Page 1 of Sweet Vengeance

ONE

Joy knelt in the middle of a circular rune drawnwithwhite chalk, wearing nothing but a bathrobe. She’d thought she’d feel ill when she’d planned to do this; disgusted. She’d thought she’d be so overwhelmed with horrible memories it would leave hertremblingwith apprehension.

After what she only referred to in her head as “the incident”, Joy had barely been able to look at herself. Taking off her clothes for any reason, even a fuckingshower, had felt like a violation—and it was her own fucking body. Then, as time had passed, she’d slowly,thankfully,gone numb.

She’d thought the reality of what she was about to do would bring the disgust crawling back—would make her feel like peeling off her skin. But in the moment, it felt different.

No, itwasdifferent.

The difference was, this was her choice. She laughed, the sound short and bitter. Did demons even have sex? Did they have the appendages for it? Did they care for mortal, human women? Joy didn’t know, and she didn’t care.

If her body wasn’t an acceptable sacrifice, and the demon said there was absolutely no other option, then Joy would just have to negotiate. She was an expert haggler—thank you, Wuuye Market—there had to be something the demon wanted other than a dead animal, because Joy wasnotabout to sell her soul. No, she wanted to have her cake and eat it, too. Before she killed her rapist, she wanted him to suffer worsethan he’d made her suffer, while she went on to liveand thrivefor the rest of her natural life. It would be the perfect conclusion to her perfect revenge.

She took a deep breath. There was another rune directly opposite and connected to hers, drawn this time in red chalk. It needed only one thing now to activate it.

For a moment, she hesitated. The morally upright Christian she’d been raised to be protested:Isn’t death too harsh a punishment for a rapist? Foranycriminal, for that matter?

But the other side of her—the side thatclawed for justice—forvengeance—screamed:death is not enough.

She picked up the kitchen knife and sliced a small cut quickly across her index finger. Blood spilled onto her circle, then the other. She sucked her finger into her mouth to stem the bleeding.

The room grew unbearably hot, sweat pooling in her armpits, between her breasts and thighs. The lines drawn in red chalk began to glow.

The demon appeared without fanfare—without a single rumble of thunder or the violent tremble of an earthquake. One moment, there’d been just the circle, and the next, they were there.

It felt like the room had shrunk about ten sizes under the sheer weightof their presence, all the air sucked into a vacuum.

The demon towered over her—they had to be at least seven and a half feet tall, and that was without the horns—with a broad, flat chest peeking out from dishevelled black robes that swept the floor. Said robes resembled shadows and smoke, rather than something solid. She could faintly make out fancy gold filigree designs along the cuffed sleeves and hems she swore on her life weremovingas she stared. Hefty, ridged horns curved up and back from a mass of thick, coily locks, which fell gorgeously down their shoulders.

Their skin was just as dark as their horns and hair, and was hands down the most beautiful shade of plum Joy had ever seen; it waswarm, smooth, and matte,making her recklessly want to reach out and touch.The phrase“the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice”ran through Joy’s head before she could stop it, making her blush furiously.Sharp, pointed nails tipped their fingers, and their irises glowed in a thin ring of red, surrounding a large, black pupil she felt like she could drown in.

Something rustled, and Joy’s eyes widened when the demon slightly spread their feathered wings, the dark appendages blending in seamlessly with their skin and robes.

Joy quickly rose from her knelt position, but it did nothing to lessen the intensity of the demon’s domineering presence. In fact, standing as she was, the demon felt even taller, forcing her to tilt her head back to meet their eyes.

Her pulse raced madly; her breaths started to come fast. Joy wasn’t a small womanin literally any sense of the word. She was six feet tall, and she was deliciously fat. It was a rare sight to find anyone bigger than her.

The demon seemed to be studying her as much as she was studying them, though nothing in their gaze gave their emotions away. Joy tugged her robe tighter around herself, self-conscious, as those red eyes trailed slowly from her bare feet, lingering on her exposed thighs, going all the way up to the short, trimmed afro on her head.

She suddenly felt painfully naked, but not in the way she’d expected. Her nipples stiffened at the intensity of their perusal, and to her horror, she could feel herself getting wet.

“Speak, human,” the demon finally said, thedeep timbreof their voice going straight to her cunt.

She pressed her legs together, clenching her jaw. Tried to remember what her aunt had told her.

“I’m here to make a deal,” she said, thanking whatever gods existed that her voice came out firm and in control.

“That much is obvious,” the demon replied tonelessly.

Her eyes narrowed.The demon’s got jokes. Fantastic.

“You reek of bloodthirst,” the demon continued, flicking their tongue out to wet the seam of their lips. Their tongue was a shocking, violent red, and was alsoforked. Holy Mary and Joseph. “You have summoned me to kill someone for you.”

Joy’s smile felt manic when she let her lips stretch with it. “No,Iwant to kill someone. I wantyouto make it look like an accident.”

Desperation had brought Malachi here, to this gorgeous human with luminous dark brown skin and big, doe brown eyes blazing with a vicious, delicious hatred that made his skin sing.

They stood before him in nothing but a plain white bathrobe, glaring up at him almost defiantly. Despite their bravery, he could smell a hint of fear;the alluring, metallic tang of their spilled blood;and also a slight creamy sweetness he’d come to understand was the scent of a human’s arousal.

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