Page 2 of Demon with Benefits (Hell Bent #3)

With one last glare at the fuckboy, whose red eyes were crinkled up in the corners as a huge grin stretched across his face, she turned her back on him and said to Suyin, “I’m going outside for a smoke.”

“I thought you quit.”

“Not tonight.”

Suyin cocked a sculpted dark eyebrow.

“Whatever. Don’t look at me like that.”

The humor bled from her expression. “You sure you’re okay, Ris?”

“I’m fine. Just tired.”

“At your own birthday party?”

“Yeah.”

“Right.”

“Stop giving me that look. Seriously, I’m fine. I’m just going out to smoke.”

“You want company?”

“Nah. I’ll be right back.”

“Well, I’m going to talk to the fuckboy if you won’t.”

“He’s all yours.”

Iris’s lip curled as the words nearly stuck in her throat. Slipping away from Suyin, she kept her eyes fixed ahead to avoid catching anyone’s gaze and being drawn into conversation.

With her own friends. At her own birthday party.

“Hey, Ris!” someone called, but she pretended she didn’t hear them and sped up toward the balcony door like her salvation lay on the other side. She didn’t let out the breath she’d been holding until she was safely outdoors, the hum of the party muted through the glass.

She stuffed her hands into her hoodie pocket and cursed. She didn’t even have any damn cigarettes. She hadn’t bought any because she told herself she was quitting—again. She’d told herself she wasn’t going to keep feeding her shitty habits and watching herself spiral further down the drain.

“Fuck my life,” she said aloud.

Damn it, it was bloody freezing out here. It was mid-February, and they were right in the middle of a cold snap. One did not go outside without a coat in Montreal winter.

Yet Iris was doing just that for no other reason than the fact that she didn’t want to socialize. All her life, friends had been her outlet, her safe space, her distraction. And now, here she was.

Deliberately alone, and somehow, still feeling lonely.

Meph elbowed his brother in the side because he knew it would annoy him. “How many phones have you jacked so far?”

Sure enough, Raum shot him one of his classic murderous glares, his bright-gold eyes narrowed dangerously. “Dunno what you’re talking about.”

Raum was a bit of a klepto, and Meph knew a house party full of drunk humans would be too much of a temptation to resist.

“Your pockets are looking pretty heavy there. Mind if I just reach in and see what’s—”

Raum punched him in the arm hard enough that his hand went numb.

“Fuck, dude!” Meph cradled his wounded limb. “Take it easy.”

“Be nice, Raum,” Lily said offhandedly. Mist loomed beside her, and the two of them were watching Eva and Ash, who were behind the DJ table playing with the gear.

Eva was teaching Ash how to DJ, and he’d nearly train-wrecked the last transition. Meph had booed loudly and earned himself a punch in the ribs. He was going to have a whole collection of bruises before this night was done.

Raum and Ash were sharing Meph-punching duty tonight, since Belial had opted to stay home at their apartment on the level above.

Their brother Mount Everest might not pass for a human at a witch party—considering he was seven feet tall and prone to bursting into flames—and tonight was all about blending in.

Poor bastard could probably hear the music through the floor, but it was for the best.

“Yeah, Raum. Be nice.” Meph’s grin broadened. “Or should I say Roman .” He cackled, remembering Iris’s earlier lecture about how they had to use fake names so they didn’t out themselves as demons— or else .

Raum’s lip curled. “Call me that again.”

Meph opened his mouth.

“You be nice too, Meph,” Lily said.

While Eva had learned to just watch the brothers’ constant bickering from the sidelines, maybe with a bowl of popcorn in hand, Lily had taken on the role of peacekeeper. She was constantly trying to make them apologize or stop threatening one another. Positive results were still forthcoming.

Meph felt more than a little proud of himself about the whole Mist and Lily thing, considering he’d been the one to convince Mist to go after her in the first place. He’d even waited in a park as backup while they had their first date.

A first date that had gone horribly wrong, but still. Look at them now. They were the cutest. All happy smiles and adoring looks. Almost as gross as Ash and Eva.

The whole relationship thing gave Meph the willies. Holding himself accountable to his brothers was bad enough. He was constantly pissing them off, and the last thing he needed was to have a woman giving him those same disapproving looks, even if it meant he got laid on the regular.

He got laid on the regular anyway. And he did it all without having to commit to anything except giving a couple orgasms before he grabbed his clothes and ran like the building was on fire.

Well... he had gotten laid on the regular.

Classic Meph, that was. Escape from Hell, finally finding the freedom he’d always longed for, and then, less than a year later, develop some kind of post-traumatic psychological hang-up that meant he couldn’t enjoy himself.

Any kind of intimate physical contact made him panicky. His palms would sweat and shake, and he’d have trouble breathing. Embarrassing.

The smile on his face, residual from laughing at Raum, suddenly felt forced. His cheeks hurt from it, it was so fake, so he just let it drop. For once in his damn life, he stopped fucking grinning.

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

Eager for the excuse to look away—he could feel Raum’s perceptive gaze on him—he pulled it out.

It was a text from Jacqui, Eva’s mom and his kinda-mom.

Okay, so she hadn’t actually told him to call her Mom, but he liked to pretend she had.

He’d never had a mom. He wanted to try out the word in his head.

He read Jacqui’s text. The final piece is ready! I’m dying to take the mold off, but there’s no way I’m doing it without you. You’d better get your butt over here fast.

A picture of the mold he’d made for his latest sculpture popped up on the screen below the text. He’d been waiting for the resin cast inside to dry. Shit, he wanted to go right now. He could sneak upstairs, use the hellgate in his room, and be there in seconds.

He glanced around. Would anyone even notice if he left? Raum was looking right at him with a frown. Damn it, yeah, his illustrious presence would totally be missed at this bust of a party.

Still, he was pretty sure he’d be able to sneak off for a couple minutes without the vibe totally dying. Lily was talking to Mist, and Raum was still staring blankly at him.

“I’m going outside to make a call,” Meph told him.

“To Jacqui?”

Meph just looked at him, not affirming or denying the statement, which he knew was as good as an affirmation, but whatever. Nobody knew about his secret obsession with sculpture. Raum probably had his suspicions, but Meph hadn’t acknowledged them. It was his dirty little secret.

A demon making art. What a fucking joke.

But he couldn’t seem to stop himself, and Jacqui wasn’t helping either, always texting him shit and showing him what she was working on. Always encouraging him to just “pop by” and try some new medium until he’d gotten hooked.

Again: a fucking joke.

“You talk to her a lot,” Raum said.

“So?”

“Are you fucking her?”

Meph recoiled. “No! She’s Eva’s mom. She’s my—” Okay, nope, he wasn’t saying that out loud. That was for his own, sad little brain only.

“She’s your what?”

“Nothing.”

“So why are you always hanging out with her?”

“None of your business. I’ll be back in a minute.” He fled as quickly as he could without actually running.

“Hey,” some faceless female said, stepping into his path.

He dodged her like a running back on his way to score a touchdown. He didn’t even look at her, and he certainly didn’t let her touch him.

He whipped open the balcony door and slammed it behind him like he’d just escaped a murderer, taking gulps of the freezing-cold air like he hadn’t breathed in hours, and—

Came face to face with Lily’s twin.

Iris’s lip curled at the sight of him. “What are you doing here?”

She said it like he had a disease. Like he was the nastiest motherfucker on planet Earth. Hell, he probably was.

He made a face. “What are you doing, birthday girl? Where’s your coat? Why are you standing out here freezing your tits off?”

“Could say the same to you,” she snapped.

Iris really hated his guts. It was weird. He might have said it was because he was a demon—which would be fair enough considering one had killed her parents—except she didn’t hate his brothers, and she was even nice to Mist most of the time.

But Meph always got the stink eye. The glare of murderous intent.

“I don’t have tits,” he replied blandly.

She rolled her eyes.

Damn, though, she was hot. He was just pathetic enough to be attracted to her even though she despised him.

Her hair was blue. Vivid, brilliant blue.

The blackwork flower tattoo on the left of her chest peeked out above the neck of her hoodie, and her green eyes were lined with dark makeup, giving her this tough-bitch look that was fine as hell.

She had a septum piercing like he did and more stuff in her ears.

He appreciated a female with good taste, he really did.

“Of course you had to stalk me out here,” she sneered. “You seem to thrive on pissing me off.”

“You’re not that special, sweetness. I came out here to make a phone call, and it was sheer bad luck that I ran into you.”

“You can’t call people inside?”

What is this? An interrogation? He started to lose his cool a bit. The little witch really knew how to get under his skin. “I can make calls wherever the hell I want. Why are you always such a bitch to me anyway? What’d I ever do to you?”

“Okay, first off, never call a woman a bitch.” She jabbed a finger at him.

“But what if she is one?” He was deliberately provoking her, wanting to push her into losing her temper for a reason he didn’t fully understand.

“I don’t give a shit. Don’t do it. And second, stop with the pet names. The next time you call me one, I will kick you in the balls.”

Okay, that crossed a line. No one threatened his balls.

He leaned into her, crowding her space and staring her down nice and hard. He allowed the tiniest bit of his deranged demon form to bleed into his eyes, letting it out of its cage the most he could. Just enough that he knew the red color would start to glow.

He wanted to remind her what he was.

She shrank back, her eyes widening and her nostrils flaring. Smug triumph filled him.

But then, as quickly as her fear responses appeared, they disappeared. Her eyes narrowed to slits, filled to the brim with loathing, and she got right up in his face.

“You want to act like a tough boy, then go for it,” she snapped, “but it doesn’t change what you really are.

You’re a shallow piece of shit with no substance or personality.

Your stupid jokes are just a distraction to keep people from catching a glimpse of your sad, miserable life.

You can keep lying to yourself about that, but don’t expect me to play along.

Find someone else to feed your steaming pile of bullshit to because I’m not buying it. Kindly leave me the fuck alone.”

With that, she spun and stalked back inside, slamming the door behind her.

Meph stared through the glass, watching her blue head disappear into the crowd. She sure knew how to make an exit.

He pulled his phone back out of his pocket and stared at it. Suddenly, he didn’t feel like talking anymore, not even to Jacqui.

He forced himself to write a text. Stoked. I’ll come by first thing tomorrow, so make some extra coffee for me.

Her reply came instantly.

You got it. I can’t wait to see the sculpture! I already know it’s going to be incredible. :)

Yeah, he was a fucking joke.