It was after midnight by the time we were organized, strapped with weapons, and got to the mine. We parked a good half mile away and slowly approached the place, easing toward the edge of the massive crater. I had my swords out and coated with the heat of hellfire, blades aching for blood. I searched for someone to kill, a fight with beings other than drugged-up humans I had to take it easy on.

We kept low, unwilling to be seen by someone below. The entire area was quiet and devoid of animal life. This place hadn’t been open in years and it made me itchy that the fauna was quiet. Animals tended to be more in tune with supernatural dangers than humans.

We got on our bellies, crawling forward until we could see over the very edge of the crater… and found something unexpected.

In Florida, a state surrounded by water with a high water table, underground mines weren’t a thing. Depending on the area, a person could dig five feet and find their hole filled with liquid in no time.

So, staring into the crater of this surface mine—where the owners had actually mined for sand—it was odd to see the entry for an underground mine. Yeah. The guy obviously hadn’t read up on the state. Or got his intel from dems that were stuck in the old west.

A weathered looking, wood frame formed an entry to the mine, signs mounted out front that warned of danger and denying entry. It kinda reminded me of a black and white movie from the ’40s. Huh. Maybe the dems weren’t that old. We circled the crater, coming in from the side, just out of sight of the entrance. I spotted movement and we all froze, crouching low. A small group of stoned humans meandered back and forth in front of the area.

“This is the place,” I whispered. “There’s not many of them, but we don’t want them to raise the alarm.”

“I got this.” Jezze slipped away and a few moments later, a soft, seductive song drifted through the air, wrapping around the humans. My ears itched as I fought off the magic woven through the sound. Jezze was great with her imitation siren-song, but I was thankful she wasn’t a true siren. Then, even Sam and I would have been affected by it.

The humans wandered off in the direction of Jezze’s voice, more appearing from some of the outbuildings. They climbed from the crater, sliding on the uneven sand, following Jezze as if she were the Pied Piper and they were her rats.

Once the area was clear, Sam and I headed right for the magical entrance to the mine. The front was boarded up, signs that read “CAUTION: KEEP OUT” nailed into the wood. A closer look showed that several of the boards had been ripped off and replaced so many times, some of the aged look had worn away.

Half-assed magic.

I peered into the darkness, wolf eyes penetrating the black. I didn’t see anyone near the entrance, but I caught the scent of someone farther back. No, several someones, whose scents carried a touch of brimstone.

“Dems,” I whispered low and sniffed the air again. “Half-dozen, hundred yards in.”

He cracked his knuckles and clenched his fists, giving me a nod.

We pulled off the boards and slipped inside, pulling them back into place just in case anyone followed. The human part of me, bred from Papa Leth and infused in my blood, wanted to charge in with a battle cry falling from my lips. The wolf wanted to stalk and pounce on its prey. Right now, the wolf won.

I crept forward, crouching low to the ground, and my wolf gradually emerged. My eyes took on my wolf’s sight, my nails transforming into claws and my fangs descending. I held the wolf back from going farther. It’d get its playtime eventually. I ached to taste the blood of my enemy, but I needed a clear head for now.

The shaft opened to a wide room with several paths leading in different directions. Silaran had really made a nice little ant hill for himself. A dozen red-skinned dems, long black horns sprouting from their heads, filled the area. They were relaxed but alert, ready for trouble, but not expecting it to actually appear.

Cocky dickholes.

We’d have the element of surprise and sheer awesome on our side. And we’d need it. This would be a tough fight, even for the Princess of Hell and a fallen angel. We needed to kill them… quietly.

I looked to Sam, giving him a small nod, and he flexed his fingers in anticipation. We waited until our breathing was in sync, our bodies matching rhythms.

Then it was a silent, blinding rush. I let my hellfire flare, infusing it with even more heat from the depths of Hell. I swung one of my swords at the first demon I reached, the blade arching through the air. He looked up at me, eyes widening in surprise, just before I slashed him across the ribs. Black blood spilled forth, coating the ground with its darkness, but it didn’t slow the fucker down. I swung the second time at his neck, ready to just lop his head off.

But he reached out and grabbed it with his claw. His palm sizzled against the heat of my hellfire, burning his damned flesh. Most dems were immune to a normal flame, but not the reach of my fire. Yet he stared me down without flinching even as his skin melted away to reveal blackened bone.

“It’s the Morningstar bitch,” he hissed. Then a wicked grin spread his dark lips.

He twisted his hand and a loud snap echoed in the cavern. I stumbled back, lifting my blade and frowning at the shard of metal. He’d snapped it in half and it took an ungodly amount of strength to break a hellfire-forged blade.

More strength than a dem should have.

“Sam,” I yelled out, dropping the blade and snatching the curved dagger from my belt, “they’re high.”

The dem and two of his buddies rushed me while two others rushed Sam. A few hung back, searching the battle for an opening. One of the advantages of a massive melee was that it was hard for all of them to attack at once. I put my back to the wall, using my blade to parry the dems’ claws, leaving no room for their BFFs to join in. Sam engaged a few more on the other side of the cavern, cut off from me.

We’d lost the element of surprise, and I’d expected to have at least dropped a few of our opponents by now, but I hadn’t considered how strong a dem would be when on Silaran’s drug.

I found an opening and rammed my blade into one of the dems’ guts, spilling more of the putrid blood onto the ground. I let out a fierce roar and called on more hellfire, pumping it into his bowels. He screamed as I cooked him from the inside out. The stench of brimstone and blood mixed with cooking demon flesh had my nose twitching. He stumbled away from me, flailing in pain, and my blade was yanked from my hand. By the time he hit the ground, his body was charred and limp. Before the night was through, someone would drag him back to Hell—where he belonged.

One of the other dems moved in and swiped a claw across my arm, drawing a gout of blood. I snarled and stabbed my dagger into his claw, then I twisted the blade, snapping the bones in his hand.

His buddy slashed my face, snapping my head to the side with the strike. The hit ripped me open in four long gashes, blood pouring down my neck as several long strips of skin hung in tatters from my cheek. I staggered and dropped to one knee, body numb with the sudden flare of pain. My wolf howled inside me, snarling and scraping at my mind, demanding to be freed.

Now that I knew what I was up against, I knew I couldn’t hold it back any longer.

It wanted out.

It wanted blood.

I looked up at the demons, all sense of humanity vanishing beneath the pain, beneath the wolf. I smiled despite the pain, the wolf excited at the idea of being unleashed. It was time. Time to play. Time to kill.

I crouched, muscles bunching, and then leapt forward—up and over—letting the transformation come over me mid-leap. Fur sprouted across my body, muscles bulging while I shifted into the thing horror movies were made of. Part girl, part wolf, and one hundred percent angry fucking bitch. The transformation knitted my skin together as my body was reformed, sealing the worst of the wounds. This shift couldn’t heal me completely, but it’d keep me from bleeding to death.

I landed in the center of the cavern with a dull thud, hybrid body taller and stronger than my human shape. I had the best of both worlds, a wolf’s weapons and strength with the human’s mind. Nearly feral, but not quite.

I raised my claws, holding them away from my body while I called for hellfire. It filled my paws first, blue globes forming before it spread. It writhed around me, black and red, blue and white, all of it hungry for demon blood. Several of the dems took a step back, stunned by my sudden transformation and ferocity.

That brief hesitation was their death.

The very tips of my claws flashed with Hell’s hottest fire and I slashed out at the two nearest dems before they could react. Left. Right. Muscle and bone bursting from their flesh. Blood splattered, staining my fur, but the scent spurred me on. Several more dems rushed me; brave or so drugged up they didn’t know enough to be afraid. I pounced on the first, flames dancing along my fangs as I sank them into the demon’s neck. I ripped out his throat, midnight blood coursing down my throat, and I let out a howl that shook the very walls around me.

My wolf had tasted blood. There was no stopping her now.

Claws raked my side, tearing out chunks of flesh and fur. My wounds would heal, but my body was taking more punishment than my powers could match.

Yet I was in a place beyond pain. It was there, but not. Rage, adrenaline and hellfire kept me from feeling anything.

I hacked through one demon after another, great sweeps of my claws leaving trails of hellfire in the air. The space crackled with heat and the demon blood boiled as it struck the ground, sending up wisps of dark, foul smoke.

Sam—my mate—was being overpowered by a couple of dems. The wolf wouldn’t allow her mate to be hurt. I rushed forward, grabbed one in my claws, and lifted his body over my head. I tightened my grip, claws digging in and firming up my hold. I released a bellowing roar, my muscles bulging with the strength of the sound, and then yanked the demon in two. His black blood rained down over me and I tossed the pieces of him aside. They flew into the wall with a wet splat and then I sought my next prey. I didn’t have to look far. I grabbed another, spinning him around and smashing him into the wall with a sickening, wet crack. He dropped to the floor in a lifeless heap of broken bones and oozing blood.

I’d just killed the last of the demons when I heard racing footsteps approaching from one of the other tunnels. I spun, crouched and ready to leap, waiting for my newest adversaries to arrive. A half-dozen dems ran forward, red shapes emerging from the darkness. They paused, skidding to a halt when they saw me; the hulking, burning beast I’d become.

I roared and leapt, landing among them in a fury of claws, fangs and seething hate. Fire erupted from my body, sizzling their flesh while I tore them to pieces. The scent of the blood had me lusting for more, craving more.

Near the end, some of them finally had the sense to try and flee. But it was too late. They’d taken one step too far. They’d attacked my son, my town, my mate, my swords.

I pounced on one and knocked him to the ground, slamming him into the stone so hard I broke most of his bones. I sank my fangs into the back of his neck and gave a mighty twist, snapping his spine. I heaved and yanked back, tearing his head from his body.

The last dem raced down a corridor, hunting for freedom, but I was on him before he made it around the first bend. I ripped him to shreds, claws and fangs tearing and ripping this beast from Hell. His screams were music that filled my ears, a symphony of pain and horror. At these moments I knew I was my mother’s daughter, reveling in the pain of others. Right then, I didn’t care who I hurt, who I killed. I wanted blood, and I wouldn’t stop until my urges were sated.

When the last demon fell, I turned, tipped my head back and sniffed the air for more prey. Some part of me, the part tightly bound to the deepest bowels of Hell, was driven to a raging fury at the scent of an angel nearby. I slowly turned, yellow eyes narrowed, and found Sam standing there, bleeding from multiple wounds. The scent of his blood stoked the fires of the darkness in my soul and the Hellborne part of me saw this angel as prey.

I stalked forward, breath coming in sharp, heaving gasps. Blood and flame oozed from my jaws. Sam looked up at me, his eyes flickering with the red light of the fallen, and somewhere inside, just a touch of the blue they had once known.

I raised a claw and slammed it forward. My claws rammed into the stone wall beside Sam’s head. I leaned forward, fangs bared, a deep growl rumbling in my chest. And Sam… stood stoic. Watching. Waiting. Trusting.

I closed my eyes and sought control, pushing the wolf away. She growled and writhed, eager to be unleashed. Either kill or mate. Anything to sate the animalistic urges inside her.

But this man was not prey. Now was not the time to mate.

Later, I promised her.

Slowly, my body shrank back down to its normal size, the magic, hellfire, and rage fading. My fur receded, eyes fading back to their normal, human color. I fell forward against Sam, gasping, the pain I’d ignored finally returning in a blinding rush. I was covered in deep gashes, and while they were slowly beginning to close, I’d lost a lot of blood. Too much for my body to recover immediately.

Sam pulled off his shirt and tore it open, ripping it into several strips that he wrapped around my wounds. I touched a hand to his bare, muscular chest. The part of me that wasn’t aching in agony appreciated the sight of him.

The wolf reminded me we promised to do something about that urge later, when we weren’t in so much danger.

The bandages helped slow my bleeding, the liquid no longer spreading and staining my clothes. Magic brought the fabric back, but I never had an anti-stain spell placed on my wardrobe. Now my natural regeneration could get to work, focusing on healing instead of trying to stop the bleeding first. I pushed back to my feet, catching my breath and swaying slightly.

“You should rest.” Sam’s strong hand on my shoulder steadied me. “You’re not immortal, you know.”

“Who wants to live forever?” I smirked. “Besides, there’s no time for rest. Maxim is here somewhere and I doubt he missed all of that commotion.”

“Reinforcements?” Sam raised a single brow.

“Not a bad idea.” I strode to one of the fallen dems and tugged my sword free. A pang of regret at the loss of its twin seared me and I wished I’d gone batshit crazy a little sooner. We left the bodies there, making a tactical retreat so I could call in some help and take five minutes to breathe air that didn’t make me want to fight or fuck.

Once outside the mine once more, I put in a call to Papa Al. I ignored his grumbles, growls and snarls, and told him to round up the papas and the pack. He could ground me later for running off half-cocked without a solid plan. We couldn’t afford to wait for them to show up, but at least the cavalry was on its way.

Jezze returned before we headed into the mine. “Humans are safe. Knocked ‘em out and they’ll be fine once they sleep off the drugs.”

I nodded, rubbing some blood off my face. “Then let’s do this.”

The three of us headed back into the mine, the dark stain that shouldn’t exist in the middle of a watery world and the source of all this trouble. I was aching, exhausted, and horny, but I was ready for another brawl. I just hoped we’d be able to handle whatever else Silaran had to throw at us.