by A. J. Norris
Excellent.
Clearly the fool could follow directions.
“Hmmm. Now you may ask a question.”
“Okay. What do you have in mind?”
“Glad you asked.”
There was a sucking noise. A Damned from one of the piles pulled himself out from under the heap, crawling across the floor dragging unnaturally bent legs. The soul wheezed then coughed. The sound was heavy and made Aba think the bastard may be coughing up pudding. The man appeared to be about thirty in human years.
Aba planted a boot in the center of the soul’s back, flattening him to the floor. He’d do.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
Amalya
By the time Aba returned, Amalya was asleep. She felt his presence and smiled.
“Keep your eyes closed,” he instructed her.
She obeyed him without a sound. Something cold was laid between her breasts. “Oh! That’s cold.” Curiosity made her open her eyes. A dagger with the blade pointed away from her head rested between her breasts. The hilt had the appearance of being made from a twisted horn. The blade was about the length of her hand. “How is it so cold?”
“I have my ways.” A smug grin spread across his face.
“What’s this for?” She loathed being curious about a weapon.
“A gift. For you, my queen.”
Amalya thought queen had a nice ring to it. Her eyes lit up and she smiled.
“I figured that, but for what?” She fingered one of her nipples. Aba groaned, then ignored what she was doing to herself. She pouted.
“Protection. I’ll teach you how to use it.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know how to use a knife.”
“Yes. But do you know how to kill a demon?”
“Um, no.”
“This is a special dagger. The only way to kill a demon is to make him ash. And with this you can.” He went on to explain that you had to make four cuts on the same arm, leg, or back, then one continuous slice intersecting all four. Removing their head and limbs only slowed them down until they healed. Hmmm, did that mean they grew another…head…or did they just stick it back on? Oh God, she didn’t want to know.
“You will let me have you now.” Not a question from Aba, but a demand.
She nodded and spread her thighs. He scooped her under her bottom, flipping her over. She landed clumsily on her knees with her ass in the air, her cheek resting on the fur blanket and her arms down along her sides.
Hands gripped her hips roughly. The tip of his cock bumped against her sex. A thrill ran up Amalya’s spine while she panted. Goosebumps raised on her skin. She was ready for him. He entered her in one smooth stroke. Although she already knew how big he was, his size and girth surprised her. There wasn’t time to get used to him though. She could feel him glide in and out of her pink feminine folds. In. Out. Push. Pull. Their breaths sawed in and out, in time with each other. The pressure between her hips built. It rose higher and higher until she could no longer hold in her orgasm.
“Oh G—” She caught herself. God wasn’t welcome in Netherworld. “Oh, oh, oh…yes. Never stop…never stop what you’re do…ing to me.”
“Amalya!” They climaxed together. He flipped her onto her back and brought her legs up so her calves rested on his shoulders. Her eyes widened and she cried out as he fucked her relentlessly and with power. Her voice grew hoarse; she screamed so much and for so long. Sweat dripped from his brow onto her breasts, joining the growing pool there. Her head jerked from side to side with each forceful thrust. With his fists planted on each side of her head, his hips swung like a hinge.
He sucked in air between his teeth. Veins popped in his neck, down his biceps, and across the span of his muscular chest from the strain. Amalya knew he was getting close again. She wanted him to finish inside her. She got her wish. He erupted, filling her up. The hot seed warmed her from the inside out.
“Oh, Amalya,” he said pushing back from her, sliding out.
She winced. He’d been rougher than she thought.
“Oh, did I hurt you?”
“No…”
“You are lying. Do not lie to me.” He pounded his chest. “I’ll know. I’ll always know.”
The statement made her feel off kilter. A sliver of fear sliced through her body. He would soon know everything. How she felt about him. A fact she intended to hide. She squeezed her eyes shut, struck with an acute urge to apologize.
“Sorry, I—yeah, I’m a bit sore, you could say.”
“This is good,” he said puffing out his chest.
“Good?”
“You should always be sore or I have failed you.”
She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t need to be sore for—”
“Shhh.” Aba put a finger to her lips. “You will heal quickly, so we must do this often.”
“Whatever you command.” She blanched.
What? Why did I just say that?
Never in her life had she surrendered to anyone.
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
Elliott
Screw this!
What was he doing here? Amalya clearly had no interest in leaving this place. Elliott closed his eyes, trying and failing to block out her screaming by putting his hands over his ears.
Deus had to have been kidding him when he’d assigned this impossible task. He wondered why she deserved redemption. Especially now since the devil had poisoned her for sure. Elliott shivered at what lay ahead for her.
Regaining most, but not all, of his strength, he labored to his feet. His back ached from where his wings had been ripped out. Errant strands of long hair got caught in the wounds. He pulled them out, meeting with a slight resistance. He hissed. The sting weakened his knees.
“Ow! Dammit!” Breathing in through his nose and out his mouth, he tried walking off the pain but wound up placing his back against one of the more even reddish walls to help ease some of the discomfort. The wall acted as a pressure point, and he moaned.
Elliott couldn’t take much more of this place. Aza’zel had better show up soon. If he even showed up at all. The smell, the constant din of distant shrieking and crying was enough to make him insane. Forget the missing wings; he couldn’t do anything about them now. His priorities lay solely in getting back to Earth’s realm. The lesser demon better show his ugly face and have a plan for getting them out. Elliott’s concern wasn’t about anyone but himself now. Amalya was a lost cause. He didn’t want to feel this way. However, Deus had always told him that he couldn’t help those that wouldn’t help themselves.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
Amalya
Hairs on the back of Aba’s neck rose. His jaw twitched under his skin. Amalya was ready for him. He glanced over his shoulder.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Master! Master!” A young demon hopped from one hoof to the other in the doorway. “You must see—”
Amalya screamed. “What the Hell! Don’t you knock?” No coverage was available to her as the bedding had been booted off the bed hours ago.
The slave paled, his eyes wide. Aba grabbed Amalya as he released a shockwave, toppling the cloven-footed idiot. He lay sprawled out.
Aba leaped from the bed in a blur and rushed the one who dared disturb him. The goat dangled by his neck.
Awk.
“You were saying?” The demon lord’s words dripped malice.
Awk. “Uhhh…I…uhhh…a-an…gel.” His eyes fluttered and rolled back.
Thud.
Crack! The master stepped on his neck. Blood spread out beneath the demon’s broken carcass.
Spinning around, Aba met with Amalya’s wide-eyed ashen face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for you to see that.”
She blinked, staring at the odd angles of the corpse’s limbs. She trembled.
“It interrupted us. Our private time.”
“So you just…killed him? You really didn’t h
ave to—”
“I didn’t! But an example must be set!” He threw his hands up.
“An example for whom? There’s only you and I.”
“Amalya, you have to understand, this is what’s it like here. One slip-up from me and…chaos. They must be ruled and punished accordingly.”
“Well, don’t kill anyone on my account.”
“He’s not dead!”
The bed vibrated. She moved toward the center. “He’s not?” she asked softly.
Aba took a deep breath. “No,” he said matching her tone. “Like I told you before, there’s only one way to kill my slaves.”
“Oh yeah, I remember now. I forgot. This is all new to me.”
He placed a knee on the bed. She smoothed the red satin sheet and looked up when the mattress depressed.
“You’re correct, and I’ll try and remember that too.” A smile lifted the corners of his mouth. A mouth she wanted on her. All over her.
“What’s this look on your face?”
“What look? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She giggled.
“I think you do.” A low chuckle escaped his throat. Her body fell back. He slinked up to her breasts, swirling his tongue around a pink bud. They fit so perfectly together, her and Aba. She’d never had what she would consider a good lover. The drug addicts and thugs she’d been with didn’t take their time, didn’t take care like this man did. As he slid into her she wondered if one could call him a man, as he actually had horns. Whatever he was, it no longer mattered. She never wanted to leave his arms.
Sometime later they were lying in bed. She was about to doze off.
“My queen, you can’t stay,” he whispered.
She sat up, her pulse quickening. “What? Why? But I want to.”
“I understand, but you don’t belong here.” He splayed a palm out.
“Who says?”
“He is called Deus.”
“Who?”
“The opposite of me.”
Amalya scooted off the bed and started the task of wearing a rut into the marble floor. “What does that mean? Who is he to decide?”
“All that is light.”
“Who? What?”
“Exactly,” he laughed.
“What if I want to stay here…with you?” Tears made her eyes shiny. He held his arms out to her. When she didn’t go to him, he exhaled loudly.
“Is this what you wish?”
She paused her pacing. “Yes. Of course, I do.” He held his arms out again. She jumped for the bed. He caught her and they crashed onto the mattress in a tangle of legs and arms.
“Then it is done. You can stay,” he smiled.
Just like that? “But I don’t understand.”
He nuzzled her earlobe. “Does it matter?”
No it didn’t. She didn’t want to go anywhere and she could stay. The reason wouldn’t change her desire.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Elliott
Elliott stood leaning with his back against a wall biting his nails. Once his strength returned, he tried to leave the room to find Aza’zel. However, he was trapped inside and met with a resistant energy force. He charged it, took a running jump at it, and tried to will it away, which was idiotic, that never worked on anything important.
Clack tlot clack tlot…
He couldn’t bear to even look at another one of Satan’s slaves. Whoever was coming better be Aza’zel. Elliott wasn’t sure how he might react. He would try control himself until the demon told him the way to the portal, then he would unleash on the bastard.
Clack tlot clack tlot…
Not the stealthiest of creatures. The hooves stopped outside the room’s entrance. Elliott waited behind the door, hoping he could take whoever came for a visit down before they summoned reinforcements. The door swung open.
“Angel—”
Aza’zel grunted as he was attacked from behind. Elliott threw the goat on the floor and straddled his waist. The slave’s arms were pinned at his sides by Elliott’s knees. The angel jabbed him with fist after fist until blood saturated the goat’s face. An eye was already swollen shut, and a lip cracked and bleeding. He tried to get traction with his hooves to push the angel off but kept slipping on the floor.
Pain erupted on Elliott’s thighs. Claws curled around his knees when the goat managed to turn his hands. Elliott jumped up and back.
The sub-demon labored to his knees, spitting blood. “Angel, it is Aza’zel. I’ve come…”
Elliott ignored him, too pissed off to listen just yet. Too broken and empty to care what he had to say. “You betrayed me.”
“No. This is not true,” Aza’zel said with downcast eyes. “I told you to wait—”
“And exactly where was I going to go chained to a wall?” Elliott’s nostrils flared. The slave wouldn’t meet his stare. He remained perched with his knees on the floor, hooves planted. His submission calmed the angel.
“What did you come for?”
“To tell you I’ve asked around and…there’s a f-female here…with our mas…ter,” he panted.
“Yeah, I know. I’m leaving without her. She deserves this place. You said there is a way out of here. Show me.”
Aza’zel drew a map on the dusty ground. He explained that a natural portal opened up when the space between the two realms thinned for a short period of time.
Elliott moved toward the doorway, testing the energy force. The field gave way or was interrupted by the slave’s presence. He stepped over the threshold and out into the hallway. The goat followed closely behind.
The angel turned back. “You won’t be going with me.”
“What about our deal? I go with you. You promised to show me grass.” The demon actually had the nerve to look like a lost puppy.
“Don’t think so, deal’s off.”
“Why?”
Unbelievable. The angel flashed his wing wounds.
“I noticed that. Why did you do that?”
“I didn’t—” This demon was wasting Elliott’s time. Many years had passed on Earth since being sent to Netherworld. He needed to get back.
“The others…cut off your wings?” The demon put his hand to his mouth. Aza’zel had told them not to mess with the angel, only to take him to the room and seal it.
“I didn’t do it to myself.” He swept the goat-footed horned demon’s feet out from under him.
Thud. He landed with a grunt. His head hit the wall in the narrow hallway. Goats loved their horns almost as much as angels suffered without their wings. Elliott stood over him then leaned down and with both hands cracked the twin horns clean off his head, removing not only horn but bone as well. Aza’zel screamed and clutched where they’d been, blood seeping through his fingers.
Elliott slid each spiral shaped horn into the back pockets of his jeans. Now we’re even. He gaped at the hornless demon. The creature wept. For all the torture he’d endured, a tiny twinge of guilt picked at his heart. But now was not the time to get all mushy.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
Aza’zel
The goat demon, Aza’zel, lay on the stone. Unfortunately, he didn’t know anyone whose horns had been broken off, therefore, he didn’t know if they grew back or not. He rolled to his back and stared at the curved ceiling. Silently, tears spilled from his eyes, down his temples, and onto the floor. Putting his hand to his scalp, he felt the jagged bones where the horns had been less than five minutes ago. He should hate the angel. Instead he found himself still wanting to help him. Of course, a lot of that had to do with needing to see green grass and taste clean cool water. Still…
Aza’zel knew goat-demons were forbidden from entering the Earth realm. The reason always seemed clear to him in the past, but honestly he wasn’t sure now. He lumbered to his cleft hooves, weakened by feelings of loss. The sorrow over the missing horns would have to wait. He could mourn more later.
Right now, Aza’zel needed to spread the word regarding the escapee, in ho
pes the other demons would find him and slow the angel down. He had to find the wingless one before he left this realm. The demon had to hurry; the angel would move fast.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
Amalya
Amalya lay awake on the oversized round bed. She stretched her arms straight over her head and her legs toward the edge of the mattress. A silky robe was folded next to her. Holding the fabric between her fingers, she’d never felt anything softer.
Aba had left her a while ago, insisting she get some rest. She stood on her knees and tried the robe on. Her skin thanked her for it, but she wanted to be naked when her lover returned, if he would ever return.
Screw this, she wanted to see him.
The robe dragged behind her while she scooted off the bed. After a minute of groping around she discovered it didn’t have a belt. She wrapped the sides over her front and held them in place with her hands.
As she reached for the door knob of the bedroom, she dropped to the floor in pain, the intensity frightening enough to make her wonder if she had been stabbed in the back. She tried to sit up. Another acute attack stung.
“Oh my God. Oh my God…”
More pain tackled her. Sweat beaded on her brow as she gasped and sobbed. What is this?
Then the agony stopped.
She stumbled from the room calling for her lover.
“Aba!”
Out in the hallway, she bumped her hip on the wall in front of her. Listing forward, she yelled. “Aba!”
The sounds of voices could be heard up ahead. Continuing her search, the voices grew louder. She approached a door at the end of the corridor. The cadence of the voices sounded female and human, and there were not just a few of them, but many.
What the hell?
Amalya put her ear up to the closed door. So many were talking at once, she couldn’t decipher individual conversations. They were having a good time though. Glasses clinked, someone laughed. She pressed her palm against the wooden panel. Her eyes watered. Envy spiked inside her gut. Female companionship had always eluded her. She could never understand why. Girls just didn’t take to her.
