Chapter 31

“Fucking hell!” I grunt as I dodge the incoming tentacle.

Why didn’t Minnie warn me demons were so disgusting? It’s like black tar is oozing from every single one of Cara’s orifices, and the mere thought that I might get a drop of that substance on me has me queasy. Even more so than being the target of a hungry demon.

In my attempt to run from the tentacle, I slip on the bloody floor and barely keep myself from falling. Leaning back, I avoid the tentacle aimed at my face by the width of a strand of hair—which, admittedly, is not much.

I can’t even exhale in relief because demon Cara retracts her tentacle, only to send it flying again toward me.

“You,” she calls out, her voice thick and raspy and well, quite frankly demonic.

“Me?” I give a nervous laugh. “I think I just got the wrong room. If you’ll excuse me,” I say as I make a run for the door.

But as I’m one step away from it, the demon slams it shut.

Ah, for fuck’s sake. Of course this demon has to have some telekinetic powers.

Cara’s body appears to be decaying as the dark mist gets stronger and stronger. Her cheek is melting until only a black viscous substance covering the bones remains. Just as I’m about to point out the fact that she/it is losing their face, she jumps up on the ceiling and crawls toward me.

It crawls!

I suddenly feel like I’m in the Exorcist but without the priest to will this demon away.

“Minnie? A little help here?” I call out as I run from the demon.

More bodily parts melt away from what was formerly Cara until what’s left behind is a monstrous mass of mangled flesh and oozing tar.

Yuck.

Okay, I’ve made up my mind. I don’t want to become a demon—ever. Not when it means looking like that. I mean, personal hygiene? I don’t think demons have heard of it. Or if they have, they probably don’t even care about it because they can harvest souls while being dirty too. And that won’t work for me.

Nope.

I’m out.

Unfortunately, I’m not out of the room yet. And as I run around from this disgusting demon, all I can do is think of ways to buy myself some time until Minnie comes here and displays her demon slaying things—now that’s going to be hot. Of course I’ll indulge in the hotness of the event only after I ensure I don’t die. I’m not about to pull a fucking Lucien and leave my Minnie behind for another fucker to come along and sweep her off her feet.

No, I’ll be doing all the sweeping—just not with this demon. Although, I might have to inquire if there’s a demon slaying academy for humans since I do have the killer skills—pun intended—and though I may like to be the boy toy of a goddess five days a week, I’d also like to be her protector for the remaining two. Or even the reverse. I’m not picky.

Minnie might be badass, which is admittedly quite hot, but I want to be even more badass. At least then she might find it in her heart to forgive me for my past—and let’s face it, future—transgressions.

“I smell good,” the demon growls, probably meaning that it smells something appetizing—aka me.

“Oh no, you smell bad,” I retort, almost out of breath. “And I’d appreciate it if you continued to smell bad from a distance.”

A howl-like sound erupts from its makeshift mouth—all the skin and muscle has fallen away at this point—and I suppose this is not the time for humor. I mean, if it lost its human appendages, then I’m pretty sure my humor will be lost on it too.

Another tentacle reaches for me, and this time, I’m not able to evade it and it strikes me in the chest, throwing me against the wall on the far side of the room.

Fuck.

That hurt like a bitch.

“Minnie?” I call out again, my voice cracking from the pain.

The demon crawls toward me, now only a few steps away.

How the hell is no one hearing the noise? But then I remember the loud music playing on the ground floor and realize likely everyone is oblivious to what’s happening here.

The demon has almost entirely shed its human appearance, now taking the shape of a monster with no face. It has no eyes, no nose, only a large mouth with rotten teeth that it opens on a growl as it stops in front of me.

Oh, fuck. That shit stinks.

A smell of rotten flesh and sulfur hits me right in the face.

I turn my head to the side as I attempt to breathe some clean air.

This is so foul, I think I’m going to have nightmares about it for the rest of my life. Not the monster. Sure, it’s ugly as fuck, but not that scary. The smell, though? That shit is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever smelled in my life.

I take big gulps of air as I assess my surroundings to try to get out of this situation.

The monster is slower now. It’s in front of me, but it’s not moving. It’s simply…staring at me—though I don’t know how that’s possible with no eyes.

How does someone go about killing a demon? Do I recite a prayer? Make the sign of the cross?

Do I even know a prayer?

Damn it! I should have paid more attention in Sunday school.

As I’m racking my brain for some type of prayer that might keep this putrid thing away from me, it advances even more toward me.

“Smells good…” the same guttural voice from before speaks.

Just when I expect the demon to open that big and smelly mouth and swallow me up, I’m shocked to see it drop before me, lowering its head in front of me.

What the…

Its tentacles are now wrapped around me like a cocoon. They’re not touching me, but noxious dark smoke emanates from them, seeping into my skin.

I stand there, confused about the turn of events.

Is he not going to kill me? Not that I’d want that, but it would be more normal than the weird-ass kneeling thing this demon’s doing right now.

“Marlowe!” Minnie calls my name as she pushes the door open.

Detecting the motion, the monster shifts from its position, this time moving in front of me. Its tentacles are spread out around me like a shield.

“I’m fine,” I shout. “But if you could hurry and exorcize this demon or whatever it is that you do, that would be appreciated. It smells fucking foul here, Minnie.”

“Don’t move, Marlowe,” she grits out, coming farther into the room.

“Oh, trust me, I’m not moving,” I grumble.

If I shift my face even one inch, I’ll get another whiff of that pungent smell.

Blue shimmery light surrounds Minnie’s body. A long ice sword protrudes from her hand, her eyes focused on the demon.

It releases another loud howl.

Keeping some tentacles still around me, the demon uses the rest to launch an attack against Minnie.

She slashes at the tentacles, and as they fall to the ground, they transform into liquid tar. But it’s in vain, as others grow in their place.

“Your brother’s dead, Marlowe,” she points out as she continues slashing the tentacles.

“Right, as if I didn’t notice.” I roll my eyes. “Cara was the demon.”

“Cara?” Minnie’s veil slips off her head as she rapidly moves around the room. “But how?”

“Don’t demons trick people and all that?” I call out, still trying to hold my breath so I don’t inhale the toxic fumes.

“They do but…”

“There you have it. My brother wasn’t possessed. He was just an asshole.”

She slashes some more tentacles as she reaches the middle of the room. One step closer to me.

“Oh, I’m sorry he died,” she says suddenly.

“It is what it is. He was an asshole.”

“Still, he was your brother,” she mentions.

“Estranged brother. Shouldn’t you focus on slaying this demon? I’d really like to breathe normally again.”

“It’s not as easy as you make it sound, Marlowe. I’m trying to keep my powers under the radar,” she says in an annoyed voice. “Instead of criticizing my fighting, why don’t you thank me for saving you?”

“You haven’t saved me yet,” I point out.

“That’s just a technicality,” she adds, breathing hard as she spins around and cuts a tentacle trying to hit her from behind. “It should be done soon.”

“How soon? Please say within the next few minutes because it’s really getting stinky in here.”

“You and your obsession with cleanliness,” she scoffs. “If you only knew about the conditions in which I had to fight demons before…”

“I don’t think I want to know,” I mumble. “It’s enough that I know you ate from dumpsters, Minnie. I still haven’t forgotten that.”

“It was just a few times, okay? And the food was sealed.”

“Still from a dumpster.”

“Ugh, Marlowe. Can you just shut up? You’re messing with my focus,” she says right before a tentacle catches her in the chest, throwing her against the wall.

Ouch.

I know how that feels.

But unlike Minnie, I don’t have her fancy healing powers.

She grinds her teeth as she gets up.

“Damn it, why did this demon have to be close to ascension?” she mutters, annoyed.

“Ascension? What do you mean by that?” I frown.

“It’s at the cusp of becoming a mid-level demon. Hence the monstrous appearance,” she explains while fending off more attacks from the demon.

Oddly enough, it hasn’t moved from its position in front of me. All the attacks are remote, using its tentacles.

“Well, can’t you call your brother or something?” I ask, bringing my hand to my nose.

Goddamn it. I’m definitely going to have stinky nightmares for the foreseeable future.

“No. I will not call my brother for a low-level demon. Do you think I’m that weak?” she asks, clearly offended.

“Since you can’t use your full powers…”

“Marlowe, you’re not helping!”

“Right,” I say as I realize. “I should be cheering you on instead. Go, Minnie!”

Her eyes connect with mine and she gives me a deadly stare. In her empty hand, she materializes another ice sword and launches herself at the demon. She cuts some of the tentacles while evading others and in a matter of seconds, she’s in front of the demon, slashing at its midriff.

It’s a clean cut. The monstrous creature splits in two, the upper half falling to the floor and turning into a puddle of black ooze.

Disgusting.

“I think the words you’re looking for are thank you, Minnie.”

I smile at her as I finally inhale properly. There’s still some lingering smell but much more doable.

Minnie’s still holding on to her ice swords, and since her hands are busy and she can’t push me away, I grab onto the front of her dress and pull her toward me.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

My lips connect with her cheek, awfully close to her mouth. God, the temptation is debilitating—even in such a grimy environment and after almost being killed by a demon.

I press my lips harder against her skin, and a small sigh escapes her.

Her lips part, and I trace my tongue along the edge of her mouth, tasting her.

“Marlowe…” she whimpers. “This… It’s not right… We shouldn’t…”

She can’t bring herself to tell me to stop, so I don’t.

I keep my mouth on her cheek. Her sweet scent drifts to my nose and I inhale greedily. She’s a literal breath of fresh air in this fucking putrid world, and I cannot help but become intoxicated on her.

As I slowly draw back, I note the stunned expression on her face.

Her sword disappears from her right hand and she brings it to the place where I just kissed, touching it reverently.

“You’re welcome,” she murmurs, her face flushed.

I smirk at her.

“It’s not so bad to be a damsel in distress if I get that,” I add with a wink. In fact, being the boy toy of a goddess has never sounded better. I get to watch her slay shit—hot. I also get to reap the benefits—also hot. It’s a win-win situation.

Goddamn it, I’m a lucky bastard.

But no sooner are the words out of my mouth than the black tar that’s staining every corner of the room pools together in the center. Every drop gathers around, forming a big black pond. It swallows the corpses, almost like a black hole that’s absorbing everything in its proximity.

And when it’s done pulling all the organic matter inside of it, it starts growing vertically. The black tar swirls around, building blocks that resemble something slightly humanoid, but with misshapen features.

“What the fuck is that?” I exclaim.

Minnie swivels, her eyes growing wide.

“I was too late. It’s ascended,” she whispers.

The demon releases a mighty roar that shakes the entire house, sending a wave of energy straight at us. Minnie puts her shield up just in time to evade the brunt of the attack, but the surrounding area doesn’t stand a chance.

Two holes appear in the wall behind us, one on each side. The cold air of the night seeps inside. As I look back, I note the fallen debris has now blanketed the backyard.

Fuck.

“We need to evacuate everyone. Now,” Minnie says in a tight voice.

“There’s a fire alarm in the hallway. Cover for me,” I tell her and run toward the door.

“Marlowe!” Minnie calls out for me, but I ignore her. I run at full speed, avoiding the monster in the middle of the room. Surprisingly, though, it doesn’t even mind me. Its attention is fully on Minnie—almost as if I didn’t exist.

Her eyes widen when the demon doesn’t make an attempt to hurt me, but she follows after me all the same, enlarging her shield to cover me, too.

When she moves, the demon moves too. It releases another roar, this time louder, more powerful.

The entire foundation of the house shakes, mimicking an earthquake of at least seven on the Richter scale.

This demon version might be stronger, but it’s slower, too. Sure, the house quakes with every step it takes, but it’s almost as if watching everything unfold in slow motion.

I reach the hallway and pull on the fire alarm. The sound immediately blasts through the house, and in a matter of seconds, the music from downstairs stops. Cries of panic and confusion reverberate through the hallway as the guests filter out of the room.

Minnie stops in the doorway, turns toward the monster, and creates a blue energy blast that hits it in the chest. Even though the blow makes a dent in its body, the injury quickly closes.

“What now?” I ask, since it doesn’t seem as though anything can harm the demon.

“We need to draw it out in the open so I can summon it out.”

“Summon what?”

“I need to draw out the essence of the demon to the surface to kill it. Until then, he’s going to use the souls he consumed as a shield. So if I attack him now, I’m only going to harm the souls inside of it,” Minnie explains rapidly.

“Use the backyard. I’ll go down and make sure everyone is safely out.”

By that, I mean my mother and Giles. I couldn’t care less about anyone else. Although, for my mother’s sake, I’ll include Cristopher and Irene, too. She’s already lost a child. I don’t want to add more grief on her plate.

Minnie turns to me, her features tight.

“All right. But first,” she says as she backs away toward me, still holding her shield in place. The demon, too, advances.

When she reaches my side, she manifests her ice sword and cuts horizontally across her wrist.

“Drink this,” she says, thrusting her arm in my face.

I frown.

“It will protect you in case you need to heal from an injury.”

Since time is limited, I refrain from commenting or making a joke along the lines of how hot this is. I grab her arm and bring it to my lips, sucking in her blood before the wound closes.

It’s warm. Sweet. Surprisingly tasty. So much so, I wouldn’t mind drinking more of it, and as I greedily suck on the wound, I’m disappointed to realize it’s already closed.

I’ll ask for more later.

Maybe we can make it a game too, and she’ll let me do the cuts then drink her up.

Ah, damn it. Now’s not the time to think of kinky scenarios that I doubt she’ll let me enact without that fucking bond in place.

“Go!” she exclaims as she tries to keep the demon busy so I can make my escape.

I give her a worried glance, somehow unable to move from the spot.

“I can handle myself, Marlowe. Go and take care of the guests.”

“I know you can but?—”

“Go! Now!”

Pressing my lips together, I reluctantly leave her to deal with the demon while I dash down the stairs.

The fire alarm is still blaring, and the closer I get to the ground floor, the more panicked voices I hear.

“Mother?” I call out, scanning the area for her and Giles.

The main door of the house is wide open, and I note a gathering of people on the front lawn. I rush there, combing through the terrified faces until I find my mother.

She’s in the driveway, standing next to Giles. His arms are tightly wrapped around her. Cristopher and Irene are pacing around, both on the phone.

“Oh, Marlowe,” she exclaims when she sees me. “What’s happening? We felt the earthquake, then the fire alarm…”

“You need to leave here, Mother. Now.” Turning to Giles, I hand him my keys. “Go to my house and keep everyone there for the time being.”

“But, Marlowe…” My mother touches my arm. “What’s going on? There’s no smoke, no fire…”

“You need to leave. I’ll handle the rest.”

“What about your brother? I can’t find Julien and Cara anywhere,” she murmurs, her brows pinched together in worry.

I take a deep breath.

Fuck. I’m not good at this.

What do I tell her? That her son’s dead and that his fiancée was a fucking demon who’s now trying to kill everyone? As if she’d believe me—hell, no one would.

“I’ll take care of it, all right?”

Giles looks at me with an odd glint in his eye. Then he turns to my mother.

“If Marlowe says we need to leave, I’d listen to him,” he finally speaks.

“Tell everyone else to leave too. No one should go inside the house. Is that clear?”

Another rumble echoes in the stillness of the night. I slowly turn, my eyes widening as I see the entire structure of the house quaking and ready to collapse.

“No. I’m not leaving without my Julien,” Mother argues.

“I told you I’ll deal with it. You need to leave,” I rasp.

The other guests are moving frantically about, trying to get to their cars.

“Giles, please,” I address him, my tone serious.

“Come, Simone. We must leave.”

“But Julien…” she continues.

I’m about to lie to her and tell her Julien got out with Cara before. But before I can do that, another thundering sound erupts from the house.

The entire facade of the house collapses, the wall crumbling to the ground. Without stability, the next floors follow suit.

Minnie…

She might be powerful, but as she said, even gods are not indomitable.

“Giles, I’m leaving them to you,” I say as I turn and run back to the house.

I only take a few steps when Minnie is thrown in the air by the demon, who is now even bigger in size.

My eyes widen. It must be around ten feet tall at this point.

Its bulky, misshapen frame rises from the fallen debris of the fall.

Minnie gets up, but she’s wobbly on her feet.

Her dress is in tatters, and blood stains every visible inch of her skin.

She’s breathing hard as she looks back, her features tense when she sees that most of the guests are still in the driveway.

Everyone is screaming bloody murder now.

If they’d been scared at the sign of an earthquake and a potential fire, now they’re absolutely terrified as they come face to face with the ugly mess of mangled flesh that’s this demon.

“Marlowe…” my mother whimpers.

I don’t have time to console her, though.

Giles is already dragging her and my siblings away to the car, so I focus my attention on Minnie.

Reaching her side, I let her lean on me as she recovers from the blow.

Her skin is healing, but she looks out of breath. Tired.

“Minnie, maybe you should?—”

She shakes her head.

“I have things under control,” she murmurs, her voice ragged.

I raise a brow.

“The demon is almost double the size it was before,” I point out in a dry voice.

“That’s the point,” she wheezes. “That’s its demonic essence. Now I just need to end it. Stay back.” She pushes me out of the way, but I don’t think she realizes her strength because I’m thrown back a few feet. I barely keep myself from falling. But at the same time, the demon releases a loud, earth-shattering growl and advances forward.

It’s nimbler on its feet than before.

And as it rushes toward Minnie, dark smoke surrounds its body, almost as if it’s seeping into the atmosphere, infecting it.

A bright blue light erupts from Minnie’s chest.

She becomes covered in a translucent blue armor. It molds to her body until there’s not an inch left uncovered. Her hair, too, flows down her back, lengthening until it reaches her ankles. Around her face appears an ice-like face mask that covers her cheeks, forehead, and nose. Only her eyes and lips are still visible.

The armor appears to come from deep within her, and I soon realize that it’s made of ice.

She manifests her ice swords in each hand, and before I can blink, she’s out of sight.

She moves with the speed of light as she strikes against the demon.

I can only make out some flashes of blue and the horrible cries of pain of the demon as she slashes at him, time after time.

But whereas before it could immediately mend its body, this time, the ice blade cuts deep within its essence, fast and strong so that the demon cannot heal.

With each blow, she chips away at its body.

It tries to strike back, both with its crooked arms and with his energy blasts, but she’s too fast for him.

She flashes herself from his back to his front, then to the side and back to the front, cutting away at him.

Within moments, the demon is back to its previous size, shrinking an inch every second.

When he’s about four feet tall, Minnie stops in front of it. She aims both swords toward his chest, angling them at an angle so the blades meet at his core.

She pushes both swords inside the demon at the same time.

Blue shimmery particles—Minnie’s energy—soon overtake the black mist surrounding the demon. The blue swallows up the black until the body of the demon disappears.

But I don’t think it’s over.

From within that mist, something else comes out. It’s barely visible to the naked eye. It’s almost a translucent light that swirls around in the air. In fact, as I squint to get a better look at it, I notice there’s more than one such lights. They move around in the air, as if seeking something.

The skin on the bottom of my palm vibrates. It’s an unusual hum, one that’s both painful and exciting at the same time.

I grab my wrist to stop myself from shaking, but it doesn’t seem to work.

What the…

The lights from before rush toward me.

Eyes wide, I step back and cross my arms over my face in a defensive stance.

There’s no attack.

Nothing.

I look around, not seeing the lights anymore. My palm has stopped itching, too.

I frown.

Minnie is breathing hard as she retracts her ice blades. She slowly turns to me.

Her eyes are no longer black but a translucent blue shade.

She walks toward me.

The armor is still on her body, and up close, I note that it’s pure ice.

The armor is her—her power. And it molds so fucking well to her body, there’s almost nothing left to the imagination.

Damn, that’s hot.

All I want to do is grab her by the waist and pull her in for a kiss—even though that fucking ice might freeze me to death. But who cares at this point?

I might hate the cold, but I like Minnie more.

“Marlowe?” My mother’s voice filters through my primitive brain.

Both Minnie and I look around and realize my mother still hasn’t left. She’s on the other side of the street, with Giles barely holding on to her.

“Shit,” I mutter.

“Don’t worry about it,” Minnie says as she touches my arm lightly.

Yep, I was right. Fucking cold. But she’s also fucking hot, so I think they cancel each other out?

Her eyes flash a deep blue and in a matter of seconds, everyone still around collapses.

“They will not remember anything when they wake up,” she mentions. Turning her attention to one of the cars in the driveway, she uses her powers to move it at full speed toward what’s left of the house. Once close to the debris, she sends a couple of long, icy spikes toward the car reservoir.

Realizing her intent, I go to one of the guests and pat his pockets, finding a lighter.

She gives me a knowing smile.

Flicking the lighter on, I throw it toward the car.

The explosion is immediate.

“They’ll think reckless driving caused the fire. Your brother and his fiancée died as a result of it and his body could not be recovered,” Minnie adds.

Unable to help myself, I grab the hand currently on my arm and pull her to me.

It’s cold but damn hot, too.

Her eyes widen and she looks at me in surprise.

The mask around her face recedes, the ice seemingly melting in her face.

Her hair, too, becomes shorter while her eyes return to their original dark color.

She swallows hard.

“You were amazing,” I murmur as I press a kiss on the tip of her nose.

She sighs and leans into my touch, letting herself react.

Her armor melts into her skin, too, until she’s almost naked in my arms. The scraps of clothes barely cover anything, so I take off my blazer and cover her with it.

Sweeping her in my arms, I head toward my car. She must be exhausted after defeating that demon.

Once more—hot.

Perhaps I should feel sorry for my brother’s death, but at this point, I can’t seem to muster feelings toward any other person.

“Marlowe?” Minnie whispers, her face buried in the crook of my neck.

“Huh?”

“I used my full powers.” She pauses, then gulps down. “I need to run away… Again…”

I open the car door and place her on the seat. Kneeling in front of her, I lay a kiss on one knee. Then the other.

Then I simply place my head on her lap for a few moments.

“No. We need to run away. Where you’re going, I’m going, Minnie.”