Witness (11 page)
Today, though, she felt she could commiserate, if not physically, then certainly for her despair. How her chest ached, how her head pounded. How cold her insides felt—the barren emptiness taking up residence where her heart usually lived.
Trying to ignore the pain was pointless. No matter how she sliced it, her lover had sold her down the river.
How could you do this to me, Sebastian?
“Well, lookee here…”
The unwelcome voice cracked through the fog surrounding her head, startling Ava back to herself. She stopped cold in her tracks. “Fuck off, Asmodeus.”
“You finally interested?” The voice’s owner materialized at her side, falling into stride with her without awaiting an invitation. Not that he would have been granted one, which was likely why he hadn’t bothered to ask. As one of the Binsfeld Six, he and Ava had a mutually established dislike for the other. “Guess angel dick really isn’t much to write home about,” he continued.
“I’m sure you’d be a much better judge than me,” Ava spat, hating herself. If she was smart, she’d keep her fat mouth shut. Attracting attention was the last thing she needed.
Dammit, she should have just taken Gula’s advice and beamed herself to Lucifer’s office.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” Asmodeus pressed, nudging her shoulder with his.
A slither of disgust crept down Ava’s spine at the contact.
The asshole leered—likely, he’d noticed. “Thought we already threw you your goodbye party.”
Ava’s jaw tightened, but she didn’t take the bait. Her fingers flexed and her body buzzed. Popping out in mid-conversation, even unwelcome conversation, would raise red flags. No matter how much the Sins and the Binsfeld Six disliked each other, rarely did anyone from either group let a chance go by to verbally dress down their opponent.
Perhaps she could benefit from a distraction.
“I can’t imagine it’s any concern of yours,” she gritted out between her teeth.
“Oh, but it is.” Asmodeus bounced lightly and skipped ahead of her, then turned so they were face-to-face.
The slate silver pallor of his skin seemed brighter than usual, as though reflecting his enthusiasm. His hair, long and black, hung over his shoulders. He was considered a thing of beauty by men and women of any persuasion, yet he’d never inspired anything in Ava aside from revulsion. Perhaps that was due to the fact she had a damn good idea of where each slimy digit of his had been.
“Your being here concerns me greatly,” Asmodeus continued, his wicked lavender eyes wandering up and down her body. “Unprecedented as your leaving might have been, I have it on good authority your departure came with the understanding that you would not be welcomed back. What’s the matter, little Sin? Second thoughts? Or did your man grow tired of virgin pussy?”
Her gut twisted. “Fuck you.”
“I’m sure I could find a place for you in my harem.” Then, quick as lightning, Asmodeus made a grab for the letter in Ava’s hand.
On any other day, in any other chapter of her life, what happened next would have played out very differently. Asmodeus would have been fortunate, any other day, any other chapter of Ava’s life, to walk away with his hand intact. The fact that his fingers closed around Sebastian’s farewell note was troubling enough, but watching the incriminating letter leave her custody put the world around her in slow motion. She saw everything as a passive observer, unconnected, uninvolved, yet keenly aware that what was happening would be the end of her.
Gula reading those words had been unfortunate. Asmodeus reading them—Asmodeus seeing Sebastian place a name to what Ava was—meant the end. Game over.
Ava’s brain jump-started a second too late, her heart nearly leaping into her throat. She lunged for the demon, her eyes wide and her ears deafened to the sound of her own scream. At once everything around her shattered, sending her spiraling down a trail of stark, unforgiving reality. The past few minutes hadn’t been a dream from which she would awaken. Sebastian was really gone. He’d really left her. He really knew what she was—how and why made little difference. Not only had the life she’d promised herself come undone, but everything she had volunteered to give up for him was no longer hers to sacrifice.
God, how stupid could one girl be?
“What’s this?” Asmodeus said, sidestepping her attempted grab with ease. Almost as though she hadn’t moved at all. His purple eyes twinkled as he dangled the letter in front of her. “Anyone ever tell you it’s not nice to keep secrets?”
“I will rip your head off and shove it up your ass,” Ava snarled, trembling.
She again lunged to reclaim the letter, but the demon danced out of reach, cackling maniacally with each inch he placed between them. Her legs felt saddled with lead, everything around her moving with the eerie fluidity of a bad dream. A dull ringing began clamoring in her ears, numbness spearing her veins and poisoning her actions. She couldn’t move if she couldn’t get her limbs to cooperate, and though her world depended on kicking Asmodeus’ sorry ass to Heaven and back, she couldn’t force her sluggish brain to deliver the message.
Everything around her was in a daze.
Not that it mattered the next moment. In a blink, one annoying demon turned into three. Alongside Asmodeus stood Mammon, the so-called demon of greed, and Leviathan, once declared master of envy. Half of the Binsfeld demons had popped in to escort her to the Red House.
Ava’s gut twisted.
They knew.
How?
The thought barely had time to breathe before a crackle of flame tore through the air, and the next thing she knew her skin was on fire. Not much of a problem, really, as her skin had endured worse, but it did take her by surprise. Ava hissed and whirled around, batting out the flames with little effort, but by then it was too late. Asmodeus was saying the words no one was supposed to hear—loudly declaring them to Hell at large.
“‘No good way to say this…’ Yadda yadda,” Asmodeus read, sounding almost bored. “Looks like lover boy has flown the coop. Poor little girl couldn’t keep her man pleased. I told you, child, you should’ve allowed me into your bed. I can show you tricks that would make Liberace beg for cunt.”
A flame sparked inside her chest, at once replacing the cold numbness. Ava’s eyes narrowed, a hot wave splitting her in half. “I’m going to bury you.”
Asmodeus ignored her, reading on. “‘Can’t leave Paradise.’ Wah. ‘Only way to save our love…’ Oh gag me.” He rolled his eyes. “Some men, huh, honey? Just get to the point. You were a boring lay, you talk too much, I’m married…why flower it up with all this bullshit? As though it’ll make you feel better?” He returned his attention to the note, and at once his demeanor shifted. The amused quirk of his lips broke into an all-out shit-eating grin. “And…well, look at this. ‘I can’t be with a Sin.’” Asmodeus looked up, his expression contorted with barely-contained delight. “
Can’t be with a Sin!
Right here, black and white. You bad girl, Ava. Bad, bad girl. You boys hear that? Hell’s Princess let the cat out of the bag.”
Mammon inclined his robed head, his lithe form damn near trembling with glee. No one had seen the demon’s face in eons, but reading his body language took little effort for those who knew him. A series of sibilant hisses snaked through his mouth.
“Think there might be a job opening after all,” boasted Leviathan, his oily eyes sizing Ava up. “Was just a matter of time waiting, you know. Before you or one of your rat siblings gave everything up.”
The swarming mess in Ava’s head intensified. Her gut coiled, and a steady ache wove itself around her at-once tired bones. Everything around her seemed blurry.
“She tryin’ to run?” Leviathan asked.
Mammon released a string of hisses her tired brain couldn’t translate.
“Doesn’t matter,” Asmodeus said proudly, pocketing her note. “All that matters is we were here at the right time. Gentlemen…”
Run.
There it was again. That tiny voice had returned, begging for freedom. The strain in her legs, the ache in her chest. All telling her the same thing. The thing she should’ve done the second she’d found Sebastian’s letter. The thing each of her instincts had screamed at her. Sebastian knew. Now the Binsfeld Six knew. Soon word would spread across Hell as surely as it had throughout Heaven. She had no choice. It was die with her head down or at the least put up a fight.
Run.
Ava steeled herself, the fog around her head dissipating. Her muscles hardened, her vision clearing, and at once she saw the path to two very different futures.
She had to get out of here.
She had to freaking
run.
Her thoughts must have been loud or plain, for the expression on Asmodeus’ face changed. The predatory gleam always somewhat present melted into something altogether dangerous, his eyes slanting and going dark, his nostrils flaring. He began moving forward, his steps slow and methodical. At the same time, Mammon closed in on Ava’s right, Leviathan coming around to her left.
Fight or flight.
Ava’s gaze darted between the three of them, daring them to make a move. Somehow she knew they wouldn’t, though. For this to play out the way they wanted, they had to look like they were corralling an unstable force after having exhausted every possibility. She wouldn’t play into their hands, but she wouldn’t let them go without a few bruises, either. Ava kicked out, and the sole of her foot connected with Asmodeus’ nose, resulting in a sickening crunch just as she thrust her left arm into Mammon’s gut. Leviathan’s expression melted into a twisted sneer and he came at her, only to have her fist meet the bone at his throat.
“Feisty little bitch, ain’t she?” Asmodeus cackled, even as blood dribbled off his fingers. “I’m going to so enjoy putting you down.”
Ava shrugged a shoulder, a rush of pure, idiotic bravado dancing up her spine. Static electricity sparked between her fingertips, begging at once for release. She could reduce one of these assholes to ash in a blink—two if she was very lucky. But luck hadn’t been on her side, and odds were she’d find herself short one neck by the end of the day.
Run.
“Run, goddammit!”
That wasn’t her voice. More static crackled the air, this time finding an outlet. Red strings of electricity scorched a path around Leviathan, which brought him to his knees without much of a fight. Ava barely had time to blink before Mammon was on the ground beside him, writhing against a current of red. In the next instant, Asmodeus joined them, his chest a smoking hole.
“Run, you moron!” the voice snapped again.
Gula.
Ava whirled around, her eyes finding her brother. Her brother’s arms were outstretched, rivers of static red pouring from his palms. Beside him was their elder brother, Ira, his brow furrowed and a nasty sneer splitting his face. And when his gaze met hers, she honestly couldn’t say if he was a willing participant in the saving of her hide.
His expression mirrored the one Gula had worn back at her condo, and in that she saw the future.
None of her siblings would believe her. None of them. Sebastian’s words were too damning.
But fuck, they still loved her.
“I mean it, Ava!” Gula snapped. “We can’t hold these assholes forever.”
“Run,” Ira barked, his usually creamy complexion turning shades of red that rivaled his hair. “You idiot girl,
run!”
Despite the insistent voice that had been present since she’d found Sebastian’s note, every nerve in her body protested at the thought. Perhaps that was why she’d come back here, to prove running wasn’t necessary. Because she didn’t want to run. Run from Hell. Run from Home. Run for her
life,
even against the impossible. There was no hiding from Lucifer. He would find her. All he had to do was close his eyes and picture her and he’d know where she was. All he had to do…
But she couldn’t stand here. If she did, her siblings would put themselves between her and death, and they would fall, one by one. Lucifer had no use for traitors. And that was how he’d see her. How he’d see everyone who stood at her side.
Gula and Ira might have just sacrificed themselves to save her ass.
Ava blinked tears and shook her head. “Stay alive,” she whispered. “Don’t let him kill you over me.”
“Ava!” Ira’s cheeks had turned maroon. He didn’t say anything else. Didn’t need to.
“Stay alive,” Gula echoed, his voice choked. Then, harder, he growled, “And get the fuck out!”
Ava nodded, closed her eyes and wished herself away, then felt the world under her feet disappear.
About the Author
Rosalie Stanton is a multi-published erotic romance author, with emphasis in paranormal and urban fantasy. A lifelong enthusiast of larger than life characters, Rosalie enjoys building worlds filled with strong heroes and heroines of all backgrounds.
Rosalie lives in Missouri with her husband. At an early age, she discovered a talent for creating worlds, which evolved into a love of words and storytelling. As the granddaughter of an evangelical minister, Rosalie applied herself equally in school in the creative writing and religious studies departments, which had an interesting impact on her writing. When her attention is not engaged by writing or editing, she enjoys spending time with close friends and family.