Page 12 of Bellamy

It’s showtime.

I sliced the head off one shade, and the demon’s body exploded in a burst of bright orange before turning to ash. Another lunged at me from my left side. I pivoted around to chop it in half. Three more ran toward me, their bodies appearing as swirling black smoke. A very thin layer of flesh lay beneath the smoke though—flesh that constantly burned.

“Leave any for me?” Raiden dropped down from the sky, his massive black-and-orange wings furling behind him.

“Nope. Maybe you would’ve gotten here in time if you hadn’t stopped for a burger.”

The evidence of said burger lingered at the edge of his mouth. He wiped the mustard off with the back of his hand. “I was hungry. I can’t fight on an empty stomach.”

“Empty stomach?” I holstered both my swords. “You cooked us a huge dinner before we left. You ate three full plates and half of a fourth.”

“Yeah. But almost two hours have passed since then. I was practically starving.”

“Glutton.”

“Whoremonger.”

I laughed. “Come on. I sense more in the warehouse district.”

We took flight and headed in that direction. Nighttime helped conceal us when we flew. Our cloaking ability didn’t work well in brightly lit areas, but for the most part, mortals couldn’t see us in the sky unless we wanted them to.

Echo Bay was our home, and we fought to protect it. Even before Asa came to power and built a dark army, my brothers and I had patrolled every night. We were the protectors of humankind, killing all sorts of things that went bump in the night. Rogue vampires that went on killing sprees, monsters like ghouls, and quite recently, we’d added zombies to that list. But mainly, we killed demons.

Shades were the lowest level of demon—easily killed but could tear someone to pieces in seconds, especially when they traveled in packs. They were creatures born from the suffering and despair of the souls in the underworld, created in the darkest pit in the deepest level of hell.

“Looks like we got company,” Raiden said before diving toward a group of shades scurrying down an alleyway. Flames flickered in the blade of his sword as he cut through them like butter.

I landed in the empty lot beside the alley and pulled my weapons free. Sometimes I used a single sword when I fought, but I liked double-fisting it with two blades too.

Lust softly laughed, a rumble I felt in my chest.

“Liked that, did you?”I asked him.

“Yes.”

“You have the humor of a twelve-year-old boy.”

He laughed again. The bastard.

I was cursed with the sin of Lust. But Lust seemed like his own entity. He spoke to me. Bossed me around. And laughed at my perverted jokes. It was the same for my brothers. Their sins spoke to them too. Some more than others.

“Help!” a woman screamed from the warehouse. “Someone, please!”

There was a loud crash, like shattering glass.

My boots thumped on the pavement as I rushed toward the commotion. The woman had been thrown through a goddamn window. She lay on the ground, covered in broken glass with deep cuts on her face and arms.

I sensed demons around me. Depending on their rank, I couldn’t always pinpoint their location, but their stench was unmistakable. Five demons? Maybe six.

“Help,” the woman whimpered, eyelids fluttering. She looked to be in her twenties, wearing fishnets with shorty-shorts, a crop top, and high stilettos. Her black hair had streaks of green, and her long fingernails matched. Other than the cuts, she looked to be okay.

I stepped toward her.

A demon jumped through the now broken window. He had four horns: two tall ones that curved back and two shorter ones in front of them. Mid-level power.

“You like picking on women?” I placed myself between him and the girl. She was crying behind me.

After killing this sonofabitch, I would heal her wounds, use my sleeping power to make her fall asleep, and take her somewhere safe. Hopefully, she’d think this had all been a bad dream.