Living Hell

by N. L. Hoffmann

  The Mages whispered back and forth as they shot glances in my direction. Sure, I heard them, but they obviously didn’t care. They wanted me to know they had plans to take care of Drake themselves. Only thing they left out was how. Their attempt to ambush him before didn’t work. Why didn’t they bring the whole team to take care of him this time?

  I leaned a hip against my desk. “Why is it just you two? Why not bring the rest of your people to take care of Drake?”

  Eric frowned and looked over at Dan. “They think it’s a Witch concern and whatever happens will be the fault of the Witches, all because you and Drake were an item. What they fail to realize is that allowing the Demon King to be released will destroy everything. He’ll take control and extinguish the humans. In the end, it’s our job to make sure they remain protected.”

  “Maybe they don’t understand how serious the problem is.”

  Dan shook his head. “They’ll clean up the aftermath, but they’re relying on your kind to fix it before it’s too late.”

  “We should be working together!”

  I was annoyed. Ethan came up behind me and rubbed my shoulders. Poor guy had to keep an eye on me. I sighed, letting him work out the tension. He probably appeared whipped to the other guys, but he didn’t seem to care. I grinned, earning strange looks from the Mages.

  “That’s why we’re here,” Dan said, nodding at Eric.

  I rolled my eyes. “Please. You obviously think you can handle this yourself, but neither of you seem to know of a way to kill this demon.”

  “My friends are coming to help us.” Carlos entered the room, looking badass in his leather. He pulled a book from his bag, then started flipping through the pages. “I found some interesting information.”

  Ethan walked over. “What?” he asked, leaning over.

  Carlos scanned the book, one finger pressed to the paper. Finally, he stopped. “The solution to killing the demon. His name is Desmon, Bael’s second-in-command. He’s strong and hard to kill, but according to this book, a knife dipped in demon hunter blood will kill him. But it has to be a clean slice through the heart.” He grinned.

  “Where did you get this book?” Ethan asked, closing the cover and looking at it. He gasped, dropping it. “You went to the Caves?”

  “Caves? What are those?” I asked, reaching for the book.

  “Don’t touch it!” Ethan grabbed my arm, yanking me away. “I don’t trust anything that comes from that place.”

  Sighing, Carlos closed the book, pressing a hand to the cover. “We did an even trade.”

  “An even trade? Carlos, you know that bitch takes advantage of anyone looking for information. What did you give up?” Ethan demanded, glaring at his friend.

  “Nothing. She knows the end of the world is coming if we allow this to happen.”

  Ethan shook his head. “You’re lying.”

  His shoulders slumping, Carlos looked away from Ethan. “I promised her the heart of the Vampire. She said something about it being special since he was possessed by a powerful demon.”

  “His heart? Why the hell would you do that? Who said we were going to kill him?” I started toward Carlos, my power sweeping around the room in a sudden burst.

  Carlos stood still, back straight and gaze meeting mine. “You know he has to die. That demon isn’t going to leave his body willingly.” Anger was written all over his face as he grasped the book. “You’ve put this off long enough. Two more people died last night because of you. Had you let me act upon my own judgment, he would have been put away until I could figure out his death.”

  I laughed, no humor in the sound. “You think you can hold him? Where did you plan on doing this? Probably my facilities, right? You leave him alone, Carlos, or so help me—”

  “You will risk more people’s lives for the sake of this Vampire? Is he worth that much to you?”

  Ethan placed a hand on his friend’s arm. “That’s enough.”

  “She’s ridiculous!” Carlos snapped, pushing Ethan away. He stared at me with cold eyes. “We end this tonight, whether you are willing or not. I will do my job as a demon hunter. I don’t answer to you.”

  Angry, I stared right back at him. I knew he was right, but what else was I supposed to do? Give up on Drake? We had a relationship. There was love there. How could I turn my back on him so easily?

  You already did.

  I sucked in a breath. I’d already abandoned Drake by being with Ethan. I was trying to hold on to the last few strings of our connection. He was still inside his body. The demon let me have a glimpse of him. Probably in the hopes I wouldn’t rush into trying to eliminate him.

  Everyone stared at me. I wanted to yell at them to leave, but I refrained.

  Hearing a noise behind me, I turned to see Jenna stand and look around the room, still appearing out of it.

  “Jenna?” I said, looking for some kind of response.

  She was on the move, pushing past the Mages and walking toward the door. I reached out, trying to stop her, but she shoved me aside. I stumbled into one of the bookcases. Ethan started to help me, but I gestured toward Jenna, who now had the door open.

  “Stop her! Something is still wrong.”

  Ethan rushed to grab Jenna around the waist, trying to pull her back in, but it was like trying to stop a freight train. She kept her legs moving, dragging him with her. She gripped his hands. I heard something pop, making him cry out. I called to my magic, but Jenna spun around, kicking Ethan away, then threw her own magic at me. I flew back into a wall. My head slammed against it, making my vision blur.

  Merlin walked toward the office just as Jenna ran out. He didn’t bother trying to stop her. He came to crouch next to me, a concerned expression on his face. “The babies okay?”

  “Fuck, I hope so.” I took a deep breath, placing a hand on my stomach. I felt their magic inside me. I sighed, relieved. “I think they’re fine.” Trying to move, I moaned, grasping my head.

  Nodding, Merlin walked over to Ethan, who was now on his feet, clutching his hand to his chest and growling in pain. “Let me see your fingers.” When he tentatively held them out, Merlin shook his head, gently grasping them. “It’s a shame...” Sickening snapping noises cracked through the room as Merlin popped his fingers back into place, Ethan crying out, “that she had to dislocate your fingers. I’m shocked she didn’t break them.”

  I looked at Ethan, noticing how red his face was as Merlin worked on his hand. When the last one popped back into place, Ethan swore. “Son of a bitch!” He pulled away from Merlin, holding his hand, giving him a death stare.

  Laughing, Merlin took a seat in my desk chair. “Don’t blame me, son. I was just trying to help.”

  “You could have made it painless,” Ethan snapped.

  “What fun would that be?” Merlin took out another cigar, lighting it as he stared at Ethan.

  Climbing to my feet, I took a seat in one of the chairs. The Mages didn’t move to help us. Carlos was so surprised, he didn’t even help. “What the hell happened to Jenna?” I asked.

  Merlin took a drag of his cigar, slowly blowing out smoke. “The master called her. When he calls, the minion has no choice but to go.”

  “We need to follow her,” I said, standing again.

  Waving me off, Merlin rolled his eyes. “She is long gone by now.”

  Frustrated, I pulled out my cell phone to dial Roark. Again, no answer, which only pissed me off more. I hadn’t been to his house before, but I could go to the mansion, only Drake would be there and who knew which mood he was in today.

  “I don’t understand why Roark would make her a minion. They are usually a pain in the ass, unless you have some corrupt reason.”

  Ethan looked up from staring at his fingers, flexing them. “I’m betting she was supposed to convince you to go back to Drake.”

  “Maybe,” I replied, rubbing my shoulders. “I have to find her.”

  “We need to focus on the demon,” Carlos demanded.

 
; “We will. Just let me find Jenna first.”

  Carlos opened his mouth again, but Ethan held up a hand in warning. “We’ll find Jenna, then worry about the demon.”

  “Don’t take too long. The longer you wait, the more bodies will fall.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Looking up at the large home, I sighed. “Well, his car is here,” I said to Ethan and Mikey. Taco huffed in annoyance on my shoulder. He was taking a nap in the bookcase when I decided we would leave.

  “I can’t believe you let her come along,” Mikey said to Ethan. “She should be locked inside the house.”

  He nodded. “You know how well she listens.”

  “True. She would have snuck out anyway,” Mikey replied.

  “I’m standing right here!” I started up the driveway to Roark’s house. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “What? Do you just expect him to answer the door and invite us in?” Mikey grumbled as we approached the door.

  I shrugged, knocking a couple times. We waited patiently. I heard someone moving around inside. A couple seconds later, Roark answered.

  “Hi, Sophie. What a nice surprise. Why don’t you come in?”

  Mikey’s mouth fell open. “This has to be some kind of trick.”

  Roark looked at him, brows furrowed, as he moved to the side to let us in. “To what do I owe this visit?”

  I glanced around the house, thinking that it was creepily dark. One light shone at the end of a hall. It was too hard to see what was there, but I was tempted to explore.

  I looked back at him. “You know why we’re here.”

  Stepping in front of me, Roark smiled. “You’re here for Jenna.”

  “Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! I can’t believe you did that to her. What the fuck, Roark? I didn’t even think you two knew each other that well.”

  Roark motioned for us to follow him through the dining room and into a kitchen. He turned on lights as he went, blinding me for the first few seconds. “Did you know your little Jenna has a thing for Vampires? Believe me, I was surprised. After only meeting her a couple times, I thought she was a complete prude, but one day...” He grinned. “She pretended not to be interested at first, but after a couple drinks...” He shrugged.

  “She agreed to be a minion?” I asked, not believing what he was saying.

  Roark frowned, holding up his hands. “That was a complete accident. I can’t take it back, though. Once it’s done, it’s done.”

  “How can it be an accident?” Ethan asked. “You had to know what you were doing. You’re an old Vampire. With age comes experience. You’re not knew at this.”

  “She was the perfect candidate. I needed someone who could be my eyes and ears around your location. After we started seeing each other secretly, she was willing to try anything. It was her wish to keep our relationship quiet. At first, I disagreed, but as my plan developed, I realized it was probably for the best. I knew Drake’s secret would eventually come out, but I needed you to continue to see that he was perfect for you and his mistake was one you could easily forgive.”

  Confused, I tugged at my ponytail. “I don’t understand. How does this benefit you?”

  “Because Drake was going to leave his business to me. He was prepared to give up his life in order to support yours as High Mistress. If you were to leave him, that would ruin my plans. Looks like it worked out either way. Drake signed over his company to me after becoming Lead Councilman. I have no use for Jenna any longer, but there’s no way for me to stop her from being a minion.”

  Mikey leapt, tackling Roark to the floor in the kitchen. “You bastard! Now she’s a fucking zombie!” He swung his fist, hitting Roark in the face. The Vampire just laughed, finding the entire thing amusing.

  I felt magic moving around me, a stake appearing in Mikey’s hand and poised right above Roark’s chest. The Vampire stilled, becoming silent.

  “Mikey, no! You can’t do this.”

  “You will let him go after what he’s done to Jenna?” he asked, never taking his eyes off the Vampire.

  “We’ll put him in a cell.” My hand went to his shoulder.

  Roark stared up at Mikey with wide eyes, almost as if he were afraid to move. I didn’t blame him. Laughing had only fueled Mikey’s anger. But I couldn’t let my best friend make a mistake. Eventually, a Vampire would take over Drake’s position and want answers on Roark’s death. We had to follow the rules, no matter how angry I was about him taking advantage of Jenna.

  Growling, Mikey stood, the stake disappearing. I didn’t know he could do that, but what else did I expect? He knew all sorts of tricks that I didn’t. But I never tested my limits, either. I was confident enough to know I’d be able to pull off almost anything had my emotions been right.

  “Where is she?” Mikey asked, looking around.

  Roark climbed to his feet. “She’s in the back room. I can fix her, but I can’t remove the minion status. She’ll have that forever.”

  “You son of a bitch,” I growled.

  “I don’t blame him.”

  I spun to see Jenna standing in the doorway behind us.

  “I know he meant well, Sophie.”

  “That’s the minion talking,” Mikey said, shaking his head in disgust.

  Jenna glared. “Shut the fuck up, Mikey. I know what he did was wrong, but I forgive him.”

  Roark seemed surprised by her words. “You do?”

  Nodding, she walked to him, placing a hand on his cheek. “I believe we have something real, something special.”

  “I might vomit.” Mikey turned away, aggravated.

  What was I supposed to do now? I looked over at Ethan, who just shrugged. Taco jumped off my shoulder, flying toward Jenna. He landed on her shoulder, sniffing, almost trying to find something distasteful. Seemingly satisfied, he jumped off again, returning to my shoulder. I wasn’t sure what that was about, but apparently that was his stamp of approval. We really couldn’t do anything about the minion problem, especially if Jenna forgave him for the whole ordeal.

  “Jenna, he turned you into a minion. Which means you serve him. Anything he tells you to do, you have to do. You’re at his beck and call all the time.” I walked over to her, capturing her gaze. “This isn’t you. You’ve never let anyone control you, so why start now?””

  Sighing, Jenna moved away from Roark. “Because during the time we’ve spent together, I’ve fallen for him.”

  “He used you!” Mikey shouted. “You can’t be this dense.”

  Roark growled in warning. “She has spoken. I may have taken her choice away, but she’s forgiven me. Some of the best relationships are formed from a situation like this one.”

  That shocked me. I thought he said he had no use for her anymore. Hmm... Maybe that was all show.

  “It’s disgusting,” Ethan said. “It’s not real.”

  “It is to!” Jenna shouted. “I know what I’m doing, and I expect you three to respect my wishes.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose, sighing as I shook my head. This was unbelievable. Someone had to know more about a minion/master relationship. Looking at Mikey, then Ethan, I forced a smile.

  “She says she’s happy. There’s nothing we can do.” Mikey opened his mouth to argue, but I put a hand up to stop him. “Mikey, it’s done.”

  Then something dawned on me and I looked at Roark. “You were the one who changed her, weren’t you? I thought that guy Drake killed was the one who did it.”

  He shrugged. “I had her blame him so I wasn’t implicated.”

  Shaking my head, I laughed, not amused. “Wow. Just wow, Roark. You surprise me.” I turned to Ethan. “We’d better go before I kill him myself.”

  MIKEY SAT IN ONE OF my office chairs, staring out the window behind my desk. For about an hour, he was angry, then it was like he gave up. He sat quietly, not commenting as Ethan and I talked. I felt bad, but what could we do? She obviously didn’t have feelings for him. And now she had this damn relationship wit
h Roark. How the fuck did we miss that? I was ashamed to even call myself her best friend. How the hell did we have such a gap in our relationship that she would hide something like that from me?

  Ethan walked into the office carrying bags of food. Maggie trailed behind, carrying drinks. “We have food!” Ethan said, a grin on his face.

  My face lit up as I reached for it. Taco came swooping in, blowing fire to stop me from getting to it first. I glared at him.

  “Who do you think you are?” I demanded.

  He huffed out some smoke, landing next to a bag and clawing at it, tearing chunks of paper off. I grabbed another bag, allowing him to have his fun and rip a hole in the other one. Maggie distributed the drinks, frowning when she got to Mikey, who only shook his head.

  “I plan on going home early today, Sophie, if that is okay?” Maggie said. “I have someone delivering a new stove. I’m really excited about it. Now I can make all kinds of food for you and the babies!”

  Unable to help the smile from forming on my face, I nodded. “You know how much we like food.”

  “Oh, nice. Everyone is just having a good time, huh?” Carlos asked, striding into my office.

  I glared at him for ruining our good mood. Despite what happened with Jenna, we knew she would be okay for the time being. Now I wanted to strangle Carlos for disturbing our lunch.

  Hamburger halfway to his mouth, Ethan sighed. “Carlos, chill out.”

  “Chill out? Has Brian told you we’ve captured three demons who were trying to take out a Witch family, killing a little boy?”

  “I was just about to do that.” Brian appeared behind him, his face covered in blood. “My men wanted to kill them for murdering the little boy, so I had to convince them Sophie would be the one to decide their fate.”

  Suddenly not hungry, I put my fries down and brushed my hands on my pants. “Which family?”

  “Harry’s,” Brian replied, shaking his head. “He was stupid to stay when we ordered an evacuation. We knew this would happen.”

  I growled out an expletive. “His little boy is dead. I bet he’s thinking differently. Where are Harry and his family now?”