Page 87 of Demon's Desire

There was pain all throughout my body. My ass and my head still hurt from falling onto the roof, then there was the fall down the stairs, not to mention being slapped across the face, burned on my arm, and hit with the damned horn. Plus, there was the pain in my chest.

I paused when I recalled that particular pain. It was still there, but it was getting more dull than it had been before. When I’d fallen to the roof, it had been intense. It had even hurt to breathe. Now, there was pain there, but it was better. Softer, almost.

That could only mean one thing. Soul was coming.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I told myself it was an accident. He was heading this way to leave town. He’d pass by at a distance, then keep going. He’d leave Chicago. He’d go into hiding. He’d be fine. Hell, maybe one day he’d be able to return to Covey and become King, like he deserved. Because he wasn’t coming. He couldn’t be coming. I prayed that he wasn’t coming. I needed to die here. If I was lucky, Jackson would come soon, and I could plead with him to stop Tiernan from hurting Kelly. But as long as she and Suldeargan were safe, I could die and it would be worth it.

But the more time passed, the more the pain in my chest subsided. Wherever Soul was, he was getting closer. I kept my eyes open after a certain point, staring intently at the front door, willing it to stay closed. If we ever had any kind of subconscious connection, I was using it to tell him to stay away.

Then the pain disappeared entirely. And with it, I felt my heart stop. I knew it. I knew he was coming. I knew that he was coming because it was exactly what I would do if the roles were reversed, and that was what I’d been afraid of the entire time.

“There he is,” Tiernan’s voice came from somewhere behind me. “Can you smell it, Mia? There’s a demon nearby…”

“Fuck!” I whispered, my body tensing.

A few seconds later, the front door opened. Jackson stepped inside, and, of course, Soul walked in behind him.

“What the fuck did you do to her?!” Suldeargan shouted as soon as he saw me. I was about to yell at him to leave, but before I could, he started running. Tiernan met him a few feet away from me. Tiernan went to swing, but before he could, Soul blocked Tiernan’s fist and kicked him in the gut. Tiernan fell back and glared at Soul. Both of their eyes were glowing. Tiernan ran at Soul, but Soul opened his hand and used his claws to swipe at Tiernan, scratching his chest. More blue blood-like fluid seeped out of Tiernan’s wounds.

Soul pushed Tiernan to the ground and got on top of him, raising his fist to slam it into Tiernan’s face. Before he could, Tiernan grabbed both of his horns and used them to throw Soul off of him. Soul rolled across the ground. Tiernan jumped up and ran over, slamming his foot into Soul’s chest.

“Suldeargan!” I screamed, pulling harder at the chains holding me back. I tried to stand, but the chan had fallen so low on the column that it was impossible to raise it.

Soul grabbed Tiernan’s foot and pushed it off of him, throwing Tiernan off balance so that he fell. Soul got up and started speaking. I paused when he did. He was saying something, but I couldn’t understand it. They were words I’d never heard before, in another language. I couldn’t tell if it was any language that humans spoke or if it was just some kind of demon language.

“Jackson!” I shouted, turning my attention to the man still standing near the door. “You have to do something! Stop them, before someone gets hurt!”

Jackson started to make his way toward me. He looked so casual about the whole thing, like whatever happened had no real effect on anyone. When he got to me, he knelt down, but he made no move to free me. “You were never supposed to be involved in this. If you had just been honest with me, I could have made this easy for you from the start. You lied to protect him, but his fate has been sealed for months. It was only a matter of time until we found him.”

“Fuck you!” I snapped. “You can’t do this! He hasn’t done anything wrong! He doesn’t hurt anyone!”

“Demons have to hurt people.” Jackson stood up. “It’s what they do. You’ll be better off once he’s disposed of.”

“I’ll die before I let you hurt him,” I warned.

“That’s collateral I might have to accept.” Jackson shrugged.

“You heartless bastard!” I yelled. I heard Tiernan scream something in the other, demonic language and I looked over at them. Tiernan had Soul against the wall, and I watched as he slammed his flaming fist against the side of Soul’s face. “What… What are they saying?”

“It’s the language of demons,” Jackson answered. “They both want to kill each other. It’s basically that.”

“How can you be so cold about this whole thing?” I demanded.

“They’re monsters,” he answered. “Whatever happens, they both deserve to die.”

“Get me out of these chains!” I ordered.

“Don’t touch her,” Tiernan growled in response. When I looked back over, Soul was on the ground breathing heavily. Tiernan turned away from him and started heading back over to me. “She’s going to stay right there, and Suldeargan is going to watch.”

Before I could ask any questions about what that could mean, Tiernan’s fist collided with the side of my head and I blacked out.

20

At some point, when I became conscious, I wondered if I was dead. I was convinced that Tiernan had gone through with his promise to kill me in front of Soul. Honestly, whatever happened… it was going to be okay. Suldeargan would rip Tiernan and Jackson to shreds. Then he would be safe, and so would Kelly. Everything would work out, even if I had to die to do it. I just wished that before I died, I could have told Suldeargan that I loved him.

Nothing like your own impending death to really make your emotions clear. I knew it seemed crazy, but love was the only accurate way to describe what I felt for him.

Then, I suddenly became aware of the pain in my body once again. The worst was the throbbing on the side of my head where Tiernan had hit me. That gave me some suspicions regarding my death, because I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to feel any pain in the afterlife.

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