Page 8 of Another Underworld (Good To The Last Demon #6)

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Hello, boys! I’m back,” Pandora bellowed. “Did you miss me?”

I heard Fifi chuckle right before she tossed a few grenades and made a run for the fence. It was happening, and it was happening fast. My Demons moved as soon as the first word left Pandora’s lips. The guards didn’t notice, they were focused on Pandora. My relief when several of my Demons picked up the beaten women and raced to the far corner of the camp was palpable.

With a wave of my hands, I dropped a ward around them. They were safe. We, on the other hand, were not.

The evil Demons only let their shock of seeing Pandora last for a brief moment before the shouts of treason began. Purple fire swords were drawn, and they came at the Goddess like a freight train going downhill at over three hundred miles an hour.

It was not good. If Pandora was bothered it wasn’t evident. She had a vicious grin on her face and a purple fire sword in her hand.

“That’s no way to greet me,” she said with an unhinged cackle. “In fact, it pisses me off, you shit stains.”

I knew I’d promised to electrocute her if she called a Demon a shit stain, but in this case, I was A-Okay with it because I agreed with her.

“Kill the bitch,” the one in charge roared. The veins in his bulbous neck bulged, and the foul scent of sulfur permeated the air. I gagged as I sprinted to Pandora’s side. Beckoning my magic, my two purple fire swords appeared in my hands.

Cher’s war cry was ear-piercing. My scarily made-up agent was in her element. I spared a quick glance up as she and Abaddon flew over the camp and firebombed it. The scent of burning flesh mixed with the sulfur was bad—really bad. But the hulking assholes they took out meant the less trash Pandora and I had to take out, and by taking out, I meant decapitate.

“They are both here! Both the former Goddesses,” one of the sword-wielding Demons bellowed. “Glorious be to our God and his prophecy. It is as He has foretold. They will both come bearing false witness and shall die at the hands of the righteous, and all of Darkness will rejoice.”

Harsh, I thought. “Funny,” I shouted back. “The only ones dying seem to be you.”

Out of the twenty, only half remained.

“Five for me and five for you,” I told Pandora.

“I can work with that,” she replied.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fifi morph into a hulking, six-foot monster with razor-sharp fangs. With a grenade in each hand, she looked like a nightmare come to life. She was gorgeous. The fence had been deactivated. That was excellent since the enemy was doing its best to shove us into it. Fifi’s shift stunned the guards for about three seconds. Apparently, they’d never witnessed a Succubus in action. The first time I’d seen it, I was flabbergasted. Today, I was thrilled.

The slight pause was the opening we needed. Three seconds was the gift that could determine our lives and their deaths.

Thankfully, I’d misjudged Pandora. She fought like a maniac on steroids.

The battle was fierce and bloody. Pandora moved with speed that almost rendered her invisible. We were back-to-back and took charge like a well-oiled Goddess machine. We suffered hits but served them right back, times ten. The sensation in my arm as I lopped off the head of a raging bastard who wanted me dead was intense.

“Eight more,” Pandora bellowed with glee.

I had to admit, her excitement was a little off-putting. I was seriously happy she was on my team. She was deranged.

We were winning, but not by much. The odds were not in our favor, but I’d been in this position before. Abaddon and Cher were still going strong. The Demon prisoners were still safe behind the ward. Fifi had run into the camp and was going after anything that moved. The blood, guts and body parts that flew everywhere made the bile rise in my throat. The need to hurl was real. However, puking during battle was bad form. If Pandora wasn’t losing her cookies, I wasn’t about to lose mine.

“Fucking bitch. I will end you,” the one I’d assumed was in charge shrieked as he ran at Pandora like a crazed and rabid animal.

My other Goddess-half was busy beheading another who’d come up from behind and I didn’t like that asshole’s attitude. I was bleeding. Pandora had lost her left arm. These Demons had messed with me and my people in vile ways.

I was done. There were now only six despicable bastards left. It was time to reduce the number to zero.

I was about to go experimental. Raising my arms over my head, I screamed. The sound reverberated through my body like a bomb, shook the ground we stood on, and reduced the hut to ash. The enchanted fire that covered my body felt like a comfortable cashmere sweater. It was every kind of right. Slashing my arms to my sides, the six remaining Demons exploded like blood-filled ticks. The green goo and partial charred body parts scattered all over made my stomach roil, but this was what happened to Demons who harmed my people.

The silence after the battle was deafening. Pandora stared at me with her mouth agape like I had two heads. It was more unnerving than fighting the flaming assholes. I cautiously reached up to make sure my noggin was still attached to my body and that I wasn’t on fire. I heaved a huge sigh of relief when I determined that I was still mostly in one piece and not covered in flames.

“Are you serious?” Pandora snapped.

“About what?” I snapped right back. I’d just saved her ass multiple times, and she was being a bitch.

“It might have been nice if you’d shared that you could blow up the bad guys. Would have saved a bunch of time,” she complained.

“Yeah? Well, you didn’t ask,” I said flatly. “Plus, I’ve only done it one other freaking time. I didn’t know if I could repeat it, Stinky Whore.”

“If you can do it once, you can do it again, imbecilic slut,” she ground out.

“Nice to know, dick face,” I snarled. “I’ve been a Goddess for a few weeks. Can’t say I know all the ins and out like some douche canoe who has been around for millions of years.”

“Do not bring my age into this,” she growled. “I look fabulous.”

“You have one arm,” I pointed out.

“Whatever,” she groused. “It’s growing back as we chat.”

I squinted at her in disbelief. “I’d hardly call this a chat.”

“What?” she demanded, slapping her good hand onto her hip. “You want me to hug you?”

“Oh my God,” I said with a laugh. “Absolutely not. That would be so out of character I’d probably remove your other arm or lose my mind. Not sure I could handle you being nice.”

The nut job grinned and walked toward me with her one arm outstretched. She was coming in for a hug.

I backed away laughing. “No can do, Stinky Whore,” I choked out with a wide grin.

Her grin eclipsed mine. “Yes, can do, Bitch,” she shot back, still coming at me. “I’d find it amusing to make you lose your mind.”

“Fine,” I said, happily giving up. “You want a hug? Then you’re going to get a hug.”

All of a sudden, the Goddess didn’t look as sure of herself. She’d just opened a can of worms that she had no clue how to handle. Pandora tried to back up, but I was determined. Just as she was about to slip away, I grabbed her and hugged the bejeezus out of her. Her slim frame went as stiff as a board as she tried to weasel her way out of the show of affection. She sputtered indignantly and let loose with a bunch of four-letter words.

Too bad, so sad. She started it. I was going to finish it.

As I held the horrified woman tight, I wiggled my fingers and dropped the protection ward around my people. They quickly formed a large circle around us and watched in abject shock and confusion as the two Goddesses of the Darkness showed each other affection. It wasn’t clear from the outside that Pandora was trying to leave my embrace. That was good because whether she wanted to admit it or not, this was a step in regaining the trust of our people.

“Well, would ya look at that?” Cher squealed as she and Abaddon flew in and landed next to us. “It’s a dang lovefest.”

Cher was still boobs to the wind, but it was somehow appropriate. Abaddon removed his shirt and handed it to Cher. She tossed it on the ground and laughed. He just shook his head in amusement and put it back on. Fifi joined Cher and Abaddon. It was awesome that the Succubus was no longer a hulking, six-foot monster with razor-sharp fangs. She was back to her stunning, grenade-loving self.

“No, it’s not a lovefest!” Pandora grunted, finally breaking the embrace.

“I’d beg to differ,” I said smugly. “It was definitely a lovefest.”

She rolled her eyes and smirked. “Silly Bitch.”

“Stinky Whore,” I clapped back. Turning away from her, I addressed my broken and battered people. “You are free,” I announced. “You’re free because of your loyalty to me. You’re alive because of Pandora’s plan and bravery.”

The murmurs in the crowd were those of disbelief, expressions of surprise plastered on their gaunt faces. One by one, they dropped to their knees. The show of respect was for me… and a little bit for Pandora. She had defended them at my side. We’d both fought hard and won their freedom. Still, the display of respect moved her. Pandora stood silently, her face drained of color, and her remaining hand trembling so much that she shoved it into her pocket.

I swiped across the air and commanded their attention. “Yes, it’s hard to believe. I have to remind myself to believe it. However, the truth cannot and will not be denied.” I paused and let my eyes rove over the Demons. “I could not have done this alone. You would have perished and I might have been a casualty as well. The Darkness needs two Goddesses to survive. Without Goddess Pandora and myself, the end will come.”

“I will not show loyalty to Pandora,” a Demon in the front said with force. “My loyalty is to you, Bitch Goddess Cecily.”

I nodded and smiled. “Thank you. I’m not asking you to be loyal to Pandora. I’m asking you to accept her as the other half of me. This job is too big for one Goddess.”

“She is evil,” one of the women who’d been lashed cried out.

Pandora stood as still as the large-genitaled joke of a statue in the middle of the camp. I waited to see if she would speak. She didn’t.

“Love the sinner, not the sin. After millions of years,” I began.

“Trillions,” Cher corrected me.

“My bad,” I conceded. “After trillions of years, Pandora has been given the gift of hope. Her life has been one of tragedy and pain.”

“And evil,” another Demon called out again.

“Yes,” I agreed. There was no way of denying or sugarcoating Pandora’s past. “And evil, but that’s the beauty of hope. According to Martin Luther King Jr., who was a lot smarter than me, we must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

Pandora chimed in. “Umm… I’d have to argue my past is far more colorfully heinous than simply finite disappointment.”

“Not helping,” I muttered quietly. She shrugged. Even so, I couldn’t deny her statement. “Fine point, well made,” I conceded loud enough for all the Demons to hear. “Try this one on for size then… learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.”

“Did you make that up?” Pandora asked.

“No. I wish I had, but those were the wise words of Albert Einstein. Again, smarter than me,” I told her. “Bottom line is this.” I took in everyone with my gaze. “We have a problem—a rather large one that could bring on Armageddon if we don’t solve it. There’s a false God playing with fire in the Darkness. He has imprisoned you, and if he isn’t stopped, the end will come a whole lot sooner than expected, both in the Darkness and all the other realms.”

“Question,” Cher said, addressing the crowd. “Is the fake God’s junk as big as the statue depicts? Cause, I mean, come on… that wanker is absurd.”

“Men and their dicks,” Pandora said, holding her index fingers two inches apart. She arched a brow. “Am I right?”

The laughter erupted immediately. Even Pandora smiled. My Angel agent was brilliant in so many ways, and I was glad Pandora jumped in on the moment. It was good to laugh before battle and an even better one to laugh when the deed was done.

The deed wasn’t completely done, and a lot of distrust of Pandora remained, but we’d taken the first step, and we’d lived to tell.

Now, we just had to get to the finish line.