Page 21 of My Demon Hunter (Hell Bent #2)

20

H URRICA N E IRIS

I ris stood outside the apartment with her fist hovering in the air, afraid to knock. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. She couldn’t believe she was even considering doing this. All her years of lying and secret-keeping were about to come crashing down on her head, and she wasn’t ready.

Why hadn’t she told Suyin and the coven where she was going? Why hadn’t she immediately started planning a rescue mission for her sister? She didn’t actually believe there was such a thing as good demons, did she? She didn’t actually believe Lily had found some kind of fairy-tale romance with a soulless creature from nightmares, did she?

Iris had always hated fairy tales. Especially romantic ones.

She remembered watching The Little Mermaid as a kid. All her friends were giggling away, dreamily discussing what it would be like to have their own Prince Eric to fall in love with, while Iris had been horrified.

Ariel gave up her voice, her family, and her badass mermaid tail to be with some guy she’d only met once? Who then fell in love with her when she couldn’t speak for herself, voice an opinion, or say anything at all?

It didn’t sound remotely romantic. It sounded like her worst nightmare. Kinda similar to standing outside a flat full of demons and contemplating knocking on the door.

It opened before she had a chance to draw her admittedly random thoughts back to the matter at hand. Worse, she found herself looking into the red eyes of the demon with the face tattoos. Trucker Mouth. Snark Fest. Sexy Lip Rings.

“Well, well.” A grin split his face. “Look what the cat dragged in.”

“Look what washed up dead on the beach, rotting and bloated,” she snapped. The Little Mermaid had inspired her.

His grin didn’t waver. Someone in the house behind him barked a laugh.

“Where’s my sister?” Hide the nerves. Hide the fact that I’m stupidly attracted to his fake human face.

“Hello to you too, Blue Hair.” He didn’t move aside. He didn’t invite her in. He didn’t answer her question.

“My name is Iris . My hair is blue, but that is not my name. I-ris. Learn it. Use it.”

He leaned way into her personal space and slurred, “I-risss.”

She recoiled with a grimace. “You’re drunk.”

“Bel made martinis. Want one?” Despite the offer, he still didn’t get out of the way.

“And join your dirty demon orgy or whatever’s going on in there? Hell no. I just want to see my sister.”

He threw back his head and laughed. Then he folded forward and laughed some more. He wheezed and fanned the air like he couldn’t breathe. “Hear that?” he hollered. “She doesn’t want to join our orgy!”

Laughter echoed from the kitchen.

Iris ground her teeth. “Just tell me where my sister is.”

“How do you know she’s not part of the orgy?”

“Meph, stop being a jerk and let her in!” a female voice called out.

“You ruin all my fun,” he said back and then smirked at Iris. “Come on in, sugar.”

“My name,” she bit out, “is Iris .”

Pushing past him, she marched into the apartment, only to realize that wasn’t the best idea when she ended up in a kitchen full of people staring at her. The first person she noticed was an actual giant with the brightest blue eyes she’d ever seen.

Jerk-Off came up beside her. “Welcome to our evil, demonic orgy.”

The giant rolled his eyes. “Meph, shut up.” He looked at Iris. “Your sister’s in the other room. And before you ask, she’s fine.”

“Who the hell are you?” Iris snapped.

His brows shot up, and everyone stiffened. The air was suddenly thick with tension.

“You wanna try that again?” He spoke slowly, and something in his voice told her that he was not to be fucked with.

“Bel,” the woman said. “Be nice.”

He transferred his murderous glare to her but said nothing.

“I’m Eva,” the woman said. Her eyes were warm, and there appeared to be nothing evil about her, but that didn’t mean anything. “That’s Bel. Raum. Meph. And Ash.” She linked hands with a guy with epic long hair as she said his name.

Iris had definitely heard of Raum, and she had to assume the others were nicknames. “Bel, as in...?”

“Belial,” the giant grunted. He pointed to the other demons. “Mephistopheles. Asmodeus.” He pointed to the woman. “Evangeline. Not a demon.”

Iris’s mouth dropped open. No way. No fucking way she was standing in a room with those four demons. It was absurd. Impossible. Otherwise, she’d already be dead, or strung up by her own guts, or bleeding out on the floor, or—

What if that’s what happened to Lily? “Where the hell is my sister? Where the fuck is she!”

“Whoa, whoa, Lily’s fine.” Eva approached with her hands up. “She’s just in the other room with Mist.”

“She’s with the demon right now?” Iris’s eyes darted frantically around.

“Yeah, they’re just—”

“What did he do to her!”

The woman sighed, and Iris didn’t miss her rolling her eyes before she closed them. When they opened again, however, she had carefully schooled her expression into one of patience.

“Your sister’s fine. She’s with Mist in his room of her own free will, and he’s not harming her in any way. I already shot Mist a text to tell him you’re here, and she’ll come out as soon as she’s ready. If you want to sit down, Bel can make you a drink while you wait.”

Iris took a second to process this. The giant was Belial, fucking Belial , and he was going to make her a cocktail because her sister was locked in a bedroom with a demon.

She nearly screamed and threw up at the same time. Only her lips pressed firmly together kept it in.

“Now you’ve done it.” The demon with the gold eyes—Raum—took a sip of his drink and watched Iris’s mental breakdown with mild interest.

Eva’s eyes widened as she realized what was about to happen. “No, wait! Don’t go back there—”

Iris dodged her and ran down the hallway to rescue her sister.

She was fast, but the damn demons were faster. Before she could blink, Meph was standing in front of her, one obscenely ripped, tattooed arm blocking her passage down the hall.

“Sorry, doll, can’t you let you cockblock my guy.”

“Get the hell out of my way! What is he doing to her? I’ll kill you and him and all of you if he hurts her!”

Meph held up his hands. “Jeez, woman, you’ve got no chill. Lily’s fine. I’m only stopping you from going in there and killing the vibe.”

“Killing the vibe? Are you kidding me?”

“Trust me, it’s a valid concern. I had a nice buzz going on before you showed up, and now look at me. Sober as a judge.”

“Get out of my way.”

His red eyes narrowed in challenge as he reached out to block her way again. Only that stupid grin never left his face, like this was all a big game to him.

She wanted to punch him, to wipe that look off his face and show him what it felt like to be truly afraid. Motherfucker like him, who spent his life tormenting other people, had probably never felt what it was to be truly powerless, and she hated him for it.

“Just let her go, Meph.”

Iris glanced over her shoulder and saw Raum standing behind her. She hated that he’d snuck up on her without her knowledge. She hated that, at any second, any one of them could kill her, and there wasn’t a bloody thing she could do about it.

“Fine.” Meph dropped his arm. “But don’t come crying to me when you get an eyeful.”

The two demons went back to the kitchen while debating what the female equivalent of “cockblocking” was, but Iris barely noticed. Her gaze fixed like a laser beam on the closed door at the end of the hall.

“Lily!” The shouted cry was her only warning before she crashed through it like a battering ram.

“Mist—” Lily swallowed hard. How was he in pain? Why hadn’t he told her?

“Lily!”

She had just enough time to glance over her shoulder before the door burst open, revealing her blue-haired twin. Mist sat up with a jolt.

Iris took one look at him and murderous rage filled her eyes. She charged across the room, shouting, “Get away from my sister—”

“What the hell, Iris?” Lily had never loved Mist’s wings more than that moment when they snapped out and wrapped around their bodies like a blanket. “Get out of here!”

“He’s a demon—”

“I know he’s a fucking demon, goddamn it!” Lily never shouted, and she rarely swore. But she was damn well doing it now. “ Obviously I know that! You are the most pigheaded person I’ve ever met, I swear to god! Get the hell out!”

Iris froze, arms up as if she was still contemplating attacking, her mouth slightly open. Mist, to his credit, just tightened his arms around Lily and let her handle it.

“What are you still doing in here!” Lily shrieked when her sister didn’t move.

Finally, Iris lifted her palms and backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Lily slapped her palms to her cheeks. “Oh my god, I can’t believe she did that! What did she think was going to happen? I don’t know what is up with her, but she’d better start talking or—”

She broke off. The problem was, she feared she did know what was up with Iris, but she didn’t want to believe it. But she knew she needed to hear it, and that started with having that talk. It was the whole reason she’d told her to come here after all, though she was certainly regretting it now.

“Why didn’t the others stop her?” Lily mumbled. “They obviously knew what we were doing.” Her palms covered her cheeks again. “Oh my god, they knew what we were doing. I might die of embarrassment.”

Mist’s head tilted slightly. “Because you were with me?”

“What? No, of course not.” She slid her hands around his neck and petted his skin. “I’m proud to be with you. Just because it’s so embarrassing to think that everyone knew we were having sex.”

“Why?”

“Because...” She breathed a laugh. “I honestly don’t know. It’s a human thing, I guess.”

He nodded as if this, at least, he could understand.

Now that she had noticed he was in pain, she couldn’t stop seeing it. “I need to go deal with my sister, but... are you okay?”

A claw gently traced her collarbone and then drew a circle around her nipple. “When I’m with you, the rest of the world fades away.”

His words were sweet and warmed her heart, but she still recognized the deflection. But there wasn’t time to discuss it now, damn it. Not with Iris raging around in a house full of demons. Lily needed to get to her before she did something really bad, like piss off Belial.

“Can we talk later? After I calm my sister down and get the truth out of her?”

He nodded but didn’t meet her gaze.

She kissed him and then climbed reluctantly off the bed. Even in the summer humidity, her skin pebbled with coolness the moment she separated from Mist’s heated body. She dressed quickly, sneaking glances at him as she did, noting the pain in all his movements now.

When he stood, he did it slower than usual and wavered slightly as he straightened to his full height. His wings and tail twitched with constant agitation when they were normally mostly still.

At the door, she stopped and turned back, unable to quash her worry. Her instincts were screaming at her not to go, but she couldn’t leave Iris out there, and she needed answers.

“I’ll come right back,” she promised.

Yet she couldn’t help thinking it would be too late.

After a quick trip to the bathroom to wash up, Lily hurried into the kitchen to face the music. Bracing herself for drama, she was surprised to find Eva and the demons sipping their cocktails in silence. There was no sign of Iris.

“Hey.” She shifted uncomfortably when everyone looked up. “Um, where’s my sister?”

“She went onto the balcony.” Eva’s lips twisted with a sympathetic smile.

“I don’t think she likes us much,” Meph added with a smirk.

“Okay, thanks.” She started to leave and then stopped. “And sorry. She can be a bit... intense.”

Ash snorted, and Eva elbowed him. “Don’t worry about it.” She seemed to be making an extra effort to be nice, and Lily appreciated it. To call the demons intimidating was an understatement, even if they were in human form.

“And sorry about before.” Eva cleared her throat. “We tried to stop her, but—”

“Oh, it’s fine.” Lily was right back to wanting to melt through the floorboards. “Like I said, she can be intense. Um, I’ll be back in a bit, then.”

As she approached the patio, she could see Iris’s blue head through the glass, but she didn’t turn around when Lily slid the door shut behind her. Outside, the air was thick with humidity, and leaving the air-con felt like getting hit with a wet heat blanket.

“Can we talk?” Lily asked.

Iris finally turned. “Why did you ask me to come here?”

“Because Mist believes we’re in danger, and while I have my doubts, I trust him enough to take him seriously. This apartment is heavily warded, and he says we’ll be safe here until he makes a better plan. Actually, I don’t think it’s warded out here, so it would be better if we—”

“You trust him. You actually trust a dem—”

“Yes, I trust him, and can you please stop saying ‘he’s a demon’ repeatedly? You sound like a broken record. I don’t know if you noticed, but it’s pretty obvious he’s a demon. He’s the only one who doesn’t stay in human form. It’s not something I’m going to forget.”

“It’s just...” Iris shook her head. “You don’t understand.”

“Then make me understand. I get there’s a bit of a hurdle to overcome in adapting your perception of demons, but it’s not that big. Why are you so violently opposed to the idea?”

“There’s history. I— We have history.”

Lily’s stomach felt like a pit inside of her. “You’re telling me what Mist said was true. The fire was caused by a demon.”

Iris dropped into one of the deck chairs and slumped forward, dragging her fingers through her hair. It reminded Lily of Mist’s posture that morning, and the similarity struck her as a terrible sort of irony. It felt like an ill omen.

The urge to rush back and check on Mist seized her, but she forced herself to sit on the chair beside Iris. She needed to hear the truth first.

“I should have told you sooner,” Iris finally said. “At first, I kept it from you because I wanted to find the right time. But years passed, and there never was a good time, and then, suddenly, it was too late, and I just— I’ve been living with this guilt and regret and hatred for almost a decade, and I didn’t want that for you.”

“You don’t get to decide that for me,” Lily said in a hollow voice. Her sister, her best friend, had lied to her about the most defining moment of their lives, and it felt like a knife in the back. “They’re our parents, Ris. How could you keep something so important from me?”

“I’m sorry. I really am. I wanted to tell you, I tried, but...”

“There’s no excuse you can give to make that okay.”

Iris looked away and wiped roughly at her eyes.

Lily took deep breaths, trying to keep the anger at bay. It wouldn’t help her learn what she needed to. “So, there could be truth to this prophecy after all, then. Why else would the demon come after us?”

“Because demons kill witches. That’s what they do.”

“But there has to be more to it than that.” She refused to believe her parents were killed for no other purpose than senseless violence.

“There is.” Iris heaved a sigh. “Your demon’s right. Our births were foretold a long time ago by some great seer.”

“Oh my god.” She took a breath, blew it out. It didn’t help. “Oh my god! But, how—?”

“Mam and Dad and the coven knew about the prophecy, and they also knew there would be demons after us. They knew Valefor would come, and they were prepared. The cloaking only fell for a short time, but it was enough. It was the only reason he found us, and even by then, they had already repaired it. He never even knew I was there.”

“You knew about this all along. Even before their deaths— How long have you known?”

“Only a few days before. It was our eighteenth birthday, the night we came fully into our powers. Mam explained everything to me right before so I would be prepared.

Lily swallowed the bile rising up her throat. “And she didn’t tell me. Why?”

“She never expected the power shift to be so dramatic it would cause the cloaking to fall. She never thought anything like this would happen. She wanted to give you time and space to come into it on your own.”

“So... she lied to me.”

“She wasn’t trying to lie. You just never liked the practice the way I did. You wanted to sew, you wanted to paint and draw. You weren’t that interested in the coven. She just wanted to give you the space to be yourself.”

“A lie of omission is still a lie.”

Finally, it was Lily’s turn to assume that grim position. Planting her elbows on her knees, she leaned forward and buried her face in her hands.

“Nine years,” she said into her palms. “Nine years you’ve known about this, and you haven’t told me. Nine years, and I’ve never had closure. Nine years, and I thought there was some murderer out walking the streets facing no repercussions for what he did.”

“There is a murderer. His name is Valefor, and he’s a Duke of Hell instead of a human. And trust me, I have no intention of letting him get away with it.”

Lily shook her head. That Iris was dead set on revenge was not what she wanted to hear. “The fact that you could lie to me about this for so long... It’s like I don’t even know you.”

“You do know me, Lil. You know me better than anyone.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. She was suddenly exhausted. She wanted to curl up beside Mist and fall asleep for days. “I need time to think. And some space. And—”

She stiffened suddenly, twisting in the chair to look through the glass door inside. “Did you feel that?”

“No, what?”

“It felt like...”

She felt it again and leapt to her feet.

Magic.

By the time her instincts rose, she had realized several things. One, she should have obeyed her urge and never left Mist’s side for a second. Two, she should have pushed him to talk about what was bothering him and share his plans before she did anything else.

And three, in the time it had taken her to figure that out... she was already too late.

As soon as Lily shut the door behind her, Mist sprang into action. Her instincts were sharp, and he knew he didn’t have long before she would return to check on him as she promised. And the moment he activated the gate, others would feel it.

For the second time that week, Mist drew the complicated hellgate that would return him to the last place in any of the realms he wanted to be. Once again, he added the extra lock sigil to ensure he could not be followed. His plan was simple. Stupidly simple. But he was out of time and options, and it was the best he could do.

And maybe... just maybe... he would be successful.

If not, well, he was headed there anyway, so at least he could go out knowing he had tried. Wasn’t that what Lily had asked of him? To have hope?

Just before he was ready to activate the gate, he paused. He remembered the look on her face as she tried to figure out what he was planning. He thought about how she would feel when she discovered he was gone, and knowing it would hurt her sent a sharp pain lancing through his chest.

For millennia, he had existed in a state of cold indifference, detached and numb, living only for the hunt. Now, he felt things, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

He hated the idea of causing Lily pain, but he knew he had to. He wanted her to be free. He wanted her to forget about him and his doomed existence and go on with her human life where she was safe and happy.

He growled suddenly, fingers tightening around the chalk in his hand until it snapped in half.

That was a lie. He wanted her to need him and only him. He wanted her to wait for him forever, to tear the worlds apart seeking him, and to hunt him to the ends of the earth for daring to leave her.

But he knew that was selfish. His demonic nature didn’t care about that, but that other part of him, the part that felt things... that part just wanted what was best for her.

So, he would meet his end on his own terms, knowing he had enjoyed the human experiences he wanted and knowing he was keeping Lily safe in the only way he could. And if he failed, he knew Belial would honor his promise to protect her in his stead.

Fueled by his conviction, Mist broke through his final mental barrier of resistance and activated the gate. Immediately, he heard silence fall over the apartment, the hum of voices in the kitchen stopping as they detected the flare of Sheolic magic.

He heard someone shout, “What the fuck?” and the sound of thundering footsteps approaching rapidly.

Seconds before they arrived, he stepped into the gate and disappeared.