Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Lucifer’s Daughter
Kel Carpenter
Published by Kel Carpenter
Copyright © 2018, Kel Carpenter
Edited by Analisa Denny
Cover Art by Covers by Combs
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Created with Vellum
To my tribe, for putting up with me.
“It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.”
-Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
**Allistair**
Chapter 3
**Rysten**
Chapter 4
**Julian**
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
**Laran**
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
**Laran**
Chapter 9
**Allistair**
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
**Rysten**
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
**Julian**
Chapter 17
Also by Kel Carpenter
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Coming Soon
Chapter 1
Hell must have frozen over.
That’s it. The only possible excuse for why Kendall Clackson, our resident Bible fanatic, was strutting through my favorite diner on a Saturday morning. She usually saved her shenanigans for earlier in the week, on days I didn’t have off. Coincidence? Not likely.
I froze in my spot and considered bailing, but that thought only lasted about half a second before her smug face made me stomp across the diner and settle into my usual booth.
Fuck it. I’ve done the same thing every day for the last ten years. I’m not changing now.
Swinging my legs into the booth, I didn’t even pick up the menu as Little Miss Georgia Peach approached me with all her southern charm.
“Ruby! What a pleasure seein’ you here, hun.”
I turned fractionally and nodded once, hoping she would get the hint. If there was anything that Kendall didn’t understand, it was how insufferable I found her exaggerated southern accent to be. We lived in Portland for devil’s sake.
“I hope you weren’t comin’ here lookin’ for Josh. He’s playin’ golf with some of the other men in our church. Bless him. Found his way to the Lord through me.”
I could barely contain rolling my eyes. Oh, yes. I’m sure he did. Just as soon as you gave him what I wouldn’t. I snorted to myself, but didn’t say anything. Kendall made it her job to remind me, and everyone else, that he had left me for her and God.
“What’s so funny? You know, Ruby, you should find a church. It might help with your”— she dropped her voice low—“issues.” Several regulars threw us curious, and somewhat scathing glances. It was an unspoken rule with us Saturday folks that you kept to yourself and didn’t start trouble. Like Kendall was currently doing.
“Issues?” I asked, pretending to be mildly surprised by her comment. I knew damn well what she meant. I had a bit of a temper, but in my defense, there’s only so much you can do when you’re half-demon.
I waved down Martha on the other side of the diner, and she took one look at Blondie before rolling her eyes. Yeah, this wasn’t the first time this had happened, but clearly, I’m the one with issues.
“You know, your anger—”
“What can I get for you this morning, Ruby?” Martha asked, appearing beside Kendall and seeming not to notice her at all.
“Black coffee and four orders of bacon, please,” I said, not bothering to look at the menu.
Martha chuckled under her breath. “I’m not even sure why I ask anymore,” she muttered as she walked away.
Kendall resumed her preaching, knowing full well her advice was unwanted. “You know, Ruby, you really should lay off the fat if you ever want to find a nice Christian man.”
Something like heat prickled inside me, but I clamped down on it hard. Kendall could pick at me all she wanted. I knew it wasn’t actually me she was angry with. It was my cheating ex-boyfriend that wouldn’t leave me alone, despite my repeated attempts to send him away. It wasn’t unreasonable that she was pissed with him. It was unreasonable that she stalked me for it, and made my life hell. Particularly, when she was the one he had cheated on me with in the first place. Yet, somehow, she didn’t see the irony in all of this.
“Hmmmm…let me think about that. Bacon or church? Bacon or church? Well, it’s really a no brainer, Kendall. I’m atheist, so I think I better go with the bacon,” I said, smirking at the way her mouth popped open. I did enjoy riling her up. What could I say? I have a penchant for trouble.
“Is that Satan talkin,’ or just your jealousy, Ruby? You should’ve known that Josh would find his way to our Lord, with or without you.”
This was too much. I couldn’t hold back my laughter and I failed miserably when I tried to disguise it as a cough. “Kendall, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we split up because he fucked you in a broom closet, and unless ‘God’ is what you call your vagina nowadays, I think you’re fooling yourself.” I gave her my most mocking of smiles and made a shooing motion with my hand. Even beneath the orange of her spray tan, I could see her face reddening. She thought she could come here, in my sacred space, and offend me. Slander me and throw my break up out there for everyone to see. She thought it would embarrass me. What she failed to see was that I didn’t care. Josh was someone to pass time with, and his dick got the better of him. As a half-succubus, it wasn’t my nature to believe in love. Not when the “heart” could be swayed by a pretty face and a three minute fuck.
Kendall’s anger seemed to intensify. She put on a saccharine smile as Martha came around the corner carrying my bacon and coffee, but I didn’t miss the look in her eyes.
“Bless your heart,” she sneered, turning on her heel. I breathed a sigh of relief, but it was a second too early. Her foot came out and caught Martha’s black sneaker before I could say anything. Next thing I knew, heat flamed my chest as the coffee splashed across my maroon sweater. It wouldn’t burn me, but she didn’t know that.
Martha caught herself, but the damage was already done. My bacon lay on the table, soaking in a puddle of coffee that was dripping into my lap.
Her white apron and yellow shirt s
meared with grease and coffee, Martha spluttered, “I’m so sorry about that, Ruby! Can I—”
“It’s okay, Martha,” I said, glaring at Kendall. The bitch had returned to her seat where three other Stepfords sat, each blonde and almost impossible to tell apart. They wore the same impossibly pleasant smiles with their impossibly perfect makeup. Kendall had strength in numbers and gave me a little wave for show as she took her seat.
I. Saw. Red.
Standing from my seat, I hastily helped Martha clean up the mess. She kept repeating to me: “She’s not worth it, Ruby.” Not that it mattered. Someone needed to teach Ms. Upstanding Citizen a lesson. This was the third time she’d tried to corner me this week, and while it was funny playing with her, what she just did was unacceptable. Not that I deserved any of this, but Martha certainly did not. She wasn’t even involved. Kendall could fuck with me all she wanted, but dragging Martha into this and nearly hurting her crossed the line of bullshit I was willing to take. It was time for her to reap the consequences for being a shitty human being.
I placed a ten on the table and left the diner without another word. The door jingled as it swung shut behind me, and I turned my eyes on Kendall’s baby blue Mustang.
A fit of glee came over me as my inner demon smiled. I went to my car and grabbed the baseball bat and a lighter I kept in the driver’s side door.
Josh should have warned you what happens when you play with fire.
Chapter 2
“You broke the windows and set her car on fire. It blew up. How do you deny that when we have twenty-eight—no, I’m sorry—twenty-nine witnesses that saw you?” The officer leaned back in his seat, rolling his eyes. The cops picked me up half an hour after I did it, and dragged me back to their cesspool of a police station. Joe-Schmo and I had been going back and forth for the last fifteen minutes as he attempted to persuade me to admit guilt and pay for Kendall’s car. Not fucking happening. At least not without a fight.
“They could be lying.” I shrugged, leaning back in my own chair and kicking my feet up on the table. My boots clunked against the metal top as bits of mud and grass fell off. They hadn’t even bothered to handcuff me when I was arrested, but I wasn’t exactly new to this. Me and Joe were on a first name basis. Practically.
“Get your damn shoes off the table, Morningstar,” he scolded. Guess we’re on a last name basis today. “This isn’t a resort. You’re in for a lot of fucking trouble if she decides to press charges.” Joe swatted at my feet and I pulled them off the table, leaving dirty streaks across the reflective surface.
“I’m not afraid of Kendall. She got what was coming to her,” I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. Joe let out a sigh of exasperation and scratched his head.
“You’re not making my job easy, Ruby,” he said.
“Where’s the fun in that?” I asked, giving him a wink. The man had a pretty average build for any American man over forty who spent a lot of time at his desk and interrogating low priority criminals. It was the same stereotypical build all the movies portrayed: tucked in shirt with a too small belt, neither hiding the spilling beer gut. With his less than impressive physique, developing widow’s peak, and crooked nose from being broken one-time too many—Joe was one hundred percent human. He was also the only officer that didn’t spend his entire interrogation undressing me with his eyes.
“We’re not supposed to be having fun. You’re supposed to admit to your crime and try to settle before she calls her lawyer. Why do you always make this difficult? Huh? What’s the point when we both know you’ll pay the fine?” A sharp knock at the door interrupted his questioning. The chair scraped the tile as Joe scooted back and got to his feet. I listened intently as the second officer leaned over and told him my bail had been paid, taking his leisure of watching me while I cocked an eyebrow and snorted. His tongue flicked out, licking his bottom lip.
Not a chance, buddy. I smirked to myself as Joe turned back to me, oblivious to the silent encounter I had with the pervy officer.
“You’re in luck. Someone paid your bail,” Joe said, giving a sad shake of his head. To his credit, he just doesn’t know what to do with me. I was more than most humans could handle. We demons were fickle creatures.
“Looks like Moira did get my message after all,” I said. Moira was half-banshee and she happened to be my best friend. She hadn’t picked up when I called, but I knew she’d come through before I was in here too long. She always did.
“Uh-huh,” Joe said, sticking his tongue in the side of his cheek like he had more to say. The officer who delivered the message pulled the door open for me to cross and exit. His body wasn’t huge, but he was stocky, and he purposely gave me no space to step through. Taking a deep breath, I shuffled by, “accidentally” elbowing him in the gut as I went. The putrid stench of alcohol and body odor made me gag.
On the other side of the door, I walked down the hall and signed the release papers. Until Kendall officially pressed charges, there wasn’t a lot that could be done. I knew she would. And I would have to pay her, because as fun as this was, I had no intentions of sitting in jail any longer than necessary. I had no regrets, though. The look on Kendall’s face when she saw the flames was priceless. Pure fucking gold. Moira was going to love this.
I pushed the door open and waved goodbye to the boys in blue. Outside the air smelled fresh. Crisp. The scent of rain still hung in the air. I stretched languidly, the way a cat does after sitting for far too long. I needed to do something. Burn off the energy that never seemed to leave.
I turned to tell Moira as much, but my friend wasn’t the one lounging against the side of the police station. A black-haired devil with smoldering eyes stood where she usually waited. His hair was a color so dark, his skin looked ashen. When his amber eyes flicked to mine, I was suddenly very aware of the coffee stains on my clothes.
Keep it together, Ruby. There was nothing human in his fluid grace as he pulled away from the wall and began stalking toward me. Demon. And not a weak one, by the looks of it.
“Who are you?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“I just bailed you out of jail. Is that any way to greet me?” His voice dripped with arrogance. Maybe it was the designer suit he wore, or maybe he was just as powerful as I suspected. Either way, I didn’t like the tone in his voice.
“I don’t know who you are, so unless you start talking, we’re done here.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down. His lips fell into an easy smirk. I knew that look. That sarcastic smile meant to belittle and demean a girl, expecting me to feel intimidated.
The words kiss my ass were only a breath away.
“My name is Allistair.” He took another step forward as he spoke; his voice smooth and melodic, dark and captivating. It was bewitching. It was what an incubus did when pulling in their prey.
“I don’t appreciate you trying to persuade me. That’s rude, you know.” Even as I said it, he cocked his head and took a step closer.
“You sensed that? Here I thought I was being subtle,” he purred. Something in me said I should run. Not because I thought he would hurt me, which he would, but because the air tasted like something foreign and heady. His scent clung to me; tendrils of power reaching to pull me closer. He was quite strong, and if he touched me…
I needed to get out of here.
There was a reason I avoided demon men like the plague. Anything and everything this side of the Columbia River were drawn to me by a force I couldn’t control. With demon men, it was so much stronger, and they were never the types to just let me run.
Oh, no. They would chase, and even as fast as I was, they would catch up.
“What do you want?” I asked, and to my credit, my voice didn’t shake. He looked me up and down and my face heated.
“I need you to come with me, Ruby.” The way he said my name made my stomach clench.
“How do you know my name?” I asked, looking towards the street as a car screeched around the corner. Moira’s beat u
p, old Camry hit the curb and came to a jarring stop.
“I’ll tell you if you get a drink with me,” he said. His eyes flicked to the car and narrowed as I inched towards it.
“I’m good. Thanks, though,” I said to the amber-eyed stranger as I got in. Moira didn’t say anything as we started to drive away.
I looked in the passenger side mirror to see if the demon was following, but he wasn’t. Allistair, if that was his name, was standing right where I left him, clearly pissed off. He took a step in our direction, and even with a parking lot of distance, it made me shiver. Something told me this wasn’t the last I would be seeing of him.
**Allistair**
It was like she felt nothing at all.
She certainly gave no indication she knew who I was.
I cursed under my breath and walked towards my car. The sleek, black Audi R8 was the only thing that had brought me joy in the nearly twenty-three years I waited to see her again.
But she didn’t remember me.
The thought sent a spike of adrenaline to my system, but the feeling wasn’t welcome. All it made me want to do was fuck, or fight. I ran a hand through my hair as I climbed into the car. There was no point waiting around for a girl that wasn’t coming back.
I fired up the engine and sat as it purred to life. The steady rhythm usually calmed the instinct to chase a female. Ruby wasn’t an ordinary she-demon though, and this wasn’t about sex.
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