Living Hell

by N. L. Hoffmann

  Ethan looked at me skeptically, but nodded. “Interesting.” Deciding not to press the issue, he walked over to me. His hands trailed up my arms as he brought me in for a kiss. I moaned, leaning into him.

  I heard the dragon say something in his tiny voice that sounded an awful lot like “Eww”. He fluttered over to my bookcase and sat on the edge. It looked like he was glaring, but I couldn’t be sure.

  There was a knock at my door. I sighed, kissing Ethan’s nose. “Come in.”

  Maggie opened the door and started to say something when she noticed the flowers. “Oh... I take it you didn’t like them?”

  I laughed, pointing at Taco on the bookcase. He breathed fire in her direction. Startled, she stumbled backwards and crashed into the wall.

  “Oh, my gosh. It’s a dragon!” Taco jumped off the bookcase and flew around Maggie. Her eyes widened. “Does he bite? Oh! What’s he doing?”

  “Being an asshole. I’ve come to realize it’s his personality.” I walked over and held out my palm. He tilted his head. I could have sworn I saw him roll his eyes. Finally, he landed on my hand, smoke puffing out of his nose.

  Maggie took a deep breath and looked around the room. “I thought I would make your office more cheerful, but it looks like he hates the color.” She placed a finger to her lips, as if thinking. “I guess we can try baby blue. It needs to feel like summer in here.”

  “You don’t have to do this, Maggie. I’m fine with the way it is.” I set Taco on the desk, where he promptly started ripping up paper. “Is the Council still reviewing the treaty paperwork?” I asked her, grabbing a piece of paper out of his mouth.

  She nodded. “They want you to sit in on the next review session.”

  I groaned, letting my head fall back. “Please no.”

  “It’s probably for the best, Sophie. You should have gone through it from the beginning,” Ethan told me, grinning when I raised an eyebrow at him.

  “I already made my notes and jotted down additional things I wanted in the agreement. They can review it themselves.” I stuck my tongue out like an immature brat and sat in my chair. Taco tossed paper into the air and set it on fire. I patted it out, then frowned and shook a finger at him in warning.

  Ethan rested a hip on the edge of my desk, crossing his arms. “Jenna decided she was going home. I guess she felt better.” He shrugged.

  I was a little concerned she left too early. “I’d hoped she would stay for another day at least.”

  “Well, apparently, she’s staying with Mikey for the week.”

  Surprised, I raised my eyebrows. “That’s interesting.”

  I heard someone knock on my door. When I looked, I frowned, not pleased to see Roark standing there. He was on my shit list for taking Drake before we could confirm he was ready to go out into the public. I didn’t have time for his drama.

  “Hey, Roark. What can I do for you?” I asked, trying to sound professional.

  Roark glanced at Ethan and Maggie. “Can we speak privately, Sophie?”

  He seemed nervous, fidgeting with his hands and shifting from foot to foot. Yep, something was going on.

  “You can talk to me in front of Ethan.” I looked at Maggie, who smiled before hurrying out, closing the door behind her.

  Scowling at Ethan, Roark took a seat in one of my chairs. He pulled the pillow from behind his back, looked at it, then tossed it into the chair next to him before meeting my gaze.

  “I don’t think Drake’s demon is completely gone.”

  Chapter Eight

  I sucked in a breath and sat forward in my seat. “Are you sure? How do you know?”

  Roark stood and paced the room. “He’s missing pieces of time, so I did some digging. People are being murdered again, yet it seems more organized. Almost like some kind of ritual.”

  I felt slight pity that Roark had to deal with this. Stella, his wife, had committed suicide, which took a toll on him. Even though they didn’t get along most of the time and she was actually in love with Drake, they shared some sort of bond. He hadn’t been the same since. Now he had to take care of a brother who was probably still possessed by a demon?

  “Thinking it strange he couldn’t remember where he was the night before, I sat outside the mansion gates, waiting for him to leave. When he did, I followed him to a bar, where he hung out with some woman. She’s not really his type.” He glanced at Ethan. “Then again, maybe he’s willing to take anyone to bed now.”

  Ethan bristled and opened his mouth, but I touched his arm, shaking my head. Roark was worried. I couldn’t blame him for anything that came out of his mouth.

  “So he left with this woman, then what?” I prompted.

  Roark sighed, nervously itching one of his hands. “Well, they got into his car and drove to the park next to the river. There was hardly anyone there at that time. Most of the homeless were tucked under the bridge by then. When they got out of the car, he tore into her throat. I ran to stop him, but what he did next startled me. He dug his fingers into her neck and spread the blood all over his face. He dropped the body to the ground, then crouched to write on the sidewalk with her blood.”

  “I wish we knew what,” Ethan said, glancing over at me.

  Petting Taco’s back, I nodded. “Maybe Carlos could tell us what it means.”

  “Well, after Drake left, I took a picture of it, then called it in. I didn’t want the humans to find it.” He pulled up the picture on his phone and handed it to Ethan. He glanced at it, then held the phone to me.

  Taking it, I examined the picture. The writing was almost too hard to see, but then again, I didn’t know what I was looking at. I handed it back to Roark. “Can you send that to my phone?”

  He nodded and sat down to do it. Seconds later, my phone beeped with a text. One thing was certain. Unless Drake had taken up a new hobby, the demon was back. Then again, a desperate man did desperate things. I didn’t know what to do if Drake was still possessed.

  After Roark left, we called Carlos. He showed up wearing a pair of jeans and a tank top, completely different from his usual leather. His smug expression told me he knew what we were about to say. Part of me didn’t want to give him the satisfaction because I was still bitter over him trying to kill Drake at the hotel.

  Ethan didn’t say a word as he handed my phone to Carlos. He looked at the screen and frowned, then glanced between the both of us. “Where did you get this?”

  “Drake did it a couple nights ago. Do you know what it means?”

  Carlos swore, tossing the phone onto the desk. Startled, Taco flew up and started roaring in his tiny voice, spitting fire at the demon hunter.

  Carlos leapt back in surprise. “What the fuck is that?”

  “Calm down. It’s just a dragon,” I said, trying hard not to laugh.

  After a few minutes, Taco calmed down and landed on the desk again, strutting around, lighting things on fire. I had to work fast to put them out before everything went up in flames.

  I motioned to the phone as I patted at the flames on a piece of paper. “Tell me what it is.”

  “It’s the first step to opening the gates of Hell. He’s trying to release more demons.” Carlos shook his head in disbelief, dragging a hand down his face. “There are several steps, but this is the first one. It calls to other demons in the area to let them know he’s serious about opening the gate.”

  Ethan sat in a chair heavily, looking somewhat dazed. “The demon has to be powerful to go through the steps to open the gate. Why would he want to?”

  “To let out an even stronger one. And yes, it takes an advanced-level demon to do that. They rarely make it out of Hell, so it’s never been a concern before now. But if the demon in Drake is one of them, we’re in deep shit. We have to find out which one it is.”

  I groaned. Why did everything have to be so difficult? Did I have a neon sign with arrows pointing at me above my head? Annoyed, I tossed a balled-up piece of paper into the air, which Taco immediately set on fire. Smiling,
I tossed another one for him.

  “So, if we do find out who the demon is, then what?” I asked.

  “Then we have to find the right way to kill him. With these higher-power demons, a regular sword to the throat or stab to the heart won’t work. Which means Drake is pretty much invincible right now...until we can figure out how to stop him. We were lucky to even bind the bastard in the first place.” Carlos pulled out his phone. “I’m going to call my contacts and see what they’ve heard. If this demon is starting the process, this isn’t the first time it’s been heard about.”

  I WOKE UP TO THE SMELL of smoke. Shooting up in my bed, I watched as Ethan, clad only in boxer briefs, scrambled to grab my fire extinguisher and put out a fire on the curtains. Seconds later, my wall was covered in white foam. When he glanced back at me and frowned, I sighed.

  “Taco?”

  “Yeah. As soon as I started rubbing you, the little asshole set the curtains on fire. You need to talk to him because I’m not going to hold out past tonight to have sex with you.” He set the extinguisher down and leaned over the bed to kiss me. “Having you so close and not touching you is torture.”

  Taco flew between us, landing on my chest. He looked up and hissed at Ethan. I sighed, picking up the little dragon by his wings and holding him in front of my face so I could look into his eyes.

  “You have to back off, Taco. Affection happens in this house. If you have to go into another room, that’s fine.”

  Judging by the scowl on his face, if he could have given me the finger, he would have. When he huffed out smoke, I released him so he could fly into the other room. I wasn’t sure how he managed to slam the door, but he did.

  Looking at Ethan, I shrugged, then pulled him down by his shoulders so he rested on top of me. His kiss was soft, his tongue briefly touching mine and sending a thrill through me. When he wedged his knee between my legs, I groaned into his mouth.

  Images of Drake and me having sex popped into my mind. I immediately pulled away, guilt engulfing me.

  Ethan looked at me questioningly. “What’s wrong?”

  “I have something to tell you,” I started, but he held up his hand, shaking his head.

  “I don’t think I want to know.” He stood up, running a hand through his dark hair. When he looked at me, his eyes blazed. “Drake?” he asked, the sheepish look on my face telling him everything he needed to know. He clenched his hands. “I know I have no right to be angry, but I can’t help it, Sophie. I’m trying to calm myself down, but I don’t know how. I’ve never been jealous before!”

  Crawling over the bed, I grabbed his hand, trying to pull him closer. “It just happened. It wasn’t planned or anything.”

  “Where?” He suddenly held up a hand. “Wait. I don’t want to know where you fucked him.”

  I lowered my gaze. “At his house,” I whispered.

  He pulled away and started to pace, pulling at his hair. “You went to his house? Why would you go there? You had to have known something would happen. God, Sophie. I just can’t believe you would go back to a monster like him.”

  “I just wanted him to see what he missed out on.” I looked down at my hands, feeling tears well up. Ethan and I weren’t officially together. It was just sex. It shouldn’t have been a problem, yet here we were.

  Ethan sat on the bed, sighing. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say you won’t be mad.”

  “I have no right to be mad. We aren’t anything to each other besides fuck buddies, right?”

  “Do you want to be more than that?” I whispered.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never done the label thing. Well, not since sixth grade anyway.” He chuckled, then glanced at me, almost shyly.

  This was new. Ethan had never appeared shy around me. Did I want to make this official? Did I want us to be something more? I wasn’t sure. Just thinking about it had my heart pounding so hard, I was afraid it might explode from my chest.

  Grabbing my hand, Ethan smiled gently. “We don’t have to decide anything now. Just please, I’m begging you, don’t sleep with him again.”

  I squeezed his hand. “I can’t make any promises. I love him, Ethan, but I also have feelings for you. I’m so confused. Drake may have already decided the fate of our relationship. The demon seems to be retaking his body, so I may never have a chance with him again.”

  He nodded. “Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I’ll take it.”

  He pushed me back onto the bed, kissing me softly at first. Then more urgent, pressing me against the bed as he moved on top of me. I moaned into his mouth, weaving my fingers into his hair.

  Ethan didn’t waste any time before he had our clothes off. His hands explored my body, causing me to writhe against him with overwhelming desire. I nibbled down his chin to his neck, scrapping my fangs along the vein. The feeling of his hard length sent heat straight to my core. Moving his head lower, he took one of my nipples into his mouth, gently biting down, making me cry out. He ran a hand down my hip to my thigh, lifting my leg and sliding into me. I raked my nails down his back. He arched, hissing, a look of contentment on his face.

  Pulling out and flipping me over, he grabbed my hips and slammed into me. I cried out, arching my back more so he could go deeper. He groaned, his fingers bruising me. I felt my orgasm building, hot and intense. When he reached around to stroke my clit, I exploded, screaming into the pillow. Ethan started pounding into me harder, moaning out his own release.

  Spent, he fell on top of me. I chuckled as he pinned me to the bed.

  “That was good,” I said, wiping hair out of my face.

  Ethan nodded into my shoulder. “Every time is good. This is the best sex I’ve ever had.”

  I laughed. “You know, there is so much more we can do.”

  “Oh really?” he asked, rolling off me and pulling me into him so my back was to his front. He breathed deeply, taking in my scent. “We’d better get to exploring. Just give me five minutes.”

  Chapter Nine

  Feeling someone staring at me, I cracked open an eye. Not seeing anybody, I glanced over my shoulder, finding Ethan still asleep. Freaked out someone was in the house, I called to my magic, debating if I wanted to crawl out of bed. Did I confront them? Did I pretend to be asleep and get the drop on them?

  “Wake up!”

  I screamed as my mother’s ghostly face popped into view over the edge of the bed, almost as if she’d been waiting for me to wake up so she could scare the shit out of me. She’d died years ago, but still hung around to keep me on my toes. Why was she trying to torture me so early in the morning?

  Ethan shot up in bed. “Are you okay?” he asked, searching my face. When he turned to see what I stared at, he jerked. “Holy shit.”

  I sighed. “Mom, meet Ethan. Ethan, Mom.”

  Ethan covered himself up with the blanket and fell back onto the bed, an arm over his eyes. He seemed a little disturbed that my mother would just show up in our bedroom.

  Our bedroom... Did I just go there?

  “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Dexter,” Ethan mumbled.

  “Nice to meet you, too! Though I’d like to see more of those abs! Pull the sheet down just a little bit. Give an old lady a thrill.” She chuckled when Ethan looked at her, eyes wide, pulling the sheet up under his chin.

  “Mom, stop it. You’re freaking him out.” I motioned for her to leave the room. “We’ll be out in the kitchen in a few minutes.”

  My mother smirked. “Well, you might not want to go in there. That little dragon tore up the trash. When I came in, I saw him setting fire to most of it. It smells really bad.” She started humming and floated out of the bedroom, closing the door.

  “It’s like having a damn dog!” I threw off the blankets and started to stand, yelping when Ethan pinched my ass. “Hey!” I glared at him. He chuckled, winking at me.

  Throwing on my robe, I hurried into the kitchen, seeing my mother hovering over a pile of trash. Somehow, Taco had managed to tip
the whole thing over. There was some leftover food, but it was now burnt.

  Then it dawned on me. He was hungry! I forgot to feed the poor guy, so he went in search of food. What kind of dragon owner did that make me? I quickly cleaned it up, glad that none of it was too nasty, then washed my hands, ignoring my mother as she shook her head at me.

  Feeling guilty, I went to look for him. I found him in the spare bedroom, watching TV, a piece of meat in his claws. He looked up as I walked in, then turned back to the TV, essentially ignoring me.

  “I’m sorry I forgot to feed you,” I told him.

  He bit into the piece of meat and chewed. When I glanced to see what he was watching, I smirked.

  Soaps? Really?

  He shoved the rest of the food into his mouth, flew over to the pillow and lay on his back, as if chilling. Shrugging, I left him alone, thinking he might just need some time to himself to get over his anger. Maybe he didn’t like the fact Mary had pawned him off. Well, I just hoped he got over it quickly...before he burned down the whole house.

  I ambled into the kitchen and leaned against the island, glaring at my mother. “You’re interrupting.”

  She waved her hands around, dismissing me. “The Ancestors are determined to do something about Drake. Don’t be surprised if they call your Mage in to take care of it.” She leaned in. “He’ll need to do as they ask, Sophie.”

  Fear clenched my heart. “You’d kill Drake?” I whispered.

  My mother nodded. “It has to be done. There is no saving Drake now. He is beyond hope. If what I saw of him today is any indication, he’s barely holding on. He’s trying to pretend nothing is wrong, but he’s on edge and has killed a few of his employees. The outbursts are frequent and a lot of people are talking.” She shook her head, frowning. This was probably one of the few times my mother had ever been serious during one of our conversations.

  “How long have you been watching him?” I asked, opening the fridge to grab the orange juice. I took a glass from the cabinet, turning to see Ethan heading in our direction. He would be interested to learn what has been happening.