He nodded. “Good luck.”And stay away from monsters.
“Good luck with your cooking.”
Bel said goodbye to the surprisingly insightful human and shoved through the crowd without a care for who he knocked over. Grabbing his brothers by the ears, he dragged them out of the bar, feeling like something monumental had just occurred. It was dumb. All he’d done was make a verbal promise, and vows that weren’t contractually binding meant nothing to demons.
But somehow, this vow meant something to him. This had been the point of coming to Earth in the first place, the reason he’d been willing to risk everything to escape.
He wanted a fresh start. A new beginning.
Meph whined and Raum punched him repeatedly, but he refused to release them until they were on the street.
“What the fuck was that for!”
“We’re going home,” Belial announced, and then he turned and headed down the street without waiting for them to follow.
“Human,” the creature hissed at Eva, and she screamed some more.
Ash was there in a heartbeat. One moment he wasn’t, and the next, he was standing in front of her, blocking her view of the monster. To a certain extent. The thing was huge and towered over both of them, especially with those enormous black wings. She could see its yellow eyes over the top of Ash’s head, and its long, whip-like tail snapping restlessly from side to side.
“Asmodeus. Your human has the Sight.” Its voice was deep and rumbling, and Eva had to fight back another scream.
“How did you find me?” Ash asked.
“Your Nephilim blood was wasted—I scented you here a week ago. All I had to do was wait for your return.”
Ash cursed. Brain firing off a whole lot ofWhat the fuck?, Eva slowly reached down to the cutlery drawer beside her. Sliding it silently open, she felt around inside until her fingers clasped around a big carving knife.
No, she had never stabbed anyone before. No, she didn’t have any epic self-defense skills—she was a musician, for god’s sake. And yes, she probably had no hope of fighting off the monster if it decided to attack her, but she wasn’t exactly thinking clearly at the moment.
“It is time to return to Hell, Asmodeus. You can’t hide forever.”
Hell? Was he serious? Images of bat wings and gargoyles flashed through her mind, and she realized that yes, he might very well be serious.
“I’m not going back.”
“You have no choice. It’s against the rules.”
“I haven’t done anything. Why can’t I just be left alone?”
“It’s against the rules,” the monster repeated.
“I don’t give a flying fuck about the rules.”
“We are demons. Following the rules is our role in creation.”
Oh god.Demons. They were demons!
No, wait. That was ridiculous. Completely insane. But it would explain the bat wings and those freaky yellow eyes. There was a loud buzzing ricocheting around Eva’s skull, and it made it damn near impossible to think straight.
I could be hallucinating again. But this feels way too real.
“Is that why you destroyed Eligos?” Ash said coldly. “Because he wasn’t fulfilling his ‘role in creation’?”
The demon-monster fell silent, his tail waving back and forth with increased agitation.His, because once she got over her initial shock at his appearance, it became obvious he was male. He wore only a pair of black leather pants, and his upper body was built with lean muscle.
“You will come now,” he finally hissed. Like a snake.
“No.”
