulled the paper away to reveal a small loaf of cake. She looked at it carefully, hoping that nothing gross would happen. What kind of offerings were left in an unholy chapel anyway?
She sniffed it delicately, unsure of what to expect. “Spice cake?”
She bit her lip to keep from laughing. Satan’s spice cake…
The demon lifted an eyebrow. “It’s food.”
“Don’t eat that,” Admar snapped. “How can we trust that it’s not poison, or something worse?”
“What’s worse than poison?” Jackie asked softly.
“You don’t want to know,” he replied. “Answer the question, Moz!”
“I swear upon the inferno that it is not poisoned. Why would I poison her? We need her to destroy the lantern. It would make no sense to kill her now.” He rubbed his thumb over Jackie’s cheek and she smiled up at him before he stepped away.
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