Heaven and Hell (Beautiful Beings, #2) (16 page)

“Get your angel wings ready, Asher.” Moore was grim as he gazed past my shoulders.  “Looks like my parents’ murderers are here for my sister.”

I turned to look behind me.  Demons, much larger than I’d ever seen, descended on us.

Brax clenched his fists, ready to fight.  “And they took my parents’ souls, leaving me with this damned curse.”

More demons emerged from the forest; smaller novice demons who made a lot of noise, but seemed ignorant in the ways of demons, and demons like I’d seen so many times before, tall, charred, with glowing red eyes and deadly sharp teeth.  But what struck me, what stood out and made little sense were the two humans accompanying them.

A young woman with gorgeous red hair and clear alabaster skin charmed by a light sprinkling of innocent freckles gazed at the three guys around me with keen interest.  Dressed in dark slacks and a pinstriped button down shirt, she could just as well have stepped out of the office for a bite to eat at the corner sandwich shop, but her hungry eyes told a different story.  She was hungry for a fresh soul.

Beside her, a tall young attractive man with bright blue eyes and dark hair, in his late 20s, walked with arrogant pride and far too much confidence. Well dressed in an expensive suit, he had a conservative haircut, glasses and an annoying smirk.

More annoying was the nagging feeling I’d seen him before, and recently. His eyes met mine, his gaze mild and professional one moment then quickly resuming their arrogant glare.

“Didn’t I tell you to take it easy today, Miss Collins?”

I gasped and breathing was suddenly painful.  “Dr. Sorensen?”

He snickered.  “Didn’t recognized me without my scrubs, huh?  Yeah, cool thing about those scrubs.  Put them on, mutter a few medical terms and everyone thinks you're a doc.”

My good hand immediately sought the cast on my broken wrist.

He snickered again. “You're lucky I don’t do orthopedics. I would have set that bone at a pretty nasty angle.” He roared with laughter, an odd and fearsome sound that reverberated from the bowels of darkness.

The bolt of an icy chill sped up my back.  “You're a demon?”

“And a pretty handsome one at that. I’m the incubus kind.” He looked over at me, his eyes narrowed into appreciation as he appraised me in my jeans and t-shirt. “You clean up nicely, but out of all the patients I’ve seen at a hospital, you make even a hospital gown look sexy.”

I nearly choked on the vomit that threatened to come up. “You’re much too old for me.”

“And you’re much too inexperienced for me. I prefer someone who’s been around… I am a very experienced older incubus, after all.” He glanced over at Moore. “Whatever pleasure that newbie has given you, I can give you a lot more.” He flicked the lapels of his jacket and then laughed. “Of course, it would kill you, just like anyone who has experienced my kiss.”

Shaking my head, I tried to make sense of it all.  “The mummified body at the hospital…”

Dr. Sorensen licked his lips and grinned.  “Being a doc has its privileges.  I admit it’s not my usual style, but, hey, couldn’t pass up a delicious opportunity like that.  Besides, it was rather amusing to put such doubt into that scrambled little head of yours.”  He pointed two fingers to Brax and Moore and mimicked a young female voice, “You did it. Or did you do it?”  He glared at me with satisfaction.  “Ah, what fun to watch a young beauty such as yourself blame the paramours in her life for something so awful, something so vile. You really do need to learn to trust a little more.”

“You should listen to Dr. Demon here,” the pretty girl said.  “He knows a whole lot about love.” She licked her lips and draped herself over Dr. Sorensen’s shoulders.

With a cocky cluck of his tongue, he bobbed his head towards her.  “Becca is responsible for the dud in the alley, just in case you planned to accuse me of that one, too.  I mean alleys… really.  I have my pride, you know.”

“I don’t,” Becca said.  “I like nasty places.  You meet so many interesting people there.  Like this guy.  He was a john; a horny little john who wanted a quickie… and he just wanted to pay me twenty bucks.  Well, I sure gave him his money’s worth. I got my twenty bucks and he ended up dead and damned. A succubus’ work is never done.”

I glanced apologetically at Brax and Moore.

“Don’t waste too much time talking to them,” Asher said.  “They’re obviously deceptive and only want to play with your head.”

Dr. Sorensen chuckled.  “How intuitive, Angel Cake.  You know, you humans are so paranoid and suspicious, it makes playing with your heads child’s play.  It doesn’t take much to get you thinking the worse of each other.  And talk about worse… where is the once beautiful she-demon who thought she could get away with devouring one of our own?” 

He grinned and winked at me as he walked to Shayne’s limp form.  With his foot, he nudged her.  “Her soul belongs to us now.  Silly little thing thought devouring a demon would make her stronger.  On the contrary, dear Shayne.”  He looked down at her, his hunger for her soul glowing in his eyes.  “You owe us your soul and we’ve come to collect.”

Shayne stirred and her annoyed growl filled the air.  Within seconds she was on her feet.  Her skin charred and her eyes glowing with hell’s ambers, she looked around her, lost and desperate.

“You really ought to do something with that hair,” Becca said with a sardonic snort.

Shayne’s beautiful long locks were now just flimsy dry wisps of black threads.

“Must be hard on the ego,” Becca continued as she approached Shayne and ran her fingers across the charred skin of her cheek.  “To once have been so beautiful, so desirable only to now stand here with nothing to offer, nothing but your pathetic little soul.  You didn’t even have the ability to take care of Mr. Angel and Mr. Seer.”

Dr. Sorensen cocked his head to the side in mock concern.  “Not so fun playing with the big boys, is it Shayne?  Stakes can run high.  Now you’ll know that demonic forces are not to be taken lightly, but I guess it’s a little too late for you to put that knowledge to good use, isn’t it.”

Through the crisp skin, red eyes and sharp fangs, I could see Shayne’s fear.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“We’re the collectors of deviant souls,” Sorensen said.  “And your time is up, darling.”

“No!”  She stepped back.

“Don’t turn this into a messy ordeal, Shayne,” Becca said as she held out her hand to Shayne.  “Be a big girl and come with us.”

Shayne’s eyes widened in horror.

Urging Shayne to offer her hand, Becca flicked her fingers.  “Come on.”  When Shayne didn’t reach out, Becca grabbed her hand and yanked her closer.

“No,” Shayne cried, shaking her head.

Becca gazed at Moore as she led his sister to the forest.  “You look just about ripe, handsome.  We should be back for you real soon.”

“No,” I shouted as I wielded my crucifix.  “I’ll never let you touch him.”

Asher came to stand beside me.

“How adorable,” Becca whined through a bored yawn.  “The body-licious angel and his little girlfriend demon slayer.”

Dr. Sorensen snickered as he eyed me with contempt.  “So brave, so strong… so naïve. We’ve been fighting the likes of you for thousands of years. Do you really think your false bravado and little crucifix scare us?”

“I may be young, but I’m far from naïve, doctor.”  I glared at him.  “I fought my first demon when I was two years old… and like that.”  I snapped my fingers.  “If I could so easily plunge a demon into the ugliness of hell back then, just imagine what I can do now.”

Brax and Moore joined us. 

“And, as if that wasn’t enough, I have the biggest, baddest demon slayers on my side.”

I caught a glimmer of doubt in Becca’s eyes, and when Asher swelled to his full height and spread his glowing wings, Sorensen blanched.

“What do you think of Angel Cake now?” I said with a smirk.

Smaller demons backed away and a few tried to escape, but Asher whipped out a glowing light and threw it at them, disintegrating two and sending many more running for cover.

With only my nod as command, the guys at my side jumped into battle.

Moore gladly gripped a demon by the throat and squeezed until the flaming red eyes dimmed then extinguished.  Three smaller demons jumped him, gnashing their teeth as they attempted to bite into his flesh.

The rage that’d built up within him these past days was unleashed with a vengeance and the little demons were destroyed and discarded with ease.

Brax also found himself bombarded with a series of small and larger demons.  The firsts were easily dealt with; choked, impaled or a quick snap of their neck.  They fell around him, heaped in a pile of decaying matter, but their numbers never seemed to diminish.

I did my best to keep up with the growing numbers. For every demon slayed, three new ones appeared.  I pressed my crucifix to one and another and another.  I had good momentum, fighting while avoiding a direct attack, but that ended suddenly.

My screams pierced through the growls and snarls surrounding me as cold sharp claws grabbed my shoulders.  The demon on my back prepared to tear me apart.  I reached back and tried to push my crucifix to it, but it dodged it again and again.

With one swift backhand, Moore smacked it on its ear and it toppled off me. With his knee to the beast’s chest, Moore pinned it down and strangled it until the struggle ended.

For good measure, I pressed my crucifix to its brow and watched it turn to ashes.

“That seems to be the only way of getting rid of them for good.  For all my choking and stabbing they keep coming back.

Hearing Brax’s sharp cry, we turned to find him fighting Dr. Sorensen.

Moore kissed me, patted my cheek and winked.  “Ready for more, my beloved demon slayer?”

As we rushed into the melee, Dr. Sorensen backed out, leaving minor demons to fight his battle.

“The damned coward,” I cried.

We worked as a team, catching, pinning down and slaying dozens of demons. When the flow diminished, I turned to look at Asher.

Shayne had regained her strength and had Asher by the throat while three large demons kept his struggles to a minimum by holding him back.

“Brax,” I shouted.  “Go to Asher.”  I fought the remaining demons with Moore while Brax slayed two of the demons holding Asher.

“Let’s go help Brax,” I said when the last of the demons around us vanished.

Dr. Sorensen stood nearby, the Book of Angels in his hands and a devilish grin on his lips.

Ravenous for a soul, Shayne tore Asher’s shirt apart and licked her dry, chapped lips with her black forked tongue.  “Aren’t you pretty, Angel Boy?” She snarled and brought the two holes where her nose had once been to his skin.

Her sharp claws traced over his skin, digging in deeper and deeper.  The faint trail of pink blood became thick dark red as she reached his jeans.  “Yes, you're going to be quite delicious.”

Whatever empathy, sympathy or compassion I may have had for Shayne left me in that moment.  I threw myself on her, pulled what remained of her hair back and punched her square in the jaw.  With a quick jerk of her hair I sent her to the ground.  “That,” I shouted, shoving my knee in her face, “is for sending me to the hospital, witch!”

Despite the black blood that spewed from her mouth, she laughed.  The cackling sound filled the forest, rendering the scene all the more vile and disgusting.

“It certainly was worth it, if only to see my charming brother squirm and ache the way he did.”

“You witch!” I slapped my frustration out on her face. 

She fixed her demonic red eyes to mine.  “Me?  A witch?  Really?  And you're an angel?  You who keeps breaking his heart over and over again as you ride your little merry go round of handsome suitors.  What do you really think that makes you?”

Gasping, I released her and sat back on my heels.  “That’s not…”

“You can try to stammer out all the excuses you want, Lux, but we all know what you're doing, playing these guys against one another; using each of them to suit your needs.”  She reached out and fingered a lock of my hair.  “You may still be beautiful and desirable on the outside, but deep down, you're no better than I am.”

Feeling strangled, I brought my hands to my throat.  “I’m not like you.  I’m nothing like you,” I argued.  “My mistakes, my not knowing what to do with Moore, Brax and Asher… it’s all innocent.  It’s all based on love.  Your only motivation is hate.”

Chapter 17

I
saw a glimmer of pain, but so fleeting, I had to wonder if I’d seen it at all.  The scowl that quickly took over was more savage, more murderous than I’d ever seen.

“You haven’t even begun to see my capacity to hate, Lux.  You haven’t even touched on the pure contempt I have… for all of you.”  She glanced around, her gaze even lighting on Moore for a meaningful moment.  “But you,” she hissed at me, “I hate you with a purpose… a purpose to rid this world of your kind.  To think that my brother would fall for a demon slayer of all people… he never did have good taste in women.”