Page 2 of Give a Devil his Due
After the tilted wall falls into the foundation and the building rights itself, I dust off my hands and roll my shoulders. No matter how many of them we push back into place, the city stays the same. A deserted place full of dust and smoke. I don’t miss the tears Helena tries to hide, nor the pain she pretends not to feel. My mate’s nightmares are getting worse, and I need Maddison to help me understand how to help the female I love.
“Don’t be a prick, Colt, she will never walk away from a fight. Especially not one that can get all of us killed.” Hands on my hips, I turn to search for something else I can fix before the hunters shepherd the humans in need of a shelter this way. “For all we know, they might be imprisoned along with your father.”
“Lucifer is your father, too, dear brother.” My fingers twitch on my hip with the urge to punch the grin off his face. “But you can go looking for them if it is your wish. I’ll make sure your mate is warm and taken care off. What are brothers for if not to help each other out?”
Beating me to is, Beelzebub’s meaty fist connects to the side of Colt’s head, throwing it back and spinning his body around. My father’s confidant proceeds to beat my brother in a whirl of fists and kicks until both of them are a bloody mess sprawled on the dirt and panting for breath.
“Fuck, I needed that.” Beelzebub grunts, rolling back on his feet.
“Me, too.” Colt joins him, dabbing the back of his hand over his split lip. “I need something to kill, not to crawl over broken buildings and bridges. Don’t humans have machines that do these things?”
“George gave the hunters orders to call us when they come across demons or anything not of this world.” I ignore his comment about machines. The last thing we need is to make noise some creature will want to investigate when we have no idea what has crawled out in this realm. Yet, I still look at the walkie-talkie hanging from my belt and poke at it like that will make it say something. “Raphael is supervising them, too. I’m sure they’ll call for us soon.”
“Leave it to the Archangel to lord over everything instead of getting his hands dirty with the rest of us common folk.” Colt spits a glob of blood on the ground, his mouth twisting in disgust. “Call the Haltija to do this shit, I’m done. I’ll go hunt myself. You coming?” He aims his question to Beelzebub.
Whatever the answer is going to be gets lost in the whoosh of wind that blasts debris and plaster in the air to pelt our skin. Not long behind it, a form casts a shadow over the three of us, blotting whatever weak light the sun is pushing through the clouds of smoke from above Atlanta. It looks like my brother’s wishes are manifesting when two more demons join the first one, all of them coming at us fast from the sky.
“All you have to do is ask and ye shall receive,” I mutter under my breath as I brace myself for the attack.
“Hell’s balls,” Colt snorts. “He is starting to sound like Raphael, too. Soon he will sprout white feathers and grow a halo instead of horns.”
The demons are of the high classes in Hell, and they hit hard, cutting off any retort I have for my idiot twin. After returning from Purgatory, I learned that any of them left in the human realm were not much for talking or spewing threats at us, unlike when Abaddon was in charge. They attack hard and fight with the desperation of males who need to prove something. Be it their worth or to justify their stupidity for following a loose cannon, I’m not sure, nor do I care. It gives us an outlet to aim our rage at, and that’s all that matters.
We fall into a familiar dance of twists and turns, the three of us back-to-back and the demons come at us from all directions, looking for an opening. A coppery scent and the stench of sulfur saturates the air and clogs my nose with each breath I take. Soon it becomes clear we don’t want to fight to end it too soon, all of us allowing the feral demons to score hits and shred our skin. Pained grunts and roars echo across the empty street, bouncing off the walls of the buildings we managed to salvage. I’m sure we can drag this out until we tire and then kill the fuckers, but just as I’m thinking that a shrill scream comes from nearby, and it costs me the use of my right arm.
Claws sink into my shoulder, gauging the flesh and shredding my skin. A ferocious roar rips from my chest when the bone is yanked out of its socket, and I lash out wildly at the idiot attacking me. My fist connects to the center of his chest, and his body sails through the air before it hits the wall of the closest building, breaking a hole through it twice as large as he is. So much for salvaging whatever is left of the city.
“Kill them. The humans need our help.” Snarling, I grind my teeth and jerk my arm back. The crack of the joint sliding into place sets my teeth on edge and fuels my anger. “Stop playing games before more lives are lost.”
“I’m telling you,” Colt sneers, ducking to avoid a punch to his face and pummels the demon into a bloody pulp before huffing in annoyance. “Every day he sound more like the Archangel than a Prince of Hell. It’s disgusting.”
“Your face is disgusting as well, yet I have to look at it daily.” Beelzebub sighs, shaking blood and gore from his fingers. “Lead the way, Shadow. The sooner we get to the threat, the less the chances are you’ll be Lucifer’s only child.”
“You are aware that we look alike.” Beelzebub grins at my comment when he falls into step with me. “But my guess is, that was your point.”
With a shrug, he takes to the sky, and we do too. It’s difficult to reach the humans unless you have wings. The streets are either cracked open with craters deep enough to kill whoever falls in them, or they are blocked from crumbled structures that didn’t survive the attack the jinn orchestrated. Colt’s grumbling follows behind us like an annoying insect refusing to remove itself from the shell of our ears.
“I’m worried about Helena.” Not sure what I expect from Beelzebub, but the troubled look crossing his face is not it.
“Let us deal with the scum first.”
He and Colt round the corner, leaving me behind to drown in my thoughts. Whatever is down there with the humans is not really a threat to one, little less three of us. The two of them will deal with it much better than I can deal with my own internal demons—the ones inside me that are doing their damn best to drive me insane. My mate needs help, and I’m helpless to aid her.
“Maybe we can all talk to her.” I blink Beelzebub into focus, and a frown scrunches my face. How long was I hovering in the air lost in my head? “It was just a handful of rogues. All sorted now.” He offers an explanation, misreading my confusion.
“Right.” With one last look around, I scrub a hand over my face just as Colt joins us. “We should go back and …” Glancing between the two of them, I gnaw on my lower lip. “You two can start with the questions. I’ll back you up.”
“You’re too scared to ask your mate if she’s losing her shit?” Colt looks too pleased with himself, and I wonder if I can get away with giving him a black eye. Maybe not the best idea before cornering Helena and forcing her to talk, but making him bleed will please me to no end.
“Have you met my mate?” Both of them chuckle and shake their heads like that will embarrass me. “I’m surprised your balls don’t shrivel just thinking about making her talk, Colt.”
“I have no intention to die this day.” My brother adjusts himself, wincing at the memory. “This was Beelzebub’s idea. I’m just a back-up. A back-up who is out of there if there is a dagger in her hand. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Both of you are pathetic.” Beelzebub’s bravado would work if he didn’t swallow thickly when the safe house comes into view, and Helena disappears inside it from the roof. “I should know not to ask boys to do a man’s job.”
My feet hit the street as we drop near the front yard, and I roll my shoulders in hopes of removing the tension bunching every muscle on my body. One way or another, I must do this for my mate. She may not appreciate it at the moment, but I know Helena. She will open up if we press her hard enough, and then we will know what is haunting her dreams. Maybe I can’t fight an enemy I cannot physically touch, but I sure as hell am willing to give it a try.
I’m still going to keep my mouth shut.
