Page 28 of Demon Heart: The Complete Series

Tanith opened her eyes. “I hate you.” She clapped her hands once, aggressively. “Enough of this. What happens now is you will come with me to the demon realm and use The Word to make amends for your crime against your supposed one true love. Then you can beg his forgiveness, and maybe even mine.”

“There’s more to this,” Xavier said.

She shrugged. “Make this easy.” Her smile returned. “Oh, and I know you are carrying protection against Lemon Drop. Fairy magic, is it?”

The popping of glass in response.

One charm down.

“Thank you,” Tanith responded to the pop, chuckling at the sound. “Now, as far as this witch is concerned, he will stay here with my new friend Keith. Face the consequences of his actions.” She patted Keith on the back. “This doesn’t have to be difficult.”

I met Keith’s glare. “I don’t think so.”

“Then I’ll make you famous,” Keith retorted.

I cast the truth spell, a burst of red energy exploding through the room. The magic struck every single body, sinking into their skulls, loosening tongues. Including both demons and me. Sticky and hot, I felt every truth ready to be revealed, the tension pulling tight like a rubber band.

Snap!

The kickback hit me like a bulldozer, my body flung backward from the force.

Oh, God!

Xavier caught me before I hit a wall, spinning me around to support me, his chest against my back, his arms on my biceps.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice tickling the back of my neck.

I wobbled, unable to stand without him propping me up. “Give me a second.”

“What did you do, witch?” Tanith demanded, clutching her head.

But my opening question was for Keith. “Is there really a video?”

He snarled, trying to keep his mouth shut.

Watching him struggle helped put strength back into my legs. “Tell me.”

Keith’s mouth got to work. “There’s no video. Sheila tried filming you but forgot to press record.” He looked at a blonde woman on the left side of the room. “Too scared. So she fired the flare.”

Bingo. “Lying to me, were you?”

“Yep. And I’d do it again. You hurt me, Lee. I thought we had something.”

In his dreams.

I noticed Tanith’s attention moving from me to Xavier, the corner of her mouth pulling into a smirk.

“What is your interest in the human, Xavier?” she asked.

Once a truth spell was cast, anyone could ask a question for as long as the magic lasted. The time limit varied from spell to spell.

The demon’s grip on my biceps tightened, a growl rumbling against my spine as he pulled me closer.

The fuck?

“He is intriguing, confusing, beautiful, deadly. I want to know him, to explore everything that makes him Roman.”

Oh. Shit. My name…

“Roman…” Keith said.

“I want to feel his skin on mine,” Xavier continued. “To give him pleasure, to feel our bodies connect.”

I could barely breathe.

Yes, please. Do all of that.

“Disgusting,” Keith jumped in. “A demon wants to fuck you.”

Tanith touched Keith on the shoulder, smiling.

He glowered at me. “What do you think about that, Roman? Want a demon’s dick instead of mine?”

Keith shrugged her off, drawing a gun. “You pervert. You dirty, fucking pervert. How could you do this?”

The truth bubbled out of me. “Ever since I took him home, I’ve wanted him to have his way with me. Almost did but I stopped it and regret it and have a constant fucking boner for him.”

Damn truth spells!

“Demons are the enemy,” Keith responded, visibly teeming with anger.

“What do you call her?” I pointed at Tanith.

“Demon bitch,” he admitted. “Lowering myself here but I have to do this for Mark and the boys. You killed them, didn’t you?”

Shit. “I… I did.”

“On who’s orders?”

Xavier clapped a hand over my mouth, muffling my answer, even if it denied him the truth.

Close. Way too close.

Keith aimed his gun at my head. “Let him speak, demon, or I’ll blow his head off. No potential pounding for either of you then.”

“Jealous?” Tanith asked him.

“Big time. Fuck! Let him speak, demon!”

Tanith slapped him across the back of the head, chuckling. “This is wonderful. But speak one more disparaging word about demons, Keith, and I’ll turn your spine into jewelry.”

That shut the prick up.

“Tell me your full plan, Tanith.” Xavier suddenly steered things in the best direction.

The demon’s eyes widened, her jaw clenching in resistance. She snapped her fingers twice. A man to my left blew a whistle, a shrill wail filling the room.

“Tell me!” Xavier roared as the ground rumbled.

Every silver hunter blew a whistle, drowning out Tanith’s yelled response.

He’d been right about the something else. But what the hell was happening now?

“Tanith!”

A mighty boom swallowed Xavier’s voice. The ground split open, the room shaking. A heavy shockwave sent Xavier stumbling backward, holding me tight.

He is intriguing, confusing, beautiful, deadly…

Not now!

The split in the ground widened, bucked, lifting upward. Concrete swelled around it, cracking further, a beastly rumble shaking the foundations of the room.

Hunters, led by Tanith, fled through the other door. Keith remained close by, his gun now tracking the lift in the ground, hands trembling. Any moment now he’d drop his weapon or fall flat on his arse.

Fingers crossed.

A heavy roar, a mighty boom from below.

Xavier released me, gesturing to that other door. “There’s a demon rising.”

Of course there was.

He took my arm, dragging me across the room, dodging the cracks. Swelling adrenaline forced my legs and feet to work, brushing the aftereffects of the truth spell to one side.

We came to a clearing in the woodland, hunters disappearing into the trees opposite.

Tanith waited at the edge of those trees, giving us a wave.

“Tell me!” Xavier bellowed at her.

The ground quaked, the mud near my feet splitting open.

“We have to get out of here,” I whispered uselessly.

I turned back, Keith not hot on our heels. Still inside the room.

How big was the demon in the depths?

“Xavier…”

“Tell me, Tanith! Tell me your plan!”

She stumbled forward, her hand over her mouth, a hunter offering their support.

“Tanith!”

She vanished into the trees.

Xavier went to follow her.

The building erupted behind us, a geyser of stone propelled into the sky. The quake under my boots sent me onto my backside, ready to be crushed by falling debris.

I felt something strike my back before I was yanked into the solid body of Xavier. He spun me so fast I almost threw up. Wrapped me in silk, my chest pressed against his, the tip of my nose resting on his cheek.

That delicious heat of his was overwhelming.

“What—”

A heavy boom rocked the cocoon of silk. Xavier growled. A second hit followed, sickening vibrations shaking the silk.

Being this close to him would’ve been erotic under different circumstances. But right now, I wanted out, to run for my life.

“You’re safe for the moment,” he told me.

“Your silk… The debris…”

“It’s protecting us.”

“How much can it take?”

“Enough. Don’t worry.”

Boom. Crash. Shake. The whole repertoire of chaos inches away from killing me and sending Xavier off to the demon realm to convalesce.

Man, this sucked. Less than a minute later, it stopped, though tremors continued to rock the ground.

The silk moved, retracting into Xavier’s spinnerets like recalled measuring tape.

The night surrounded us once again.

A deafening roar got me spinning, a fresh pump of adrenaline steadying my wobbliness.

“Oh, shit,” I said.

A ginormous demon, at least a hundred feet tall, stood in a hole where the room had once been. Packed out with serious muscle the kind too many steroids would create. Its skin was a murky green, dry, nails hammered into its elbows and skull, yellow teeth like boulders.

Its one white eye blinked at us from the middle of its forehead.

An enormous cock, covered in spines, swung between its legs, a heavy ball sack dangling behind it.

“Shit…”

“Stay behind me,” Xavier commanded.

“Like fuck I will.” I pushed against the pain in my hands, running a few super aggressive spells through my mind.

“Roman—”

“We’re fighting this thing together.”

He didn’t answer. If he did, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. My jaw was too busy dropping at the sight of Keith trapped in the demon’s huge right hand.

“Help me!” he cried. “Someone help me!”

The demon shoved Keith into its mouth headfirst, the poor guy getting stuck halfway. I heard his muffled screams, watched his legs kick as the teeth came down. Bit him in half, the demon catching the bottom half as it fell.

Blood and entrails spilled down the monster’s chin, stringy bits of flesh dangling from its mouth as it chewed.

Even being desensitized to violence didn’t stop my stomach roiling in horror. I had to look away while the demon stuffed the bottom half of Keith into its mouth.

Xavier fished a blue fairy charm from his coat pocket. “I have to be quick.”

“What’s the plan?” I asked, swallowing rising bile.

“Climb on its back and deliver this package.”

I recovered quickly from my queasiness. “Need a distraction?”

“Please.”

I rolled up my sleeves, blocking out the wet, crunching sounds of Keith’s demise.

I tried a holding spell, but it bounced off the demon. Too big, too monstrous for a fading spell.

Dammit.

I cast a second spell, manifesting two balls of red light. They immediately snared the demon’s attention. It released a rumbling moan, licking its bloodied lips with a fat gray tongue.

“Come get them!” I called, waving my hands from left to right, the demon eye following the direction of the lights.

I ran left as Xavier went right. Heavy tremors shook the ground, rocks tumbling as the creature pulled itself out of the hole. I paused, watching it shake off a thick tree root, dirt cascading down its thighs.

Main objective, other than provide a distraction for Xavier: Don’t get eaten.

“Here, kitty kitty!”

I couldn’t help it.

The demon, even bigger fresh out the ground, stomped toward me, eye on the lights.

I kept to a safe distance, moving the lights back and forth, making sure I stayed out of its focus.

It groaned, reaching for the balls. With each of its clumsy lunges, I made sure it missed.

The beast emitted a grumble, a gurgling mess of words, and kept on with its hopeless reaching.

Xavier moved, stalking the back of the demon.

Left and right, to and fro, the demon hypnotized, so taken in by the pretty?—

Its eye found me.

Oh. Shit.

It pointed a swollen finger at me, mouth widening to release a mighty roar. Rotten breath came at me as a toxic wind, ruffling my hair as well as my fear.

In a desperate attempt to draw its attention away, I moved the lights much closer to its face.

Nope. It wasn’t having it. The spell, quite literally, was broken.

The demon grinned, baring its teeth, and charged at me. I dove into a roll, barely avoiding becoming a pancake. I flicked attack energy at him, a beam of red magic striking right between its arse cheeks. It howled, spinning on its heels.

As Xavier went to strike, two hunters burst from the trees. He moved in a blur of speed, and I lost sight of him.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

The big demon roared. I unleashed magic on it again, landing a direct hit to the family jewels. The resulting roar gave even the most ferocious thunder a run for its money.

The fucker charged.

I ran, rolling to the right. The demon moved with me, going for a killing stomp. I dove between its legs, drawing my dagger for a cock-stab.

Too slow. The demon swung its hips, cracking me in the face with its balls. I hit the dirt, landing on my back, his crotch directly above me. Every inch of my head screamed with pain inside and out.

Oh, man! The shame! Brought down by a pair of sweaty demon bollocks.

Great.

Had I lost some teeth?

The demon bent, reaching for me.

No time to check my mouth, I drove my dagger into the flapping dick, drawing the blade down the flesh, a stream of black blood splattering my face. I closed my eyes and mouth, swinging the weapon to the right.

Direct hit to the leg.

Yes!

I rolled backward, wiping demon blood out of my eyes.

The fucker took a swipe at me, bleeding all over the grass.

I leaped back, hitting him with more energy.

Red sparks exploded across his belly and chest, leaving behind burn marks and the stench of charred flesh.

But I couldn’t stop him, the prick too enraged to fall down and take a hint.

Even a hit to the face, which popped his bottom lip and seared his nostrils, didn’t do the trick.

Its eye seemed to be protected by some sort of special coating.

My hands were wracked with internal fire, begging me to quit with the magic.

Two silver bodies pinged in my periphery. Dead. Glass popped twice in a row. One fairy charm left?

I hit the big demon again as Xavier reappeared, making his move. He leaped onto its back, darting up the monster’s spine, his spinnerets at the ready. The spidery hunk spun silk around the beast’s neck, leaving himself a thread to pull on. He yanked, the demon choked, mouth opening wide in protest.

Xavier came up close to that mouth, shoving the blue glass flower inside as he released his silk, leaping to safety.

The demon groaned, biting down on the flower as Xavier crashed into me, cradling me in his arms.

I reacted before him, summoning a red barrier of magic around us seconds before the creature exploded. A torrent of black blood, flesh, and bone rained down on us, battering my barrier, my hands ready to give up and never come back to work again.

When the last piece of the demon fell, I collapsed with the barrier, so done for the night.

Xavier caught me before I hit the ground, scooping me into his arms.

Oh, I enjoyed the position very much.

I met his gaze. “Fuck…”

“You should have let me spin my silk.”

“Do I still have my teeth?” I asked, every avenue of hurt making themselves known again.

“Your teeth?”

I opened wide for my makeshift dentist.

He leaned in, inspecting my mouth, so close to kiss. “All accounted for.”

“That’s a relief.”

Exhaustion rapidly laid claim to my body.

“I’m taking you home,” he said, moving into the trees.