Heaven's Key (Demon Hunter Book 1) (3 page)

The gin and morphine worked their magic and I was floating through a sea of black. A warm blanket blocking out the pain and outside world. Then everything changed. It started with images flashing though my mind at such a speed that everything was distorted and ghoulish. I struggled to wake myself up, but there was no escape.

A blaze of light ended it all. It was bright and hot and I could do nothing to escape it. It cut off suddenly and I was left cold and blind in the dark. Slowly, my eyes adjusted and I realized it wasn’t totally dark, just dim compared to before. I was standing at a bar in a very nice restaurant, dressed in a strapless floor-length black gown.

A gin and tonic was sitting in front of me on the bar. The bartender was talking to someone just out of reach. I could see him, but he was out of focus. Nothing about it felt like a dream. I could feel the smooth wood of the bar and smell the bartender’s aftershave. I was on alert, waiting for something to happen.

“The answer is it’s still a dream; it’s just a little more real than most.”

His voice broke the spell and everything slammed into focus. A man stood beside me; he had short thick black hair. His eyes were ochre, but the color swirled with gold flecks and they had a life of their own. We were the same height, looking eye to eye. I had to force myself to look away.

“Who are you?”

“Part of me was hoping you’d know, but how could you? We haven’t met yet. Still, I’ll bet you’ll know my name when I tell you.”

“That’s not an answer.” I could tell he found himself charming. He had yet to convince me, but I was harder to charm than most.

“No, Jael. It’s not. My name is Cain. If that doesn’t help, then surely you know my father … Lucifer.”

Everything in my body was screaming that what he said was true. If it wasn’t, he was still a very dangerous creature. There was nothing to fight him with in here and even if there was, I didn’t know if I could hurt him. He was Cain and this was my head. My heart was racing and I took a step backwards.

“I see by your heart rate you believe me. That’s good. It will save a lot of time.”

“Why are you in my head? You must have bigger fish to fry than some low-level hunter.”

“You underestimate your skills, Jael. You’ve gained quite the reputation in Hell. I’m not here to harm you, though, so no worries.” He trailed his hand down my bare arm, causing a chain reaction of revulsion and lust that made my stomach clench.

“Don’t touch me.”

Cain took a step back and lifted his hands with the palms facing out. “Sorry, force of habit. Most women can’t resist my touch.”

“The touch of any demon repulses me, even if he comes in a pretty package.”

“I’m not a demon. My father, as you well know, is an angel, and my mother was Eve. The mother of all mothers. That makes me a Nephilim.”

“I don’t care if it makes you a labradoodle. You’re still a spawn of Hell and I want you the fuck out of my head.” Would I be possessed when I woke up?
Oh fuck, if I’m possessed, please just let me bleed out in the middle of the night.

“I can’t just yet. I have a proposition for you, and no, I don’t want to possess you. Not in the way you’re thinking anyway.”

I gave him an eye roll. “I thought the second in command of Hell would be a little more original than coming to me with a deal. Let me guess: you get my soul in the end.”

“No, nothing so mundane. Souls are a dime a dozen. What you are is rare. I have come to you because you are the key… the only key.”

“Do you always speak in riddles?” He might be a powerful creature, but he was fucking irritating.

“You, my hunter, are the Key to Heaven. My father found an old prophecy and a lot of boring cryptic text, a little torture with a splash of human sacrifice later, we know that you are the only being besides God who can open Heaven’s Gate.

I didn’t see that coming. “You can’t be serious. I’m far from holy. Why would I be chosen for such an important role? Even if I was the key, the last person I’d be doing favors for would be the devil.”

Cain winced. “He hates that name. I know you hate my kind, but think of it this way; my father will be gone and that could make your job easier.”

“It could also make it harder. I suppose you’d be the one to take the throne if he doesn’t make it back?”

“I would.”

“I’ll stick with the devil I know, thanks.” I had enough of this. I wanted this to be a drug-induced fucked-up dream.

He grabbed my hand tight enough that it hurt. He wasn’t letting go, so I stopped struggling. He pulled me close. I could feel his warm breath on my face as he spoke. “I’m going to do something I rarely do. I’m going to tell you the truth. My father wants revenge for being thrown away like a piece of garbage. God turned his back on him. He has forgiveness for humans. They can do anything, and as long as they repent, he welcomes them with open arms, but not his most beloved angel.”

Cain lifted my head with his index finger on my chin. He held me there with his eyes. “He’s been searching for a way back into Heaven since the day he left. Finding the prophecy and you at the same time is the closest he’s ever come. He wants this, Jael.”

“So why this pleasant conversation in my head? Why not just take me and make me do whatever it is that needs to be done?”

He hesitated and something clicked in my medicated brain. “There’s a catch. I don’t know what, but he can’t just make me do it, can he? Do I have to do it willingly? Do I have to want to do it? What?”

“You’re smart as well as beautiful. Yes, you need to do it willingly. You can’t be coerced. That doesn’t mean you can’t be dealt with. There have been many keys over the millennia. Your death would transfer the power of the key to the next host, but it’s random and it took a long time to find you.”

“Kill me and start looking because I’m not going to do anything for the king of Hell.”

“We’ll see. I can be very persuasive. I’m not like my father, Jael. I’m human too. If I was in charge, there would be much less suffering. We could rule together. I would agree to that.”

“Fuck off. Stop messing with my head. This is crazy. I don’t even know what you are. I’m supposed to just take the word of some sexy GQ model in my head that I’m some key to Heaven’s back door and if I open it…”

He kissed the back of my hand. “Fair enough. I can understand this is a lot to take in. Let me leave you with a gift. No strings attached, of course.”

“I don’t want anything from you.”

“Sshhhh. It won’t hurt, I promise.”

He loosened his grip, but kept hold of my hurt arm. Terror pounded in my ears, making it hard to hear what he was saying. Laying my injured limb on the bar, he gingerly peeled off the gauze bandage. The ugly cut was red and oozing pus from around the neat stitches.

“Nybbus are nasty creatures. They have terrible hygiene. You’re lucky the infection wasn’t worse. I’ve never seen a Nybbus with claws that could do this kind of damage. Did you hand him a knife? Make it a fair fight?”

“What are you going to do?” It took all my strength not to move my arm, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of showing him how scared I really was.

“So suspicious. I’m here to help.” He smiled at me. For some reason, I wasn’t comforted.

He placed his full lips at the top of the gash and kissed his way down my arm. Each gentle peck left clean, unblemished skin. When he was done, there was no sign I had ever been wounded. He finally let me go. The skin tingled from his kisses and I felt dirty. This would come back to bite me in the ass. Nothing good ever happened to a human who accepted a gift from a creature from Hell.

“You’ll be healed when you awaken. Call it a gesture of good will.”

“I don’t care what gestures you throw my way, I’m not going to do what you ask. I don’t trust you and nothing you say can change that. I want you to stay out of my head.”

“So does that mean you want me to come visit you? I’d love to see you in the flesh. I’ve been doing my research on you, my hunter. You’re a vicious killer. I love that in a woman.”

“I don’t consider myself a killer; more of an exterminator.” He was trying to seduce me.

“You also have your share of vices. I like that in a woman too.”

“I’ll be sure to put that on my Tinder profile.”

“I’m going to leave you now. Think about what I said, my hunter. I’ll be back and we can talk.”

“I’m not…” I was alone, talking to myself. Even though I hoped this was all an alcohol/morphine-induced whacked-out nightmare, deep down, my gut was telling me it wasn’t. It was just too real. I’ve felt fear in dreams before. I’ve awoken in a puddle of my own sweat, but this was so tactile.

If Cain was actually contacting me, then I was well and truly fucked. He might be playing the suave playboy, but sooner or later, no matter what he said, he wouldn’t be asking anymore.

“Jael…Jael…JAEL.”

I awoke to Cole shaking me by the shoulders, my head flopping back and forth, my arms flailing about trying to grab him before he gave me whiplash.

“Stop it. I’m awake and you’re shaking the shit out of me.” He stopped immediately. His wide-eyed stare was freaking me.

“What the hell happened?”

“What the hell do you mean? I was sleeping and you woke me up.”

“When I woke up, I decided to change your bandage. I thought it would be easier with you asleep. I wouldn’t have to listen to you complain.”

“Thanks.”

“I peeled it back and it looked nasty. I was about to wake you to take you to the hospital, when it started to disappear. There’s not even a scar, Jael. It’s fucking gone.”

I looked down at my arm. Not only was it healed, but he was right; there was no evidence I had ever been hurt. It was fucking real. The dream was real. Cain had been in my head. What the hell was I going to do? I had to think. Cole gave me another shake.

“What the fuck happened?”

“I don’t know, Cole. I was sleeping. Why are you so angry?”

We glared at each other. He was smarter than I gave him credit for. He knew I was lying, but that didn’t mean I had to confirm it. I wasn’t ready to tell him. I had to figure this out first. He narrowed his eyes and then looked away.

“You might not know the whole story, but you know something and I deserve to know what you know.”

“I don’t fucking know.” We stared at each other. He was angry, but I was angrier, and he backed down.

“Okay, it just freaked me out. One minute your arm was looking pretty nasty and the next it was smooth skin. That’s not normal, Jael.”

“Look, it’s freaking me out too, but I need a second to process it. I was asleep and the next thing I know, you’re giving me the third degree and shaking the shit out of me.”

“I’m sorry. It just scared me. Your arm healed in front of my eyes.”

“You’ll have to get used to weird shit if you want to be a hunter. It happens. I won’t lie, I don’t like the fact that I don’t know what happened, but these things have a way of coming to light eventually. Plus, bonus, I don’t have to go to the hospital.”

He slowly nodded and finally let go of my arm. He wasn’t convinced, but I had him on the fence. “It’s after seven. I’m going for a shower and then I’m going for breakfast. Want me to bring you back something?”

“Yes, coffee. Strong with a splash of cream, no sugar.”

I waited for the shower to start before moving from the bed. I swore and then took a giant gulp of gin. Then I swore some more and had more gin. After one more big swallow, I sat back down and tried to calm myself. How in the hell could I be the Key to Heaven?

Cole knew I wasn’t telling the truth, but I didn’t know what was going on for sure and I wasn’t ready to share yet. Cain could be a demon or he could be the son of Lucifer. Whatever he was, he was powerful. He had healed me through a dream.

Maybe I was vulnerable last night; the drugs made him able to enter my mind or whatever he did. I didn’t want a demon having free rein to run through my brain. It wasn’t the same as being possessed, but my brain wasn’t a guest cottage for hell spawn.

While Cole was off getting coffee and some breakfast, I was left with a decision I didn’t want to make. He had taken the Hellcat and that left my sad-looking Pinto as the only car in the parking lot. I had her for almost fifteen years and she was old when I got her. The only reason I had bought her was I happened to have the five hundred bucks they were asking for her in my wallet and I didn’t want a paper trail.

Her paint was a faded blue and rust was creeping along the wheel wells. The hatchback was hard to get open and the passenger window leaked when it rained. Still, she was mine. Opening the door, I climbed in and sat behind the wheel. My ass had worn the perfect groove in the seat. I took a deep breath. It smelled like French fries and stale coffee. My hands caressed the worn, cracked leather; she felt and smelled like home.

Crying over a stupid car was silly, but here I was. Tears were streaming down my face as I said good-bye to the first partner I ever had in this crazy calling. Cole had taken care of me when I needed it and he had my back in that bathroom. My concession had turned into my partner last night and keeping this old beater just to prove a point seemed childish. The Hellcat would be more reliable and it probably could go above sixty miles per hour. Not that my Pinto had ever failed to deliver. She was true to the end.

I wiped my tears, and we were done with our good-byes just in time for Cole to pull up beside me. We rolled down our windows. “I’m taking back the Hellcat. Can you follow me and pick me up from the dealer?”

“I’ll make you a deal. You pack up my car and move all my stuff to the Hellcat, then I’ll leave the old girl here and we can use your new ride.”

He was about to say something and then thought better of it. He went about packing up all the weapons and supplies. I was going to miss the freedom of having my own car. I liked the idea of being able to leave this partnership whenever I wanted, but Cole proved himself last night and he didn’t deserve to be abandoned.

Thanks to Ms. Harwood, I had enough money to buy a new car in cash. So as long as I had options, the Hellcat looked pretty good. My partner took his sweet time arranging the trunk and back seat. I would have thrown everything in the trunk and been done with it, but his neatness had saved me a lot of looking time. I tried not to be too insulted when he snapped on a pair of rubber gloves to search under the old seats. There was a small pile of fries and other foods in various stages of decay on the pavement when he was done. He also found two of my favorite throwing knives. Bonus!

I was about to yell at him to hurry up when Bevie texted me and asked for a favor. One of her best friends was being haunted and she needed help. Aunt B was the only person I would drop everything for, even if the work was pro bono. I owed her more than I could keep track of.

After everything was in its place in the Cat, Cole hopped into the car and turned on the country station. I kept silent except for the grinding of my teeth. “Where to, boss? Want to hang around here for a bit?”

His good mood was nauseating. “Head north. We’re going to Seattle. This is a favor for Aunt Bevie. We need to get there as fast as possible.”

“Your aunt is so sweet. I love it when she comes to lunch with Mom.”

“My aunt is sweet to you because you have that six-pack and a boyish grin. Bevie loves her men young.”

“Oh!” He looked shocked. I almost felt bad. Poor Cole was blushing and looking extremely uncomfortable. “So I guess her invitation to her summer home wasn’t for the two of us.”

Oh my, this was funny. “I didn’t even know she had a summer home, so no. That was just for Bevie and her boy toy.”

“Jael, cut it out. I didn’t know.”

“I bet she makes her young men walk around in cut-off jeans shorts and no top. She might have more than one. You could make a friend, go on a play date.” Not cracking a smile was getting very hard.

“Jael… please.”

I decided to have mercy on him. “Is that how you know Bevie, through your mom?”

“Yeah, my mom and Bevie go way back. I’ve known her my whole life. Years ago, she started coming every now and then to my lunches with my mom. She would talk about you and what you did.”

Bevie was getting a “loose lips sink ships” talking-to very soon.

“To be honest, I thought she was a crazy old bat. She claimed to be a psychic and her niece was a demon hunter. I just enjoyed the stories at first, but I was back from working in Iraq and I had time on my hands, so I looked into some of it. Most were internet articles written by people wearing tinfoil hats and a few teeth shy of a full set and my interest started to wane.”

“Okay, but you’re here, so what happened?”

“Your aunt was always vague; she never said a city or names, but then she did. She gave me something to work with. She said you were in Chicago, working on a case. The Chicago River Killer was the only thing going on in the city at the time that had potential to be supernatural. He killed only women and only by drowning them. Except one who got away. She claimed he was a demon. A shape-shifting demon who tried to take her soul. That’s when I became a believer.”

“Seems thin. What if the trauma of escaping a serial killer made her think these things?” Note to self: Cole was doing all the research from now on.

“I thought that was possible, but then there was a dead dolphin found in the Chicago River.”

“Oh, that makes total sense. I get it now.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“You know it makes sense. You know it makes sense because the dolphin found dead wasn’t a regular dolphin but a boto. A boto is an incubus demon who can take the form of a dolphin and a man. They’re usually only found in the Amazon, but this one must have been on vacation and was looking for a little adventure and a few souls. This boto killed a girl every week or so for almost two months and then a dolphin was found dead in the river. Gutted, packed with salt, and sewn back up. After that, there were only two more girls found dead, but they both had been killed before the dolphin was found.

“I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. You killed that boto and I know this not because Aunt Bevie told me, but because I have actual proof.”

“Tell me, oh wise one, how did you know?” How the hell did he know all this?

“I saw you there. Twice, actually. Both times, you were in the crowd during the coverage of the crimes. Once, I wasn’t positive it was you—Bevie only showed me a picture of you once and you were snarling—but the second time, you looked right at the camera and that’s when I knew what my new career was going to be.”

To say I was stunned was a gross understatement Cole had taken a few ravings from a very colorful woman and proved that an incubus demon called the boto exists and I was responsible for the death of one of them. I didn’t know Bevie had a picture of me. Not only did she have a picture, but I was caught on film. I thought I was careful.

“How… ummm… how…” Fuck, I couldn’t even form sentences now?

“Bevie snuck the picture of you the last time you were together. The snarl is your resting face, so she was very stealthy. How did I research all that stuff and come to the conclusions I did? I know you see me as some trust fund playboy who gets bored easily and just wants his next adrenaline fix, but that’s far from the truth.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘playboy.’ Maybe Aunt B might.”

“I’m good at things. Have been my whole life. I’m good looking, fit, smart, and talented. I come from an obscenely rich family and I excel at everything I try.”

“Wow, I feel bad for you.”

“It’s boring, Jael. It’s fucking boring and I know that isn’t a thing that gets a lot of sympathy and I know I’m a lucky bastard, but we are forged by life and my life didn’t even have a spark. I tried being the rebel, I did drugs and partied, and I got bored. I enlisted and I served overseas and came back in one piece when too many good men didn’t. I did some shady things when I went back over there working private security. Shady, but it made a small difference in a few lives and when I came home from that, I decided that was what I needed in my life. I needed to make a difference.”

We pulled onto the highway and Cole wove in and out of traffic like a Formula One driver. He was watching the road, but his mind was far away.

“I looked at various charities, all worthy, but fundraising wasn’t something I wanted to do. I traveled a bit and I even negotiated a kidnapping—that’s a long story—and then I agreed to go out to lunch with Mom and her friend. Aunt Bevie is charming and I could see why Mom loved her so much. Then she told me about you.”

I grabbed on for dear life as he pulled around a logging truck. I hated logging trucks. I mean, how did those giant logs just stay in place? I knew they were one bump away from rolling right out of those trucks.

“I told her about a few of my Iraqi adventures and she told about me a few of yours. At first, I didn’t care if they were true; they were entertaining. Then I hoped they were because I wanted nothing more than to be a hunter. Now I couldn’t ask Bevie for proof, because that might insult her, so I tracked down my own. It wasn’t hard; you really should be more careful. Then, when I was sure, I asked if you needed help.”

I felt the anger bubbling when I realized what he had done. The only thing that was keeping Cole alive right now was that part of it was my fault for being careless.

“She said no, you work alone. So I told her many stories of mercenaries I knew who worked alone and the tragic consequences. A few days later, I was knocking on your hotel room door.”

Shutting my eyes, I remained quiet. I knew he was expecting a tirade. He deserved one, but I also knew something he didn’t. He didn’t want to be a hunter because he was bored. He wanted to be a hunter because of guilt. Guilt at being so fucking lucky in the lottery of life. I knew what guilt could do. It didn’t matter where it came from; it made you do stupid and terrible things.

“If you ever manipulate my life again, I will take you to the Amazon, strip you naked, and let the first boto have his way with you.”

The car slowed and he changed the radio to modern rock. “Fair enough.”