Page 36

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

I ’m holding my breath as I look around the field, needing to make sure everyone I care about is okay, that they’ve survived. Suvi spots our arrival first and runs straight to my side.

“Your brother and Kit went to find your parents,” she explains quickly, probably sensing my fears or knowing me well enough to predict exactly where my head would go when I didn’t see them waiting here with the others. I can’t speak, simply nodding as I check the clearing for everyone else. “Holy hells, girl. I thought shit got crazy here, and then you just—where's all that blood from?”

“That’d be me,” Rio answers, smirking slightly as Suvi checks us both over with a critical eye. Probably confused and concerned over how there’s so much blood despite him being alive and looking mostly well. I have to push her aside for the moment, though.

Torrin comes jogging over next, panting, and wiping sweat off his brow. His hazel eyes go wide as he also takes in all the blood, but Rio raises a hand, cutting him off before he can ask.

“I was stabbed. Eden healed me.” He announces it indifferently, as if he’s describing the temperature outside. Yeah, it’s a little warm but tolerable. No biggie.

He might be calm, but I can feel my heart rate rising every second. Something is wrong. My ears ring as I move past my demon hunter, my chest tightening with worry.

Don’t panic yet. Keep calm.

Ash is grinning like a madman as he appears before me, placing his hand onto my belly. He frowns at all of the blood but must know none of it belongs to me, seeing as he doesn’t ask.

“Glad I didn’t need to kill half the planet to save you, little witch.” Ash chuckles at his own words, winking. Normally, I enjoy his playful charms, but right now I barely notice. The heavy sense of wrong finally clicks into understanding as I realise what the problem is. Someone is still missing.

Where the hell is Daion?

My best effort to sprint toward the bodies still littering the ground is a pathetic waddle at best. I shove my way past the others from my coven, the ones who took our side, and frantically search for Daion among the blood and dirt. I need to find him, but I’m even more desperate to not see his face with the rest of the dead.

There’s no way he could have died here. Not Daion.

“He’s not here. Where is he? Where’s Daion?” The pitch of my voice rises as I spin to face the others once again, finding they’d all followed me over here.

“He went to go and check something out during the fight,” Torrin explains, frowning as he glances around. “I thought he’d be back by now, but we’ll find him.”

I watch Torrin mess with some object he pulls out of his pocket as my panic rises, blurring my vision somewhat as I breathe heavily. The boost of adrenaline to my system has a contraction tightening my stomach, the feeling no longer deniable for what it is. I suck in a sharp breath, hoping that the others will mistake it for worry.

“I’m sure he’s alright, Hellfire,” Rio says, but I can hear the growl in his tone. He’s worried about him too.

“Where is he?” I ask again, and I have to fight myself not to double over from the intensity of the contractions. It’s painful, but it’s also a huge amount of my body that aches. My ass and vagina included. Ugh. What the fuck is that about? I remember reading somewhere how the urge to push the baby out can feel like needing to push a watermelon out of your ass. I’d thought the poster was being dramatic, but now I’m not so sure.

Fuck, I really don’t like this.

It’s difficult, but I breathe through the contractions as Suvi watches me with a knowing look. It’s not just that she’s a healer; she’s also too fucking perceptive and knows me far too well. One small shake of my head has her glaring at me almost mutinously, but thankfully she doesn’t say anything.

“He’s…not anywhere good,” Torrin admits, holding the object he’s used to pinpoint Daion’s location as if it’s betrayed him. “The thing he went to check out, it was something demon-related. Now he’s far away…like right across the country, according to this.”

“Take me to him. Right now, before I go atomic bomb on this bitch,” I demand, my wings popping out from my back against my will as my fear takes over.

One knocks against Ash and sends him stumbling back a few steps, but the other slams into Rio, sending him flying backward. He lands on his ass, eyes wide as he stares up at me. I gasp, unsure how weak he is or if he’s recovered fully after I saved him. I don’t want to tear his damn chest open again.

“Damn, girl, those are intense.” Rio snorts as Torrin helps him to his feet, keeping his eyes on my new appendages. I feel Ash caress the one he’s closest to, and a shiver runs down my back.

“Beautiful,” he murmurs softly.

“You’re transforming? Fuck.” Torrin grunts, then frowns as he glances at my belly.

Don’t be suspicious.

“We don’t have time for this,” I say, propping my hand on my hip and dismissing both the compliment and their concern. “Can you take me to Daion or not? Do you know exactly where he is?”

Torrin nods, but he’s still frowning.

“If he shows me where, I can take them, little witch. You should stay here with Suvi. Transporting when you’re this far along could be dangerous. It might send you into labour.” Ash takes my hand in his, trying to soothe me. It’s a little late for worrying about that. Not that I intend to admit it, as they’d never let me go with them if they found out.

“No, I’m not just going to wait here,” I inform him as calmly as I can manage given the situation, which has a debatable level of success. “We protect each other , so you’re a dead demon walking if you think I’m not going with you.”

“Alright, calm down, Hellfire,” Rio says gently, but I whip my head around to glare at him.

“Did you just tell me to calm down?”

Who the hell tells a heavily pregnant woman, in the middle of the most stressful situation of her life, to calm down? I may have realised I love the damn asshole, but that’s still some undeniably brainless behaviour right there.

“Come on, let's just go. There’s no use wasting time arguing over it,” Torrin interjects, pulling me away from his brother before I can go feral on him.

As we gather around Ash to be teleported, Suvi laces her fingers with mine, giving them a squeeze. Almost instantly, some of the pain fades as she subtly uses her skills to ease it for me without the others noticing.

“Thank you,” I murmur softly to her as everyone else grips onto one another, but before she can reply, the world spins.

Having teleported a couple of streets away, we make the final part of our journey on foot to avoid gaining the demon inside’s attention too soon. The crumbling house we arrive at is giving off strong haunted vibes. It really belongs in a horror film, not an otherwise quaint-looking town.

Why the fuck would Paimon bring Daion here of all places?

“His mother was killed here,” Torrin murmurs, answering my unspoken question. My heart pinches at the thought of Daion being brought back here, at the awful memories it will surely bring up.

We’re approaching slowly, cautiously, and I hate it.

I’m ready to bust the door down, but with Torrin’s hand wrapped around my left wrist and Rio clutching my right, I’m not getting anywhere unless they let me. Ash takes the lead, with Suvi following closely behind us. I breathe deeply, trying not to lose my mind with worry. All I can do right now is follow their leads. They know what they’re doing.

Having crept around the building to approach from the back, we find a massive window that gives us a perfect view of the inside. As we get even closer, I realise that through it, I can see Paimon has Daion by the throat. Fuck. My wings, which seem to have a mind of their own, flap wildly. It doesn’t do me any damn good. They’re heavy, and I clearly don’t know how to fly.

Ash glances back over his shoulder, frowning when I try to tug my hands free from Torrin and Rio. They hold tight, only enraging me more as I see Daion struggle.

“Fuck this, let me go before he kills him!” I snap, and to my surprise, both men release me at the same time. However, none of them are essentially nine months pregnant, slowed by wings they don’t know how to use and swollen feet that ache. So when they let me go, they take off for the house, easily getting ahead of me, which was likely their intention in suddenly fucking rushing.

Ash reaches the window first, shattering it as he blasts through the glass, followed by Rio and Torrin.

I do my best to rush after them, taking the stairs like a civilised beached whale. Rather than risk leaping through the window, Suvi and I go for the backdoor, but my wings make me too wide. I curse, because I’ve already been slowed down by my stomach, and I can’t hear what the guys are saying or tell what's happening inside. I tuck my wings, but it’s not enough, so instead I concentrate for a few seconds and will them away. I’ll just have to hope they don’t knock someone else out when they return of their own accord.

“Eden, wait.” Suvi grabs my shoulder, pulling me back before I can rush headfirst into danger.

I could scream at her, despite knowing she doesn’t have bad intentions for holding me back. They need me. I can feel it. It’s like I can feel their fear, and as I turn to look at Suvi, my contractions decide now is apparently the best time to kick it up a notch.

Goddess, who did I piss off in a past life to deserve this terrible ass timing?

“Suvi, whatever you’re about to say, spill. I need to get in there before this baby decides to water slide itself out of my birth canal, right into a haunted house,” I growl, while trying not to sound too pissy with her. This isn’t her fault.

“Fuck, Eden. You make my life so much more complicated,” Suvi hisses, shaking her head as she watches me clutch my stomach. “Where you go, I go. Just be careful, you pain in my ass.” Suvi lifts her chin, ready to follow me into whatever hell I’m about to drag her into.

“If the baby goes flying out of my hoo-ha, catch them, please,” I say teasingly, trying to lighten the impossibly dark mood.

I don’t have any more time to waste, though, so before she can agree, I’m already heading through the house and towards the room we’d seen through the window. We find Daion still in Paimon’s grip. His hand is wrapped tightly around my demon hunter's throat, though now he’s turned his head to glare at the interruption to his plans.

For a brief moment, I simply stare as I realise Daion’s changed. His dark eyes are now slit with yellow, and there are black horns sprouting from his head. I reach up, touching my own head, and searching for horns I might have missed. Nothing. Thank fuck. Daion also has massive wings; they’re actually bigger than mine, but his are pinned to the wall, much like he is.

The contractions become so intense that my steps falter. They’re maybe three minutes apart, at best. I don’t have the time for this to drag out.

“Stop!” I yell, throwing my hands up, making all the men around me pause. “Take me. Let Daion go, and take me, instead.” The words are like acid in my mouth, but I only need to get close enough to Piehole to take him down.

Daion’s eyes blaze as he struggles to shake his head with a hand on his throat. “Fuck no!” he snaps out furiously, but the demon lord holding him chuckles.

“I can simply have both.” Paimon shrugs. “I can bond your baby to me, and then the three of you will all bend to my will. Thanks to his mother, I can’t bind my own petulant spawn directly. He’s too old now, but that baby? Oh, they’ll be forced to listen to my every word, and in turn, so will you. Your pathetic sentimental loyalty will be your undoing.”

I take several steps forward, intending to use myself as leverage so I can get my hands on him and then hopefully drain him dry. Surely I can repeat what I did before, even if it is without the ritual’s assistance, at least, I hope I can. However, the second I’m a step closer to Paimon than the others, chaos breaks loose.

Rio loses his shit, freaks out, and launches forward at Paimon. Daion’s eyes fly wide as he realises his brother is moving in at a frightening speed with a terrifying look on his face. Torrin and Ash move as one half a second later, while Paimon realises what his words and my steps have triggered.

In the chaos, Daion manages to free himself from Paimon’s hold, but instead of fleeing like I want him to, he spins to face the older demon head on. The violent demonic power filling the air has me shaking as my uterus rebels against me. I can barely think straight as I try to approach, but there’s no need. It’s clear these four men are willing to do anything to protect me, even when that means stopping me from protecting them.

Ash and Daion are both using their demon powers against Paimon, who returns their attacks in kind, with a frightening sort of efficiency. I can’t help but think if it weren’t for a rabid Rio attacking him, along with Torrin, he might have overpowered the other two already. He’s just…so overwhelmingly powerful. It’s even more terrifying to consider that he thinks Daion and my baby could be stronger, simply because of what they are.

Suvi grips my arm, holding me up to keep me from falling to my knees as I shake. I watch as Rio jumps on Paimon’s back, latching onto him like he’s possessed and attempting to choke the twisted demon out. I notice he’s using one hand to dig a small blade into the back of Paimon’s neck above where his other arm is choking him. It doesn’t seem to be enough to finish the bastard off, though.

Daion catches a black dagger that Torrin tosses to him. He then leaps into the air, arms raised, while Ash’s power works overtime to help Rio with subduing Paimon long enough for Daion to plunge the dagger into his heart.

Everything comes to a sudden standstill as Rio continues to cling to the older demon’s back, waiting. Paimon blinks once…twice. He falls to his knees, then tumbles to his side as Rio lands on his feet beside the body. He looks between the body on the floor and Daion a few times, as if not wanting to believe the obvious is true.

“So, you’re half-demon, and this skeevy fuck is your…” Rio squints, searching for a word, “sperm donor?” He doesn’t look as angry as I expected; he sounds more outraged at not knowing, actually.

There’s a sudden gush of wetness between my thighs, and the pool of liquid it creates at my feet makes me cringe. Lovely. Fabulous timing, baby.

“Is Lord Piehole dead?” I ask, not wanting to dignify the bastard with his actual name as I cling to Suvi for dear life.

“Yeah. I didn’t know it was him until recently, but I knew I was half-demon,” Daion admits, dropping his chin. Now probably isn’t the right time to admire how handsome he looks like this. Demonic looks surprisingly good on him.

“Hmm.” Torrin shrugs, seemingly unfazed, which gets more of a reaction from Rio.

“You didn’t tell me either!?” Rio demands, throwing up his hands. “Did you know?” He gestures at me next, and I can’t muster more than a nod. It wasn’t my secret to tell. “Let me guess, you both knew as well?” He turns to Ash and Suvi.

“I figured it out.” Ash glances between the brothers and then to me. “I thought everyone knew and just didn’t care?”

“Well, I didn’t know, and I don’t care,” Suvi snaps as she glares up at the men, her eyes bugging. “We have more important things to deal with right now!” She nods to me, and the guys all move forward at once, seeming to realise the urgency of the situation.

“Eden,” Daion rushes over, slightly slipping in the fluid on the floor, but focuses on me as he stabilises himself. “Are you okay?”

“Is Paimon dead?” I ask again. I need to know, and everyone has refused to answer. To give me the confirmation I need before I can even think about what’s happening next.

“Yes. He’s dead,” Torrin answers as he reaches for me.

“Good,” I say dryly, grabbing his hand before he can set it on my arm and squeezing hard as I’m hit with another painful contraction. “Right…on time,” I huff the words out, taking in a few deep lungfuls of air, “because my water just broke, and this baby is coming now!”