19. Mayhem

19

MAYHEM

T he ouroboros encircling my wrist was a trap. I could see that now, too little, too late. The being who called himself George had tricked me from the moment I stepped into the store. He had fooled Ember at first, as well, but she'd begun seeing through his charade…also too late.

I gripped the bracelet and pulled with all my might, but the harder I tried to remove it, the tighter it became. "What is this?"

A maniacal laugh emanated from George's throat. "Witch leash. I don't need your real name. You'll come when I call and do what I say. Such is the way for those who can't pay."

He waved his arm, inviting my brother and his witch into our plane. Ash gasped, pressing a hand to her chest.

"Turn around, and walk out the door," I said, but they didn't listen.

Instead, Chaos took Ash's hand and focused on George. "We're in a hurry. You'll allow us to leave with the clothing, free of charge."

George laughed again. "Four witches! Father will be pleased."

Interesting. It seemed our aura shrouds fooled the insolent being. He had no idea we were demons. It also seemed my brother's mind control ability was useless against this being.

Chaos glared at him. "We are leaving and taking the clothing with us."

"No, no. No one is leaving. Because you can't pay, you have to stay."

Ash attempted to step backward, but an invisible wall stopped her retreat. "What are you?"

He tapped his nametag. "I'm George. This is my store."

She crossed her arms. "Not who. What."

"He's George," Ember said, her arms hanging slack at her sides. "We're going to stay here now."

"The hell we are." Ash gathered a fireball in her hand and lifted her arm to throw it at George.

Ember countered her, summoning her own fire and hurling it at her sister. The flames slammed into Ash's chest and billowed around her before dissipating as if they'd never existed.

Ash's mouth dropped open. "Seriously, Em?" She threw her fireball at her sister, the effect identical on her.

"Fire witches! What fun." George bounced and clapped. "Oh, I know. Let's have a girl fight."

Ember glowered at her sister, stalking toward her with her fists clenched. Ash tried to retreat, but the magical wall stopped her. Ember clutched her shoulders and shoved her to the ground.

"I'm not going to fight you." Ash crab walked backward. "We need to leave."

"We're staying here." Ember lunged, landing atop her sister and punching the side of her face.

"Stop," Chaos boomed. He grabbed Ember's arm and hauled her up, but she turned on him, slamming her fists into his stomach. He lifted her, and she kicked, her arms flailing as her face reddened with anger.

"Get your witch under control," he said.

If I moved to help him restrain her, George would see I was no witch. His witch leash might have tethered me to him, but he could not control me like he did Ember. I needed to keep up my charade long enough to learn his name. Only then could I free my witch from his control.

I crossed my arms to feign obstinance and sent a pulse of my magic into her. I could almost feel my mark heating on her arm as I reached into her psyche. Her magic countered mine instantly, and she stilled, her body relaxing as she scratched her head.

"We don't need to fight," she said. "Violence never solves anything."

Chaos released his hold, and she offered a hand to Ash, helping her to her feet. She ran her fingers over the red spot she'd made on Ash's cheek. "Oof. That's going to leave a mark."

"Ya think?" Ash took a jar of salve from her bag and spread it over the impending bruise.

"What spell is this that defeats my command?" George fisted his hands on his hips. "Not a spell. A connection. A shared magic." He cocked his head at me. "What are you?"

"We asked you first." Ash returned the jar to her bag.

"He's George," Ember said. "This is his store."

Rage billowed in the pit of my stomach. My beast clawed to the surface, my talons and horns growing to their full size as I glared at the being.

"This is his store." Ember put her hands on my chest. "I'm going to live with him."

"No, my witch. You are not." I stepped away from her, and my beast took control.

The new shirt and jeans ripped to shreds as I grew, my muscles building, protruding until all humanness ceased to exist. Teeth turned to tusks, my feet to hooves, yet the bracelet conformed to my size.

I stalked to the being, grabbing him by the throat and yanking him over the counter. "Release her," I growled, "or I will kill you."

"Can't be killed," he squeaked. "Demon!"

"Don't hurt George." Ember clutched my arm and tugged. "Put him down."

I tightened my grip. George wheezed, the shroud he'd placed on himself and the store slipping away, revealing a horror to rival the Sixth Circle of Hell. At least a dozen emaciated bodies lined the wall, their arms shackled above their heads. Their eyes and cheeks had sunken in, their pallor an ashy green, their mouths open in silent screams.

"My sisters," Ember said, her voice filled with fondness as she circled her arm around Ash's biceps. "This is Ash. We'll be joining you soon."

"Ashhhhhh…" The moment he uttered her name, her eyes glazed.

"Very soon," she said.

Shade and Miles approached from the parking lot, so I slammed George against the door, holding it closed while Chaos turned the lock.

"Release them," I said again.

His face grew purple. He clawed at my talons and kicked, attempting to wiggle free.

"Put him down, brother." Chaos placed a hand on my shoulder. "He can't free them if he's dead."

I lowered him to the ground, releasing my hold.

"Can't be killed." He laughed and tiptoed toward the bodies. "Space for you here." He gestured to an empty spot along the wall. "If you can't pay, you have to stay."

Our witches started toward him, but we put our arms around them. "What are you?" Chaos asked, though I had a feeling he knew the answer, as did I.

"He's George," the witches said in unison.

"I'm George." The being tapped his nametag.

"That's not your name," Chaos said. "You're a Formorian."

Surprise widened his eyes, and he clutched his hands in front of his chest. "Formorians are extinct. Fae vanquished them all." His nose twitched, his true form threatening to break through his disguise.

"I thought so too, but here you are." Chaos crossed his arms. "What is your name, Formorian?"

"He's just George." Ember patted my arm.

"I'm just George. No Formorian here."

"No." I loosened my grip on Ember, though I still held her firmly. "He's no Formorian. I'd call him an imp at best."

"An imp!" His eyes turned yellow, his pupils narrowing into vertical slits as his nose elongated into a snout. "Formorians are better than imps. Better than any demon from Hell."

"So you are a Formorian," Chaos said.

George lifted his head, puffing out his chest. "I am a son of Balor. I…whoops." He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I need to join my sisters." Ember struggled against me.

"We must get them out of here." I rushed for the exit and turned the lock, throwing the door open and charging at the threshold.

The bracelet tightened on my wrist, and the sensation of a thousand thorns raking across my skin slowed my escape. I pushed through, as if walking through a tarpit. Ember cried out in agony, clawing at my arms and writhing in my grip. A popping sound echoed around us as we passed through the magical ward, and the pain ceased as quickly as it had begun. Ember sighed with relief, her body going slack in my embrace.

We stood in the center of the Formorian's store.

"No." I ran for the door once more.

Again the bracelet tightened, and thorns scraped across my skin. Ember wailed. We returned to the center of the store.

"What in Lucifer's name?" Chaos stared at me, bewilderment contorting his expression.

"He trapped me." I held up my arm, showing him the ouroboros encircling my wrist.

My brother merely sighed, yet I could feel his disappointment dripping from the breath he exhaled. "You fell for his guise."

"I was…" An idiot. It wasn't his guise that had fooled me. No, it was my own folly that got me…that got us…into this predicament. I'd gotten caught up in my emotions, enjoying this mundane shopping experience with the woman I loved.

My focus had been so pinpointed on the moment, I hadn't noticed there was nothing mundane about it.

"You must get them out." I clutched Ember's shoulders and pushed her toward him. "Take them to safety."

"What about you?" He extended one arm, taking my witch into his embrace.

"I will find a way out." I held his gaze with conviction. Ember's life was worth far more than my own. I would remain in this shop of horrors for eternity if it meant my witch would be free. "Guard her with your life."

"I will." Chaos stepped through the door, and the witches screamed.

In an instant, both women reappeared in the center of the store. Chaos stood just past the threshold, with Miles and Shade flanking him.

"What the hell is going on?" Shade clutched a knife in each hand.

"My sisters." Ember gripped Ash's hand as they sank against the wall adjacent to the bodies.

I spun in a circle, searching with my eyes and my magical senses. George was nowhere to be found. "A Formorian has trapped us."

Miles frowned. "Aren't they extinct? I thought the fae wiped them out eons ago."

"We thought so too," Chaos said. "It was the one thing both demons and the fae agreed upon. Formorians were a blight to all the realms, so we aided them in their battle."

I watched the women intently. No chains magically appeared to bind them. "This one says he's a son of Balor."

"Which means he is a prince," Chaos said. "He's as powerful as us."

"Can you vanquish him?" Miles asked. "Will that dissolve his spell?"

"No. I have dealt with these creatures before." I moved toward the door, keeping Ember and Ash in my sight. "Their magic holds, even if they are vanquished. We must find him and learn his name. Only then can we force him to release the women."

"We're coming in." Shade moved for the door.

Chaos grabbed his arm. "Do not, under any circumstances, use real names."

"That is how he trapped the women," I said. "If he learns your names, you'll be joining the other bodies chained to the wall."

"Bodies?" Miles stepped inside and gulped. "Holy shit."

"Indeed." I peered around the clothing racks. "M, watch the women. If the Formorian reappears, do not allow him to bind them. And feel free to rough him up if you must. I plan to make him beg for vanquishment."

"On it." He pulled out his phone and typed on the screen. "You said he's a son of Balor, right? I'll see if I can find his name."

"Good." I stalked toward the shoe area. "Show yourself, Formorian."

"He's just George," Ember said. "This is his store."

I growled. How could I, a Prince of Hell, have allowed this to happen? I had no doubt my brothers would have seen through this ruse the moment they set foot inside the store. But not I… Perhaps I deserved their incessant ridicule, after all.

Even Ember saw through the charade before I did. She deserved a mate who could protect her. She deserved better than me.

"It's going to take a minute." Miles held his phone near the window. "The reception in here is terrible."

I eyed the door to the back of the shop. "I will find him."

My fists clenched as tightly as my talons would allow, I kicked the door open, making it bounce off the wall with the impact. George squealed, the sound of his invisible feet scampering across the floor registering to my left.

Chaos and Shade followed me inside the storage room, and we fanned out, searching for the insolent creature. George grunted, and a shelving unit filled with boxes rocked on its base.

"Your race went extinct for a reason." I crept down the aisle. "You cannot defeat us."

"Demons didn't vanquish my kind. Fae did that." His voice sounded from my right, so I turned down the next aisle.

The shelving unit rocked again, and this time, it tipped over. Boxes scattered across the floor, the shoes inside them tumbling out as it crashed into me.

I caught the brunt of it with my shoulder, and I stumbled before pushing the unit upright. Kicking the boxes out of my way, I rushed for the next aisle. Shade and Chaos stood at the opposite end, trapping the invisible pest between us.

"Son of Balor, show yourself," I said.

"You can't make me!"

Shade grunted, clutching his abdomen and doubling over, bracing himself with the shelf. When he lifted his hand, blood dripped from his palm.