by H. A. Wills
“No, I wouldn’t. Though I’m telling you, loosen up the back end a bit and it would quit pushing in the corners,” he laments, always ready to tweak or modify any vehicle.
“It’s meant to haul shit, not race,” I grumble
“Whatever.” Facing forward, Nolan goes back to the question of the hour. “How did they even know about us, anyway?”
“If they’ve been surveilling Callie’s house, I can think of one time that it would’ve been pretty damn obvious,” I answer, my eyes focused on the road ahead now that the street lamps are nearly nonexistent.
Nolan groans again. “Look, I’m down for a little exhibitionism from time to time, but that’s when I know I’m doing it. Not to put on a show for some perverted demons.”
“Demons aren’t really known for their scruples,” I reply evenly, “but if it’s any consolation, I plan to kill them.”
“Good,” he replies, but with the hard threads weaving in his tone, I don’t think it’s just to avenge his honor.
∞∞∞
We’re most of the way to Callie’s place when my phone starts to vibrate in my pocket. Shifting around while trying to keep the truck on the road, I dig out my phone and toss it at Nolan to answer.
“Morningstar bastard and his special vampire friend here,” he answers, putting the phone on speaker.
“Good to know you still have your sense of humor,” Kaleb murmurs from the other side, the sounds of wind and flapping muffling his voice, then reports, “From what I can tell, there’s only the two people Callie heard on the phone here so we have them on numbers.”
“They’re demons, not people,” I correct, gritting my teeth. “Who they once were are gone. The demons are just wearing their skin now.”
Nolan makes a gagging sound. “Thanks for that visual.”
“Anyway, there’s only two of them. A man and a woman,” Kaleb cuts in. “It appears the male is the one in charge, and they’re waiting on the front porch.” He pauses, before adding, “Mildred is tied to a chair between them. She doesn’t look good.”
“Do you see Felix?” I ask, quickly approaching the long driveway to the house.
“No.”
“Let’s hope that means he’s doing his job, and now it’s time to do ours,” I reply, expelling a deep breath and locking down my emotions.
There’s only me, my blade, and my target. What all this might mean can be dealt with after the fuckers are dead.
“I see your lights,” Kaleb notes. “I’m going to find cover on the roof. Try to draw them out from the porch. Hopefully, I can take one of them out before they know I’m there.”
He hangs up before either of us can say anything.
“Fuck,” Nolan breathes, swallowing heavily. “We’re really going to fight demons.”
“Look, you don’t…” I sigh, the emotions I’ve tried to lock down sending snaking tendrils to the surface at the sound of fear in his voice. “There’s no shame in running. Kaleb and I can handle it. We’ve trained for this. And I…” The air in my lungs seems thin as I choke out, “I can’t lose another person.”
He blinks, looking at me like I’ve grown a second head, and I want to take the words back… and possibly throw him out of my truck while it’s still moving.
“We all joke that I’m useless,” Nolan finally says with a dark edge, “but I’m not. Vampires are literally the oldest humanoid predator. We outdate even your people, so fuck off with this bullshit of me running.” There’s a hard tick in his jaw, and his arms flex with how hard he holds the dagger in his lap. Muttering to himself, he adds, “‘No shame in running’. Do I want to fight fucking demons? No. Doesn’t mean I’m going to run like a bitch.”
“I didn’t mean…” I trail off, then grunt, “Fuck it. Just don’t die, alright.”
Parking a good twenty feet from the porch, we get out of the truck, an unsheathed katana in my hand and the dagger in Nolan’s, and we walk in front of the grill. The truck’s lights highlight the entire front yard, giving us clear visibility of anything they might try.
“The last of the Morningstars. Finally,” the male demon says in a smooth cultured voice, walking down the few steps from the porch.
He has the look of a pampered model, well-kept dark hair, sharp features that speak of needing a few more pounds, and steel blue eyes. He’s dressed in dark colors, black slacks, turtle neck, kind of like a Bond villain, but other than the sallow color of his skin, looks completely human.
The demon wags his finger at me like I’m some difficult child. “The others didn’t believe me. They said that we got all of you bastards ten years ago, but those eyes. Those fucking eyes can only come from the devil himself.”
“How’d you find me?” I yell back, holding my position. My wings materialize, and I stretch them wide before pulling them back and getting into a defensive posture. No matter what happens, this asshole will not escape me.
He grins, his white teeth glowing like some goddamn toothpaste commercial, and holds a hand out to the female on the porch. She scampers down happily, looking extremely pleased with herself.
“It was this marvelous creature that led me to you,” he answers with a knowing smirk.
“Letti,” Nolan breaths, the dagger dropping from his fingers, and looking like he’s been punched in the stomach.
Dressed in simple clothes, jeans and a form fitting sweater, she has long platinum blonde hair, eyes the color of arctic ice, pouty lips, and a willowy frame… just like her mother.
“Hello, little brother,” she sings with a waggle of her fingers. “Or should I call you what you really are? My replacement. Honestly, I’m surprised you even know my name the way mom and dad pretend I never existed. ”
Nolan’s gaze darkens, and he spits, “You’re the one that disgraced us. They were exiled because of you. I don’t know a single vampire outside of our parents because of you.”
“You should be thanking me then,” she huffs, propping one fist on her hip. “Bores all of them. So scared of what we truly can be. I’m stronger, faster, more alluring than they’ll ever be, and I’ll live forever.”
“As a demon’s puppet,” he sneers, and I step in front of him before he can do something stupid.
I can keep them talking, but how the fuck do I get them closer?
In the distance, I can see the smoke and flickers of light from the fire across town, and I feel ill. The katana trembles in my hands, because it’s so fucking obvious. The fire.
“How long have you been here?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
It must show on my face, because the male demon swaggers another step closer, shaking his head. “Come now, ask the real question.”
“Did you kill the Jacobs?” I growl through gritted teeth, my heart pounding in my chest.
Letti taps a finger to the tip of her nose, giggling, “How lucky for us that one human family could make you both suffer.”
“No,” Nolan murmurs softly, the way someone does as their world collapses around them.
I hope he’s not about to do anything crazy, because I can’t take my eyes off of the assholes in front of us, and I’m barely holding on from doing something crazy myself. Get fucking closer so I can end you.
She’s clearly pleased to see how much it affects him because she skips a few paces closer and gleefully turns the knife. “Oh yes. Just think, had they not known you, they could’ve lived very long lives… at least for humans.” She sighs, licking her lips. “Their terror tasted delicious.”
“Mm yes,” the male agrees, casually putting his hands in his pockets. “We were going to pick off your friends one by one, until you were so broken, you’d beg us to kill you. When you jumped all over yourselves for the pretty blonde girl that moved here, it was like you gift wrapped us a new target.”
Up until this point, he’s been cocky and amused, but now his face grows hard and true hate spills into his eyes. “Then it turns out the little morsel and her dear aunty are fucking witches. Powerful
fucking witches!”
Keep monologuing, asshole. Just do it a little closer.
“Thought it was time to make some new friends in high places,” I reply flippantly, flexing my grip on my sword.
Nolan is uncomfortably silent behind me, and I didn’t think to give him more direction than don’t die. Shit. Shit, Shit.
An ugly snarl curls the demon’s lips. “Hope you enjoyed it, because it signed your death sentence sooner. When you’re sent to hell, tell dear old grandpappy Idris sent you.”
Before I have a chance to blink, he’s across the field and in my face, shoving me against the truck, and there’s an audible crack from one of my wings. Dots of pain dance across my eyes, but I push back, the blade of my katana slicing against both our bellies. A slow spilling curtain of blood starts dripping from my stomach and down my legs.
Nolan leaps out of the way of his sister’s first attack, barely missing her talon like nails, and scrambles away… the fucking dagger still on the ground. I swear even if he lives, I might kill him for his stupidity.
He’s fast, able to dodge and deflect a few of her attacks, but with her demonic strength, she’s faster and quickly has him pinned against Mildred’s black Mercedes.
“You want to let me go,” he growls, his eyes locked with hers like a charmer trying to control a snake.
Letti releases an ugly laugh, her fangs sliding out. “How cute, trying to charm me, but I’m not some pathetic human. Now hold still.”
Realizing his error, Nolan grabs her by the neck and attempts to hold her face back, while she buries both sets of clawed fingers into his sides.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Not paying attention with what the fuck is happening in front of me, I nearly get my own set of demonic vampire teeth in the neck, which is no simple lust drug like living vampires. This bite will make the victim their slave. Thankfully, Idris screams in pain before he can connect, because Kaleb has buried his sword up the fucker’s ribcage.
“Move,” Kaleb shouts, planting his foot in the back of the demon to try and draw out his sword.
I dematerialize my wings, the pain still mind numbingly intense, but with the added space, I’m able to roll out from Idris’ grasp.
“Stupid mistake, little bird,” the demon growls, digging his now razor like nails deep into Kaleb’s shoulder, then uses his grip to throw Kaleb across the yard.
Kaleb spreads his wings, keeping himself upright when he hits the ground, but there’s now splattered blood over the snowy feathers and his sword is still in the demon’s back. He drops into a defensive stance, his labored breaths fighting through clenched teeth.
In a flash, Idris is across the yard and has one hand wrapped around Kaleb’s throat. Kaleb slams the base of his palm into the demon’s nose, snapping his head back with a loud crunch. While he’s distracted, I pick up the abandoned dagger from the ground and throw it as hard as I can, the blade sinking between the demon’s shoulder blades.
Idris shrieks, woodenly turning to see where the blade came from. Kaleb rips the dagger from his back and slices it against the hand squeezing his throat, dropping to the ground and gasping when he’s released.
Blood covers the bottom half of the demon’s face, his nose broken and twisted. He laughs and licks his own blood from his lips, flashing his needle-like fangs. “That all you got, Morningstar?”
“Not even close,” I growl, raising my katana in readiness to decapitate this son of a bitch.
As Kaleb staggers back to his feet, Idris kicks him in the knee, knocking him back to the ground.
“Faex,” he cries out, barely missing a follow up kick to the face.
At the same time, I hear Nolan scream in pain from somewhere behind the house. He and his sister must have slipped away while I wasn’t paying attention.
“Uh oh,” Idris mocks, swiping his clawed fingers across one of the joints of Kaleb’s wings. “Who do you try to save? Your brother or your lover?”
“Futue te ipsi, es mundus excrementi,” Kaleb roars, using the dagger to slice across the vulnerable tendons at the back of Idris’ leg.
Idris drops to the ground, crying out as the fall shoves the sword deeper through his lungs. Climbing up on the fucker’s chest, Kaleb stabs the dagger into Idris’ neck, shouting, “I’ve got this. Go save Nolan!”
Not bothering to argue, I sprint to the other side of the house, feeling like I have a sword of my own stuck in my back thanks to my broken wing. Forgetting the amount of blood that’s been dripping from my stomach, I nearly slip on the grass, all the blood on my boots making them slick.
Nolan is face first into the charred circle, and Letti is shoving his head into the damp earth, pinning him with one of his arms twisted up behind his back.
“If you join me, all the pain goes away,” she croons like the caring sister she isn’t. “No more broken heart over pathetic humans. No more suffering to try and feed yourself. And you can get sweet revenge on that bitch that hurt you-- while I get sweet revenge on the parents that tried to replace me. We both win.”
“And turn into a psycho bitch like you?” he grinds out, spitting out the dirt in his mouth. “I’m starting to think it wasn’t the undead thing that made our parents want to forget you.”
“Well, they won’t forget you when I make a masterpiece of your internal organs all over their precious mansion,” she snarls, pushing up his arm until there’s an audible pop and he shrieks in pain.
Without thought, I sprint the final few feet and before she realizes I’m there, my katana easily slices through her neck all the way to the spinal column. Blood sprays like paint as she snaps back to the ground, falling off of Nolan. He rolls away, grunting with pain, as he drags himself further from the demon bitch.
Gurgling sounds come from her cut windpipe and her fingers curl, showing she isn’t dead yet. With my foot, I flip her to her stomach and then with all my strength, drop the blade against her spine, severing what was left of her head.
The ground sways beneath me, my katana falling from my hand, but I stay standing, because from the lifeless corpse forms the demon that was inside. It’s some type of lust demon with engorged breasts and belly, long spindly limbs, and her flesh nothing but dried muscle since her skin was torn away from her tortures in hell. Or at least part of it is. One arm, half her face, and cracks in the flesh are a shining golden white light of what is left of Letti’s spirit.
The demonic side of her face is twisted in rage while the pure spirit’s expression is sorrow and agony. She screams, rushing to claw at me, but she’s weak without a mortal form, and I easily force her back to the ground. The demon has her. You can’t save her.
Feeling for the magical threads that connect me to my sire on the other side, I open a portal that leads to the gates of hell. Humans always think of fire and brimstone, but all that’s there is cold barren wastes and a gate that appears to go nowhere.
Muted in color and life, two fallen angels in black Romanesque armor stand guard over the entrance, while new spirits already losing their pure golden sheen huddle and await their sentencing from Lucifer.
One of the angels notices the open portal and raises a brow in recognition, but nothing more. Fucking assholes.
Grabbing the demon’s arm, I drag her to the freezing entrance, refusing to look in Letti’s terrified eye that looks so much like Nolan’s, and throw her through.
“Tell grandpa Lucifer hello for me,” I sneer at the disinterested angel, “and to do his fucking job better.”
The angel ignores me, not even bothering to collect the demon since this portal is one way.
Shock is setting in way too fast from my injuries, and I fall to my knees. The edges of the portal start to wobble, holding onto the connection difficult due to my injuries.
Get up, asshole. You’re not done yet. There’s still one more. Kaleb needs you.
“Don’t close the gate,” is yelled from a very pissed-off British voice, and I’m fucking giddy with relief as Mildred comes
around the corner.
Floating in front of her is something I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget. In a contained air bubble is the twisted form of both demon and host body burning in an unquenchable fire. She marches right up to the portal and tosses the whole thing in, bubble and all. The mortal host body drops to the ground with a plop, as if it hit a brick wall, while the flaming bubble still containing the demon whizzes through the air-- nearly hitting the asshole angel that ignored me. The portal snaps shut, the last thing visible being the genuine annoyance on the guard’s face.
There’s crusted blood at Mildred’s temple and in her hair, and a blooming bruise taking up the left side of her face, but she looks alert, her brown eyes quickly assessing the damage.
“Not all of this is mine,” I joke, making a gesture at the blood painting us and the yard.
“But some of it is,” she replies curtly, not really in the mood for our brand of humor, apparently. “Stay here. I’ll get some things to tend to your wounds.” Before she leaves, her eyes get a glassy quality to them and she asks, “Callie?”
“Safe with Connor,” I answer. “Kaleb?”
“He’s wounded but fine. Resting on the porch, also waiting on treatment. The way he was talking, I believe your friend Felix is sitting with him,” she replies with a weak smile, then heads back around the house for supplies.
Nolan crawls up beside me, drenched in blood and his left arm hanging at an odd angle at the shoulder.
“You okay?” he hisses. If he saw Letti within the demon, his expression doesn’t show it.
“I’m not dead,” I reply, because that’s all I really have at the moment. Every moment the adrenaline drains away, parts of my body start going numb and tingly. My fingertips, my lips, my limbs. “You?”
His smile isn’t more than a small twitch of his lips. “I’m not dead.”
I knee walk over to his injured side and instruct, “Lie down.”
“Into the blood soaked grass?” he comments, resembling something out of a goddamn horror movie.
“Worried about adding more to all the shit on you? Now lie down, so I can pop your fucking arm back in,” I grunt.
