Page 30 of Demon Sworn
And Raz fucking loses it.
A pained roar, unlike anything I ever heard before, leaves his lips as he slams his fist against the wall. The plaster cracks beneath the force, but that doesn’t stop him as he pulls back his bloody knuckles and pounds into the wall again.
“Raz! Stop!” I scream, jumping up from Akor’s lap and running towards him.
“Let him destroy things, Cherry,” Akor calls casually from behind me. “His pain makes my cock all tingly with bloody sparkles.”
Ignoring him, I place both of my hands on Raziel’s bicep and squeeze until he turns towards me, his brown eyes wild and manic.
“You said Adam—”
I cut him off before his own imagination can run rampant. “He’s fine!” I turn to address Zolroth and Van as well, both of whom are standing with their teeth bared and their wings extended. “He’s here—”
As if to emphasize my point, Adam’s tiny giggle reverberates from his bedroom, and all three of them relax incrementally. First, their claws descend back into their fingers. Then, their wings retract. Finally, their shoulders, which had been touching their ears, slump downwards in noticeable relief.
“Your expression…” Raz explains, sounding sheepish. He runs a hand through his messy brown hair. “I thought that something horrible had happened.” When he finally drops his hand, I can see it’s still shaking as adrenaline and fear courses through him.
“He’s back,” I say shakily, moving to stand beside Zolroth. My materialism demon immediately takes me in his arms, resting his chin on the top of my head and swaying from side to side. I wonder if he’s attempting to offer me comfort or if he simply wants the comfort himself. There’s a slight tremor that runs through him as his arms tighten around me.
“He doesn’t have any fucking memory of what happened to him,” Akor cuts in, still sprawled indolently on the couch. But there’s a tightness to his eyes that hasn’t been there prior, a grim set to his smirk. “But he has this fucked-up note written on his stomach.”
“Dance, little puppets,” I recite, and all four of their faces darken, even Akor’s, and he already knew that.
“Who the fucking hell is doing this to us?” Van demands, throwing his hands in the air as he begins to pace. “If it’s not angels—”
“And if it’s not any of those demons we interviewed…” Zolroth cuts in.
“Wait!” Akor quirks a brow questioningly. “It’s not?”
Van shakes his head, his body trembling in agitation. “Cal came up with nothing. We didn’t get to finish every interview, but we asked hundreds upon hundreds of demons. Lucillania eventually just brought them in by the roomful and Cal would ask, ‘Have you currently kidnapped a four-year-old boy?’ Then he’d ask, ‘Are you pursuing revenge against Raziel’s murder?’”
“Not a single group is pursuing revenge?” Akor shook his head. “First off, I’m disappointed in us if that’s true. And second, what about Van?!” He pointed an accusatory finger at my lust demon. “He’s always got some crazy stalker.”
“Even all of his ex-lovers were cleared,” Zolroth adds with a pointed stare at Van.
Ex-lovers?
Focus on that later, Katrina. Now isn’t the time to get jealous because your man was once a ho.
Van throws me a desperate glance before glaring at Zolroth.
“Not helping, Zol.”
“There are still a few left,” Raz assures me. “We didn’t interview everyone.”
“Well it has to be them! Obviously, if these demons were lying and posing as my…” I take a shuddering breath, trying to swallow down the bile that threatens to rise. “As my parents, they know how important Adam is to us. But only the sickest, most twisted evil could warp someone into taking a kid, right? You said demons don’t hurt kids!”
Akor snaps his fingers. “You’re right, Cherry! We aren’t looking for normal demons. We’re looking for crazy ones. Like me.”
Every eye in the room is drawn to the pain demon as he says, “Torture’s my specialty. And trust me, that’s just what this is. Think about it. There were lots of petty attacks on us. No real threat. Then someone clearly started fucking with our Cherry’s home life, making it even worse. Why? Because she’s important. Then, they stole a child.” Akor rears his head back and gives an evil laugh. “Psychological torture at its worst.”
Raz’s horns and claws pop back out. He snarls as he stares at each of my demons. “Make a new fucking list of the most depraved psychos you know.”
13
Katrina
Adamand I are playing with some Transformers in the back of a limo the guys have somehow obtained while they are all inside a building questioning their new suspect—a demon who’s pissed at Zolroth of all people, but who, according to my demons, is two clicks shy of Akor-level crazy and might just be “the one.”
