As the sun dipped below the horizon, stretching the shadows and casting the woodlands into gray dusk, I was hunting.
But I wasn’t the only one. Somewhere beneath those very same trees, another demon was hunting me too. It was unlikely she had any intent of hurting me. Sneaking around her in circles, masking my presence so she could no longer pinpoint exactly where I was, was no doubt going to infuriate her to the point she wished she could hurt me though.
I’d never played nice with authority figures. No demon had ever turned down an invitation to be a member of the council, none had ever refused Lucifer’s mark. It was an honor, a true accomplishment, something most demons would envy.
But not me. To say Lucifer had been displeased with me would be an understatement.
But that was hundreds of years ago. Surely the bastard had forgiven me by now.
Laughing to myself, I said aloud, “Surely not. Lucifer isn’t the forgiving type, is he?”
“Not in the least.”
Her voice was close behind me, but I didn’t turn. I just grinned, nodding my head and shifting from foot to foot, considering if I should make this even more difficult for her and run.
Maybe it was better to behave. After all, she knew about Everly. Until I heard what she had to say, I at least had to attempt good behavior.
“Leaina,” I said. “My, my. I’ve really gotten Lucifer pissed, haven’t I?”
Her footsteps didn’t make a sound as she stepped out from behind the trees. She wore red, as usual, a beautifully stark color against her deep brown skin. Her tightly curled hair formed a halo around her face, which was professionally kept emotionless. She had a single silver ring pierced through the center of her lower lip, set with an onyx stone, and multiple jewels studded her ears.
The lip ring was Lucifer’s mark. He pierced every member of the council, an act of intimacy and loyalty, a form of welcoming them as one of his closest confidants.
“A pleasure to see you, Callum. As always.” Her voice was perfectly even, and I shook my head, clicking my tongue.
“Please drop the niceties. You’re not pleased to be here or to see me. I’m hardly a pleasure. No need to lie.”
She sighed, her wings stretching comfortably before she leaned against the tree behind her. Leaina: Lucifer’s right hand, his most called-upon member of the council. After I refused my offer, she rose to prominence with a single-minded determination to prove her loyalty.
“You’re right,” she said, producing a thick black envelope from somewhere on her person and holding it up. “I’m not pleased to be here, Callum. Again.”
“Ah, fuck.” I exhaled heavily. “You have a file.”
“Your file.” She opened the envelope and withdrew the sizeable stack of papers from within. “It seems to always be growing larger.”
“My apologies for not being more boring.”
“You were boring enough for the last few decades.” She withdrew a pen from her jacket and gave it several quick clicks. “But that’s changed quickly, hasn’t it? You fell off the radar for years and now you return with a bloody bang.”
She withdrew a sheet from the file and held it up. A missing person poster for Sam Hawthorne. I smiled, and she slipped it away again.
Her voice was sharp, clipped. “You’re responsible then?”
“You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t already know I was.”
She tapped her pen rapidly on the back of the file. “You know I still have to take the appropriate procedures.”
“Fine, fine. Go on then. Scold me.”
She glared, but she was the one who wanted to follow procedure. “Alright. Let’s review, since you’ve taken responsibility. You tortured and killed a human. He was not attempting to summon you nor were you currently bound to his service. The killing was not in defense of yourself nor in defense of another —”
“It was in defense of another.”
She glanced up in surprise. “Was it really? Was Mr. Hawthorne in the process of harming someone when you accosted him?”
I grit my teeth. My claws ached with the want to make her leave. But I couldn’t. “No.”
“Were you obligated to kill Mr. Hawthorne by the orders of a summoner who held power over you? Or were you obligated to do so by the terms of a soul bargain?”
“Don’t fucking insult me, Leaina.”
“I’ll damn well insult you if that’s what it takes,” she hissed. “You were seen clearly on security cameras, Callum. Wings, claws, all of it. You were recorded snatching him off the street, gouging his eyes out, and flying off with him.”
“That’s unfortunate.” Security cameras…huh. I hadn’t thought of that. That wasn’t really a worry when I’d locked myself up in House Laverne. “I’m sure you’ve already taken care of it?”
“Obviously. I’ve been running all over the place trying to ensure your mess doesn’t get out of hand.” Every tap of her pen was chipping away at my patience. “Let’s talk about the coven, Callum. Let’s talk about your witch.”
“Let’s not. Tell the council to close their eyes and look the other way. They’re good at doing that about any of their actual responsibilities. Can’t imagine why it’s so difficult to do it when it comes to me.”
“You know very well why. We’ve been lenient through the centuries. Letting you run all over Earth on your god-hunting crusade. We’ve looked away from far more than we should have. But this witch…” She flipped through several sheets of paper. When I saw Everly’s photo on the page she turned to, something vicious raised its head in me. “Everly Hadleigh, also known by her mother’s surname, Laverne. Twenty-three years old. The daughter of Kent Hadleigh and Heidi Laverne, a powerful witch in her own right as the daughter of Winona Laverne. Everly has quite the impressive pedigree.” She looked at me pointedly. “You haven’t claimed her soul yet.”
And there it was. “No. I haven’t.”
“But obviously you intend to. Hastily.”
We paused, tense silence growing between us. I had to choose my words carefully.
“I’m in no rush. Frankly, I’m more concerned with claiming her for myself, before I claim her for Hell.”
Leaina flashed me a quick, exasperated smile. “Claiming her for yourself and claiming her for Hell are one and the same. Surely, you’ll find it in your best interest to have her soul bound to yours. The power that would give you would be…” She paused, and for the first time in this wretched conversation, I heard something truly sincere. “It would be astronomical. Almost unheard of.”
“As I said, no rush.”
I was already sick of standing here and trading tense smiles. Hell’s council was made up of six of the oldest and strongest of demon kind. I’d almost been one of them, invited to join the council once the war was over and I was being called a “hero.”
But while the rest of the council was eager for Hell to forget the horrors of the war against the gods, it was impossible for me. Like so many others who had fought, I couldn’t forget even the things I desperately wanted to.
I remembered it all. The blood, the pain, the torture, the hundreds of lives lost. Demons I’d known, demons I’d loved, lying dead around me as far as the eye could see.
That shit couldn’t be forgotten, and it couldn’t be allowed to happen again.
But Leaina was insistent. “You know the laws, Callum. You know why they’re there, why these very few rules we have are necessary. Lucifer is willing to make an exception for you but only if you claim the witch’s soul. We can’t take the risk of a half-demon being born to a mother who isn’t even bound for Hell. Especially when that mother is so powerful.”
“Getting a bit ahead of things, aren’t you?” I said. “I’ve only just fucked her, Leaina. Calm down. Tell Lucifer to worry about his own seed rather than mine.”
“Callum.” The warning in her voice was evident, but I really didn’t care. After all, she was the professional.
“Boo-fucking-hoo. Lucifer has plenty of other ass-kissers, he can afford to lose one.”
She rubbed a hand over her face, scratching her claws along her jawline. “You need to return to Hell. Immediately.”
“No, I don’t think I will.”
“You need to come back. You’re not well.”
“Not well? Really? Is the council suddenly concerned for my health after all this time?”
“We’ve been concerned ever since you began this fixation. Centuries of obsessing over a witch you envisioned for only a few minutes. A witch who hadn’t even yet been born in linear time.” She huffed in exasperation.
This conversation wasn’t going anywhere, but I’d known it wouldn’t before we started. “Tell the council that while I appreciate their concern, it’s unneeded. I’ll take care of what’s mine.”
“I need something more than that, Callum.” Despite her obvious irritation with me, I could hear her concern too. She was a fierce demon, loyal, one I’d known for a long time. But our loyalties lay in different worlds. “Lucifer won’t accept that, and Bael and Paimon won’t interfere if he chooses to come after you.”
“Then he can come and have it out with me himself.”
She looked like I’d slapped her. She roughly tucked her envelope back inside her jacket, her claws ripping the paper as she did. “Madness. Utter fucking madness.” She stalked away, brushing roughly against my side as she did. “Mark the witch. Claim her. If you want any hope of keeping her, if she truly means so much to you, then do it. When Lucifer comes, he won’t be as kind as I’ve been.”
