Heaven's Key (Demon Hunter Book 1) (12 page)

“He was talking again. He said, ‘Your husband is very angry with me right now. He wants me to let them go and he even wants me to let you live, his cheating slut of a wife. You must have married a saint. He’s fighting me with all he’s worth, but I barely feel it. The delicious part is he can see it all. He’ll watch as his hands kill his own children.’

“I begged him to kill me instead. I was the one who had brought this into our home. My boys were crying and trying to get out of their chairs. They were so scared. He told me I was too much fun to kill…yet. That’s when it happened. My beautiful boys. One reached up when it happened. He thought his dad was lifting him out of the chair. I can see the look of relief on his little face. He was thinking,
finally, someone’s going to hold me,
and then the man who loved him the most in the whole wide world slit his throat!

“Before I could move, he repeated the same swift motion with his brother. Both were slumped forward as if they had fallen asleep in their highchairs. He licked the knife. He smiled manically and shouted, ‘Your turn.’ I didn’t even care. I wanted him to do it. No fight, no muss; whatever he had planned for me, I deserved and I’d take it. I welcomed it; I couldn’t possibly deserve to live now. I closed my eyes because I was too scared to watch it happen.

“A loud bang and I opened my eyes to see him on his back on the floor. The floor was slick with blood and he slipped, hitting his head on the woodstove. I guess my survival instinct kicked in. He was stunned and I took the poker and stabbed him. He laughed and I stabbed him over and over until he was silent.

“I looked around the kitchen. The people I loved were gone. I needed to be gone. The sweet boy who proposed on the Ferris wheel was dead at my hands. My two beautiful angels dead at his. I thought of joining them, but that was the easy way out. I had to live with this. I had to carry what had happened around. A punishment for surviving what I brought into our home.

“Do you get why I never wanted you to know? A demon killed my family and I survived. I gave him the sin he needed. I invited him in. Yes, at one point, I wanted to die. I went into every job not caring if I made it out alive. Then, over time, it changed from a kamikaze mission to one of atonement. I feel like if I can save lives, then my existence is okay. I know that’s fucked up, but it’s the only way I can live with myself.”

He kept looking straight ahead. He knew I couldn’t handle those blue eyes and the sympathy they held. “You know better than that, Jael. You know how a demon can manipulate you. How a demon can…. You know deep down what happened wasn’t your fault.”

“I was weak. I let a demon seduce me and I put his sad attempts at flattery and attention above my family. I could have been strong and told him to fuck off. I have to live with that.”

“That was a shitty thing to do, but you didn’t deserve what happened, and it still wasn’t your fault. Jael, you’ve been suffering this loss for years and fighting what took your kids just as long. You’ve paid your penance.”

I couldn’t explain to him what it was like to see your kids murdered at the hands of the man who loved them, knowing that the man inside was fighting with everything he had to stop the vile creature from doing it.

“A large part of me will always want to be with my sunny boys. I can’t rid myself of that. They are long gone and a tiny piece of me will always wish that I was buried alongside them. I have one clear memory left besides that last one. It’s a gift and I try to think of it more than the other. Although sometimes, this one hurts more. I want you to know it because that’s how they deserve to be remembered. I’m in the yard hanging out clothes and they’re toddling around, giggling. The sun is bright and it shines through their blond hair, giving them halos…”

I couldn’t continue. Talking anymore was impossible. I was crying too hard. I could barely breathe. Cole scooped me up from the chair and carried me back into the bedroom. Like I was a child, he tucked me in under the giant duvet. He set a box of tissue beside the bed and then he lay on top.

Gathering me to him, he held me. My first instinct was to shrug him off. I hadn’t been held like this since… well, for a very long time. Cole cared about me. He did this for me and his arms around me made me want to run. I had to force myself to accept this comfort and it made me realize how fucking sad my life had become.

Cain

The room was a little chilly, but I was naked except for a butcher’s apron. Pausing my work, I walked across the room to turn down the music. Gustav Holt’s “Mars” always got my blood pumping. I’d always been a lover of music and choosing the right piece for the right moment took skill. This music had to be violent, decisive, and strong. The bass had to thunder in my chest.

Looking down at the creature in front of me, I beamed at my handy work. He lay helpless on a steel table, strapped down so he couldn’t move. I wasn’t worried about him getting away; he had no limbs on which to escape. I was giddy. Torturing had lost its charm for me long ago, but this creature was an exception.

“Imagine my shock when I was told the great Esau was possessing humans and trying to get them to commit adultery. That didn’t seem right to me. Such a strong and powerful demon turning souls in such a mundane way seemed so beneath him. What do you think he told me when I approached him about this?”

I wasn’t expecting an answer. The thing I was talking to had his giant mouth sewn shut. I couldn’t stand the screaming anymore. It was giving me a headache. He flinched as I lay my hand upon his chest. His eyes bulged from his head. He didn’t know what I was going to do next. It was all the horrid possibilities running through his mind that made whatever ran through his veins run cold.

This thing had caused that look of pain on Jael’s face and I was enjoying the look of pain on his. It was making me feel like my old self. Meeting her in the flesh had made me feel weak and toothless. The sight of her coming undone had caused me to feel things I had never felt and now seeing the creature before me helpless and waiting for his next punishment was very satisfying.

I knew in that moment, when her pain was my pain, that I would protect her with every power I had. She was meant to be with me. Why else would I feel so much towards her, when I had never felt those things before? Being together was something I wanted more than anything. She would come to see how I felt, her heart would thaw, and she’d see that she felt the same way.

Was I following in my father’s footsteps? His obsession with his father had made him weak. If it wasn’t for me, Hell would have devolved into a civil war a long time ago. He had no interest in running Hell. His only interest was revenge. Was I foolish to think I could have both? If it came down to her or me, I would choose life. I had always chosen survival.

If this was a romance novel, I would give anything for my true love, but having those feelings couldn’t change a creature who had been wearing his spots as long as I had. Love couldn’t make me good. I was the Father of Murder and I had wished for my father’s throne for millennia. Those desires, those urges don’t disappear overnight.

When I sliced open his mouth, his thick ochre tongue lolled out and tried to lick at his wounds. This creature was so vile. Another slice made his mouth even larger. He mewled a low guttural cry, the cross between a cat and a clogged sink.

“Who prompted you to visit Jael?”

“No one. I swear.” His voice was thick and he slurred his speech slightly thanks to the slice to the side of his mouth.

“This is Hell, you gelatinous vile piece of shit. I can heal you and start all over again. I can burn you. I can cut you, fillet you. I am only limited by my imagination. We’re both here for as long as I wish. If you tell me the truth, I’ll end your suffering.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll tell you what I know. Just please stop hurting me. I don’t know him. My friend told me about a job some demon needed done and the whole thing was set up without me ever seeing him. I’d tell you if I knew.”

“You don’t have friends. So that’s one lie.” I took a pair of pliers and pinched the soft skin of his ample belly. I pulled until it detached itself from his body. He screamed again. This was so much fun.

“The guy, the guy who told me about the job; he might know. Would you tell someone like me anything important? No one would. I was to cause her pain and then kill her. She got away. I stayed hidden for a long time. I didn’t do the job, but after a while, when no one came after me, I started to relax.”

“Why use the name Esau?”

“I panicked. How did she know I wasn’t her husband? When she asked who I was, I said the first name that entered my mind. Bog doesn’t sound very scary.”

He had me there. I took another good pinch from his stomach. Bog’s garbled screams filled the air and briefly drowned out my music. “You almost killed the one human on Earth my father wanted alive. Maybe I should just turn you over to him.”

“No, please. I didn’t know. I just wanted a chance to go to Earth. I had never been there before.”

“I believe you, Bog. You’re too stupid to plot anything yourself and you’re dumb enough to be the fall guy for some demon who is. I can’t let you go, though. I need to find out what really happened. If I let you go, you might warn the person I’m looking for.”

“No, I won’t tell anyone. You have my word.”

“Your word. That is almost funny.”

I tortured him a little while longer, but my heart wasn’t in it. I was thinking ahead of whom I’d have to torture next. I’d get to the bottom of who tried to harm Jael all those years ago and I’d see them punished. I’d already stopped one demon from trying to kill her. This demon knew she was Heaven’s Key before my father did. I had some catching up to do. No one was going to harm her. If I had to torture every demon in Hell, I’d do it to keep her safe.

“Carl! Carl! Come here this instant.”

Carl came sliding into the room as fast as his little legs would allow. “Yes, your Majesty?”

“This creature needs to be put somewhere he can’t harm himself and no one is to have access to him. I trust you have somewhere you can stash him.”

“Of course. Can I get you anything else?”

“Yes, I need to clean up. Start my shower. I have to meet someone and I think he’s ready to meet me. Oh, Carl, sometimes things work out and you don’t even try. Don’t you love when that happens?”

“Of course, sir.”

“That’s what I like about you, Carl. You never ask any questions.”

“Unless your Grace wants me to.”

“Let me say that I’m about to make some progress on pleasing my father. That should make you happy.”

“Very happy.”

“Did you enjoy your extra straw, Carl?”

“Oh yes. I had a very good sleep.”

I dismissed him with a wave of my hand. Carl was the best manservant I’d ever had. He’d lasted the longest too. I couldn’t get too soft on him. They started to take advantage of you when they stopped fearing you. I gave Bog one last pinch and then threw my apron to the floor.

I had an appointment to keep and I wanted to be looking my best.

For days or hours, maybe only moments—I couldn’t tell; time was not the same anymore—I lay there in his bed. My emotions had sprung from their Pandora’s Box and they had no intention of being caged up again. Water and food made their appearance on the table with the tissues. Time went by, but for now, I was in a holding pattern of grief. Sometimes I reached for the bowl and it was empty and I realized I must have eaten what was inside.

Cole was mostly there with his arms around me, but sometimes he wasn’t. Drifting in and out of sleep, I awoke to the dark and the light. My body and mind were healing the best they could. Finally, I had told my story, and it remained to be seen whether I could recover from the ordeal. I wanted to think I was strong enough, but did I have the desire?

Then it was time. I don’t know why I awoke that day feeling I was strong enough to go on, but I did. The sun was high and bright in the sky. It had to be close to lunch. Cole wasn’t there. I took a hot shower and changed my clothes. I was itching to get back on the road. My grief was a little less. Just a little, but that in itself was a miracle.

I found Cole down on the beach. He was just sitting there, watching the waves break against the sand. I sat down beside him. He smiled and waited for me to speak. “I grew up watching this ocean. It was a lot further up the coast, but this reminds me of home.”

“So do you have a warrant out for your arrest?”

“Yes and no. I’m a person of interest. I crossed into the US before the murder was discovered and of course Jael Allen isn’t my real name. They blamed the murders for the kids and Jeremy on Henry. His murder is unresolved, although I don’t doubt if I went back that they’d arrest me immediately.”

“I have the car packed and ready for whenever you want to hit the road. There is a slew of missing pets in Des Moines and there have been five blood bank robberies in San Antonio. I think if we head to the blood banks and check that out, we can swing by and pick up the cross.”

“So we’re okay?” I had to make sure.

“Yes… wait a minute; what do you mean you grew up a lot farther up the coast?”

“I’m from Nova Scotia.”

“You’re a Canadian?”

“You don’t have to say it like you just realized I was an alien.”

“No, that’s true, eh.”

“Seriously? Could you be any more annoying?”

“How aboot we get going?”

“How aboot I stab you and leave you on the beach?”

“Touchy.”

I laughed. I had thought being Cole’s partner was going to be a nightmare, but he was exactly what I needed. “Do you see why you don’t have to worry about me falling for Cain? No one hates the creatures that come from Hell more than I do and no one knows better than I how charming some of them can be, but that’s just the outside. Inside, they’re as foul and as ugly as any monster you can imagine.”

“I do, Jael. I can’t believe I ever thought otherwise. You’ve been through a lot and that’s exactly why we need to get to Texas. You need that amulet that’ll hide you from Cain. After everything you told me, the last thing you need is to have him haunting you.”

“I know. I’m not convinced that medallion is going to help, but it’s worth a try. It’ll be worth seeing you go all cat burglar. Do you have those suction cups for your hands and feet?”

“No.”

“That cool glass-cutting thing that cuts a perfect circle?”

“No.”

“You have to wear a black turtleneck, oh, and tights too.”

“That’s enough, Jael.”

“What about a stethoscope in case you have to listen to the tumblers of a safe?”             

He started to walk towards the car, his pace getting faster and faster. I was worried he might leave me here, so I stopped, but I had a few more up my sleeve for later. I felt stronger than ever. Cain was asking the wrong hunter to open the gates of Hell because no one wanted them to remain closed more than I did.

My new objective was to close every window, vent, and chimney. I wanted to seal up Hell so no demon or hell spawn could escape and find their way to Earth. The gates of Hell might be closed, but they were still finding a way to trickle in and that was about to end.

I wasn’t going to stop until every creature from Hell was either dead or trapped down there forever. The world had Cain to thank for that. People were going to stop losing those they loved because the devil had a hate-on for humans. Even if it took taking out Lucifer myself.