Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

RAVEN

As soon as I step out of Lucifer’s realm, I feel it. Everest’s pain. And not just mental pain—it is physical too.

Not even bothering to bid my father farewell, I run to his yard and close my eyes, spiriting myself to Earth.

When I open them, I am back in the human form I made for myself, looking around the room to find Everest. Not in the bedroom. “Baby?” I call out. He is here, I can feel him there.

He does not answer, so I trot down the stairs, hoping to find him.

I spot him lying on the sofa and a strangled shout leaves my lips when I see the state he is in. The front of his hair is damp, drenched with sweat and pasted to his forehead by blood. His right cheek and eye are swollen, and there is a gash on his lower lip. His nose does not look right, off center and bleeding, and he is holding his arm at an awkward angle, like it is hurting as well.

I rush to his side, kneeling on the floor beside him. “Raven,” he whispers, reaching out to touch my face. “You’re back.”

“Who did this?” I snarl, delicately touching his face. Everest hisses, his face twisted in a grimace. “Talk to me.”

“Can you heal me first?” His voice is small and full of unshed tears. “It really hurts. Especially my shoulder.” His bottom lip trembles, and his body shivers with pain.

“Of course.” With soft, deft hands, I pull the blanket from his body and rip open his shirt. An angry growl drifts up my throat as I look down at the black and blue bruises marring his torso. I will fucking murder whoever did this to him.

I summon a blade and cut my palm quickly, running it over his injuries as I speak Xendailish. Everest sighs as the pain abates. Through our mental connection, I feel relief wash over him, then anger mounts.

It only takes a few minutes to heal him, his shoulder needing stronger spells since the rotator cuff was damaged. After I am done, I pull Everest into my arms, not worried that he is covered in my black blood and his own red blood.

“I am sorry I left you alone,” I mutter. This never would have happened if I were with him. People pick on Everest because he is smaller with a forgiving nature and pure heart. I am not afflicted with such good attributes. I will rip a motherfucker limb from limb for hurting him.

“It’s okay. The sheriff just wanted to harass me.”

I meet his eyes, cleaning some of my blood from his cheek. “Is that who hurt you?”

“Yeah. He arrested me and interrogated me. When he accused me of being a bad son, I lost it. I should have kept my cool, but?—”

“Do not blame yourself for what he did to you. Instead, let’s plan his murder.”

Everest chuckles, then plants a quick, hard kiss on my lips. “That’s a good plan.”

“Tonight,” I growl. “He needs to fucking die tonight for what he did to you! And I will make it fucking hurt.” Sheriff Drake does not deserve another sunrise.

Shaking his head, Everest cups my face and says, “It’s too soon after what he did to me. I’ll be the number one suspect. Or you. You came into the police station with me.” He looks me up and down with a wry grin. “You’re not exactly unimposing.”

“I will hide you. I will take care of you. I will?—”

Everest places a finger over my lips and I sigh, cutting off my words. “It’s too soon. Let’s give it a week before we act. We can always plan. But we have to wait to kill him. Okay?”

Blowing out a rough breath, I look at Everest, at his recently healed face that is covered in black blood, and nod. He exhales, holding out his arms. I go to him, pulling him onto my chest. “I will fucking maim him for you. He will die in agony.”

“I believe you, my sweet demon.”’ A smile touches my lips. “How was your business with your father?”

“Good,” I answer with a shrug. “There was a dispute with one of the souls that traded his soul to my father for the chance to win the lottery. Something about not being able to spend all his winnings before he died. I was to stand witness to make sure the dispute was handled properly.”

I can feel Everest’s cheeks move as he smiles. “That sounds … almost normal. Except the soul arguing with a greater demon.”

“Yes, well, it is not wise to argue with my father. The soul was actually in breach of his contract because he died of an accidental drug overdose. That is technically suicide from Lucifer’s point of view. He loves his loopholes. So he is sentenced to a millennia in the fifth dimension in service.”

“Fuck,” Everest mutters. “What was he initially sentenced to?”

I chuckle. “Only five centuries in service of my father. He would have been on the third dimension, so he would have had a far easier time than he will now.”

Everest slides higher on my lap until he is straddling me. “Can I go there?”

“To Xendail? You have been.”

He ducks his head, a shaky smirk on his face. “I mean … forever. Like, can I live there? With you?”

My hearts beat rapidly, and I smile so hard my cheeks hurt. “You want to live in my treehouse?”

His laugh makes my soul feel light and happy. “Yes, I do.” He sighs, meeting my gaze. “I don’t belong here. It took me going to Xendail and seeing how beautiful and perfect and welcoming it was there to know that’s what home is supposed to feel like. The entire time I was there, I felt like it was where I belonged. There. With you.”

“Yes, baby,” I tell him, pushing his hair off his forehead. “You can come back with me. Human mates are welcome there.” I hug him tight, feeling his heart thud against both of mine. “We will never be apart, and no one will hurt you. I promise.”

“You’ll protect me.”

“From everything.”

His lips meet mine in a gentle kiss. “Now,” he mutters against my mouth, tracing my lips with his tongue. “Let’s get to planning this murder. Remember what I told you I drew in my graphic novel?”

I smile, eager to put his plan into motion. “Fuck, yes. I can get what we need to make it happen. Where do you want to do it? His place or elsewhere?”

“He has a cabin at the edge of town he uses for fishing and hunting every weekend during hunting season. Without fail, he goes there on Friday nights after his shift is over. There aren’t any neighbors, so no one will hear him scream.”

“Diabolical.” Kissing him quickly, I set Everest beside me, and we begin to plan.

Two weeks pass before we put our plan into motion. We went back to Xendail to wait it out, giving the sheriff time to drop his guard. Danae said he was in the diner, bragging about roughing Everest up. She said the officer that was with him looked uncomfortable, telling the sheriff he should not have done that. I am on the fence about letting Officer Shade live, but Everest told me he can continue to breathe, so I drop it.

According to Danae, while we were gone, the sheriff looked for Everest. After a week, he told anyone that would listen that he ran Everest out of town, and the city is much better without the embarrassment of him around.

With the news that Everest has left town, no one will suspect him of the murder.

When Everest tells me it is time, we make our way to the edge of town. We leave my car about a mile down the road and walk the rest of the way through the woods. As a demon, I have innate tracking skills, so I make sure not to get us lost as we trek to the cabin.

While we walk, Everest leans into me, holding on to my arm. “Why can’t the woods here look like the ones in Xendail?”

I pat his hand. “Because this is a regular world. Xendail is not. Since we are demons, we have the gift of magic and other supernatural abilities. We can make our world as we want, and Xendail is the ideal world.”

“It’s perfect,” he mutters, a smile in his voice. “These woods look dark and ominous. Like they’d swallow me up if given half the chance. Walking around in Xendail at night, the woods look welcoming and inviting. They make me feel like they’d be happy if I wanted to camp out under them and bask in their beauty forever.”

“I am glad you love my home. It will be your home too.”

Before we left for Xendail for two weeks, we packed everything Everest wanted to take with him—namely his art supplies and his mother’s urn—and I transported them to my home before I came back for him. We set him up an art room in my treehouse, overlooking the valley behind my home. When he visited the first time, he told me how much he liked how the light shone in on the desk I had set up there. His mother’s urn went on the mantle in my sitting room, right beside the portrait he drew of me.

As of right now, all that is keeping us on this plane is our need to get revenge on everyone that hurt Everest. After we kill the sheriff, we have one more person to dispatch before our mission is complete.

“It’s my home now,” Everest says in a serious tone. “Not only because of how welcome I feel, but because you’re there.”

I fucking love him.

A few minutes later, the cabin comes into view, and we see the sheriff sitting on the porch in a rocking chair. He is whistling an annoying tune as he widdles a stick with a knife.

“Fucking hick,” Everest mutters, his lip pulled back in anger. His hand goes to his shoulder without thought, and I want to kill the sheriff many times over for what he did to my Everest.

Twenty minutes roll by before Sheriff Drake retires inside. After a few minutes, I take Everest’s hand, and we walk up the two steps of the porch.

“Wait here,” I whisper so as not to alert Sheriff Drake of our arrival. “When I have him subdued, I will call you in.”

Everest nods, kissing me lightly. “I’ll be ready.”

Taking two steps back, I raise my foot and kick the door in. It splinters off the hinges, flying back into the room. It barely misses the sheriff, who is sitting in a recliner near where the door made impact.

He scrambles back, the newspaper he was reading crumpled at his feet. Crab-walking backwards, Sheriff Drake looks at me with wide eyes as I stroll towards him. They flash with recognition but the fear remains. When his back hits the wall, he stops trying to scurry away and juts his chin out.

I have to admire his courage in the face of what will be the last face he will ever see. But his courage does not mean shit when he hurt my love.

In a warbly voice he tries to harden, he asks, “Do you know who the fuck I am? I’m the sheriff of this fucking town. If you know what’s good for you, boy, you’d walk on out of here. Right fucking now.”

Chuckling darkly, I get down on my haunches and stare at him, head tilted to the side. “Boy? I am almost eight hundred years old. You are more a boy than I.”

His eyes bug out as he takes me in, lips trembling with fear. “What the fuck are you?”

I reach up and feel my horns. I am glad they are visible. I love the terror etched on his face. “I am a demon from the third dimension of hell. You fucked with my mate. You are going to die tonight.”

“Y-y-your mate? Who the hell is your mate?”

Smiling, I call over my shoulder, “You can come on in, baby.”

Everest steps inside, and the sheriff eyes him in disbelief. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Why?” Everest asks, voice hard and sexy as fuck. I love this new found courage he has. “Because you thought you ran me out of town by beating my ass? Guess again, motherfucker.”

“I should have killed you!” Drake shouts, shaking his finger at Everest.

Everest laughs loudly. “Yeah, you probably should have. You’ll never get that chance again.” He looks at me and nods once.

I snap my fingers and a long blade appears in my palm. Grabbing Sheriff Drake by the front of his shirt before he can move, I lift him until his feet barely skim the floor. He raises his fist to punch me, but before he can make contact, I stab the knife forward, impaling his fist to the wall.

Sheriff Drake screams, his face paling as he tries to dislodge the blade. When he tries to open his fist, his fingers split, causing blood to pour rapidly from his impaled hand.

I let go of his shirt—the sheriff sags to the ground and cries out as his impaled hand keeps his feet from resting flat on the floor—and snap my fingers again, palming the second long blade that appears. I jam it into his other hand, forcing him to stand on his tiptoes while in an immense amount of pain. It is still not enough.

His cries are loud and long, tears streaming down his face as blood drips from his wounds.

Everest stands beside me, looking at Sheriff Drake with boredom. “What do you want to do now?” I ask.

Sheriff Drake’s voice cuts in before Everest can give me a command. “What the fuck? Why are you doing this?”

“Really?” Everest asks with a touch on incredulity. “You’re asking why I’m doing this after you just told me you should have killed me after you beat me to a pulp two weeks ago? The only reason you didn’t kill me is because Officer Shade stopped you.”

“But I didn’t kill you,” Drake says, trying to reason with Everest. “You can do the same. An eye for an eye. You can beat me up, break some bones. Just don’t kill me. I don’t want to die.”

Stepping closer to the terrible sheriff, I snap my fingers, calling forth a machete that can cut through skin, muscle and bone. “You should have considered that before you treated Everest the way you did. Your life would not be forfeit if you treated him like a person.” I run my knife over his face, dragging it down his cheek and splitting the skin. He cries louder, babbling to be set free. “You let his abuser continue to hurt him, knowing what he was going through.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry,” Sheriff Drake babbles, looking at Everest with a wet and bloody face.

I look over at Everest, who is smiling at the sheriff. “It’s okay now, Sheriff. You were right all along. I’m the reason my father, my abuser, is dead. Mitch too.” Everest’s smile grows wider as he confesses our crimes. “My demon mate killed everyone that’s mistreated me. First Mitch, then Jack. Now you.” He laughs at Drake’s pitiful expression. “Bet you didn’t expect that huh?”

“So you’re gonna have him kill me now? You’re not a murderer, Everest. You’re better than this.”

“I’ve already asked him to kill two people, Sheriff. What’s one more?”

Drake lowers his head and cries, trying to stay on his tiptoes. The blood pooling under him makes it hard, causing him to slip and his hand wounds to split more.

I pull Everest in for a quick kiss, loving the taste of revenge on his lips. “I really fucking love you.”

“Right back at you, my sweet demon. Let’s get this done. I want to go home and cuddle.”

Sheriff Drake begs and pleads, crying loudly. “You don’t have to do this, Everest. I’ll apologize. In front of the whole town if you want. Just let me go. I’ll do better, I promise. I won’t treat anyone how I treated you. I’ll even step down. Move far away and never bother you again.” His voice is unrecognizable with pain as he says everything in a rush.

Everest walks closer to the sheriff, wraps his hand around his throat and squeezes hard. “I know I don’t have to do it. Just like you didn’t have to treat me like shit because I’m gay. You didn’t have to turn the other way when you saw all my bruises and black eyes and split lips. You wanted to.”

He lets go of the sheriff’s throat and steps back. “Just as I want to watch Raven kill you.”

Everest meets my eyes and inclines his head to the motherfucker impaled on the wall. “Gut him. Give the wildlife something to snack on.”

A hearty laugh bursts from my lips as the sheriff howls at Everest’s command. Everest would have made a good fifth dimension demon. “Your wish is my command.”

Turning back to Sheriff Drake, I grin at him as I step closer. “This will hurt. A lot.”

He screams hard enough for his voice to give out. I stab him in the right side of his abdomen and drag the serrated blade to the left, slicing his belly open. His body convulses as his organs tumble out—his intestines and stomach landing at my feet.

Drake drags his eyes up to me, looking at me in disbelief, like his organs are not in a heap in front of him. I grin at him smugly, staring at him until the light fades from his eyes.

Once he is dead, I send the knife in my hand away. I wrap an arm around Everest’s shoulder as he stares at my handiwork. “That’s exactly what I wanted to happen to him. Thank you.”

“Anything for you, baby.” I kiss down his cheek to his neck, making Everest giggle and wrap his arm around me. “I will take the knives out and leave him on the floor. It will look like an animal attack. Well, besides the clean cut in his belly.”

Turning to look at Drake’s body, Everest shakes his head. “Nah. Leave him like this. I don’t care if they blame me. I’m never coming back.”

Yes, we will be gone from this plane, as soon as we get rid of one more. “We found that bitch, Joey,” I growl his name. I cannot wait to give him what the fuck he deserves. “We can go to him now, or go to Xendail and wait for a while.”

“Let’s get it over with. If I go to Xendail, I won’t want to come back to Earth. When I go back there, I want it to be forever.”

“Then let’s go. We can drive if you like. We can see the sights along the way.”

He scrunches his nose, shaking his head. “That sounds like a terrible idea. Honestly, there’s nothing on Earth I’d like to see, unless it’s Joey’s dead boy.”

A drive from Plainsdale, Georgia to Las Vegas, Nevada is over twenty-four hours. I can see why Everest would not want to be stuck in a car that long when we can fly. “Anything you want, baby,” I mutter, kissing him gently.

Hand in hand, we leave the cabin. Since there is no longer a door, the wildlife are free to enter for a snack, just as Everest said.