Heaven's Key (Demon Hunter Book 1) (7 page)

“I’m so glad you made this so easy.” Her voice was low and little more than a hiss. She pulled back her elbow to strike. I couldn’t even close my eyes. The sharp bone was about to pierce my heart when she wriggled, her arms flying up in the air, and she stumbled backwards. Whipping back around so she faced me again, she screamed as she morphed back into human form. She looked down at her body, horrified she was human again. “How?”

The spell was broken and I could move again. I hadn’t done a thing, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. “I’m just that good.”

“Jael, let me in.” It was Cole. I ran past the stunned demon and unlocked and opened the door to find my partner holding a bird with a bag over its head.

“Let my animal go. If you hurt her, you’ll regret it.” Tears began to fall down her cheeks. I almost felt sorry for her.

“I don’t think so. I hate killing animals, but I’m going to make an exception since this one is connected to a demon. I know what you are, and when this animal dies, you go back to whatever hell you came from.”

“Please…” She reached out for the bird. It was a raven the size of a hawk. She ran towards Cole and he didn’t hesitate. He broke the bird’s neck and both animal and woman were gone in a puff of black smoke. The look on his face was heartbreaking. I’d seen him feed strays outside hotel rooms. He always gave money to the homeless we would sometimes pass by, but the ones with animals, he gave more.

“Cole… I’m sorry.”

“Are you? Because I don’t think you’re sorry at all. You might be embarrassed, but sorry means you won’t pull shit like this again.”

“I was reckless. I just needed to blow off steam. How did you know what to do?”

“I knew because instead of coming here and getting shit-faced, I worried about what might attack us, given you’re a marked woman. Christian demons aren’t normally allowed on native land. So if we were attacked by something, it would have to be a Native American demon.”

His hand squeezed the back of his neck. He had every right to be frustrated with my behavior. What I did was reckless and stupid. “Don’t be angry with me, Cole.”

“I’m angry with myself. I spent my time trying to keep you safe. I spent my time looking for you when you weren’t in your room. I’m mad at myself for caring more about what happens to you than you do.”

“I don’t need a babysitter, Cole, so consider yourself relieved of that duty.” I never asked him to protect me. He had no right to make me feel like a little girl.

Grabbing my hand, he dragged me from the room, up the stairs, and into his hotel room. He didn’t speak a word until the door was shut. “You aren’t a lone hunter anymore, Jael. It’s my duty to keep you safe. That’s what partners do. I get this job is tough and I can imagine you need to blow off steam, but you were stupid about it and you could have asked me to have your back. You chose to go it alone like you always do.”

He was close. I wanted to rage back at him, but he was right. The fact that I almost died and he was pulling this alpha bullshit were combining into the world’s most potent aphrodisiac. “I said I was sorry.” My words were clipped and came fast; they weren’t easy ones for me to speak.

“I heard you.”

The tight black t-shirt he wore outlined his chiseled chest and I ached to tear it off. I had to control myself. This would never be a relationship and one quick fuck to take the edge off would only make things very awkward.

“I’ve been alone a long time. It’s hard to change old habits.” I needed to get out of here. Instead, I backed up until my ass hit the bureau behind me. Cole followed, stalking me with his graceful long stride.

“You don’t have to fucking like me, but you will respect me and what this partnership means.”

His legs were between mine and I had to grip the wood on either side, so I didn’t pull him closer. Fierce blue eyes stared me down. The heat between us was unbearable. “Cole?”

“What? Didn’t think I had a backbone? I love this. I love hunting with you and you aren’t going to fuck that up by dying on me.”

Cole leaned in, our noses almost touching. “Fuck you.”

He was about to respond when the last of my resolve fell away. I kissed him, a bruising, teeth-gnashing kiss. I threw my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist and pulled him into me. His hardness brushed against my core.

Clothes were ripped and fell to the floor, both of us grappling to get the other naked. Need was thick in the air, heightened by skin on skin. Each touch burned. He carried me to the bed, both us falling, the weight of his body driving me crazy. I flipped him off me and got on top.

“Typical,” he growled.

He flipped us again. I arched my back, wanting him inside me. He kissed me, then whispered in my ear, “You don’t get to control everything.” He entered me in one thrust. Then he was still.

“Are you going to fuck me or just lie there?”

Achingly slow thrusts teasing of the pleasure to come, every one sending a shiver of ecstasy through my body. His pace began to speed up and I let a moan escape my lips. He smirked, the kind you give someone when you’ve won.

If he wanted this to be a competition, then so be it. I threw him off onto the floor and quickly followed. My legs on either side, I raised up and slowly sank down, feeling every inch. Rolling my hips, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the building of that perfect ache.

Then I was in the air; he picked us both up from the floor and we landed where it had begun. My ass on the dresser and my head smashed against the mirror. “You don’t always have to be in control, Jael.”

“Shut up and fuck me.” I didn’t need a lecture; I needed to come.

He grabbed my hair and pulled back as he nibbled on my neck. Every graze sent a jolt of electricity through my body. His mouth found my breast and his tongue and teeth teased me into screams. They got louder and louder until he had to put his hand over my mouth.

When I bit his hand, he pulled it away, and I kissed him. His tongue attacked mine and I moaned into his mouth as I came. My need was only slaked, not sated, and he wasn’t finished with me. He stared into my eyes with a mix of lust and confusion while he brought me close to the edge again.

This was less about sex and more a fight for dominance. We came together this time, both of us clinging to the other as we rode the wave of pleasure.

His forehead rested on mine as we fought to catch our breath. The ache in the room fizzled out and regret filled the void. Cole walked away; he went to the bathroom and shut the door. I picked up what was left of my clothes and put them on. It had been amazing, something that was inevitable, but now I felt cold and empty.

I went back to my room. I didn’t do relationships. I didn’t want one and I certainly didn’t want one with Cole. Looking for a reason why it had happened was a waste of time. It had been amazing sex and now it was done. It would never happen again.

Cole was my partner and if I wanted to keep him—and I’d be crazy not to—then I was going to have to make sure I kept my pants zipped. If he started to have feelings that were deeper than partners, he would have to go, and I had just started to like him.

He had saved me twice now. Maybe having a partner was making me soft or maybe I needed to take his advice and stop being so reckless. Cain bothered me more than I cared to admit. He was hard to resist. I knew it was just part of his power, but a tiny part of me was scared that one day he would get to me.

So I had sex with Cole and made everything worse. My partner was right. I had to find a way to keep him out of my head.

After a long hot shower and putting some salt at the door and window to ward off whatever else might be lurking in the hotel, I sank into bed. I wanted to be asleep before the hangover hit and I hoped sleep would blot out the flashbacks I kept having of having sex with Cole.

Turning on the television, I slowly drifted off, watching Jimmy Fallon lip-synching to “It’s all about the Bass.” I wanted nothing more than a deep, dreamless sleep, but that wasn’t to be. My internal stalker wasn’t about to let me off that easily. Shackled to the ceiling of an empty damp basement, I waited for him to show up.

A flash of Cole ran through my mind and I winced and shook my head to knock it out. Clad only in my bra and panties, goosebumps broke out on my exposed flesh. He was angry with me. I was scared.

“Why?” One single word. I knew what he meant, but I wasn’t going to play along.

“Why what?”

“Why did you fuck that empty-headed boy? You’re mine, Jael. Other men are not to touch you.” He was still beyond my view, but I could feel him in the room. The power of his anger prickled my skin.

Laughing was my only option. “I’m not Cole’s and I’m certainly not yours. I do what I want.”

“He saves your life and you what? Fuck him to say thank you?”

“I fucked him because I was horny. It’s pretty much why I have sex every time I do.”

“I don’t like sloppy seconds.”

“Who said you were offered any?” So much for trying to be nicer to the Big Bad Creature from Hell so he didn’t kill me.

The heat radiating from his body warmed me when he came closer. Fingers trailed down my arms, then my back. I shivered under his touch. His body pressed to mine. I stiffened. I was at his mercy. “You don’t treat me with the respect I deserve.” His lips caressed my ear as he spoke.

“What do you want from me, Cain? You want me to love you? That will never happen. You want me to fuck you, so fuck me. I can’t stop you. I can’t even stop you from getting in my fucking head.”

“I may be from Hell, but that doesn’t mean I will take you against your will. I want you to beg for it.”

“I may want you, but that’s just my body; my mind knows exactly what you are, and if I have a say in it, we will never be together.” I did want him, but it didn’t matter if it was the fact that he was a magnificent-looking creature or he was using some sort of supernatural charm, I knew better and that meant I could resist him. That was exactly what I intended to do with my last breath.

His hand snaked around my waist and pulled me closer. His lips pressed against the back of my neck, hot embers burning into my skin. “You don’t understand what you do to me. You haunt my every thought. I want you more than any woman I’ve ever known and then I come here and I can see you with that little mutt. I want to rip him apart.” His breath singed my neck the whole time he spoke.

“That was a mistake. I shouldn’t have. He’s my partner.”

His head pressed against my bare back, his silky hair tickling my skin. “What can I do so you can see I’m not a demon? You don’t have to hate me. Hell fills a necessary role. We can mold that role together. No more one demon at a time. You would rule them all.”

Was this how his father tempted Eve? His charm clouded her mind and then he offered her something she knew was wrong, but made it sound irresistible? Eve knew nothing of the devil, but I did, and that gave me an advantage.

“I may desire you and you may think you want me to rule by your side, but you and your kind are the reason I became a hunter and nothing you can say will change that. I’ll always see you as a monster.”

His head stayed where it was and he was still for a long time. My mouth had a way of getting me in deeper trouble than I already was and this felt like one of those times. This felt like I had just pushed a very powerful creature to want me dead.

“You’re a monster too, my hunter. You’ve killed many of my brethren. Should I kill you?”

“I have a bounty on my head; my days are numbered anyway. I’ll soon be out of your hair.”

“I can protect you from that. You just need to call me if you get in trouble. I will come, but if you do call me, there will be a price.”

“Why would you help me? After all I said?”

“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t know?”

“Yes.” It felt like the truth.

He came around and looked me in the eye. He looked lost, but I knew that was just an act. His lips were almost touching mine. He was willing me to lean in, but I wasn’t that weak. “I won’t visit you again here. I know you hate it. I hate it too. I can feel you with him, but I will come if you call, my hunter.”

He leaned in the rest of the way and kissed me. It was tender and soft, our lips barely touching. His arms were around me, holding me up, because the shackles were gone and I was free. Only the deepest, darkest part of my mind knew I wanted to hold him back, but I didn’t. He might have looked like a lost puppy, but he wasn’t; he was a powerful, evil creature and as long as I remembered that, he could never tempt me.

I was soon alone and everything went black again. If I had been awake, I would have cried. Cain was a complicated creature. I needed him out of my life before I made a mistake I’d regret. Thank fuck the rest of the night I slept like the dead.

Cain

I was in bed with two of the most beautiful women to ever walk the Earth. We had done some incredibly dirty things. Every position, every moan; I was trying to erase the image of her and that fool together. These women were very skilled, but they couldn’t stop me from wishing it was her and not them. She was a curse.

The moment I entered her head, I knew what had happened. It was everywhere in her brain. Lust, regret, shame, pleasure. I wanted to kill him; he had taken her, and she was mine. He had no right to touch her. The only reason he was still alive was that I knew it was something she would never forgive, but I could only be pushed so far.

Having these feelings for her was making me weak. I didn’t like them and I loved them. Of course I felt pleasure. I was a hedonistic bastard, but I didn’t feel love or happiness. Now don’t feel sorry for me; I’d never felt them, so I didn’t miss them. It made life simple really; I was not ruled by anything but my own needs. Until I found Jael.

I had studied her, knew everything about her. Every new piece of information made my ache for her greater. She would make the perfect companion. We would rule Hell and I would finally have someone who loved me. Whom I could trust. Once she was mine, she would never betray me; it wasn’t in her.

The blonde beside me nuzzled my neck, her hand slipping down to stroke me. I had to stop myself from striking her. I didn’t want her touch or their company. “Leave me.”

“Cain? I…”

“Leave me or you will be put back in the pit, my dear. I hear you’re popular down there.”

They both scrambled to leave, clothes in hand, not even bothering to get dressed. I thought they would distract me, but I felt worse. No, I didn’t feel like I had betrayed my hunter. No foolish romantic gesture like that. Those women felt hollow now, just facades.

My hunter was her own woman. She wanted me, but she fought that because she felt it was wrong. She was so incredibly sexy strung up in her underwear, daring me to do the unthinkable. You could almost think she was foolish to anger me, but my hunter was no fool. She angered me because she knew no other way than to tell the truth. How could you not ache for that? My hands still tingled from having them on her skin.

I tried to turn my mind to work. I had plenty to do. Hell didn’t run itself. It needed a firm hand and mine had not been doing its job. I would be reading a report and Jael would flash through my mind, a phantom sneaking in to steal my sanity. How did humans get anything done? They’re always besotted. Maybe I needed to see my father. He never failed to tell me how I needed to improve.

The King of Hell really did have a throne room. I avoided it at all costs. My father was… well he was the devil. I might be evil and I might have done some horrid things, but he was a black soul with a black heart. He reveled in the suffering of others. Especially humans. He hated them with a vitriol that had poisoned man since he fell from Heaven.

His throne room was sparse and dark. It was lit with flames that seemingly danced about the room. They had a life of their own and for those that weren’t used to them, it could be quite terrifying. Fire that he controlled acted like a swarm of flies. My father loved the dramatic.

The worst part of the whole room was the chair he sat upon to see his subjects. It sat on a raised dais and the shadows that flitted about the room tricked the eye into thinking it was made from a slick-looking leather.

That wasn’t the case. The closer you got, the easier it was to make out the details. It was made of bone and flesh. It writhed underneath him as he sat upon the poor souls who made his throne. Naked men and women contorted in ways that would mean death if they were on Earth, but this was Hell and eternal damnation was the name of the game.

The bodies were intertwined so closely it was impossible to tell one from another. The throne moved constantly underneath him, but it made no sound. Mouths opened and closed, but only silent screams came out. The worst were the eyes. You could tell by looking into them that these people were alive and suffered unspeakably. They pleaded more convincingly than any tongue could. Meanwhile, my father sat upon all that undulating horror as if it weren’t even there.

Lucifer was speaking to a demon. The demon was terrified; he had spittle flying from his mouth every time he spoke and his gelatinous mass quivered and oozed as he tried to stand his ground in front of him.

“Your Eminence of Evil, I tried my best. I was so close.”

“Close doesn’t count, Altor. Why must I always give this speech? This isn’t kindergarten! It’s Hell and ‘I’m so sorry’ and ‘please, please, please’ don’t work. They irritate me. Plus, you’re oozing on my floor. I walk there.” My father pointed to a dark stain surrounding the plump creature. I had a feeling it wasn’t ooze. My father terrified those who were summoned before him, even when they pleased him.

“I just need a little more time and I know I can do this… please.” His voice was a high squeak. He knew his fate was sealed, but he couldn’t help pleading his case anyway.

With a dismissive roll of Lucifer’s eyes , Altor was reduced to a bubbling mass on the floor. Cerberus, my father’s three-headed hellhound, bounded over to the pile and each head greedily licked up the spoils created by his master. His spiked tail wagged the whole time.

“Why are you here, Cain? I didn’t summon you.”

“I wanted to tell you I’ve made contact with the key.”

“So… I don’t care. I want to know when she’s agreed to open the gate.”

“These things take time, Father.”

“Don’t you think I’ve waited long enough? Why is it taking so long to charm a woman into doing something? Isn’t that your specialty? I didn’t ask you to make progress. I asked you to open the gates of Heaven. Now get it done or Cerberus will be enjoying another treat.”

“She doesn’t trust demons. She doesn’t trust you most of all. If I could lie or make her do it, then it would be done, but it isn’t that simple.”

“She’s human, and her brain is malleable. Mold it so she loves you and would do anything for you. When I take my rightful seat in Heaven, this throne will be yours.” He caressed the side of his throne and the writhing increased as he touched them. That throne would be destroyed when I took control of Hell. It was an abomination.

“Yes, Father.” He looked at me with that angelic face. If I didn’t know better, I would think he would welcome me into his arms. Comfort me, love me; but he couldn’t help how he looked. His exterior was the only thing remaining from his days in Heaven. Even his wings were gone.

“Now, because you’re my favorite son, I’m going to give you a little more time, but my father has been sitting up there, in the light, in the glory for far too long. He needs to know what it’s like to be cast out. To be thrown aside like rubbish. You’re my best shot at that, but I will use another son or daughter, depending on her predilections. If you fail, you’ll have disappointed me greatly, Cain. I don’t like to be disappointed.”

He repositioned himself. All the eyes in the chair seemed focused on me. “Of course.” Why did I come here?

It was very hard to look at my father and see the wicked that resided in his body. He was so beautiful. His full pink lips, his blue eyes, and blond curls; he looked like innocence and grace and he was not. He was hate and evil. “This hunter was put on Earth to let me back into Heaven. I want to make my father pay.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll make her see sense. You deserve this. Grandfather needs to be punished for what he did to you.”

The fires swarmed around me and it took every ounce of control not to show fear. “I will kill her, Cain. It may take a long time to find the next key, but then again, she might not be as stubborn as this one.”

Panic gripped my body. I needed to sit down. I had to hide it from him; letting him see how much the thought of killing Jael bothered me could mean my death. I had lost many brothers and sisters because they disappointed my father.

He would kill me and Jael without a second thought and start over. It would only bother him that he’d have to start his search again. My father only cared about his wants and needs. Maybe I should have hated him, but I knew how damaging it could be for a father to be cruel to his son.

Do you see why I was such a troubled soul? I murdered my brother Abel and I had loved him. I had loved him deeply; that might have been the only time I had loved another besides my mother. The difference was that Abel had loved me back. It was God who favored my brother over me because of who my father was. Is that a just God? I had no control over that.

I did my best to be a good son and brother. Maybe I was doomed to never be loved.

“Why are you still here, Cain?” He raised his voice. It was slight, but the room echoed with his words. My insides felt liquefied. He caressed a nubile creature’s bottom, who was standing to the left of his throne. She smiled and leaned in. I felt sorry for her. She had no idea how short the lifespan was of his consorts.

“I will not let you down, Father.” His strong arm pulled her onto his lap and I was forgotten. I wanted him gone from my life. I could only hope Jael would see sense in time.