I’m not even sure which part of America we’re in anymore. There’s a body of water in the distance, and some pine trees beside the road. That doesn’t tell me much, however. The constant phasing is making me giddy, and the tips of my fingers tingle. The demons don’t seem to mind it, but Jared and I aren’t holding up well.
Jared shakes his head and blinks hard a few times. He drags a hand over his eyes.
“Stop!” I shout before they can phase us one more time. We’re next to the coastline, with water crashing against the rocks. The salty scent of the air hits my nostrils.
They halt. Sylver shoots me a puzzled expression. “Why?”
“He’s about to keel over.” I force my hand out of Sylver’s grasp and walk to Jared’s side. “He hasn’t eaten anything since coming here. He’s low on energy. We need to give him a break.” I haven’t eaten anything either, and my stomach’s grumbling in protest, but I don’t pay any mind to it. I’m absolutely exhausted. I worked an entire night shift at Club Sin the day before. This is supposed to be bedtime. Instead, I’m traveling cross-country and experiencing the craziest day of my life.
Sylver tilts his head and squints at me. “You have a serious brother complex, don’t you?”
I glare at him.
Xeres sighs. “We need to get reinforcements and find shelter before nightfall. It’s not just Belial we have to worry about, but the angels, too.”
“What’s the point of having the cipher if you’re just going to kill him?” I say.
“He’s not going to die.” Sylver snorts. “He’s half-demon. He can take it.” His eyes shift to the wall of rocks next to us. “Probably.”
“Let’s stop somewhere. Get something to eat, at least. I don’t know about you guys, but we’ve been living as humans our entire lives, and even though I feel stronger due to my awakened powers, I think we still get hungry like humans do.” I haven’t gotten over the fact that I’m not completely human. I mean, I always had those suspicions, but I always thought Jared took it too far and that we were overthinking things. But acceptance gradually seeps into me. Things are beginning to make sense, despite how ridiculous our situation is.
Xeres frowns. His dark fringe falls next to his eye, and I get a strange urge to sweep it away for him. He looks at Jared and folds his arms. I’m wondering why he can appear so harmless and genuine with Porky, but when it comes to Jared, he’s nothing but a Hell spawn. Then I remember he is a literal Hell spawn. “He’ll survive.”
Jared waves a hand. “Don’t worry about me. Just feel a little lightheaded. I’ve had worse. Maybe. Life moves on.”
I wrap my arm around my brother’s shoulders and squeeze.
Sylver runs his hand through his blond hair. “Fine. Let’s go get him something.”
“Really?” I ask. He’s actually being nice. Is this real life?
“Yeah. Vickal, will you lead us to the next resting point?”
Vickal snorts. “Because you don’t know the way to anything, right?”
Sylver smirks. “And that’s why I need you, because you get all the specifics sorted out for us. Isn’t that touching?”
Vickal grumbles something I can’t hear. He phases into the distance. Xeres grabs my hand while Sylver takes Jared, and we’re off again.
In less than a minute, we’re at a gas station. Business doesn’t seem to be doing well. There are two cars parked next to the fuel pumps and not much else.
“Go get your refreshments, then,” Xeres says. “We’ll wait here.”
I glance at the store. “It’s… It might be more than a hundred feet.” And I have no money. I left my wallet back home. It’s the first time I’ve thought about money, which strikes me as odd. Usually that’s all I ever think about. Luc, Jules, and Kylie now feel like they belong to a completely different world.
Xeres gestures. “Vickal, follow her.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Vickal replies. He strides forward—at a human’s pace. They’re probably not phasing as much here because of the people who might spot them.
Vickal has been looking at me strangely since our encounter with the other demons.
I try to keep up, but he’s at least two heads taller than me and his legs are longer. He’s not slowing down for me. I speed into a light jog and strain to match his pace.
“Why are we going to Vegas?” It’s the city of vices and excess. It’s not a place for me. It’s too tempting. I suffered a gambling problem. That was three years back. I recall going to the dens every weekend. At first, I won a lot, but I think the people there let me cash in on purpose to hook me. Then the debts began to pile up, and I started telling myself I needed just one big win. I sold the first car we’d managed to save up for to fund my habit, and let the gang members there give me loans. I’m still in that shithole I dug for myself.
I think I’ve kicked my habit, but sometimes it rears its ugly head. It’s why Luc keeps dangling my debt over me.
And I still buy lottery tickets. I know I shouldn’t, but it’s hard to shake the need.
We enter the store. The cool air conditioning hits me.
Vickal answers my question from earlier. “We’re going to Vegas because one demon clan decided to stay on Earth and not go back to Hell after the last realm war. Their numbers probably rival that of Belial’s. They run lots of the city. The humans there don’t know about it, but it’s the Belladonna clan pulling all the strings. We need to get back into the veil and past Belial and his armies. To do that, we’re going to need backup, which, hopefully, the Belladonnas will provide.”
“What makes you think they’ll help?”
Vickal runs his tongue over his teeth. He should stop doing that. He looks too good when he does it. “Belladonna likes to bargain. We’ll give her one.”
“A bargain…”
I begin picking things up from the aisles. Vickal’s hovering nearby.
“What Sylver said to you,” Vickal says. “It’s still open. You can accept our offer.”
My chest tightens. I whip my head toward him. “And why would you think I’d agree to it?”
“Desperation, perhaps.” He inspects a packet of Reese’s and places it back. “I’ve been tracking you down. I know of your debts. You’re not going to pay them off, no matter how hard you sell yourself in those strip clubs. We’ll take care of that for you. Once this is over, I can set you up someplace nice and you won’t have anything to worry about again.” A sly smile creeps up the side of his lips. “Just let me fuck you how I wish and we can make your problems go away.” He snaps his fingers. “It’s that easy.”
I swallow nervously. The cashier beside us arches a brow at me, interest obviously piqued. “Thanks, but no thanks.” I stride past Vickal. I feel his gaze on my back as I do. I place what I’ve gathered in front of the cashier. A lot of it is what Jared likes, but some of it is for me. I spin around to look at Vickal.
He shoots me an incredulous look. “You want me to pay?”
“Somebody made me leave my wallet behind.”
“Didn’t you just turn down our bargain?”
“This isn’t the same. It’s captive’s rights.”
“Never heard of that one.”
The cashier’s an elderly woman. Her eyes dart back and forth between both of us, before they finally settle on Vickal. She’s ogling him like he’s an expensive cut of steak, which I find a little gross, since he looks far younger than she is, even though I’m guessing he’s probably not.
“You dragged me all the way out here. Least you could do is treat a girl.” Then again, do demons pay for their food? Do they even eat? I haven’t seen any of those three popping anything into their mouths since bumping into them. But I’m a demon too, right? Or is it different because I’m only half?
Vickal pulls a wallet from his pocket and takes out a fifty-dollar bill. He strides to the cash register and places the money on the counter.
I lift a brow.
“What?” he says. “I’m being nice.”
“That’s… unexpected.” I thought he was going to rob the place or something. Isn’t that what devils like him do? I assumed I’d have to stop him from pulling out blackfyre or something.
“That’s thirty-nine fifty, sir.” The cashier is a bit too eager to serve Vickal. She whips her gaze to me and grins. “I overheard the two of you speaking earlier. Captives. Fucking.”
I palm my face. I’m not in the mood for this kind of awkward conversation.
The cashier doesn’t make haste in counting the change. “Young love,” she says, grinning. “I wish I had my youth back. Young people just can’t seem to keep their hands to themselves. And it’s getting kinkier these days, with all those sexy movies and whatnot. Is that a byproduct of your messing around?” She twirls circles with her index finger, and I know she’s referring to the demon goo still covering our bodies.
Love? That is the last thing I want to share with Vickal. “You’re mistaken—”
Vickal wraps an arm around me. “Thanks.” He presses his lips to my forehead.
My stomach somersaults. What the hell? I scowl at him.
He’s looking at me with a mocking gaze, finding my reaction amusing. Maybe this is his way of returning my insult.
The old woman continues to smile at us. “I remember when my husband and I were your age.” I refrain from snorting, because she doesn’t know the true nature of Vickal. “We were out all the time. Discos, parties, movies. He just wouldn’t leave me alone, no matter how hard I tried to shrug him off.”
Vickal laughs—it sounds fake. “I’m not leaving this one alone.”
“No kidding,” I add. There’s an acrid taste in my mouth.
“Oh, so she’s playing hard to get.” The woman chuckles. “Hold tight onto this one,” she says to Vickal. “The chase is always the best part.”
“You bet I will.” Vickal winks at her. He’s a devil, all right. He’s not supposed to look this charming when lying through his teeth.
“Treat your girlfriend nicely. It’s hard to find gentlemen like you around these days.”
Gentleman? He is handsome, sure, but he does not look the least bit gentlemanly.
Vickal continues to hang his arm around my shoulder. It’s heavy. “Sure thing.” His body is warm and hard. I’m blushing at his touch, and that makes me want to punch something.
The woman nods. “Have a nice day.” Finally, she gives Vickal his change.
Vickal pockets it. “And to you.”
I wait for Vickal to pick up the bags—because might as well use that super strength for something, right? Even if the bags weigh nothing. And plus, that’s the gentlemanly thing to do. He just gives me a questioning look.
I dart one straight back at him, and we linger there in a momentary standstill, trying to force the other to pick up the bags through a staring contest.
When we stroll out of the store, I’m the one scowling and carrying them all. Chivalry has probably never existed for these crazy demons.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Vickal says as we walk through the automatic doors. “Why did you help me?”
“Help you?” Oh, he means that thing about my body phasing and my being forced into battle. “No idea. Probably an accident.”
“Makes sense.” He nods. “Unless you have some kind of motive, I don’t see any other reason.”
“How about just wanting to help?” I have absolutely no idea why I wanted to, but he looked like he was having a tough time, and my body simply reacted. It boggles my mind. Maybe it was just how outnumbered and cornered he was. Then again, I wasn’t thinking about that.
I wasn’t thinking at all.
Vickal rolls his eyes. “That’s never the case.”
“Pretty morbid view of the world, if you ask me. Some people want to help the weak just ’cause.”
He spins around and blocks my way. “You’re calling me weak?”
Silly demons and their egos. “Uh… well, you were in a tough spot.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Okay, okay. You’re a hulking demon who saunters around with his macho strength and has absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to his fighting abilities. Unfortunately, you also can’t help but swing your dick all over the place. But I’m sorry I mistook you as weak.”
He narrows his eyes at me. Seems like I’ve hit a nerve, but I don’t care.
He’s walking close to me now. A bit too close to comfort. I can feel the heat, the annoyance, coming off his skin, and it makes me jumpy.
Then he smirks. “Funny.”
“You’re welcome,” I say. We continue to stroll in silence, even though the distance back to Jared and the others can be easily covered through one quick phase. “I’m not sure why you’re so against the idea of people doing things altruistically. You help Xeres a lot.”
“That’s different.”
“How so? Does he pay you?”
“No, of course not. But I’m able to control the clan through the back end, and gain power there, while Xeres has to make the hard decisions and take all the responsibility. He gives me direction, and I make sure he has fewer problems. We use each other. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship.”
“Riiight… So, it’s not like you care for your clan, or Xeres, or anything. You just want to use them.”
“Yes.”
I’m not convinced, but I don’t argue. I’ll let him swim around in his skewed perspective of the universe.
He quickens his pace, so it seems like my words have gotten him worked up. His back is to me when I flip him the finger. It’s just for my gratification, so it doesn’t matter that he can’t see me do it.
I adjust the plastic bags in my hands and skip into a light jog.
Damn him and his stupid legs. They’re too long and my strides can’t keep up.